ftm Radio Page - January 24, 2014

It must have been something they said
Or maybe the jazz

There was, apparently, a lot to talk about from September through December, enough to entice Paris radio listeners to almost all of the news and talk stations. Media research institute Médiamétrie reported that general interest channels, on aggregate, increased market share to 42.9% from 38.7% year on year in the Il-de-France (Greater Paris) region. And all this was before President François Hollande revealed his economic plan, Closer magazine revealed his personal life and the weather turned windy.

Chief beneficiary, radio-wise, was Lagardère’s Europe 1, which jumped to 10.1% market share from 8.2% one year on, remaining in 3rd place. RTL, still number 1, posted 12.4% market share, up from 12.0%. Public channel France Inter remained number 2 with 11.1% market share, up from 10.1%. RMC held 4th place with 7.9% market share, up from 7.2%. After a format change adding more feature content in early September, public news channel France Info slipped to 4.4% market share from 4.7%.

The national music channels, on aggregate, tumbled to 24.8% market share from 27.8% in the same period 2012. Unscathed were NRJ, 4.9% market share (5th place overall) up from 4.7%, and pop-rock RTL2, up to 2.4% market share from 1.9%. Battered were Skyrock, 4.1% market share from 4.8%, RFM, 2.4% market share from 3.2%, Cherie FM, 2.0% market share from 2.9%, and Fun Radio, 1.5% market share from 2.1%. (See Greater Paris share trend chart here)

Local Paris stations more or less held their own. Radio Latina moved 9th place overall from 12th. Public station FIP and TSF Jazz – both feature jazz music – were up. Radio Nova and Oui FM were lower.

Pop goes the ratings
Big public channels fall in the fall

Private local radio broadcasters in Switzerland celebrated modest victories over public broadcaster SSR-SRG with the release of the Mediapulse/Publicadata listening figures for the second half 2013. In the three language-specific regions, public radio’s aggregated losses appear as private radio’s gains. Research institute Mediapulse dissuaded comparisons between the recently released survey and the like period 2012 due to a minor methodological change.

With that understood, private local radio (PLR), on aggregate, hit peak market shares; 31.1% in the Swiss-German region (up from 30.3% one year on), 24.1% market share in the French-speaking region (up from 23.6%) and 12.5% market share in the Italian-speaking region (up from 11.5%). (See regional comparisons in Resources here) Notably few private local stations in the Swiss-German region jumped in the second half 2013 period compared with like period 2012. Radio Fribourg (Canton Fribourg) and Yes FM (serving the Geneva-Lausanne area) showed gains in the French-speaking region. Radio 3i in the Italian-speaking region rose to 7.1% market share, up from 6.5%.

For public radio broadcasters one thread seems obvious: general interest channels lost market share. Granted, these legacy channels are all market leaders; big staff, highly promoted and funded. SFR1 in the Swiss-German region dropped to 31.7% market share (lowest in forever) from 32.4%. (See Swiss-German region trend chart here) RTS La Premiere in the French-speaking region dropped to 37.3% (lowest in forever) from 37.9%. (See French region trend chart here) Rete Uno in the Italian-speaking region nose-dived to 44.7% market share (lowest in forever) from 48.4%. (See Italian region trend chart here)

While the Mediapulse/Publicadata survey does not identify platforms and most broadcasters utilize both analogue and digital services, particularly in the Swiss-German region, the music-only services SSR-SRG offers to all regions on DAB+ and cable keep increasing their small but measurable market shares, particularly Radio Swiss Pop.

Overall listening was up (remember that methodological change) in the Swiss-German region to 88.5% from 87.9% one year on and in the French-speaking region to 84.3% from 84.0% and up in the Italian-speaking region to 88.5% from 86.2%. (JMH)

New platforms are opportunities, ad research says
“radio does not go on vacation”

Commercial radio broadcasters may feel snubbed by media buyers enamored with huge market shares of television and enormous reach of online media. Radio companies in Italy along with media buyer GroupM’s Mindshare analytics office in Rome recently presented new information organized as RadioCompass. The aim was to dislodge some of the conventional wisdom.

The presentation focused on consumer behavior, equally important to broadcasters and the ad people. “Radio has aged but it has aged well, integrating with TV and digital (media) in the media mix,” said Mindshare Italia CEO Roberto Binaghi, quoted by affaritaliani.it (January 16). “It isn’t true that people don’t hear ads on the radio.”

New platforms – from PCs to smartphones and TV set-top boxes – simply open more opportunities for people to hear radio channels. Research revealed in the presentation showed that the home is where half of all Italian radio listening takes place. And, in a slight pinch at TV programmers, “radio does not go on vacation,” summer listening in Italy remaining strong.

