The Audience Doesn’t Suffer, They Change Channels

Michael Hedges November 16, 2018 Follow on Twitter

Show hosts attract and hold audiences. Every broadcaster knows this. It’s the jokes, the stories, the wink, nod and tone. There’s more. They give voice to the brand. Messing with this can be a disaster… and expensive.

Turmoil continues through the French commercial radio sector noted with the release of the Médiamétrie national audience estimates for September-October. On aggregate, the audience share for national commercial channels dropped to 69.1% from 70.2% one year on. Granted, that is a huge body of listeners but it is slipping. Ten years ago the audience share for national commercial radio stood at 73.5%.

Losses started at the top. Perennial market leader news/talk channel RTL, owned by RTL Group French subsidiary Groupe M6, slipped to 12.5% audience share from 12.8% year on year. It remains in the lead. Public radio channel France Inter jumped to 11.4% audience share for, again, second place, up from 10.1%. Also in the new-talk arena RMC held 3rd place with 6.4% audience share, down from 6.9%.

"It's all radio media that's down, not just RMC," offered station director Guenaëlle Jide, quoted by Le Point (November 15). “It is impossible to know whether the change in the schedule of several shows can explain this decline in the audience.” She also added, a common refrain, that Médiamétrie audience estimates fail to measure digital platforms.

“Yesterday it was NRJ. Today it is France Inter. The challengers change, but RTL remains the first radio of France,” observed Group M6 president Christopher Baldelli.

Rankings did not change for the top 8 channels, audience shares a different story. Legacy hit music channel NRJ held 4th place with 6.2% audience share, no change one year on. Regional public network France Bleu remains in 5th place, dropping to 6.0% audience share from 6.7%. Aggregate audience share for Radio France channels rose to 26.0% from 25.1%.

Somewhat surprising, general interest channel Europe 1 held 6th place while careening to 4.8% audience share from 5.6% year on year. Europe 1, owned by Lagardère Group, has been slipping lower for five years. The company brought in new management and show hosts again last year.

Not suffering is oldies channel Nostalgie, holding 7th place and posting 4.7% audience share, up from 4.1% one year on. Some French radio observers credit almost endless Johnny Hallyday commemorations since his death in December 2017. All-news public channel France Info kept 8th in the rankings, 3.9% audience share, up slightly. News never changes.

Jumping to 9th spot is urban hip-hop Skyrock, 3.7% audience share, up from 3.2% year on year when it placed 11th. RFM was up a bit, 3.5% audience share for 10th. Fun Radio (RTL Group) fell to 3.4% audience share and 11th place from 3.7% audience share and 9th place. It was Fun Radio’s worst showing in a decade.

Further down the list, RTL2, Virgin Radio and Cherie FM were lower in bits. The re-branded M Radio, at the bottom, was up. Also up, and fairly significantly, was public arts channel France Culture, 2.1% audience share from 1.7%. France Culture recently recruited well-known show hosts Laurence Ferrari and Franck Ferrand, both from Europe 1.

See also in ftmKnowledge

Media in France

French audiences are moving fast to every new platform. Mobile and Web media challenges the old guard while rule makers seek new directions. Media life in France... and a few secrets. includes updated Resources 147 pages PDF (November 2011)

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