ftm Radio Page - week ending June 2, 2023

Going to the birds attracts large audience
get up early

Broadcasters are very aware of the value of the novel, meaning new and different. Some listeners, the theory goes, are curious. And standard broadcast schedules are notoriously regular, all the better for listeners to find what they want. These are not conflicting ideas.

For the last four years Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR) has offered Birdsong Night - Fågelsångsnatten - on main radio channel P1. The live presentation this year was broadcast from midnight until 8:00 on May 13. Since then SR gleefully announced the audience estimate, 440,000 listeners, up 22% from last year and 37% higher than the normal programming. (See more about media in Sweden here)

“We have received a nice response before but this year we were overwhelmed,” said producer Helena Söderlundh, in a statement (May 19). “It seems the Birdsong Night has settled in.” In the long radio tradition, there was a contest. A secret microphone was set up and listeners were challenged to guess where it was as well as identify the bird. It was a flock of seagulls on an island. “It was great fun and the experiment worked.” An edited version has been included on the Nature Morning podcast.

Two recent academic studies, noted by the Washington Post (May 18), identified a link between bird songs and mental health. “The special thing about bird songs is that even if people live in very urban environments and do not have a lot of contact with nature, they link the songs of birds to vital and intact natural environments,” said Emil Stobbe, an environmental neuroscientist and author of one of the reports. “The sights and sounds of nature help us recover from the stress of modern life and release ourselves from negative thought cycles.” P1 is the national public news and public affairs channel.

Hit shows an easy mark for podcasts when broadcaster needs to show change
everything else is accounting

Broadcasters undertake major program changes with great trepidation. Minor alterations, like tunes and DJs, are handled by assistants. Before long, AI will take care of these loose ends. But, larger departures come from the top. The listeners will notice.

UK public broadcaster BBC announced this past week (May 23) a significant shift to a long-running iconic program. Desert Island Discs, heard weekly on national channel Radio 4 since 1967, will be removed to the online platform BBC Sounds. Actually, Desert Island Discs has been part of the BBC lineup since 1942, making it the second oldest regularly scheduled radio program in the world. The oldest, for those who collect these bits of trivia, is the Grand Ol’ Opry on US radio station WSM since 1939.

Each week a “castaway” - typically a notable person - joins the host, currently Lauren Laverne, for a bit of sharing. Each brings - the show is pre-recorded - eight items; typically music, a book and a special item. All of this is to add insight into the journeys of the castaway. Desert Island Discs will move from public company BBC Radio to the commercial subsidiary BBC Sounds, expected within the next year. (See more about the BBC here)

There is little doubt that BBC executives want BBC Sounds to succeed. Production staff and managers have already been transferred to the for-profit subsidiary. BBC Sounds can undertake all sort of commercial activities, long kept at arms length by the public service parent. That means foreign distribution, ads and merchandise. A long-running regularly scheduled program is a perfect fit for the podcast boom.

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Recently added radio audience figures and resources

• UK - National Radio Audience (Q1 2023 - released May 2023)
  BBC/commercial 'gap'
• UK - London Radio Audience (Q1 2023 - released May 2023)
  market share, trend
• UK - National Radio Audience (Q1 2023 - released May 2023)
  BBC/commercial 'gap'
• France - National Radio Audience (January/March 2023 - released April 2023)
  national channels, sectors, market share, reach/TSL
• France - Greater Paris Radio Audience (July 2022)
  national and local channels, market share, trend
national channels, sectors, market share, reach/TSL
• France - National Radio Summer Audience (September 2021)
  national channels, summer period 2016-2021 trend
• Spain - National Radio Audience (July 2021)
  national and regional channels, reach share, trend
• Romania - Radio Audience (May 2021)
  national and Bucharest surveys, market share, trend
• Belgium - Flemish region, Radio Audience (April 2021)
  market share, Jan-Apr 2019 to Sep 2020-Feb 2021 trend
• Belgium - French region, Radio Audience (April 2021)
  market share, Jan-Apr 2019 to Sep 2020-Feb 2021 trend
• France - Greater Paris Radio Audience (April 2021)
  national and local channels, market share, trend
• Austria - Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (February 2021)
  public and private broadcasters, owners, management, audience trend

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