Tuning out: 'Brexit boredom' behind RTÉ Radio slump

Leading programmes are affected, with the 'Marian Finucane' show on Saturday dropping a considerable 31,000 listeners on the previous survey three months ago.

The broadcaster's Sunday show has also dropped - falling by 21,000 - and now stands at 290,000 listeners.

Flagship show 'Liveline' with Joe Duffy is down 9,000 and now has 363,000 people tuning in every afternoon and is still the second most-listened to programme for people over the age of 15.

'Sunday with Miriam' is now at 236,000, which is a slump of 14,000 from last August's survey.

Mary Wilson's evening programme 'Drivetime' has also suffered a drop of 10,000, bringing it to a current tally of 211,000.

When asked about the flagging figures for Radio 1's news shows, station head Tom McGuire said there was "probably a bit of Brexit fatigue".

"There was no big event over the summer, no big national story once we left behind the elections in May. It's been a quiet time. I think across the board there has been some slippage in current affairs programmes, reflected across all stations," he said.

The only two shows to buck this trend were 'The Ryan Tubridy Show', which clocked up 2,000 more listeners to bring it to 334,000, and 'Morning Ireland', which had an increase of 5,000 to 429,000. It remains the country's most listened to programme.

A similar downward trend was recorded on Today FM and Newstalk with presenters Matt Cooper and Ivan Yates dropping 3,000 listeners and 1,000 respectively. Dr Ciara Kelly's 'Lunchtime Live' show on Newstalk has shed 7,000 listeners and is now at 92,000, while the station's afternoon show with Sean Moncrieff down 6,000.

Newstalk sports programme 'Off the Ball' clearly reaped the benefits of the Rugby World Cup and has gained 4,000, bringing its tally to 55,000.

'Newstalk Breakfast' is up 2,000 to 125,000 while 'The Pat Kenny Show' has stabilised with 142,000, no change on last time.

When it comes to 2fm's schedule shuffle, the news is more positive as it appears listeners have continued tuning in to the new line-up.

The early morning show fronted by Doireann Garrihy and Eoghan McDermott gained 2,000 listeners, up to 135,000.

Jennifer Zamparelli's new mid-morning show, which began in June, is down 7,000 from the last survey and now stands at 156,000.

This is roughly the same listenership attracted by the slot's previous presenters, Nicky Byrne and Jenny Greene.

Head of 2fm Dan Healy described the results as a "big relief".

"It's remarkable because you would expect a new breakfast show to lose audience on the previous book," he said.

"No matter how good a new show is, the people who love the old show tend to move on. This is my fifth breakfast show and they normally go back so it's a big relief."