This document provides an overview of radio in Europe. It notes that while radio has a long history in Europe, becoming an established part of culture, it is still a relatively young medium that is constantly evolving. Specifically, private radio stations only began emerging in the 1980s and 1990s in most European countries. Additionally, it is noted that radio is still undergoing digital and structural changes, with opportunities presented by new distribution channels and technologies, and changes driven by competition and advertising. Overall, the document frames radio in Europe as both traditionally cultural but still youthful and growing and changing.

1. Radio 2002
2nd Edition
November 2002

2. Foreword
The International Key Facts – Radio 2002 analyses the Formats have been reduced to main families in order to
situation of radio in 22 European countries plus the United give indication of the main target group of a radio station,
States which can be used as benchmarking. The figures they do not intend to give a strict definition of the sta-
presented are those that are recognised and used by the tions play-lists.
professionals of each country. This does not, however, Although by no means exhaustive, the unique gathering
enable a direct cross comparison of the data to be made. of those sometime heterogeneous information intends to
The definitions used in each country vary quite consid- give to the reader a glimpse of the diversity and power of
erably. The audience measurement, for instance, is pretty radio in Europe.
different from a country to another: the population of the In order to register scale, the financial indicators have
sample may vary from 9 year-olds and plus to the 15 year- been converted into € at constant value. Those used for
olds and plus. In some other countries, people over 75 or this issue are for January 1st 2002.
79 are not part of the sample.
1st January 2002
Country Currency abbreviation 1 € equals
Czech republic CZK 32.11232
Denmark DKK 7.42858
Hungary HUF 244.687
Norway NOK 7.97286
Poland PLZ 3.5406
Romania ROL 27198.1
Slovakia SKK 42.7163
Sweden SEK 9.3088
Switzerland CHF 1.4779
UK GBP 0.6121
USA USD 0.89139
2 Radio 2002

3. Editorial
After a century of existence, radio is still a youthful medium, with enormous growth
potential.
Firstly, though radio has yet to go through its own digital revolution, 25 years after the FM revolu-
tion, with the advent of increasingly available advances in technology, it is nevertheless definitely
moving forward. Several countries (mainly the UK and Northern European countries) have made
firm steps in the Digital audio broadcasting field. But technology is not only about terrestrial broad-
casting. It opens up new opportunities to increase radio consumption through alternative distrib-
ution channels such as digital cable & satellite, Internet or the future mobile telephony applica-
tions. This technology will free radio from the current scarcity of available frequencies and fuel new
offers for listeners.
Secondly, radio is far from having reached its definitive structure. In most European countries the
liberalisation of the airwaves is rather recent. Private radio stations only began to appear as recently
as the 80s or the 90s, most often on a local level. The strong link between radio and the local com-
munities as well as varying national or even regional regulations in Europe explain why radio is a
highly fragmented medium. The challenges posed by new technologies, the listeners’ demand for
more professionalism and clear programming promises, the increase in competition between sta-
tions, and finally, the need for a coherent and simple advertising offer are all factors that will most
likely lead to progressive structural changes and to a certain degree of consolidation in several
European markets.
Radio is healthy enough to undergo these transformations.
Listening is on the rise in Europe, thanks to more diversified and attractive programming formats.
More than ever, radio proves itself to be adapted to the modern way of life, being as “mobile” as
the new generation of Europeans. The increased share of out-of-home listening is a clear demon-
stration of this phenomenon. Radio also benefits from improved financial resources. In most
European markets, investment in radio advertising has grown constantly over the last few decades,
growing more quickly than total advertising investments in nearly all other markets. The end of
the century proved to be a very dynamic time for radio. One of the main reasons for this is a bet-
ter advertising sales offer, and a new organisation of the media in many markets that convinces
many traditional advertisers to use it. Secondly, a growing number of advertisers have turned their
attention toward those elusive target groups that radio reaches so well, such as young adults, work-
ing people and the upper classes. All of this combined with the broadcast media’s effectiveness at
quickly building consumer awareness, it is not surprising that radio rapidly became one of the
favourite vehicles for the so-called New Technology sector. Of course, the 2001 economic slump has
hit radio all over Europe. However, with its high degree of reactivity and its enhanced advertising
attractiveness, radio is nevertheless well placed to weather the current downturn and profit from
the rebound. Encouraging signs are already appearing in 2002 in several markets, notably in France,
one of Europe’s largest radio markets.
RTL Group, Europe’s leading broadcaster and content provider, together with IP, Europe’s leading
advertising sales network, are proud to present the third edition of their International Key Facts - Radio
report. The International Key Facts - Radio 2002 will provide you with a concise overview of the current
radio markets in 22 European countries. It is a reference tool to help you better understand a media
with strong local specificity, which has undergone profound changes over the last 20 years: a media
that will continue to evolve and grow in the coming years with more sweeping changes ahead.
We hope this publication will help you to enrich your knowledge of this exciting media.
Didier LEFEVRE
Head of IP’s International Marketing Committee
Radio 2002 3

