RTÉ RADIO 1′s news programming has performed strongly in the latest national radio listenership statistics – but there was less welcome news for 2FM and Today FM who both saw their big names drop figures.

Morning Ireland, Today with Pat Kenny, the News at One and Drivetime all gained listeners in the last three months, according to the figures published yesterday evening.

Morning Ireland remains the country’s most listened-to programme, picking up 4,000 listeners to stand at a new total of 460,000, while Pat Kenny gained a thousand listeners to move to 327,000.

Drivetime picked up 14,000 listeners – mostly at the expense of Today FM’s Matt Cooper, who dropped 9,000 – to stand at 245,000, now a full 90,000 of Cooper’s slot on The Last Word.

Miriam O’Callaghan also gained listeners on her Miriam Meets slot, picking up 8,000 to stand on 279,000.

There were blemishes elsewhere on Radio 1′s record, however; John Murray dropped 2,000 listeners – though he still stands on a commanding 328,000 overall – while Derek Mooney shed 5,000 to now stand on 229,000. Joe Duffy lost 4,000 listeners to stand at exactly 400,000.

2FM’s morning offerings performed far less strongly, however; Hector Ó hEochagáin, Ryan Tubridy and Colm Hayes all shed significant numbers of listeners.

Hector’s breakfast offering lost 7,000 listeners, Hayes 12,000 listeners, and Tubridy 16,000 – bringing the latter’s listenership down to 186,000.

That compares to the 307,000 listeners that his 2FM predecessor, the late Gerry Ryan, could expect shortly before his death in April of last year.

Today FM’s figures were also hit, with Ian Dempsey’s breakfast show losing 14,000 listeners to fall to 152,000 and Ray D’Arcy down 6,000 to stand at 218,000.

Aggregated radio listenership figures were down overall, with the total audience down by around 45,000 on last year.