Scandinavia Radio Ratings – New Commercial Channels Pressure Public Broadcasters

Michael Hedges January 27, 2005

New channels have added to the broadcast clamor in Scandinavia and public broadcasters are feeling the pressure.

Public regional networks seem to take the most heat from new – and often very local – commercial stations. This trend now affects the more established commercial networks. When once a new national commercial network attracted an immediate audience, newer national entrants are finding it difficult to make a bold initial impact.  

Ratings suppliers are testing portable measurement devices – quietly. RUAB in Sweden conducted a small test of the Telecontrol/Radiocontrol device. TNS-Gallup in both Norway and Denmark has conducted similar small tests of Arbitron’s PPM.

Sweden

Radio listening increased in Sweden as the days grew shorter in Q4 2004. According to the RUAB report issued recently, lightly more Swedes listened – 76.8% of the population, compared with 76.5 in Q3 – and they listened longer; 163 minutes on average, up from 156 minutes. It must be seasonal. Those figures are exactly the same as Q4 2003.

And radio listening also changed very little. Public broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR) dropped to 50.2% from 51.3% across the same period in 2003. P1s gain to 11.7% from 11.2% and P3s gain to 11.1% from 10.8% was more than offset by losses at the P4 network, which dropped to 34.1% from 35.6%.

The commercial groups all posted increases nationally.

Norway

TNS-Gallup released a radio listening trend study, covering 1992 through 2004. Through this period the NRK public radio channels were initially affected by private national channel P4’s introduction in 1993, as were local stations – at the time largely non-commercial community stations. Between 1994 and 1998 the combined audience for NRK channels dipped below 50%, rose to 53% in 2000 and 2002, then dropped to 50% of persons 9 years and older in 2004.

P4 immediately attracted a significant audience, 21%, in 1994, the year after it’s launch, gained one or two points each year, peaking in 2002 and 2003 at 27%. In 2004 P4s audience dropped to 24%.

Kanal 24 was launched in January 2004 as the latest commercial channel with national reach in Norway, and a direct competitor for P4. In the Q4 2004 TNS-Gallup survey the station achieved an 8% market share.

Local radio, now largely converted from non-commercial to commercial stations, were affected, too, by the introduction of P4. In 1992 these stations attracted 23% of all radio listening, falling by more than half by 1995. After several years remaining between 11% and 13%, the audience share has risen to 16% since 2002.

NRK main channel P1 was most affected by the launch of P4 and other private stations, dropping from 42% in 1992 to 35% in 1994. Since 1995, however, P1 steadily increased share to 40% in 2004.

Between 2003 and 2004, time spent listening to all radio increased to 162 minutes – the highest since 1995 - from 157 minutes. Time spent listening to NRK P1 remained constant at 75 minutes, P4 dropped to 38 from 45 minutes and the total for local stations increased to 21 minutes from 19.

Denmark

The TNS Gallup Q4 2004 Radio Index for Danish channels was released January 20th and the news isn’t all that good for Danmarks Radio (DR) channels. Considering, though, that the number of commercial channels has nearly doubled in a year – with the attendant marketing campaigns – a slip by the public channels to 66.2% from 69.5% isn’t all that dramatic. The commercial channels took their pound of flesh from DR in Q1 and Q2 2004 but P1 and P3 have managed to earn back most of the lost shares. The P4 local stations have not fared as well, dropping to 37.6% from 40.4% one year ago.

The commercial channels have, indeed, increased their shares to 31.0% from 27.3% in a year with four news stations on the air. Radio 100FM (6.1%) passed Sky Radio (5.6%) for the #1 commercial channel slot. Radio 2, which has undergone a variety of changes, slid to 1.6% from 2.5%. The other new stations born in 2004 have failed to gain traction.