4. 4 Radio 2002

5. Table of contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Radio in Europe, a young, traditional media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Western Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Austria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Belgium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Denmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Finland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Greece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Ireland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Luxembourg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Netherlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Portugal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Sweden. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Switzerland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
United Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Central Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Czech Republic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Hungary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Romania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Slovakia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Non-European country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Radio 2002 5

6. 6 Radio 2002

7. Radio in Europe, a young, traditional media
European Radio is like Europe itself. In the media world the last twenty years that the modern media we enjoy
it has a long history established during the last century. today was created. And this latest part of history is not
This has ensured it is the subject of a strong cultural over. Radio is still on the move, offering new choices
recognition in European society. No matter how old we every day, adapting itself to our new habits, our new
are we all have a nostalgia for our own “Radio Days”. But ways of life, using - and sometimes even preceding - new
this memory is in fact specific to our home country, as technologic developments.
Radio is a part of our local history. Radio is closely European Radio is like Europe itself. Built on tradition,
linked to our local past, our local culture and our local imbued with local cultures, reflecting a wide variety of
tradition. Everyone has their own special programme, contexts, but at the same time, modern and dynamic
special presenter, special Radio event. European Radio and all moving in the same direction. This makes it a
is made of all those local cultural differences. But major and powerful media, with a massive population
although loaded with history and tradition, European reach, but at the same time remaining our own per-
Radio is also a young and dynamic media. It is only in sonal and intimate friend.
Local regulations have created a varying
landscape
Public or private sector
The local organisation and regulation of radio reflects nity and not carrying advertising. It was the case for many
profound historic and political concerns. Some countries years in the UK, where commercial television was allowed
have traditionally given higher importance to their Public before commercial radio. Whilst commercial radio has
Services. We have had to wait until the last ten years to expanded in recent years, it has remained mainly regional
see the emergence of private commercial radio stations. with strict regulations governing station ownership. The
Northern Europe dominates in this picture, mainly the planned changes in the law here should lead the way for
Nordic countries with a dominant local state-owned radio a major consolidation of the market.
organisation, with a strong involvement in the commu-
AUDIENCE SHARES PUBLIC SECTOR
Norway 95.0%
Austria 83.0%
N.Belgium 82.2%
Denmark 66.5%
Sweden 65.0%
Germany 53.0%
Finland 53.0%
UK 52.6%
Slovakia 47.1%
Ireland 47.0%
Netherlands 46.7%
Romania 46.4%
Italy 32.9%
Poland 31.1%
Hungary 28.0%
Czech Rep 28.0%
Spain 24.2%
France 22.7%
S.Belgium 18.8%
Portugal 9.2%
Luxembourg 2.7%
Radio 2002 7

