The Names In Spain Are On The Radio Large

Michael Hedges April 23, 2014 Follow on Twitter

Once upon a time, radio broadcasters could count on brand name benefit. Legacy brands have always held value through tough times and new entrants often adopted safe monikers, typically from a consultants list. Fast fragmenting tastes are giving music channels even more branding problems. Talk show hosts have become the new giants.

Spain’s big national general interest radio channels are even more dominant, according to the national EGM (General Media Study - Estudio General de Medios) audience estimates released this week by media research joint industry group AIMC (Asociación para la Investigación de Medios de Comunicación). All radio listening fell to 61.3% penetration, from 61.5% one year on, continuing a slide from 61.9% in the 2011 annual survey. The EGM measures all media in Spain, the April report presents a rolling 12-month average of reach and reach share among persons 14 years and older.

Long the top rated national channel, Cadena SER increased Monday through Sunday reach share to 36.0% from 35.1% year on year. Multimedia house Grupo Prisa also owns Los 40 Principales, ranked 3rd nationally, Cadena Dial, ranked 5th, as well as M80 Radio, Radio Olé, Maxima FM and mostly sports Catalan channel Ona FM.  Grupo Prisa, sitting on €3 billion debt, has been shedding non-core assets; radio, so far, not included.

Ranking second in the national audience estimates is general interest channel Onda Cero, owned by the Planeta/RTL Group joint venture Atresmedia Radio. Year on year Onda Cero’s reach share increased to 19.1%, best ever, from 18.3%. Also part of the Atresmedia Radio stable, Europa FM placed 6th nationally, up a slice to 9.9% reach share, and recently re-launched pop-rock oldies channel Melodía FM debuted with 1.4% reach share. Gains in overall listening in Spain over the last three years appear related to new channels, three in the last year and six the year before.

The biggest reach share increase among the legacy general interest channels came to Cadena Cope, 13.2% and 4th place nationally from 11.7%. Sports coverage and talk shows, wildly popular in Spain on every channel, benefited Cadena Cope, a commercial channel owned by the Spanish Catholic Church. Pop music channel Cadena 100, also owned by Grupo Cope, placed 7th nationally with 9.7% reach share. Sister channel Rock FM posted the biggest one-year gain in reach share, 4.4% up from 1.7%. Both Cadena Cope and Rock FM benefited from increased FM distribution after the acquisition of Punto Radio. Grupo Cope launched all-request MegaStar FM last September.

Public general interest channel RNE suffered the biggest reach share loss of all channels in the national survey, falling to 8.8% and 8th in the rankings from 10.2% one year on. Youth channel RNE Radio 3 posted it best showing in a decade, 2.5% reach share up from 2.4% one year on. All-news channel Radio 5 and arts channel Radio Clasica were unchanged at 1.6% and 0.8%, respectively.

Barcelona-based Catalan channel RAC 1 (Ràdio Associació de Catalunya) placed 9th in the national rankings, jumping to 5.8% reach share from 5.1% one year on. RAC 1 is a general interest channel broadcasting exclusively in the Catalan language. Regional Catalan public radio channel Catalunya Ràdio posted 3.4% reach share, down from 3.7% one year on.

Extending a long slide in the national rankings, Kiss FM fell to 10th place, 4.6% reach share from 5.1% year on year. Five years ago the hit oldies music channel ranked 7th nationally with 8.4% reach share. It’s been downhill ever since.

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