Radio Ulster loses over 100,000 listeners in a year…

John Rosborough has done his quarterly rummage through the RAJARs again, and this one lands with a thud. BBC Radio Ulster has managed to misplace over 100,000 listeners in twelve months. They were sitting at 462,000. Now they’re at 358,000. That’s not a dip. That’s the sort of fall that makes you stare at the graph for a moment just to check someone hasn’t labelled the axis wrong.

It comes at a time when the station feels a bit wobbly anyway. Budget cuts, schedule tinkering, long-standing presenters disappearing without much ceremony, and a general sense that nobody’s fully sure what the station wants to be anymore. Some days it feels like they’re reaching for a more generic BBC sound. Other days they’re clinging to the old “local companion” thing. The end result isn’t exactly coherence.

And yes, the wider audio world is eating into everyone. Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, TikTok etc, a dozen niche stations all slicing the audience thinner and thinner. Fair enough. But losing a quarter of your listeners in a small market suggests something more than general drift.

There’s a point where you can’t keep blaming “changing consumer habits” and have to admit the audience is quietly slipping out the side door. People don’t abandon a station in those numbers unless they’ve stopped recognising it, or stopped trusting it, or just stopped caring.

Personally I no longer listen to Radio Ulster or any live radio. I am all in on music and Podcasts via Spotify.

i found listening to Radio Ulster depressing. There’s too much news and divisive content. I would rather listen to a sensible podcast that explains an issue well than hear 2 local politicians shout at each other.

You miss the days of unique presenters like Gerry Anderson. But maybe I am being unfair. He might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I know uncle Hugo still gets massive audiences. Talkback is solid. Ralph McLean is always a reliable broadcaster of good music.

Are there any shows or presenters you recommend on Radio Ulster?

Brian O'Neill

Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.