RTÉ’s The 2 Johnnies share €400,000 payday as profits soar

The 2FM broadcasters and podcast hosts shared directors' pay of €404,000 at their firm last year as profits doubled

2FM's The 2 Johnnies. Photo: Hannah Devaney

Gordon Deegan

2FM broadcasters and podcast hosts The 2 Johnnies are laughing all the way to the bank after sharing directors’ pay of €404,183 at their firm last year.

In a bumper year for the two comedians, Johnny Smacks and Johnny B – real names John O’Brien and Jonathon McMahon – accounts show that post-tax profits at the pair’s Big Ball Small Ball Productions Ltd doubled to €269,533 for the 12 months to the end of April last.

The profits of €269,533 for last year are a 101pc increase in the €134,090 profits for the prior 12 months.

Last year’s results for the company – owned and controlled by O’Brien and McMahon – leave them sitting on accumulated profits of €403,523 at the end of April last.

Read more

The two set up their 2 Johnnies podcast in 2018. Its popularity resulted in RTÉ bosses snapping up the pair to bring their act to 2FM in February 2022, where they present an afternoon show Monday to Friday.

The Tipperary duo have since increased their audience to 150,000, making it the most listened to show on 2FM.

The busy year for the firm resulted in income for the two more than doubling.

Pay to the two men last year increased by 125pc from €166,204 to €374,183, while the firm paid an additional €30,000 to the directors in pension contributions.

The firm employs three in total, including O’Brien and McMahon, and wages and salaries for the three totalled €423,212.

The buoyant year for the firm also increased the company’s cash funds more than four-fold from €71,124 to €327,066.

News in 90 - Monday April 8

During the year under review, The 2 Johnnies recorded a box office of €462,516 for their gig at the 3Arena in December 2022 when more than 8,500 fans paid out to see the two. Box office receipts are shared between performer, promoter and venue operator.

The two will further add to their coffers this summer with a series of dates in Dublin and the US.

The 2 Johnnies podcast will host ‘Two Pints in a Field’ in Dublin’s St Anne’s Park, Raheny on June 8 – which will also feature singer Craig David.

The pair will also bring their tour to San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago and New York City, before going to Australia in August for a number of city dates that include Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.

The pair also add to The 2 Johnnies’ revenues with the sales of books, merchandise and music. The 2FM presenters set up the firm in December 2020 and it was called The 2 Johnnies Productions Ltd before they changed the name of the company last July.

Read more