ftm Radio Page - October 16, 2015

Big broadcaster aims for English expat audience
details to follow

Joining the DAB+ multiplex serving Brussels and northern Belgium in November is the BBC World Service (BBC WS), said multiplex operator Norkring Belgium in a presser quoted by MediaMagazine.nl (October 12). Several Flemish broadcasters already operate on the commercial multiplex - Club FM, Family Radio, Radio FG, Radio Maria, Radio Stad, Top Radio and VBRO Radio.

Details from BBC WS will arrive with the formal launch, said spokesperson Suzie Schilling, in an email. The BBC WS English-language schedule is rebroadcast in part or fully in many countries, satellite and shortwave distribution generally targets Africa, Asia/Pacific, North America and the Middle East. In recent years the BBC WS broadcast footprint in Europe has diminished, but Brussels is home to the European Commission and a plethora of related NGOs and lobbyists plus NATO, all of which work primarily in English. (See more about the BBC here)

Online radio station Radio X had been expected to join the Brussels DAB+ multiplex. In September Norkring Belgium said that had been “postponed.” Radio X launched in November 2013 targeting English-speaking expats in Brussels, tourists and such.

Music icon calls talk radio station “pathetic,” hackers agree
“spiritual darkness”

Talk radio stations have developed, in recent years, an unenviable reputation as hubs for a set of angry listeners seeking companionship for their xenophobia, racism and conspiracy theories. These stations broadcast in nearly every country, at least until media regulators close them down for hate speech violations. Ironically, they pop up where press freedom and free speech laws are strongest.

Reykjavik talk radio station Utvarp Saga reported an act of vandalism this past weekend. An “unscrupulous person” hacked into the stations IT system and played havoc with an online poll, said news portal visir.is (October 12). Utvarp Saga regularly uses online polls to recite opinions of regular fans. This particular poll tested “trust” of Icelandic punk rocker Bubba Mortens.

Talk show hosts on Utvarp Saga have taken a distinctly negative positions toward immigrants and foreigners. In September the station produced an online poll on “trust of Muslims” as the country debated taking refugees from Syria and Iraq. When Iceland’s government offered to take 50 refugees, more than ten thousand of the country’s citizens came forward to offer aid for refugees, including housing.

Bubba Morthens, a music icon in Iceland, recently criticized Utyarp Saga for “shameful and stupid” on-air behavior, It is “pathetic,” Bubba posted to Facebook, that “adults, who one can only assume grew up experiencing love could flourish in the spiritual darkness that surrounds the studios of Utvarp Saga.” He’s forbidden the station from playing his tunes.

In radio audience estimates complied last January by Capacent Gallup, Utyarp Saga didn’t create a blip, perhaps explaining the populist leap. Top rated in daily reach was privately owned Bylgian (34.6%), a full service contemporary station, followed by public channel Ras 2 (32.5%), then Ras 1 (18.2%). FM 957, sister station of Bylgian, was 4th (4.3%) and K100.5 5th (3.3%).

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Recently added radio audience figures and resources

• Finland - Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (September 2015)
  public and private radio channels, management, market share, platforms
• France - National Radio Summer Audience (September 2015)
  national channels, summer period 2010-2015 trend
• Ireland - National Radio Audience (August 2015)
  market share, 07h00-19h00, trend
• Ireland - Dublin Radio Audience (August 2015)
  market share, 07h00-19h00, trend
• UK - National Radio Audience (August 2015)
  market share, trend, sectors
• UK - London Radio Audience (August 2015)
  market share, trend
• UK - National Radio Audience (August 2015)
  BBC/commercial 'gap'
• France - Greater Paris Radio Audience (July 2015)
  national and local channels, market share, trend
• Germany - Radio Audience (July 2015)
  leading stations, audience trend, daily reach
• France - National Radio Audience (July 2015)
  national channels, sectors, market share, reach/TSL
• Spain - National Radio Audience (July 2015)
  national channels, reach share, trend
• Spain - Major Media - Radio (July 2015)
  public and private broadcasting companies, channels, management, platforms, audience estimates
• Greece - Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (June 2015))
  public and private broadcasting, owners, executives, market share

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