ftm Radio Page - April 12, 2013

Private broadcasters rail at uphill battle
“It’s the job of politicians”

The very last EU Member State to authorize private sector radio broadcasting was Austria. The fifteenth anniversary was commemorated (April 10), if not necessarily celebrated, by an outpouring of criticism aimed at public broadcaster ORF. Austria has 60 privately owned radio stations, which have achieved a combined market share of about 25%.

ORF’s market leading pop music channel Ö3 received a fusillade. “It’s the most private (like) and commercial radio channel,” said Kronehit CEO Ernst Swoboda, quoted by Der Standard (April 11). He noted that speech content on Ö3 is less than 20% of total output and the channel has “become even more like private channels.” After preparing an audit of the Ö3 programming a complaint will be filed with regulator KommAustria

“Fees and taxes are being used to contain the commercial radio market,” said Austrian private broadcasters association (Verband Österreichischer Privatsender - VÖP) chairperson Klaus Schweighofer, quoted by Die Presse (April 10). “It is the job of politicians to correct this error in the domestic broadcasting systems.”

Austria’s private sector broadcasters would like not to hear ads on ORF channels, a complaint widely heard about public broadcast financing from private sector competitors. Broadcasting and telecom regulator RTR managing director Alfred Grinschgl, himself a pioneer in private sector broadcasting, said Austria is “too small” to deny ORF access to advertising revenue. “From today's perspective, the ORF will probably be stronger than the commercial radio stations in total,” he said to Kleine Zeitung (April 11). The aggregate market share for ORF channels has declined about 5% in fifteen years of private radio competition. (JMH)

Public broadcaster wins local surveys
Local channels track higher

Overall radio listening estimates in Sweden’s three biggest cities were a mixed bag as TNS Sifo released local market results for January through March. Comparing the same period in 2012, total listening among those 9 to 79 years was down slightly in Stockholm, 65.6% from 66.9%, down more in Gothenburg, 68.5% from 70.8%, but up in Malmö/Lund, 69.1% from 68.0%.

Public broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR) channels were up in the three cities, on aggregate, though gains in Stockholm were slight, 41.9% from 41.0% year on year, bigger in Gothenburg, 47.6% from 46.6%, and shade more in Malmö/Lund, 45.1% from 43.4%. In Stockholm local SR channel Radio Stockholm placed first, down slightly at19.0%, followed by national news/talk channel P1, no change at 16.3%. In Gothenburg, local SR channel Radio Gothenburg leads with 24.6%, down from 25.1% one year on, with SR P1 second at 15.5% from 14.9%. Local SR channel Radio Malmöhus leads in the Malmö/Lund survey, 21.6% from 20.3%. Second in Malmö/Lund is SR P1, 13.0% from 12.6%.

Commercial stations, on aggregate, were lower in Stockholm, 28.7% from 29.9%, and in Gothenburg, 26.1% from 28.3%, but up in Malmö/Lund, 24.7% from 23.9%. Leading commercial broadcasters were Mix Megapol stations in Stockholm and Gothenburg and NRJ in Malmö/Lund.

TNS Sifo releases quarterly listening estimates for local markets conducted by telephone survey and weekly national estimates collected by PPM passive measurement. (JMH)

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Recently added radio audience figures and resources

• France - National Radio Audience (16/04/2013)
  national channels, sectors, market share, reach/TSL
• Poland Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (28/03/2013)
  public and private radio channels, management, platforms, market share
• Germany - Radio Audience (06/03/2013)
  leading stations, audience trend, daily reach
• Lithuania Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (25/02/2013)
  public and private radio channels, management, platforms, audience reach
• Czech Republic Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (18/02/2013)
  public and private radio channels, management, audience reach
• UK - National Radio Audience (30/01/2013)
  market share, trend, sectors
• UK - London Radio Audience (30/01/2013)
  market share, trend
• UK - National Radio Audience (30/01/2013)
  BBC/commercial 'gap'
• France - Greater Paris Radio Audience (21/01/2013)
  national and local channels, market share, trend
• Switzerland - Radio listening by region (20/01/2013)
  public and private sectors, penetration, time spent listening
• Switzerland - French region Radio Audience (20/01/2013)
  share, trend
• Switzerland - Swiss-German region Radio Audience (20/01/2013)
  share, trend
• Switzerland - Italian region Radio Audience (20/01/2013)
  share, trend

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