Boom-time for radio in Northern Ireland
93% of population, here, listening every week
Last updated 27th Oct 2023
Radio in Northern Ireland is thriving.
That’s the key message from new listener research which shows local stations are reaping the benefits of a remarkable ongoing purple patch for the industry.
Overall, a record 93% of people here say they tune into live radio every week, an increase of 5% over the year demonstrating just how healthy, robust and dominant the medium remains within the audio landscape.
Figures just released by RAJAR (the industry’s listener measurement mechanism) show Downtown Radio delivering an impressive 288,000 listeners each week.
They also consolidate Downtown’s ‘Gary and Glen’ presenters as having the No. 2 commercial breakfast show in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile sister station Cool FM has retained its No. 1 position for the third consecutive quarter.
The new statistics reveal further that Cool is now consistently outperforming all competitors including BBC Radio Ulster, which until earlier this year, was Northern Ireland’s biggest radio station for decades.
Cool FM now reaches 527,000 weekly listeners, a hike off 93,000 from the same period last year.
Commenting on the figures, MD, David Tighe for Bauer Media Audio NI said:
I’d like to take the opportunity to thank listeners and advertisers for their continued support over the years, we never take it for granted. We always listen to you and you continue to listen to us, it’s a great arrangement!”
Meanwhile, Steven Johnston, Managing Director of the Belfast-based Adhaus Media, said the latest figures were great news for Northern Ireland as a whole.
“It’s great for us – It’s great for our clients,” he said.
“I have never seen radio (listening) so high in all my 21 years in the industry,” he said.
“It just seems to go from strength to strength. He added: "That’s commercial radio as a whole but the strong figures every quarter from Bauer Media NI is exceptional.”