German Radio Audience: Bavaria

Three channels, two public and one private, hold the majority of radio audience in Bavaria, each with market shares over 20%. This leaves very little for the remaining channels, which was clear from the MA radio 2005 I audience survey. Bavaria is the sole German länder comprising Nielsen measurement zone IV.

Germany’s most successful commercial station, private broadcaster Antenne Bayern, on the air since the early 1990’s, leapt 14.8% to 789,000 total listeners, Monday through Saturday, 0600-1800, persons 14 years and older. In the MA radio 2004 II survey the station registered 687,000 listeners. Among listeners 14 to 49 years, the station gained 20.9%, for a total of 695,000.

General Manager Karlheinz Hörhammer was widely quoted in the German media press as saying the “champagne corks were popping.” The station has undisputed signal coverage with 39 FM frequencies in Bavaria, no other privately owned station comes close and until 1999 there were no other privately owned competitors. The station can best be characterized as a full-service adult contemporary format. RTL and publishers Alex Springer and Burda hold shares in Antenne Bayern.

Radio Audience in Germany
MA radio 2005 I results

Radio audience figures were released (March 9) for the whole of Germany by Media-Analyse, the joint broadcaster research institute.

In general, the Radio 2005 I survey – covering September through December 2004 - shows an increase in radio’s overall reach in Germany, 81.9% of the population uses the medium, up from 81.2% in the previous survey. The current survey reveals a growing difference between the amount of time men spend with radio, 220 minutes, versus 201 minutes by women. Women, however, listen more than men between 0900 and noon and men listen than women between 1700 and 1900. Increasing their time spent listening by 2 minutes over the previous survey are people 30 to 59 years of age, to 243 minutes. The most favored age group for advertisers, 14 to 49 year olds, listen 220 minutes, unchanged from the previous survey.

Privately owned radio stations in Germany have now doubled to 200 since 1989. In 1988 there were 10 private stations. That jumped to 100 in 1989. There are 59 public radio channels, dropping back from 63 in 2003. Of the top ten channels ranked by Monday through Sunday, 0600-1800 listeners, 8 are regional public broadcasters. Bavaria’s Antenne Bayern and the Radio NRW network in Nord Rhine Westphalia are the only privately owned radio chennels in the top ten.

Six separate research companies conduct the telephone surveys and collect data from zones corresponding to Nielsen television survey zones.

Before 2000 the MA conducted personal interviews to survey radio listening. That was replaced with telephone interviews. This method change caused a slight decline in reported daily usage, to 79% of the population from 82.3%, and a time spent listening increase to 209 minutes in 2000 from 179 minutes in 1999.

Subscribers, sales-houses, and regional authorities release radio listening data but selectively. Media-Analyse (ag.ma) does not publicly release radio audience results. Survey results are designed as ad sales currency, results reported include “listeners per advertising hour.”

Articles in this series on radio in Germany focus on the Radio 2005 I Media-Analyse results in the individual Nielsen zones

German Radio Audience: the North
Public broadcasters hold the edge in northern Germany, legacy stations slide.

German Radio Audience: North Rhine-Westphalia
Radio NRW and WDR, no competition.

German Radio Audience: Southwest
Market history no advantage to private broadcasters

German Radio Audience: Bavaria
Big public and private channels post big increases

German Radio Audience: Berlin-Brandenberg
New top station in Germany's most competitive market

German Radio Audience: the East
Targeted local stations gain on market leaders

Radio Arabella posted the largest percentage increase of any German station in the recent survey, increasing 31.6%, to 125,000 from 95,000. Among 14 to 49 year olds the station jumped 48.7%, to 58,000 from 39,000.

Rock Antenne, originally a DAB project and given a FM frequency in 2002, has never quite caught on. The classic rock station lost 14.8% to 23,000 listeners 14 years and older from 27,000 in the MA radio 2004 II survey and lost 19.2% among 14 to 49 year olds. Antenne Bayern owns Rock Antenne.

Munich local station Radio Gong 96.3 (“Munich’s Hit Guarantee”) increased to 80,000 listeners 14 years and older from 76,000, 5.3%. The stations’ 14 to 49 year old audience dropped 2.9%, to 67,000 from 69,000 in the previous survey.

Other Bavarian private channels lost a little audience, or lost a lot. Radio Galaxy, on the air just over a year and targeting 14 to 29 year olds, dropped slightly to 38,000 listeners from 35,000, 2.6%. Among 14 to 49 year olds, closer to the target audience, the station lost none, and gained none. Soft adult-contemporary station Radio Charivari lost 3.8%, to 25,000 from 26,000 among listeners 14 years and older and 14.3% among 14 to 49 year old listeners, to 18,000 from 21,000. The station targets listeners 30 to 49 years. Energy 93.3 dropped 25.6%, to 32,000 from 43,000 among listeners 14 years and older, and 20% among 14 to 49 year olds, to 18,000 from 21,000.

Public broadcaster Bayerische Rundfunk (BR) offers five channels in Bavaria and, in combination, increased its audience circulation by 4.5%, to 868,000 from 831,000. General interest channel Bayern 1 is the 4th highest rated channel in all of Germany, reaching 826,000 listeners 14 years and older in the recent MA radio 2005 I, down slightly from 828,000. The channel gained significantly among 14 to 49 year olds, rare among general interest public stations, 8.8%, to 210,000 from 193,000 listeners.

Bayern2Radio, a recently revamped “information and culture” channel featuring long-form news and documentaries, lost 22.9% of its audience 14 years and older, to 61,000 from 79,000.

Bayern 3, also in the top ten of all German channels, gained 10.9%, to 621,000 listeners from 560,000. Competing with the several pop and rock stations in Bavaria, Bayern 3 increased its 14 to 49 year old audience 9.4%, to 418,000 from 382,000 listeners.

BR culture channel Bayern 4 Klassik won the unfortunate title for losing the most listeners in Germany by percentage between the last two surveys, down 44.8% to 53,000 from 96,000. It’s unfair because, looking at the longer trend, the channels' results in the immediately previous MA radio 2004 II survey appear inflated.

Headline news B5 aktuell lost 4.1% of its listeners 14 years and older, to 139,000 from 145,000 though it increased among persons 14 to 49 8.5%, to 51,000.

German Radio Audience: Bavaria
Fourth in a series looking at radio in Germany following the MA radio 2005 I audience survey release.

Big public and private channels post big increases.

German Radio Audience: BavariaFourth in a series looking at radio in Germany following the MA radio 2005 I audience survey release.

Big public and private channels post big increases.

German Radio Audience: Bavaria
Fourth in a series looking at radio in Germany following the MA radio 2005 I audience survey release.