Listeners aren’t changing stations because of the ads, the research showed. It’s the music that causes people to switch. People hear the ads and remember them.

“Squeezed between TV, which takes 50% of the advertising pie, and the internet, that takes 20%, radio is often in the shadows,” said Mr. Binaghi. “It deserves better attention.” (JMH)

Radio Page week ending January 17, 2014
radio in France, Médiamétrie, radio audience, Europe 1, RTL, France Inter, NRJ, Skyrock, Nostalgie, France Bleu, radio in Germany, MDR 1 Sachsen, radio in the Czech Republic, CRo Sever, public radio, radio in Switzerland, Radio 105, BAKOM, Radio 1

Radio Page week ending January 10, 2014
radio in France, public radio, Le Mouv', radio in Poland, Radio Trojka

Radio Page week ending January 3, 2014
radio in Italy, RCS MediaGroup, Finelco, radio in Spain, Radio Marca

Radio Page week ending December 20, 2013
radio in the UK, radio in Switzerland, digital radio, DAB, DAB+, BAKOM, Frontier Silicon, Euro-chip, EBU

Radio Page week ending December 13, 2013
radio in Spain, news radio, RNE, Radio 5

Radio Page week ending December 6, 2013
radio in Poland, Eska Rock, VOX FM, Time Radio Group, disco, radio in the UK, BBC Radio 1, Official Chart Show, Karrang, OFCOM

Radio Page week ending November 29, 2013
radio in France, digital radio, CSA, Médiamétrie, Paris audience, Radio Latina, Europe 1, talk radio, radio in the Czech Republic, Radio Impuls, radio in Italy, Radio Number One

Radio Page week ending November 22, 2013
radio in France, Médiamétrie, NRJ, RTL, Europe 1, Skyrock, radio in Russia, Sochi Winter Olympics, radio in Germany, WDR, Valerie Weber, Antenne Bayern

Radio Page week ending November 15, 2013
radio in Ukraine, United Media Holding, radio advertising, radio in the UK, digital radio, EBU, radio sports

Radio Page week ending November 8, 2013
radio in Africa, international broadcasting, Radio France International, Citi FM, African Story Challenge

Radio Page week ending November 1, 2013
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Radio Page week ending October 25, 2013
radio in Germany, media policy, VPRT, RadioDNS, radio in Switzerland, DETEC, Radio Argovia, radio in the UK, RAJAR, BBC Radio 1, radio audience, commercial radio, KISS, Absolute Radio, LBC

Radio Page week ending October 18, 2013
radio in Finland, radio advertising, RadioMedia, radio in France, Médiamétrie, digital devices, mobile phones

Radio Page week ending October 11, 2013
radio in Switzerland, music quotas, radio in Sweden, Retro FM, radio news

Radio Page week ending October 4, 2013
radio in Greece, ERT, public radio, First Program, radio in France, Médiamétrie, radio audience, radio in Poland, Polskie Radio, digital radio

Recently added radio audience figures and resources

• France - Greater Paris Radio Audience (January 2014)
  national and local channels, market share, trend
• Switzerland - Radio listening by region (January 2014)
  public and private sectors, penetration, time spent listening
• Switzerland - French region Radio Audience (January 2014)
  share, trend
• Switzerland - Swiss-German region Radio Audience (January 2014)
  share, trend
• Switzerland - Italian region Radio Audience (January 2014)
  share, trend
• France - National Radio Audience (14/01/2014)
  national channels, sectors, market share, reach/TSL
• Bulgaria - Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (12/12/2013)
  public and private radio channels, management, platforms, market share
• France - Greater Paris Radio Audience (26/11/2013)
  national and local channels, market share, trend
• UK - National Radio Audience (24/10/2013)
  market share, trend, sectors
• UK - London Radio Audience (24/10/2013)
  market share, trend
• UK - National Radio Audience (24/10/2013)
  BBC/commercial 'gap'
• France - National Radio Summer Audience (03/10/2013)
  national channels, summer period 2008-2013 trend
• Austria - Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (09/09/2013)
  public and private broadcasters, owners, management, audience trend
• Belgium - Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (French region) (28/08/2013)
  Wallonia region, radio broadcasters, public, private, owners, platforms, audience trend
• Belgium - Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (Flemish region) (28/08/2013)
  Flemish region, radio broadcasters, public, private, owners, platforms, audience trend
• Turkey - Major Media - Radio broadcasting (15/08/2013)
  ownership, management, program formats, platforms

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