8. National or local
A national or local organisation of the media is also one houses, to increase their use of the media. In Austria,
of the key differences between our various countries. A where the public service - which carries advertising - is in
federal country like Germany has a regional organisation, a monopolistic situation at the national level, it is at the
with a variety of audiovisual regulations depending on the regional scale that private radios have expanded. Here
different Landers. There it was not possible to establish national advertising packages have also provided an effec-
nationwide coverage, or national programming or branded tive means of increasing advertising revenues. Some other
networks of stations. The reality remains local or regional. countries, like France, have a long tradition of centrali-
National advertisers had to wait until the creation of sation and so it is no surprise to observe that the national
national advertising packages, developed by the sales program networks lead the market here.
A rich variety of formats
The programme offer is especially rich in Europe. Again ment of music orientated FM stations, as it has been able
this is closely linked to the variety of cultural expectations to create new, more modern and dynamic forms. It is
and it remains rather difficult to classify this offer within worth noting that this format also seems to be on the
a clear format segmentation as can be done in the US. The rise in the US.
most significant point is certainly the dominance of the Within the music offer, it should be noted that aside from
“Generalist” format. This has historically been the shape the “classic” music formats (such as European Hit Radio
of the European radio and has been broadly favoured by - EHR - or Adult Contemporary - AC -), some countries still
the various Public Service stations. General interest, full have a significant share that is a specific national variety
service, “conventional”, “talk and news”, the actual real- offer, such as folk music and Italy’s Solo Musica Italiana, the
ity certainly covers a range of concepts. But this form of many German Schlager stations and Spain’s Radio Ole. Yet
radio programming, mainly talk based and oriented further proof of European culture specificity in terms of
towards news and services, today represents the majority Radio.
of the European offer. It has not been hit by the develop-
AUDIENCE SHARES GENERAL INTEREST
Austria 79.0%
Luxembourg 76.5%
Sweden 50.0%
Spain 49.7%
Czech Rep 49.5%
N.Belgium 49.0%
Slovakia 47.9%
Norway 46.0%
Finland 46.0%
Poland 43.5%
Denmark 41.3%
France 40.1%
Romania 40.0%
S.Belgium 40.0%
Italy 37.0%
Ireland 37.0%
Portugal 30.0%
Hungary 27.0%
UK 11.3%
Netherlands 8.5%
8 Radio 2002

9. FORMATS EXAMPLES OF STATIONS
Talk
General interest RTL (France)
Talk & News Expres (Czech Rep.)
All News Radio 24 Il Sole 24 Ore (Italy)
Theme
Culture NDR/ORB Radio3 (Germany)
Sport Talk Sport (UK)
Ethnic R.Beur (France)
Religious R.Maryja (Poland)
Music
Classic Radio 4 (Netherlands)
Jazz Jazz FM (UK)
Easy Listening NRK P4 (Norway)
Variety
Local music R.Ole (Spain)
Middle of the Road (MOR) R.Nora (Germany)
Oldies RTL Die Oldie Sender (Geramany)
Gold Spreeradio 105,5 (Germany)
Adult contemporary (AC)
Oldie base AC Antenne Wien (Austria)
Current base AC Berliner Runfunk (Germany)
Euro AC Radio Contact (Belgium)
Hot AC Capital FM (UK)
Contemporary/European Hit Radio (CHR/EHR)
Mainstream NRJ
Dance 8FM (Netherlands)
Rock Arrow Rock (Netherlands)
Alternative
Dance Galaxy (UK)
Urban HR XXL (Germany)
Techno/House Planet Radio (Germany)
Rap Sky Rock (France)
Radio 2002 9

