Attracting New Audience Not Easy In Romania

Michael Hedges June 3, 2011 Follow on Twitter

Competitive markets in times of economic stress face changes galore. Promotion and marketing leaps to attract attention. Formats are born, discarded and born again. Every broadcaster looks for an edge. Then the measurement changes.

Radio reach in Romania is among the lowest in Europe, just 59.9% according to the radio audience study (Studiului de Audienta Radio - SAR), released May 23rd. This is not to suggest that Romanian broadcasters are less competitive. There’s a well-respected public broadcaster and several big commercial radio companies.

Leader in the national survey with 15.8% market share is Radio Romania Actualitati, the news and general interest channel of Romanian public broadcaster Societatea Romana de Radiodifuziune (SRR). Romania Actualitati also leads in the Bucharest market with 14.7% market share. Other SRR channels include Antena Satelor, a medium-wave network targeting rural areas, regional network Romania Regional, cultural channel Romania Cultural and web-only channel Radio3Net.

DJs figure prominently in the ratings battles, particularly among hit music stations. Kiss FM’s morning show is hosted by comedians Serban Huidu and Mihai Gainusa, fixtures in Romanian media. The team hosts a weekly comedy show on Prima TV, which certainly doesn’t hurt the visibility. Prima TV is also owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media alone with Kiss TV, a convenient brand extension.

Kiss FM, ranked second nationally with 15.3% market share, leveraged a strong brand name with contests and promotions through the survey period; WinterKiss, Kiss 4 Love on St. Valentine’s Day and a May Day beach party. The station was acquired by ProSiebenSat.1 Media in 2003. ProSiebenSat.1 Media also owns soft hits Magic FM and classic rock Rock FM, which replaced dance music station One FM in October 2010 with a ‘rocktober’ concert promotion. One FM remains as an online channel only.

Also very brand-centric is Radio ZU, owned by Intact Media Group, ranking third nationally, 10.0% market share. In Bucharest, Radio Zu and Kiss FM are right on top of each other, 11.5% and 11.4% respectively. This radio brand is built around its Morning ZU morning show hosted by Daniel Buzdugan, surrounded by a cast of dozens.

Intact Media Group also owns Bucharest easy listening station Romantic FM, 5.6% market share in Bucharest, plus three television channels and several newspapers.

French media giant Lagardère Active Radio International  (LARI) owns three stations in Romania. Europa FM, LARI’s main international brand, ranks fourth in the current audience survey with 9.5% market share nationally, 7.0% in Bucharest. Radio 21, a hit music channel, has a 2.6% market share nationally and 2.8% in Bucharest. Vibe FM, a dance music station, has a 3.1% market share in Bucharest.

Another big international media company present in Romania is Central European Media Enterprises (CME), which owns national channel Pro FM and Bucharest station Music FM. Pro FM posted 7.1% markets share nationally and Music FM scored 0.5% market share in Bucharest in its debut ranking after replacing news station InfoPro. Music FM, launched in February, is a “good music” station targeting 30 to 50 year olds with non-stop tunes.

The January-April wave of the Romanian radio survey also comes with rather significant changes in methodology. A portion of the day-after-recall interviews are conducted by telephone, including mobile phones, in urban areas augmenting face-to-face interviews largely used in towns and rural areas. Differences in results are striking and, of course, incomparable. The research is reported three times a year, surveying persons 11 years and older, conducted by IMAS Marketing and Mercury Research for the joint industry committee Asociatia pentru Radio Audienta (ARA).

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