The Power of Radio (and all things Audio)

Radio is a powerful Advertising medium and actually an Irish phenomenon (Radio is not as advertising dominant in the UK for example). And right now for 2024, it is flying! Generally sold in ‘packages’ with different broadcast time bands called – TAP or Prime Time PT.

TAP are cheaper but broader airtime (usually 7am to midnight).

You will see Admatic Ad rates for each key station – just click in the Radio section on the homepage. Don’t neglect Radio in your Advertising. We’ve also developed our own easy, value, ready made Radio Readymade Campaign packages – make sure to click on those too.

Huge Listenerships

It’s massive! You’ll see data on each station as you browse but 78% of the Irish population (3.1m) listen to Radio every day and for an average of 4 hours.

71% of 15-34’s tune in every day and radio accounts for 66.5% of their time spent listening to audio, with 51% Female and 49% male, and 82% of Housekeepers tune in daily.

Radio listening in Ireland is split 64/36 urban and rural respectively, and radio stations across Ireland have over 11.3 million social media connections across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat so you/we can also use that. They’re generally happy to sell it as part of any media buying (!)

A recent JNLR (the Joint National Listenership Research which is an industry research project conducted on behalf of the Irish radio industry) shows Radio is a key medium for Irish people with 78% (3.18m) of the total adult population tuning in daily.

Listenership Reports

UM JNLR detailed Q1 2023 vs Q1 2024
The Irish Audio Report 2023

The report shows that radio enjoys huge audience numbers with 79% of Irish adults and 68% of 15-34 year olds listening to radio every week. The main highlights are as follows:

The latest JNLR audience figures released show that the daily radio audience is at 3.35 million listeners, growing by a further 31,000 listeners and up 176,000 listeners over the past 2 years.

Radio is enjoying an unprecedented boom period with continual increases in overall audience levels. The latest daily audience levels of 3.35 million represents an increase in 176,000 listeners on an average weekday.

The ability to access content easily (smart speakers, smart phones) and the quality and popularity of Irish radio means that this latest JNLR shows that the average adult is listening to radio content for over 4 hours each day.

The 2023 published Irish Audio Report which looked at total audio listening shows that live radio dominates with a 74% share of total listening. Music streaming has a 12% share of listening while YouTube Music and Podcasts have a 7% and 3% share respectively. Smart Speaker advertising (now in 45% of Irish homes) always worth considering. Ask us. 

(And remember we’ve great RTE Radio deals which you’ll see in our Radio section off the homepage! You’ll not buy RTE Radio for less anywhere – including from RTE!)

Further RTE 2025 Rate Card and Radio information, you’ll find here RTE-Rate-Card-2025-V1-2

Various Lengths

Radio lengths are generally accepted as 15, 30 or 60 seconds long. 30 Second Radio commercials represent probably 95% of all Radio Commercial lengths as are costed in the radio section on the homepage (most Radio costs are therefore based on 30 seconds).

But the 30 second commercial is historical and remember, the shorter the commercial, the more spots/frequency so always consider 15 or 20 seconds too. 

Other lengths are not exactly pro-rata in cost terms and you can see a length cost converter in our ‘How Admatic works’ section if you want to use a different length. Shorter (10 or 15 second commercials) are of course, great for frequency (more spots).

Programme Spots or Packages

You can buy individual spots in particular shows, or, you can buy Packages or both (!).

Most Radio airtime is sold as a ‘Package’ (number of spots at one price and usually in groups of 14, 21, 28 and 35 spot packages).

Primarily there are two types. Prime Time Packages which feature prime broadcast times normally 7am-7pm and are consequently more expensive than Total Audience Packages (TAP) which have a wider broadcast time spread, normally 7am-midnight.

But you can bolster a package by selecting key high-profile spots in key shows notably on RTE Radio One for example. Always good if you need to advise an internal/trade audience to listen in to the start of the campaign by having a guaranteed fixed spot/s.

Value

Generally TAP (Total Audience Packages) offer better value but you can buy it all in the radio section on the homepage.

Our low prices are guaranteed as shown for bookings up to 12 months, so book now ahead at these prices because they will increase but we’ll always try to do even better for you and secure some extra bonus airtime where we can, after booking.

The JNLR (Radio Research)

Click on these links for a detailed analysis station-by-station Nationally, Dublin and Cork. These are the latest….Irish Audio 2024 Report will be produced in 2025. 

UM JNLR detailed Q1 2023 vs Q1 2024
The Irish Audio Report 2023

Airtime availability

Although less of an issue as such, there may be some issues around the availability of the particular spots you’re looking for, particularly at peak times or for specific programmes that can sell out.

Radio has really bounced back and we sell more Radio on this platform than any other media. But we’ll advise you if there is availability issues.

Sending us your commercial

Easiest just to upload them to the platform in your own private dashboard for free! You can then track and store you commercials.

Or, send them by email or WeTransfer to us (MP3 format best).

You may find our Create Advertising and Copy Clearance pages useful too.