10. Listening on the rise
Each time something happens in the world, each time in Hungary. The average listening duration per listener
the news has a personal relevance, Radio is turned on. The ranges from 182 minutes a day in Italy to 330 minutes in
year 2001 was - unfortunately on certain occasions - rich the Northern part of Belgium. And of course one must be
with spectacular headlines. No surprise then that radio careful when trying to compare data, as it does not nec-
listening reached new peaks. Compared to 1999, listening essarily cover exactly the same things. Europe is still dis-
was up in most of our countries. There are, of course, sig- tinguished by a number of different audience measure-
nificant differences in the consumption of the media. For ment methodologies. And this can sometime explain cer-
instance, daily reach ranges from 56% in Spain to 87.2% tain differences in listening scores.
DAILY REACH
77.2%
Switzerland G*
93.1%
88.0%
Ireland
88.0%
85.9%
Hungary
87.2%
82.8%
Austria
84.8%
86.0%
Denmark
84.2%
83.3%
France
83.6%
81.0%
Finland
82.0%
84.3%
Germany*
81.8%
UK 80.2%
80.9%
Slovakia
80.0%
72.5%
Netherlands*
78.2%
80.4%
Sweden
77.5%
66.4%
Poland
77.4%
67.0%
Belgium N.
76.8%
65.9%
Luxembourg
70.7%
75.3%
Czech Rep.
70.6%
67.0%
Belgium S.
68.1%
67.7%
Italy
67.8%
66.1%
Norway
66.9%
58.5%
Portugal
57.5%
56.2%
Spain 1999
56.0%
60.2% 2001
Romania*
46.4%
* change in audience measurement
10 Radio 2002

11. LISTENING DURATION (in minutes)
Belgium N. 330
Poland 325
Belgium S. 313
Hungary 302
Czech Rep. 252
Austria 251
Netherlands 229
Denmark* 225
Germany 218
Luxembourg 212
UK* 205
Norway* 201
Finland* 200
Romania 191
France 191
Spain 185
Italy 182
Sweden* 163
Switzerland G 131
M to F, * M to S
Radio 2002 11

12. An audience measurement patchwork
Many countries use the personal diary methodology. Most vey (as is the case in Spain) is also important, as well as
of them can be found in the north of the Continent. The the minimum recorded listening period (generally 1/4
latest one to finally adopt this technique is Belgium, with hour in most countries but 1/2 hour in Spain). All those
the first audience results being published in October 2002. differences clearly have an impact on the final result.
Elsewhere, Day-after-recall remains the rule. But even Another major difference within the various audience
within this single methodology, there are differences that measurement surveys in Europe is the age range.
need to be underlined. Telephone and face-to-face inter- Depending on the country, the interviewed population can
views are varying local choices. This is certainly not neu- be from 9+ to 15+. Most of the time this reflects the his-
tral as the slight decrease in daily reach that may have tory and the organisation of the local radio landscape.
been observed in Germany, contrary to the global trend, Some countries have recently changed their universe. This
is undoubtedly explained by the fact that this country is the case for the Netherlands, which two years ago
has switched from face-to-face to telephone interviews. changed from 13+ to 10+. And it is also the case for France
The difference between being a mono or a cross-media sur- which is changing from 15+ to 13+.
AUDIENCE MEASUREMENT SURVEYS
Methodology Sample Age limit Publication
Austria Telephone 24 000 10+ twice a year
Belgium Diary* 10 000 12+ twice a year
Czech Rep. Face-to-face 30 000 12-79 Quarterly
Denmark Diary 23 000 12+ Quarterly
Finland Diary 4 930 9+ Quarterly
France Telephone 75 250 13+* 2 months/Quarterly
Germany Telephone 54 888 14+ twice a year
Greece** Face -to -face 17 000 13-70 Quarterly
Hungary Diary 28 000 15+ Monthly
Ireland Face-to-face 5 000 15+ twice a year
Italy Telephone 72 000 11+ twice a year
Luxembourg Telephone 3 500 12+ Yearly
Netherlands Diary 15 000 10+ Monthly
Norway Telephone 52 728 9+ Weekly
Poland Telephone 111 788 15-75 Quarterly
Portugal Telephone 20 160 15+ Quarterly
Romania Face-to-face 2 000 nat. 15+ Weekly
Slovakia Face-to-face 2 140 14/79 3 times a year
Spain Face-to-face 71 174 14+ Quarterly
Switzerland Peoplemeter 22 843 15+ Daily
United Kingdom Diary 130 000 15+ Quarterly
*As from September 2002
** Several surveys
12 Radio 2002

