What They Want Is Where They Are

Michael Hedges March 9, 2015 Follow on Twitter

Media consumers are, mostly, confined. They hear, see and touch what is nearest. This is called proximity, the branding concept considered the strongest. The web, smartphones and the rest of new media has the potential to change all of that, testing the ties that bind media outlets with their best friends. It is a challenge.

Total radio reach again edged lower in Germany, according to the Radio MA 2015/I audience estimates for the second half year 2014. Across the country 78.3% of Germans over 10 years reported listening between 06h00 and 18h00 Monday through Friday, down year on year from 79.9%. That’s a bit more than a million fewer listeners. Daily reach share for public channels dropped to 52.6% from 54.1% year on year, private stations on aggregate 43.5% from 44.0%.

Among 14 to 49 year olds much beloved by media buyers and sales houses gross daily reach was down 2.3% one year on, compared with 1.8% among persons 10 year and older. Public channels were less fazed than private stations, off 0.8% and 1.5%, respectively. German radio watchers pointed to the rise in streaming audio services and smartphones, measurement of which will come in a separate AG.MA report.

Placing first in the national rankings, as it has for 15 years, was network broadcaster NRW, which powers 45 private local stations in Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia). Aggregated daily reach for Radio NRW hit 1.642 million average hourly listeners, up 1% over the same period one year on. Changes are certainly coming to Radio NRW, beginning with a new managing director after the shareholders relieved Udo Becker in late February for “differing views on the future strategic orientation of local radio in Nordrhein-Westfalen.” Local station affiliates favor a more decentralized relationship. And, too, the shareholding, according to rumor, could change with public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) potentially relinquishing its 24.9% stake. Regional regulator Landesanstalt für Medien (LfM) began a process at the end of 2014 authorizing new local stations in Nordrhein-Westfalen not affiliated with Radio NRW. Days could be waning for Radio NRW leading the AG.MA listening estimates.

Edging ever higher in terms of daily reach is Antenne Bayern, up 4.7% year on year to 1.397 million average hourly in the national audience estimates, highest ever. Some German radio purists consider Antenne Bayern top rated as it is a single channel that just happens to cover all of Bavaria. “Antenne Bayern has once again written German radio history,” said an effusive managing director Karlheinz Hörhammer, also giving a shout-out to new program director Martin Kunze. A year ago long serving and highly respected program director Valerie Weber exited for WDR as radio director.

Radio listening in Bavaria is not necessarily zero-sum. Radio channels of regional public broadcaster Bayerischen Rundfunks (BR) scored well in the average hourly audience estimates; general interest channel Bayern 1 up 3.7% to 1.018 million listeners and 6th place nationally, pop music channel Bayern 3 up 5.6% to 811,000 listeners and 8th place nationally. Culture channel Bayern 2 was up 30.3% but all-news channel B5 Atkuell was down 10.4% in average hourly listeners year on year.

Apart from Antenne Bayern, several private local stations in Bavaria posted increases in average hourly audience: Energy Munich jumping a quite noticeable 79%, Radio Arabella up 20%, Gong 96.3 up 19.5% and Radio Galaxy up 15.5%. “Overall radio listening on an average working day in Bavaria is 82.3% and well above the national average of 78.3%,” noted regional broadcast authority BLM in a statement. “Also the average listening time in Bavaria is 224 minutes per day, clearly above the national average of 190 minutes.” (See full BLM statement here - in German)

Ranking 3rd nationally in average hourly listening was public channel SWR 3, the hit music channel of Südwestrundfunk (SWR), 2.3% lower year on year at 1.123 million listeners. SWR serves Baden-Württemberg (BW) and Rhineland-Palatinate (RP) with channels covering both States (SWR 3, culture channel SWR 2 and youth channel DasDing) and some targeting States separately (pop oldies SWR 1 and local network SWR 4). SWR 4 BW tumbled 13.6% in average hourly listening but held 10th place nationally while SWR 4 RP dropped 6.9%. Meanwhile, SWR 1 BW gained 5.6% in average hour listening but SWR 1 RP dropped 13.0%. All average hour listening for public channels in Baden-Württemberg dropped 5.3% and 5.6% in Rhineland-Palatinate.

A/C music formatted Radio Regenbogen, primarily serving Baden-Württemberg, was one of the biggest gainers among private German stations year on year, jumping 9.5% in average hour listening, almost recovering last year’s losses and trodding, it seems, on Stuttgart station Antenne 1, which dropped 8.6%. Average hour listening to private stations in Baden-Württemberg was lower, on aggregate, by 7.6%. Private local stations aggregate listening in Rhineland-Palatinate fell 14.1%.

Being Germany’s biggest - and richest - public broadcaster WDR, based in Cologne, offers several highly rated radio channels. Some were up, year on year, in the Radio MA 2015/I audience estimates and some not. Pop music channel EinsLive ranks 4th nationally, again, losing 3.9% of average hourly listeners for 1.076 million. Fifth place general interest channel WDR 2 gained 3.5% average hourly listeners while 9th place oldies channel WDR 4 lost 9.9%. On aggregate average hourly listening in North Rhine Westphalia for public radio channels dropped 5.9% year on year while private radio, almost entirely Radio NRW, gained very slightly.

Among leading German radio broadcasters Leipzig-based A/C music station Radio PSR, owned by Regiocast, posted the most significant gain, up 27.5% in average hour listening year on year. Sister station R.SA was up very slightly while Hit Radio RTL Sachsen (Saxony) and Energy Sachsen were slightly. off Public channel MDR 1 Radio Sachsen fell 6.2% to 11th in the national rankings. Average hourly listening to all public radio channels in Saxony was down 11.1% year on year as listening to private radio stations rose 4.3%.

Only in three German Federal States did average hourly listening for private sector radio broadcasters, on aggregate, increase or remain unchanged one year on; in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony. Radio listening, thus estimated, rose generally in Bavaria, where public channel average hourly listening gained 6.3% year on year. In the tiny Bremen City-State, surrounded by Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), radio listening also increased generally due to gains by public radio channels. Private radio stations in Lower Saxony lost 9.7% average hour listening mostly on losses by Radio SAW and Radio Brocken. The biggest one year drop in average hour listening for private sector broadcasters by State was in Thüringen - 36.2% - as local stations LandesWelle Thüringen and Antenne Thüringen suffered significant losses.

For the eleven German public broadcasters the aggregated average hour listening trend was worst in Berlin, down 24.8%, followed by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (down 19%), Schleswig-Holstein (down 14.7%) Hamburg (down 11.8%). In each these States total average hour listening losses followed.

The Radio MA 2015/I audience estimates are based on a flood of interviews, some 60,000, conducted in traditional survey form. Results are used to calculate advertising rates.

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