Web Radio Pulls Up Listening

Michael Hedges August 24, 2009 Follow on Twitter

Defying trends in other media, radio listening levels in many countries are growing. At a time when media watchers fall all over themselves reporting new media usage up and all other fading away, radio is attracting more people. There are many clues and no consensus.

Media research institute SIFO (August 14) reported a jump in gross daily reach for radio in Sweden. The percentage of the population listening to radio more than five minutes between 9 and 79 years rose to 76.6% from 73.7% one year on in the national audience survey. Public radio Sveriges Radio (SR) and several private channels gained as gross reach listening levels increased.

Rises in gross daily reach as a percentage of the population – more people generally tuning in – is great news for broadcasters. Audience surveys in several countries have reported increases in gross reach this year, in some cases large and unexpected increases. Because of typically stable research methods with data from several years, any increase in gross reach over one percentage point is eye-catching. Three points increase, year on year, is attention grabbing.

More people seem to be tuning in to radio channels but this trend seems to be accompanied by people listening for shorter lengths of time. Swedish radio listeners spent 192 minutes per day with radio during the Rapport III period, down from 206 minutes one year on. Listeners spent 191 minutes on average with SR channels, down from 203 minutes, and 129 minutes with commercial (PLR – private local radio) channels, down from 145 minutes, year on year.

The SR P4 network of local stations rose to 31.1% gross daily reach from 29.2%, year on year. National news and information channel P1 posted 12.4%, up from 10.8%, and national pop music channel P3 rose to 11.4% from 10.5%. Culture channel P2 also increased gross reach to 1.7% from 1.2%. (See graph here)

By appearances, at least some of the increase in radio reach comes from internet radio. The percentage of people listening via the internet rose to 17.7% from 13.1% year on year. More than one in five (20.4%) men listened to radio via the internet and 27.6% of person 20-34 years. SR broadcasts more than a dozen web and DAB channels.

“We are now seeing the impact on the media of a simultaneous economic crisis and a radical technology shift,” said SR CEO Mats Svegfors, in a press release. “I think an important aspect of development is that we, in public service radio, can maintain quality and ambition in an economically strident period. And for my part, I realize, of course, that public service media’s role becomes particularly important when the commercial media market is failing. In this is certainly no desire for it to go bad for the advertising dependent media.”

Commercial radio in Sweden isn’t dead. The RIX FM quasi-national network leads with 14.3% gross daily reach, down from 17.5%. The Mix Megapol quasi-national network posted 10.5% gross reach, up from 10.2% one year on. Lugna Favoriter dropped to 3.3% from 4.0%.

There is something of a rock music battle. Both major commercial radio owners – SBS and MTG – have launched rock stations in the last year, typically shuffling frequencies from other formats. Bandit Rock (MTG) posted 3.5% gross reach and Rock Klassiker (SBS) posted 3.4%. NRJ, available in several cities, also increased gross reach to 2.2% from 2.0%, year on year.

SIFO Research International measures national and local radio audiences in Sweden four times per year. The most recent study – Rapport III 2009 – was conducted April through mid-June 2009.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Media in Scandinavia

Big media companies in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are riding a sea of change. The digital media revolution is nowhere more apparent than in Scandinavia. This ftm Knowledge file Media in Scandinavia looks at rapid change in the most 'wired' neighborhood. 56 pages PDF, Resources (May 2009)

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