Getting To Know Where People Live Is No Mean Feat

Michael Hedges April 17, 2015 Follow on Twitter

Nothing affects a media environment more than dramatic, breaking news. Media outlets offer details, often non-stop, and, also notable, escape from agonising subjects. People universally want to know what’s going on where they live. Leading edge outlets keep this firmly in mind.

Dramatic, often horrible events dominated French media in the first quarter this year, from the January terrorist rampage in Paris to the March aviation tragedy in the French Alps with winter weather and regional elections in between. National radio audience estimates from measurement institute Médiamétrie for the January through March period, released this week, show a marked rise in listening to speech-based channels. As the survey period ended unions at public broadcaster Radio France began a four-week industrial action, concluded only this week.

The leading national radio channel is, once again, RTL. The news-talk channel rose to 11.8% audience share from 11.2% year on year. Second place, of course, went to public news-talk channel France Inter with 9.8% audience share, best in more than two years, up from 8.9%. With the exception regional public network France Bleu all other speech-based channels fell. Europe 1, 3rd place, dropped to 7.5% audience share from 8.1%. RMC was lower at 6.5% audience share, 6th place, from 6.8%. Public all-news channel France Info was off slightly, 3.3% from 3.4% one year on. The aggregated audience share for the France Bleu network was up, 6.9% from 6.7%.

Listening reach was lower, 81.2% of the 13+ population from 81.8% year on year and 82.3% in the previous quarter. Average time spent listening was off two minutes to 177 minutes. Generalist channels, defined by Médiamétrie as RTL, France Inter, France Bleu, Europe 1 and RMC, was up on aggregate to 42.5% audience share from 41.7%. Time spent listening to generalist channels dropped three minutes to 157 minutes. (See French national radio trend charts here)

RTL and Europe 1 are competitors in every possible way and French media watchers took particular interest in audience estimates for afternoon show hosts. Comedian Laurent Ruquier left Europe 1 for RTL’s "Grosses têtes” afternoon show last September and comedian Cyril Hanouna joined Europe 1. Both are quite well-known to French radio listeners and TV audiences. As it turned out the afternoon show on RTL gained about as much as Europe 1’s PM show lost year on year, according to granular Médiamétrie data gleaned by blogger and Europe 1 show host Jean Marc Morandini (April 16).

National music channels, largely, suffered. Legacy hit music channel NRJ dropped to 7.1% audience share, holding 4th ranking, from 7.7% one year on. None of the NRJ Group channels showed increases: Nostalgie down to 3.4% audience share from 3.9%, Cherie FM unchanged at 2.7% audience share and Rire & Chansons 1.1% from 1.4%.

Rap music channel Skyrock was punished, falling to 3.2% audience share - lowest ever and out of the top 10 - from 3.9% year on year. Pop rock channel RTL2 dropped to 2.4% audience share from 3.0%. “RTL2 listeners are also interest in information,” said recently installed general director Tristan Jurgensen, to lalettre.pro (April 15), adding that during the survey period “French people over-consumed news.” Dance channel Fun Radio, also in his charge, rose to 4.0% audience share from 3.8%.

Also noticably improved was adult-contemporary channel RFM, owned with Europe 1 and Virgin Radio by Lagardére. RFM moved to 3.3% audience share from 2.9%. Virgin Radio was also up, 2.2% audience share from 2.0%. But the national music channels, defined by Médiamétrie, fell to the lowest aggregate audience share in years, 30.9% from 32.7% year on year.

On aggregate the audience share for Radio France channels increased to 24..0%, best in more than two years, from 22.5% one year on. A day after the Médiamétrie audience estimates were released a mediator appointed by Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin persuaded the remaining union hold-out to return to work after 28 days. By all reports CEO Mathieu Gallet will keep his job as will most support staff, the two national orchestras will not, immediately, be merged and an independent auditor will report to the negotiating table in two months.

National commercial channels, obviously, felt considerable pain, aggregate audience share dropping to 70.8% - lowest in forever - from 72.7%. Then, again, listening to the mysterious “other” category was up to 3.5% from 3.0%.

See also in ftmKnowledge

Europe's Radio - Western Europe

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Media in France

French audiences are moving fast to every new platform. Mobile and Web media challenges the old guard while rule makers seek new directions. Media life in France... and a few secrets. includes updated Resources 147 pages PDF (November 2011)

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