An extensive study from the Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) shows that radio in Ireland is in a healthy place. Some of the key outcomes from the "Radio and the Irish Audio Market" report include:
- 80% of the adult population, or 3,171,000 people (15+), tune in every day, for a total of 13.1 million hours
- Almost seven in ten 15 to 24 year-olds listen to radio on a daily basis, tuning in for more than 3 hours
- 86% of Irish adults own smartphones and 30% own smart speakers
- The growth in smart speakers has almost trebled since 2018
- Most people listen to audio material at home
- Three in four listened to audio at home yesterday
- One third listened in a car or van
- One in ten listen in a school / college environment
- 72% used a radio or music player to listen to their audio material ‘yesterday’ while the next device of choice is the smart phone used by 28% of the population.
We still love to listen live
Rather than replacing live radio, music streaming services are taking over from traditional music archives such as CD’s, vinyl or
downloads. Currently, 37% listen to Spotify or similar on a weekly basis compared to 22% listening to their own music. On an average day, Live radio currently has a share of 78.8% of the audio market. While many tune into on-demand audio, they spend much less time doing so. There is more activity among the younger 15-24 year old audience in this space. While more of this group tune into on-demand audio options than the average audience, Live radio still achieves the majority share of time spent – 53.2%. Music streaming (Spotify or similar) has a share of 25.2% among this group followed by YouTube for Music (14.2%).
How the report was compiled
This report is sourced from JNLR data collected in Quarter 4 2020 (October and December) and completed in Quarter 2 2021 (May and June), in the weeks when Covid-19 restrictions were relieved and face to face fieldwork was allowed. The data in the report is based on national sample of 3,100 interviews, conducted in home, across all radio franchise areas, among a sample of individuals aged 15+.
