ftm Radio Page - August 30, 2013

When News Is Bad, They Turn Up The Hits
Perhaps it is the spirit of the times. Hit music is again a winner in audience surveys, news and information not so much. For private broadcasters it’s a good thing. But public broadcasters face questions.

Radio news faces the music
Fog of information

Much has been written – here, there and everywhere – on the state on broadcast news. Online news portals, certainly, have had an impact. And, too, there’s economics. Programmers also reflect on unpredictable news cycles.

News on radio bares scant similarity with television. European public broadcasters carry most of the weight in providing news and information on radio. Nearly all have a dedicated news channel with national coverage. Private sector radio news stations exist and community stations add value to their offerings with local news. But radio news is expensive, staff-intensive, and mostly the domain of public radio.

Arguably the first rolling-news radio channel in Europe was France Info, launched in 1987. It has been all-news, all the time, tightly formatted and focused on delivering lots of information quickly.  Similarities with American all-news radio stations are obvious.

France Info has been suffering. In the national survey its market share has fallen to 3.4%. Ten years ago the market share was 4.6%. Public broadcasters, protestations notwithstanding, pay great attention to audience surveys. In Paris, residence of all the people who matter, France Info has performed better; 5.0% market share most recently but far from the 6.2% of ten years ago. (See French national audience trend chart here and Paris audience trend chart here)

Change, thus, is coming to France Info. The channel will be “deformated” this fall, said Radio France General Director Jean-Luc Hees as he updated assembled media watchers this week. For the first time, long-form newscasts – 30 minute blocks – will appear in midday, afternoon and evening. M Hees also said main general interest channel France Inter will be adding more humor.

“Times have changed,” said France Info director Pierre-Marie Christin, quoted by Nouvel Observateur (August 29). “People are not satisfied. This accumulation of information creates a kind of fog.” M Christin, who arrived a year ago from RTL, also said the channel will allow “time for reflection, longer stories and more lengthy explanations.” There will also be a new set of morning news hosts. 

Television news being television attention is always focused on the visual and most headline grabbing. Radio news being radio the advantage has always been the story and immediacy. The next Médiamétrie radio audience survey will be released in about 90 days. (JMH)

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Recently added radio audience figures and resources

• Belgium - Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (French region) (28/08/2013)
  Wallonia region, radio broadcasters, public, private, owners, platforms, audience trend
• Belgium - Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (Flemish region) (28/08/2013)
  Flemish region, radio broadcasters, public, private, owners, platforms, audience trend
• Turkey - Major Media - Radio broadcasting (15/08/2013)
  ownership, management, program formats, platforms
• Netherlands - Radio Audience (08/08/2013)
  national survey, market share, trend
• UK - National Radio Audience (01/08/2013)
  market share, trend, sectors
• UK - London Radio Audience (01/08/2013)
  market share, trend
• UK - National Radio Audience (01/08/2013)
  BBC/commercial 'gap'
• Ireland - National Radio Audience (30/07/2013)
  market share, 07h00-19h00, trend
• Ireland - Dublin Radio Audience (30/07/2013)
  market share, 07h00-19h00, trend
• France - Greater Paris Radio Audience (23/07/2013)
  national and local channels, market share, trend
• Switzerland - Radio listening by region (19/07/2013)
  public and private sectors, penetration, time spent listening
• Switzerland - French region Radio Audience (19/07/2013)
  share, trend
• Switzerland - Swiss-German region Radio Audience (19/07/2013)
  share, trend
• Switzerland - Italian region Radio Audience (19/07/2013)
  share, trend
• Germany - Radio Audience (16/07/2013)
  leading stations, audience trend, daily reach
• France - National Radio Audience (16/07/2013)
  national channels, sectors, market share, reach/TSL
• Germany - Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (16/07/2013)
  public and private broadcasters, ownership, management, platforms, audience trend
• Latvia - National Radio Audience (12/06/2013)
  national channels, audience share, trend
• Spain - National Radio Audience (24/04/2013)
  national channels, reach share, trend
• Poland Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (28/03/2013)
  public and private radio channels, management, platforms, market share
• Lithuania Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (25/02/2013)
  public and private radio channels, management, platforms, audience reach
• Czech Republic Major Media - Radio Broadcasting (18/02/2013)
  public and private radio channels, management, audience reach

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