Italians and radio: It’s amore!

Michael Hedges March 31, 2008

Italian radio broadcasters are singing everything but the blues. Stunning results for the first launch of a national brand since 2005 show how much Italians just love the radio. And Italian ad buyers love radio, too.

Finelco launched Virgin Radio late last year, bumping the moribund Play Radio, which it took over from RCS Media. In the first bimonthly Audiradio survey of 2008 the channel reached 1.65 million listeners (daily reach, January-February). OK; so that’s only 15th place in the great list of Italian radio stations but in a market with exceptionally strong national and local brands it’s quite an accomplishment.

Mondidori launched R101 in 2005 and gained 2 million listeners. In 1999 Gruppo Il Sole 24 Ore launched Radio 24, which hit with 1.6 million listeners. In Italy, it seems, there is no slow building a radio brand. Either it explodes or, well, not.

Finelco’s press release credited "the unique positioning and absolute originality.” Virgin Radio has been on the air in Italy since last July but, for reasons only known to Audiradio, its audience results were not posted until the January-February period. Finelco franchised the Virgin Radio name while the music format – “international rock” – is home-grown.

Last July RCS Media Group transferred Play Radio to Gruppo Finelco and took a 34.6% share of Finelco. Gruppo Finelco owns Radio 105, Radio Monte Carlo and RMC2.

Top rated in the latest survey was public radio’s main channel RAI Radiouno. It counts 6.87 million listeners, up 5% from the same period 2007.

Radio Deejay maintained its second place ranking with 5.362 million listeners but lost 5% year on year. And its position is threatened by RTL 102.5, now number 3, up from 4th place in the same period 2007. And, oh, the race is so close. RTL 102.5 increased to 5.358 million listeners, only 4 thousand less than Radio Deejay, a 12% increase year on year.

In fourth place sits RDS 100% Grandi Successi with 4.879 million listeners, up from 4.596 million, a 6.2% gain year on year.

RAI Radioduo fell to 5th from 3rd place 4.752 million listeners from 5.003 million, a 5% loss.

Radio 105 registered 3.887 million listeners, holding 6th place on a 4.8% gain from the same period 2007.

In the January-February results, Radio Italia Solo Musica Italiana reached 3.785 million listeners. The channel’s 9.8% increase allowed it maintain 7th place.

Radio 24, another success story from the January-February rations period, climbed to 8th place with 2.225 million from 10th place one year on. The channel posted a 19.3% increase in listeners. General manager Giancarlo Saltalmassi offered that the stations’ talk shows were the key to increased audience: “In a country full of problems this radio talks about real problems.”

Radio Kiss Kiss places 9th with 2.207 million listeners, falling from 8th place in the same period 2007.

Radio R101 registered another big radio gain, moving into the top ten at 10th place from 13th in the same period 2007. The channel posted 2.065 million listeners, up 17.2% from 1.762 million in the same period 2007. Mondadori reported 21.5% growth in 2007 radio revenue to €11.3 million.

Falling out of the top ten from the same period in 2007 were RMC Radio Montecarlo and Radio Maria.

Overall radio listening gained 1.5% over the January-February period in 2007 to 38.424 million listeners, 72.4% of the Italian population. But in the same period radio ad revenue jumped 12.8% to €30.6 million, according to Nielsen Media Research data released March 27. It’s a growth rate about double that in other Western Europe countries – almost has high as rates in the East. Italian broadcasters have a song to sing, all about love.