Dublin, Cork, Limerick & Galway
Bay Broadcasting is the dominant player in music radio in Dublin, with 23% market share of all radio listening in the capital, according to the latest JNLR, putting clear distance between itself and rivals Bauer and Onic.
Bay's three music services Radio Nova, Classic Hits Radio and Sunshine 106.8 command a primetime market share of 23% compared with 11.8% for Onic - FM104/Q102- and 16% for Bauer's music services Today FM, 98FM and Spin combined.
The ratings cover the 12-month period up to 31st March and show that Bay is the market leader for music radio in Dublin, with Sunshine 106.8 and Radio Nova holding the #1 and #2 positions on 9.7% and 8.9% respectively. Meanwhile, Classic Hits Radio has increased its market share by almost 50% to 4.4% in the last 12 months in the capital, placing it only 0.3% behind Q102 and 0.5% behind Today FM.
Bay Broadcasting CEO, Kevin Branigan, said, "Our radio stations continue to out-perform Bauer and Onic in the most important market in the country - spectacularly so - showing that it's connection with audiences and attention to detail that attract audiences".
Bay recently announced that the three radio stations would achieve quasi-national coverage using the new Failte DAB trial, bringing Nova and Sunshine to 2.5 million new listeners and Classic Hits Radio to an additional 1.2 million. The three services went live on the Failte DAB earlier this month.
"It's early days but the feedback from listeners has been very encouraging so far", says Branigan. "DAB+ affords the means to bring more choice and diversity to the radio landscape and we're very excited about the potential for it in Ireland".
Bay owns Radio Nova, Classic Hits Radio and Galway Bay FM and has a substantial interest in Sunshine 106.8. It also operates the digital services Energy Dance, Pure Country, Nova Classic Rock and Sunshine Soul services on DAB.
Bay operates from Castleforbes House in the Dublin Docklands.
* JNLR Ipsos/MRBI 2026.1. Dublin City & County, Market Share 7am-7pm.