Wisdom Of The Tables Turning

Michael Hedges April 16, 2013 Follow on Twitter

Ratings are not a spectator sport. You show your cards every day. Some days you win. And then there are others. When you come to the table be prepared to play.

Perennial market leader RTL regained almost a full point in market share and solidified its number one position in the Médiamétrie French national radio audience results. The general interest channel, French radio flagship of RTL Group, gained most of all national channels to 12.4% market share from 11.5% year on year. It is the best result for RTL in over a year as pressure from other news and talk channels pushed the market share lower if not the market position.

The prime challenger to RTL has long been public news and talk channel France Inter, typically two and a half to three points behind RTL. That flattened considerably a year ago when France Inter nearly got within one point of RTL. Fortunes have reversed and France Inter dropped to 9.5% market share from 10.4% one year on, remaining in second place.

Then comes third place and a three-way tie. How French is that? Europe 1, the general interest channel owned by Lagardère, continued to sag with 7.1% market share, down from 7.2% year on year and its worse showing in a decade. Europe 1 has a new general manager, Fabien Namias, starting in May. “Everything is on the table,” he said, quoted by Le Figaro (April 16).

The public radio network of local stations France Bleu jumped to 7.1% on aggregate from 6.3% and its best showing ever. Also tied for third place nationally was legacy hit music channel NRJ, which posted 7.1% market share, up from 6.5% one year on. Two years ago NRG Group CEO Jean-Paul Baudecroix vowed to return the channel to its top-five market position and cycled through a number of program directors and performers. NRJ and RFM, Lagardère’s pop-oldies channel, were the only national music channels to post year-to-year gains in market share. RFM placed 11th nationally with 3.1% market share, up from 2.9%.

Sports-talk channel RMC also posted a gain, 6.5% market share up from 6.0% for 6th place, where it seems to be stuck. National general interest channels, mostly speech-based, gained aggregate market share in the January to March survey period, 42.6% Monday through Friday from 41.5% year on year. Exceptions were Europe 1 and all-news public channel France Info, which fell to 3.4% market share from 3.8% year on year. It’s possible several news events during the winter quarter had French listeners tuned-in; the horse-meat scandal, the resignation of one Pope and naming of another and just about the worst winter weather in years.

National music channels, NRJ and RFM excepted, did poorly. On aggregate the music channels fell to 31.7% market share from 32.4% one year on. Worst hit was golden oldies channel Nostalgie, NRJ Group, falling to 3.7% market share from 4.3%. Pop rock RTL2 dropped to 2.5% market share from 2.9%, lowest in two years. Virgin Radio continued its fall to oblivion, 1.9% market share from 2.2% one year on. Fun Radio and Skyrock were down slightly and Cherie FM unchanged.

National commercial channel’s aggregate market share rose to 71.8% market share from 71.4% on large gains from RTL, NRJ and RMC but mediated on losses from other music channels. Radio France channels dropped slightly to 23.8% aggregate market share from 24.1%. Overall radio listening in the period dropped to 81.3% of the population from 83.1% year on year, while time spent listening rose 3 minutes to 179 daily minutes of listening.

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