Shock Fall In Listening Clips Big Channels

Michael Hedges April 23, 2019 Follow on Twitter

Radio broadcasters work at the behest of the listening audience. This is immutable. Media buyers and especially the bots reward big audience and punish the rest. Shareholders approve bonuses for winners. The losers are asked to explain what happened. And they are only asked once.

The French national radio audience estimates for January-March scorched several leading channels. Six of the top ten by audience share were lower, year on year. Market rankings were scrambled. The winners were channels of public broadcaster Radio France, legacy hit music channel NRJ and oldies music channel RFM. The rest held public relations crisis meetings.

For the first time in most media buyers’ living memory public general interest channel France Inter topped the national radio audience estimates. Its audience share rose to 12.2% from 11.5%, one year on. France Inter director Laurence Bloch credited a “demanding and audacious schedule” built “wall to wall since 2014,” quoted by Libération (April 18).

National general interest channel RTL, owned by RTL Group, must suffer for at least the next three months being number two. Its audience share dripped to 11.8% from 13.2%, year on year. “How can a schedule that has< not changed and an absolute record (audience) between September and December drop as sharply in the next (survey)?” asked chief executive Christopher Baldelli to Le Point (April 18). Inquiring shareholders will also want to know.

Third place by audience share is shared by NRJ and news-talk channel RMC. The former rose to 6.1% from 5.5%, one year on. The later dropped to 6.1% audience share from 6.5%. In fifth place is public regional network France Bleu; 6.0% audience share down from 6.5%.

Next is another tie, for 6th place. Oldies music channel Nostalgie fell to 4.5% audience share from 4.8%. General interest channel Europe 1 careened ever lower, 4.5% audience share from 5.3% year on year. Five years ago, Europe 1 held a fairly constant 3rd place, close to challenging France Inter.

The drop in Médiamétrie audience estimates is “the illustration that the company has no strategy,” said an anonymous employee to Libération (April 18). “We have had three directors in three years. We no longer see the exit. Europe 1 is in a vicious circle, monstrous.”

At a company general assembly the day before the audience estimates were released union members overwhelmingly adopted (89%) a motion of no confidence in president Arnaud Lagardère, also principal owner of Lagardère Active Media, reported Les Echos (April 18).

Public all-news channel France Info moved up to 8th place in the national audience estimates, 4.0% audience share from 3.6% one year on. Fun Radio held 9th place, down slightly to 3.6% audience share. Tenth spot was earned by light-pop oldies music channel RFM; 3.4% audience share up from 2.7%.

A bigger problem is yet to enter the consciousness of French national radio operators. “I just say that this survey, on all criteria, for RTL but also the entire radio media, seems to me atypical,” said M. Baldelli, quoted by ozap.fr (April 18). “It does not follow the trends observed previously at all and I do not see any explanation.”

The trend is clear. To parody the famous THX movie theater opener: the audience isn’t listening. Gross reach as a percentage of the 15 years plus population has fallen to its lowest level ever; 78.1% from 79.5%, year on year, and 81.5% in the same period 2014. Average aggregate time spent listening (TSL) is 2 hours 46 minutes, 4 minutes lower than a year ago, 13 minutes five years ago.

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