World Radio Day is celebrated every year on February 13th and 2024 marks 100 years of radio.
Beat 102 103 is delighted to join in the celebration following recent JNLR results that revealed the regional youth radio station is continuing to retain its weekly reach of 158,000 listeners.
The theme for the 13th World Radio Day in 2024 is “Radio: A century of informing, entertaining, and educating.”
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is marking the day by saying; "Radio is a triumph of accessibility, immediacy and intimacy, and there’s a strong public-interest case for protecting it and our access to it.
"We believe that remaining easily accessible to all people, in all places, regardless of how they receive radio means using terrestrial broadcast networks (both analogue and digital) – still relied upon by the majority of listeners globally – and fostering online access to radio that is just as democratic and open.
"Cars are a particular concern, consistently among the most popular locations for radio listening. Whether it is terrestrial broadcast or internet, radio in cars should not just be easy to find, it must be impossible to miss."
Irish Radio
Recent radio listenership figures in Ireland revealed that Irish radio remains strong with 91% of adults tuning in every week.
Among the younger, 15 to 34-year, market 71.0% (+0.2%) listen daily.
5.9% of all adult listening is now through a smart speaker while listening via a mobile device accounts for 3.3% of all radio listening.
This increases to 6.5% of all listening through a smart speaker and 8.4% through a mobile device for the younger 15 to 34 age cohort.
Irish radio listeners tune in on average for over 4 hours each day.
Speaking on World Radio Day 2023, President Michael D Higgins said that radio is more important than ever.
"Radio has been a powerful positive tool in countries where communities struggle with food insecurity and poverty. It has allowed information to be accessed and given transparency on aid.
"Community radio can play a particularly important role in this regard.
"Peace exists in the minds of citizens, and community radio can help foster it by bringing people together to listen and speak to each other, strengthening ties, and building awareness of common values.
"May I wish all those radio stations engaging in this vital work, both in Ireland and across the world, every continued success.”
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