Taking The Long View And Attracting A New Generation

Michael Hedges March 13, 2014 Follow on Twitter

The great debate among radio programmers, raging for more than a generation, pits branding versus mechanics. Branding for radio is more than names – or name changes – and is the essence of image. Proponents fight the competitive battles with advertising and promotion. More tactical programmers fight with music rotations, word count and timing. The point is getting listeners – and advertisers – to notice.

Radio’s overall reach in Germany rose ever so slightly to 58.64 million, 79.9% of the population, according to the MA Radio 2014/I audience estimates for the second half of 2013. Average daily time spent listening rose to 199 minutes, up 2 minutes year on year. A slightly smaller number of ten to 19 year olds, 1.2% fewer year on year, listened 129 minutes daily.

German public radio channels on aggregate gained 1.3% year on year in daily reach, Monday through Friday, 06h00-18h00. Private radio channels dropped 1.9%, affected by lower listening among 10 to 29 year old listeners.

Changes year to year were modest among the top ranks of the national survey. The Radio NRW brand still reaches more radio listeners each day than all the others but in the MA Radio 2014/I survey it reached 4.9% fewer.  Radio NRW is a network of 45 local stations in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany’s most populous State, and has held the top spot in listening surveys for 14 consecutive years.

Radio NRW competes with the radio channels of regional public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), some of which are top ranked nationally. Pop music channel EinsLive ranked 4th nationally, up 1.4% in daily reach among listeners 10 years and older and up 23.8% year on year among 10 to 29 year olds. Adult-contemporary channel WDR 2 was up very slightly, moving to 5th in the national rankings from 6th. Schlager music channel WDR 4 held 8th position, gaining 3.2% in daily reach one year on. In a few weeks WDR will have a new radio director, Valerie Weber, known as a promotional strategist, from private channel Antenne Bayern.

German media watchers pay considerable attention, however, to legacy brand Antenne Bayern, the top ranked single channel in Bavaria. In terms of daily reach among listeners 10 years and older, Antenne Bayern grew 2.4% to 1.334 million, its best showing historically. No replacement for Frau Weber has been announced but Martin Kunze, a tactician, from Radio NRW is a German media watcher’s favorite.

Bavarian public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) saw popular adult contemporary channel Bayern 1 slip beneath a million daily listeners, 983 thousand from 1.039 million, a 5.5% decline to 6th place nationally. Pop music channel Bayern 3, ranked 9th nationally, fell 0.8% year on year. Alternative channel Bayern 2 was 6.4% lower in daily reach and rolling news channel BR akteull gained 1.4%.

In the southwest, public broadcaster Südwestrundfunks (SWR), which serves Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, saw gains for hit music channel SWR3, up 3.3%, remaining 3rd in daily reach nationally.  SWR operates local networks in both federal States branded as SWR4, largely schlager music. SWR4 Baden-Württemberg ranks 10th nationally and gained 9% daily reach one year on while SWR4 Rhineland-Palatinate was off 6.8%.

Private radio channels in Baden-Württemberg were up and down, often wildly. Stuttgart-based adult contemporary channel Antenne 1 fell 19.8% in daily reach one year on. In February there were major changes; new branding and new morning show. Adult-contemporary Radio Regenbogen lost 23% daily reach. Meanwhile, local Heilbronn station Radio Ton gained 19.6% in daily reach, tiny webradio die neue welle gained 20.5%, baden.fm on the Swiss border gained 45.5% and Donau 3 FM gained 79.2%.

Other big public radio channels faired well. NDR 2, the adult-contemporary channel of Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), gained 4.4% daily reach year on year and holds 7th ranking nationally. MDR (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk) Radio Sachsen gained 12.5% daily reach and hit music channel MDR Jump gained 8.2%. Most other public radio channels held firm, up a little or down a little. One exception was Hessischer Rundfunk (hr) that saw background music channel hr1 drop 25.9% and schlager music channel drop 14.5%.

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Media-Analysis (ag.ma) releases radio listening estimates for Germany twice a year. Publicly available top line data reports Monday through Friday, 05h00-18h00, listening for persons 10 years and older. At the end of March ag.ma will release listening figures for web radio.

See also in ftmKnowledge

Europe's Radio - Western Europe

Opportunity meets tradition in Western Europe's radio broadcasting. Change has come fast and yet oh, so slowly. This ftm Knowledge file contains material and resources on public and private radio broadcasting in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Netherlands and Switzerland. 244 pages. Resources. PDF (September 2013)

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Media in Germany

Home to Europe's biggest broadcasters and publishers, Germany is a highly competitive media market. Transition to digital television was easy, other media not so simple, unsuprising with Germany's complex regulation and business structures. This Knowledge file reports on media leaders and followers. Includes Resources 214 pages PDF (July 2013)

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