New Consumer Habits, Direction Unknown

Michael Hedges January 15, 2021 Follow on Twitter

It has been a year of enduring misfortune for much of the media world. As consumers changed habits new ones emerged. Some traditional media has been cast away. There was little time to prepare. Radio broadcasting has been stunned by dwindling audiences. The great unknowns - will listeners return - is often imponderable.

Total radio reach in France buckled in the November-December 2020 audience estimates from media measurement institute Médiamétrie compared with the same period in 2019, 74.2%, down from 77.9%. It is the smallest reach ever. Ten years earlier the radio reach share was 82.1% and it was a very different scene. "We expected a decrease, but this is still very violent,” observed media buyer Publicis Media France media expert Philippe Nouchi, quoted by Le Monde (January 14).

A few French national channels have benefitted from new behaviors coping with crisis after crisis. Public radio channel France Inter, largely a news and talk channel, gained significantly. Its audience share rose during the period to 14.7% from 12.3% year on year. Not only is this the highest audience share ever for France Inter, it is the highest ever for any national radio channel.

Also a steadfast general interest channel, RTL held fast at 12.6% audience share over the same period in 2019 and slipped to second position. Public national network France Bleu, noted for regional news and traffic reports, held third place but fell to 5.8% audience share from 6.5%. Legacy hit music channel NRJ pushed into fourth place though dropping audience share to 5.6% from 6.2% one year on. Talk and sports channel RMC dropped to fifth place, audience share falling to 5.3% from 6.3%. All-news public channel France Info moved into sixth place with 4.7% audience share, up from 3.7%. Europe 1, challenged for more than a year by programming and branding issues, dropped to 3.9% audience share from 4.5%.

French media watchers fault lockdowns and such for a significant drop in listeners 15 to 34 years. Others suggest workers no longer commuting - or commuting differently - abandoned radio along with their cars. In a preface to its report (January 14) Médiamétrie noted 27.4% of those using radio during the period reported changes to their daily habits, including telecommuting and part-time employment. “Radio is a media of individualists,” said one observer to Le Point (January 14). “It is double the penalty with less travel by car and the family together at home.”

The statutory music channels, perhaps related to different consumer habits, were sent into a troubled place. Oldies channel Nostalgie fell to seventh place overall with 3.9% audience share, down from 4.3% year on year. Rap and hip hop channel Skyrock was down slightly to 3.1% audience share. Fun Radio and Virgin Radio were also lower.

Rock oldies channel RTL2 bucked the trend and placed tenth with 3.1% audience share, up from 2.9% one year on. RFM was unchanged at 2.8% audience share. The big winners among music channels offer classical music and arts programming. Public channel France Culture rose to 2.7% audience share from 2.1%. Commercial channel Radio Classique hit 2.4% audience share, highest ever, from 1.7%. Also up significantly was France Musiques; 2.2% audience share from 1.7%.

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