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AGENDA
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German Radio Audience: the North
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Radio Audience in Germany MA radio 2005 I results |
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Radio audience figures were released (March 9) for the whole of Germany by Media-Analyse, the joint broadcaster research institute.
In general, the Radio 2005 I survey – covering September through December 2004 - shows an increase in radio’s overall reach in Germany, 81.9% of the population uses the medium, up from 81.2% in the previous survey. The current survey reveals a growing difference between the amount of time men spend with radio, 220 minutes, versus 201 minutes by women. Women, however, listen more than men between 0900 and noon and men listen than women between 1700 and 1900. Increasing their time spent listening by 2 minutes over the previous survey are people 30 to 59 years of age, to 243 minutes. The most favored age group for advertisers, 14 to 49 year olds, listen 220 minutes, unchanged from the previous survey. Privately owned radio stations in Germany have now doubled to 200 since 1989. In 1988 there were 10 private stations. That jumped to 100 in 1989. There are 59 public radio channels, dropping back from 63 in 2003. Of the top ten channels ranked by Monday through Sunday, 0600-1800 listeners, 8 are regional public broadcasters. Bavaria’s Antenne Bayern and the Radio NRW network in Nord Rhine Westphalia are the only privately owned radio chennels in the top ten. Six separate research companies conduct the telephone surveys and collect data from zones corresponding to Nielsen television survey zones. Before 2000 the MA conducted personal interviews to survey radio listening. That was replaced with telephone interviews. This method change caused a slight decline in reported daily usage, to 79% of the population from 82.3%, and a time spent listening increase to 209 minutes in 2000 from 179 minutes in 1999. Subscribers, sales-houses, and regional authorities release radio listening data but selectively. Media-Analyse (ag.ma) does not publicly release radio audience results. Survey results are designed as ad sales currency, results reported include “listeners per advertising hour.” Articles in this series on radio in Germany focus on the Radio 2005 I Media-Analyse results in the individual Nielsen zones German Radio Audience: the North German Radio Audience: North Rhine-Westphalia German Radio Audience: Southwest German Radio Audience: Bavaria German Radio Audience: Berlin-Brandenberg German Radio Audience: the East |
NDR 90.3 reached 20.9% market share, increasing from 19.1% in MA radio 2004 II. The channel specifically serves Hamburg.
NDR’s youth channel n-joy maintained its’ 3% share through the entire region and 5.2% in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg.
NDR Info slipped to 2% from 2.5% in the previous survey. NDR Kultur maintained 1.5% market share.
NDR and Radio Bremen jointly produce Nordwest Radio, which increased in Bremen but not in Lower Saxony.
Radio Hamburg Managing Director Stephan Schwenk was quoted in Die Welt saying ““all other City-Radios in Germany lost audience. Radio Hamburg is the exception.” The station tends to be more “full-service” than other private stations and is owned by a consortium of publishers, including Axel Springer. The station recorded a 23.4% market share Monday through Sunday, 0600-1800, in Hamburg and 25.4%, Monday through Friday, 0500-2400.
Radio Schleswig-Holstein (R.SH) is based in Kiel and fights for the top of the list with NDR Welle Nord. A perennial winner, the station lost 5.3% of its audience from the previous survey for a 30.3% market share in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg.
Hit-Radio Antenne and radio ffn are focused on Lower Saxony and barely show audience in Hamburg. Hit-Radio Antenne increased to a 15.8% share from 15.2%, Monday through Friday, although it lost a fraction Monday through Sunday. radio ffn targets 14-49 year olds with a strong morning show and has been one of Germany’s top rated stations. It’s market share increased in the recent survey to 13.6% from 13.0%.
Other newer and more local private stations include Radio NORA, which increased to a 6% share. Delta Radio, which competes with NDR’s n-joy, lost 10,000 listeners or about 12% of its audience. Oldie 95.4, owned by the Frank Otto group, maintained its market share. The station targets the 35-54 age group and plays ‘60’s, ‘70’s and ‘80’s music.
Locally owned 106!8 in its first survey under a new name reached a 5.5% market share in Hamburg. Classic Rock Radio 21, which has a limited transmission area and targets men, reached 103,000 listeners, increasing 12% over the previous survey.
Energy 97.1 Hamburg lost 10% of its listeners in Hamburg for a 4% market share. Energy Bremen lost 21.4% of its listeners in Bremen.
The long trend among 14-49 year olds in Northern Germany looks sour for the perennial leaders. NDR 2, radio ffn, Hit-Radio Antenne, R.SH and Radio Hamburg were market leaders five years ago. They’re still the market leaders today but, with the exception of Radio Hamburg, sliding. NDR 2 and radio ffn sharply nose-dived between 2000 and 2003 but have managed to stabilize audience shares. Hit-Radio Antenne also nose-dived during the same period but recovered in the MA radio 2003 II survey period only to drop audience through the current period. R-SH’s 14-49 year old audience has slowly, but steadily dropped. Radio Hamburg has slowly increased audience since 2003.
Bremen Vier, not necessarily programmed to 14-49 year olds and with limited coverage in the region, showed a significant increase in the MA radio 2004 I period, but has lost all the gains over the subsequent year.
Bremen Eins, Delta Radio and Radio 21, also limited in coverage, have generally managed audience gains, though remaining toward the bottom of the list.
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