13. But the methodological patchwork that Europe repre- PPM” and in Europe, many other countries are experi-
sented is now getting even more complex with the arrival menting with various techniques. All these new develop-
of the Personal Peoplemeter. The Swiss are pioneering the ments are obviously being closely watched by the adver-
technology with their “Watch peoplemeter” which daily tising community, as their implementation would have
records every sound the panel members are exposed to. a major impact on media planning and buying. But from
These are then compared to the recorded tracks of each a small market such as Switzerland to the other bigger
radio station. So Radio is entering into the passive audi- markets on the Continent, there will be a long route and
ence measurement era. This is leading to fundamental we will undoubtedly have to come back to this issue in
shift within the audience results, favouring the recording the coming years.
of more numerous but shorter listening periods. Higher
daily reach, shorter average listening time. Switzerland is But even if comparing audience results from different
the first country to have taken this route. But it is not the countries can be hazardous, it does not change the fact
only one working on this new kind of survey. In the US, that radio listening remains closely linked to local ways
Arbitron is running tests in several markets with a “pager of life.
A media that follows our way of life
Northern Europe is the heaviest listener
Traditionally, radio consumption has been stronger in ing countries. History and culture have their own roles in
the North East of the Continent. A surprising parallel can audience building, as well as weather condition. Being out-
be drawn with daily newspaper readership. Countries in door more often does not result in heavy radio listening.
Central Europe - the former-people’s democracies - still Thus most of the Southern countries post under-average
have a tradition of heavy radio listening and Hungary listening scores. This is the case for Spain, Italy and Greece.
continues to lead with overall audiovisual media con- A more detailed analysis would show that even in these
sumption, since it is not only among the major TV radio countries, the Northern areas listen to radio more than
countries but was also one of the very first radio listen- the Southern parts.
Radio 2002 13

14. Listening curves reflect ways of life
History, culture and weather, radio consumption are also (Type 4), unlike Luxembourg and Hungary which show
closely linked to everyday life. In our last issue we empha- strong “lunchtime peaks” (Type 5). The classic shape is still
sised the close link between the daily listening curve and with a strong morning peak, dropping gradually until
the local organisation of the working day, whether lunch the early evening, with the more or less pronounced morn-
is taken at home or not, the commuting time and all the ing peak that differentiates type 1 from type 2.
other practical aspects that impact on our day-to-day What is striking is how these listening curves comple-
timetable. We then identified five different shapes for ment the TV viewing curves. These two media have per-
the daily listening curves. These are still applicable. Nordic fectly opposite modes of consumption. TV viewing takes
countries still have a regular audience curve between 7:00 place when people are relaxed and comfortably settled at
and 17:00 (Type 3). Latin countries show two audience home.
peaks and audience falls at lunchtime and early evening
TYPE I - UK
Radio TV
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
5h 7h 9h 11 h 13 h 15 h 17 h 19 h 21 h 23 h
M to F
TYPE II (N. BELGIUM)
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
5h 7h 9h 11 h 13 h 15 h 17 h 19 h 21 h
M to F
14 Radio 2002

15. TYPE III (SWEDEN)
Radio TV
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
5h 7h 9h 11 h 13 h 15 h 17 h 19 h 21 h 23 h
M to F
TYPE IV (FRANCE)
Radio TV
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
5h 7h 9h 11 h 13 h 15 h 17 h 19 h 21 h 23 h
M to F
TYPE V (HUNGARY)
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
5h 7h 9h 11 h 13 h 15 h 17 h 19 h 21 h 23 h
5M to F
Radio 2002 15

