Audience Drifting Away Focuses Broadcasters On Transitions

Michael Hedges November 20, 2020 Follow on Twitter

Surprises in audience behavior, sometimes, are not surprises at all. Trends were there all along, some say. Special circumstances pop-up all the time, say others. Broadcast management tends to prioritize the here and now, relatively speaking. That’s where the media buyers live; virtually, of course. A longer view just muddies the waters.

French measurement institute Médiamétrie released its September-October national radio audience estimates this week (November 19). The results - more or less - were hardly a surprise. Existing trends have been confirmed, noted several French media watchers. Big legacy radio brands remained on top. Marginal brands languished. Management mistakes were punished. Listener interest in news and current events, even regional, pushed other channels higher.

Total listening as a share of measured population (persons 13+) fell to 75.2%, a historic low. During the same period one year ago it was 76.5%. Five years ago it was 80.8%. Average time spent listening dropped to 162 minutes, six minutes off the same period one year on, ten minutes lower than 2015. Some French observers suggest the likely impact of a shift in listening due to behavioral changes during the coronavirus pandemic and related lockdowns, which continue. Others blame digital transition.

France Inter, the main general interest channel of public broadcaster Radio France, led the national audience estimates with 13.3% audience share, up from 12.5% year on year. Bumped back to second place is legacy commercial general interest channel RTL; 12.7% audience share from 12.6%. All Radio France channels gained: on aggregate 29.3% audience share from 27.2%. Commercial channels had a more mixed result: falling on aggregate to 65.9% from 67.5%.

The return from summer holidays - la rentrée - has long been a huge part of French radio broadcasting. They serve up their best during the post-summer period; upgrading shows, hosts and DJs, promoting all with force, giving listeners and media buyers an earful. Certainly, there is significance for back-to-school retail advertising season. But that is only a blip to what comes later. For many, Christmas to New Year’s advertising makes half the year’s budget. Recently French commercial radio operators began lobbying for cuts to media support for Radio France due to the pandemic.

Legacy hit music channel NRJ held 3rd place; 6.2% audience share, down slightly one year on. Regional public network France Bleu captured 4th place with 5.9% audience share, up from 5.7%. News/talk channel RMC continued to slide, posting its lowest audience share in a decade; 5.4% audience share from 5.8% in the same period last year.

Oldies channel Nostalgie held 6th place while dropping to 4.5% audience share from 4.8% year on year. Without surprise, public all-news channel France Info pushed into 7th place with 4.4% audience, up from 3.8%. Audience share for France Info periodically jumps with major news events. Long-suffering general interest channel Europe 1 dropped to 8th place with audience share stable at 4.1%.

Music channels took the next three positions in the rankings; Skyrock, RFM and RTL2, respectively. All were up. Fun Radio, however, dropped to 12th place; 2.8% audience share down from 3.2% one year on. Virgin Radio also had a bad day, dropping to 2.1% audience share from 2.5%. Cherie FM dropped to 2.0% audience share, lowest in forever.

That radio measurement lags behind other more digital-inclined media in collecting audience measurement is oft repeated. Médiamétrie interviews people about their radio listening by conventional methods. Nearly all French radio broadcasters are asking questions. Radio listening may, indeed, be wafting away, replaced - or augmented, arguably - by online and mobile streaming services and podcasts.

See also...

• Hot Topics - Media in France