Media above the line and between the lines

Michael Hedges May 18, 2009

Scale makes major cities media-rich in every dimension. Talented people are attracted to the action and make the most of it. In turn, major media capitals are always at the tipping point of delightful chaos.

Moscow is a very big city. According to UN figures (2007), 10.5 million people are packed into 2,150 square kilometers. By contrast, Greater London’s population is 8.3 million over 1,600 square kilometers. And nearly 18 million people live in the New York City metropolitan area. 

Media density in Moscow is high. There are about two dozen local and regional newspapers of significance and at least as many television channels. For radio Moscow listeners have more than 50 choices.  Since 2006 more than a dozen new stations have gone on the air.

The Western stereotype confines the Moscow media market to a vision of sycophant broadcasters touting the official government line interrupted by Soviet era martial music. That can be found, surely, but few European media markets have as many distinctive and original radio channels. From Autoradio and Dacha Radio to the Police Wave and Fruitcake FM Moscow’s radio spectrum is quite its own.

TNS Global recently released first quarter radio audience estimates – Radio Index - for the Moscow market showing considerable fluttering among established channels, local and national, along with some buzz created by new stations. The TNS Global Russian surveys report average quarter-hour share (AQHS), common in the United States but not in Europe, effectively measuring gross reach and time spent listening. There are other radio audience surveys, several, in fact. The TNS Global survey measures persons 12 years and older in the largest Russian cities. (See graph of top stations here)

National channels, unsurprisingly, dominate the top ranks, legacy have the advantage. State channel Radio Russia (Radio Rossiya), once the ‘first button’ on the old wired radio network, is the top ranked channel by AQHS.

Audience for the State networks of the All-Russia State TV and Radio Company (VGTRK) seem to be slipping, observing January-March audience figures since 2007. Radio Russia, mostly news and information with regional windows, dropped to 9.9%.  Radio Mayak (Lighthouse), once the ‘second button’ and also news-heavy with a spread of adult contemporary music, fell to 5.1% from 7.3% one year on.

In 2007 Sergei Arkhipov was lured away from Russia Media Group (RMG), which he reportedly owned, to breath life into the two big national State radio networks. Radio Russia’s AQHS jumped to 10.6% in the first quarter 2008 from 6.1% in the same period 2007. Radio Mayak rose to 7.3% from 5.2% in 2007. Based on current figures some of those early gains have been short-lived. Radio Mayak is said to be undergoing a bit of re-branding. New VGTRK radio channel Vesti FM, also news-heavy, received a 1% AQHS.

Another radio channel with definite official connection also suffered in the current ratings. Police (Militia) Wave, an information service of the Interior Ministry, dropped to 4.4% from 5% one year on.   

Radio Chansons is, obviously, a music channel and gained share in the January-March period to 6.5% from 6% one year on. The music format is all-Russian music and not of the trendy variety. The channel, which can be heard all over Russia, has an older audience.

Gazprom Media, part of the giant State energy company, has six radio channels. Many in the West will have heard of Echo of Moscow, the news and talk station noted for a rather independent bent. Its Moscow AQHS is 5.9%, a tad off the 6% one year on. Far (far) right-wing politician Vladmir Zhirinovsky called (May 15) for Echo of Moscow to be taken off the airwaves. Relax FM, a light pop easy listening music channel, reached 1.7% AQHD, up from 1.5% one year on. Moscow news station CITY FM dropped to 1.3% from 1.8%.

Russian Radio (Russkoe Radio), Maximum Radio, Hit Radio, DFM and Radio Monte Carlo are owned by Russian Media Group (RMG). Russian Radio, a rather mid-range music and chatter station, has slipped in the ratings, now at 5.2% AQHS, down from 5.6% one year on. Moscow’s first rock station Maximum, too, has fallen precipitously as has Hit FM. Dance station DFM, rebranded recently from Dinamit, rose to 2.2% from 1.6% year on year.

Autoradio, Prof Media’s leading national channel, has dropped to 3.9% AQHS from 4.2% one year on. The company’s Humor FM – yep, Russian jokes – gained to 3.2% from 2.9% year on year. Prof Media’s new entry, Radio Alla – targeting young women, scored 2.1%. The company also operates the Energy franchise, from NRJ Group, which increased share to 2.7% from 2.5%.

Moscow listeners have a radio station that can, perhaps, be described as handy household hints. Radio Dacha, a project of ARS/Media Hold’em, targets women over 40 years with a bit of older Russian pop music and, as it describes itself, ‘kitchen table’ stuff. It has a 3.8% AQHS, unchanged year on year.

The only wholly foreign owned company remaining in Russian radio – European Media Group (EMG), owned by Lagardere – owns Retro FM and the legacy Europa Plus, which dropped to 3.8% from 4.7% one year on. Retro FM, aimed at listeners 35 and older, gained slightly to 5% AQHS from 4.7% one year on. For the same period in 2007 the channel, which covers all of Russia and Ukraine, had a 7.5% AQHS, the top score for that survey. The company also owns Radio 7, formerly Radio of the 7 Hills, which also dropped to 1.6% from 1.8%.

EMG owns and operated Fruitcake FM (sorry, my translation), a bouncy light music station that originated in St. Petersburg. It opened in Moscow in 2008 with a marketing splash around the slogan “We want to play.” Its recent AQHS is 1.6%, up from 1.5% one year on.

News Media Radio Group owns Nashe Radio, Best FM and Ultra and may, or may not, be part owned by News International. Boris Berezovsky’s LogoVAZ and Rupert Murdoch’s News International set up Nashe Radio and Ultra more than a decade ago. Nashe Radio, a mainstream rock station, slipped slightly in the recent TNS Global survey to 3.8% AQHS from 4% one year on. Best FM has a 1.3% AQHS and Ultra, an alternative rock station, is off the list.

Moscow Says is a news and talk station that migrated from the Moscow cable system to FM in 2008. It’s 40% owned by the City of Moscow. Its recent AQHS is 1.7%.

Silver Rain has become somewhat an icon in Moscow radio broadcasting. The music format is ‘diverse,’ and the presentation is decidedly ‘caviar’. The most recent AQHS is 1.8%.

There are others; dozens of others, and new ones set to take to the airwaves. Alexander Lebedev, best known in the UK as the new owner of the Evening Standard newspaper, is launching a business talk station. He said the station would not compete with Business FM, owned by United Media, because the focus will be on talk shows rather than business news.

Most radio programmers in Moscow, like in all of Russia, stay clear of controversial speech content. Directly confronting official positions has consequences, which Russians learned in the Soviet days. Instead, music is a larger part of the message. And, like the Russian language, so much is between the lines.