16. The media for people on the move
Radio listening accompanies every single active moment 55. No surprise either that, as listening is higher during
of the life, from the bathroom to the kitchen, from the the working hours of the day, it is also higher on work-
car to the working place. Radio is mainly listened to by ing days during the week than at the weekend, a more
active people. No surprise then than its reach is higher relaxed period of time when TV is preferred.
among the working population, generally between 20 and
LISTENING PLACES
Home Car Work Other
Belgium S. 86.9 3.8 8.8 0.5
Belgium N. 85.8 5.1 8.6 0.5
Czech Rep. 76.0 5.0 17.0 2.0
Romania 75.2 6.0 17.3 1.5
Austria 69.5 9.4 17.0 4.1
UK 69.4 15.8 13.3 1.5
Hungary 68.3 6.7 22.1 2.9
Spain 67.1 14.8 7.7 10.4
Poland 60.7 9.6 24.0 5.6
France 55.7 22.8 17.0 4.5
Germany 55.0 14.2 27.1 3.7
Netherlands 51.2 13.9 28.1 6.8
Finland 22.5 12.7 46.2 18.6
More and more out of home listening
Following listeners at every moment of their active lives and the time spent driving. It is also interesting to observe
has always been a typical advantage of radio. It is inter- that outside listening is less developed in the smaller
esting to note that this fact has become even more evident countries, like Belgium, where most commuting times
in recent years. The share of out of home listening has been are shorter. It is also worth noting that outside radio lis-
on the increase since 1999, and in the large majority of tening increases as in-car equipment improves. Poland
the countries surveyed. Several explanations for this are has been a spectacular example of this.
possible. First, people are increasingly active and spend Thirdly, new technological developments lead to new
less time at home on weekdays. This is mainly the case opportunities for consumption. It is the case with the
for women, who are ever more likely to have active out- Internet, which is clearly a factor in favour of radio lis-
side lives. Secondly, people spend longer periods of time tening in the office. And this trend will undoubtedly
commuting. There is a direct link between radio listening increase in the coming years.
LISTENING PLACES - FRANCE - 2001 LISTENING PLACES - FRANCE - 1999
WORKING PLACE 17.0% OTHERS 4.5% WORKING PLACE 13.3% OTHERS 5.4%
HOME 55.7% HOME 62.3%
CAR 22.8% CAR 18.5%
16 Radio 2002

17. LISTENING PLACES - GERMANY - 2001 LISTENING PLACES - GERMANY - 1999
WORKING PLACE 27.1% OTHERS 3.7% WORKING PLACE 15.6% OTHERS 3.2%
HOME 55.0% HOME 62.3%
CAR 12.9%
CAR 14.2%
LISTENING PLACES - NETHERLANDS - 2001 LISTENING PLACES - NETHERLANDS - 1999
OTHERS 6.8% OTHERS 7.3%
WORKING WORKING
PLACE 28.1% PLACE 22.8%
HOME 51.2% HOME 58.1%
CAR 11.6%
CAR 13.9%
LISTENING PLACES - POLAND - 2001 LISTENING PLACES - POLAND - 1999
OTHERS 5.6% OTHERS 1.7%
WORKING
WORKING PLACE 21.3%
PLACE 24.0%
CAR 3.9%
HOME 60.7% HOME 73.1%
CAR 9.6%
Radio 2002 17

18. The new technologies
The Internet
The new technologies have not pushed Radio out of the radio listening remains mainly dominated by working
game. hours since 80% of total listening occurs during this period
Listening to the radio through your computer is becom- of time. Top streaming countries are the US, UK, Canada,
ing increasingly widespread. In 2001, according to the Japan, France and Mexico. Although the change in the
Measurecast measurement institute, the time spent lis- law concerning broadcasting royalties in the US has put
tening to streamed radio quadruped. The most listened to some kind of a brake on the expansion in the number of
station is the London-based Virgin Radio, competing with Internet radio stations, the phenomenon is on a rising
the US Clear Channel station network. It seems that for the trend even if the listening volume is still rather marginal.
time being the core target for Internet radio is the 15-24 One of its possible consequences would be to free some
age group which accounts for 29% of total listening time, stations from their regional limitations and increase lis-
with a clear majority of male listeners (70%). Internet tening time during working hours.
Cable and TV platforms
But the Internet is not the only technical development that TV digital packages also offer a wide choice of radio sta-
radio is facing. Other broadcasting means have been used tions with an excellent reception quality. But these recep-
in those countries where regulations limited the num- tion modes are limited as they are bound up with TV set
ber of stations potentially available to the population. For in-home usage, which - as we noted - does not comply with
instance, cable has played an important role in commer- the global trend in radio listening.
cial radio development in Germany and the Netherlands.
18 Radio 2002

19. The DAB
But, without any doubt, the major element in terms of DAB. Although there are over 30 different kinds of DAB
radio broadcasting development is Digital Audio receivers available to the consumer, these are still expen-
Broadcasting (DAB). sive and very few private households have so far bought
DAB allows a better quality of reception, rivalling a CD, them. The receivers are in fact still more expensive than
without any interference, ensuring an uninterrupted sig- traditional radio sets. And although the industry in Britain
nal whilst driving. Digital broadcasting also makes it pos- launched a receiver under £100 last summer in order to
sible to provide different kinds of information on a sin- promote the new reception technology, it is estimated
gle frequency, whether sound or data. It may widen the that there are currently no more that 70,000 equipped lis-
offer of programmes delivered to the listener while reduc- teners in the UK. In another attempt to promote DAB in
ing broadcasting costs for operators. As DAB can be deliv- the Nordic countries, the priority has been changed from
ered either by terrestrial or satellite services, it can deliver technical coverage to the enhancement of the programme
programmes at a regional, national or international level. offer.
A number of European countries are leading in DAB devel- So, in spite of the strong potential of this new broad-
opment. It is generally reliant on a strong governmental casting technique, it would seem that it will take many
commitment. It is thus not surprising to find among these years before it becomes a widely accepted means of radio
countries most of the Nordic countries in which public reception. Unlike television however, it already seems
service radio is dominant. It has also been one of the that in many countries the offer is actually there and
major projects in those countries where the programme responds well to listener expectations. This is clearly not
offer has so far been restricted by a strict legal frame- a factor in favour of additional personal expenditure in
work. The UK is one of these, with DAB giving broadcast- order to receive any more programmes. So it is expected
ing groups an opportunity to develop their programme that this issue will remain in the news for some time to
offer. Most of the radio stations specifically created for DAB come.
are thematic. The latest project in the UK is a joint ven- All of these ongoing developments do prove, as if this was
ture between Capital and Disney to launch a targeted chil- necessary, that Radio is a dynamic media, applying new
dren’s station: Radio Disney. technologies and still in touch with changes in our
But whilst terrestrial technical coverage is increasing in lifestyles.
Europe, very few European listeners can so far receive
DAB TECHNICAL COVERAGE IN EUROPE
Country Population
Austria 19%
Belgium 98%
Czech Republic 12%
Denmark 75%
Finalnd 40%
France 25%
Germany 70%
Hungary 30%
Italy 30%
Netherlands 40%
Norway 50%
Poland 8%
Portugal 70%
Spain 50%
Sweden 35%
Switzerland 58%
UK 80%
Source: The World DAB Forum, October 2002
Radio 2002 19

20. The hot advertising media
This is one of the many reasons why European advertis- continue to increase the share of this media in their adver-
ers, as well as their US counterparts, have trusted radio tising plans.
as a powerful communication media for many years and
Local and National, the search for the right balance
The radio advertising market in fact operates at two lev- and professional communication groups has provided an
els. It is both regional and national. And the scale of adver- answer to this challenge. National packages, syndication
tising revenues is closely linked to the right balance and bartering have been able to draw in national adver-
between those two markets. If in the US the local market tisers. On a regularly rising trend over a number of years
is dominant, representing almost 80% of the total, its now, the advertising market share of radio has risen above
share in Europe averages only 1/3. Radio efficiency is the 5% level. It was a similar case in Germany. There, radio
widely recognised by local traders and service providers. advertising was not only suffering from regional frag-
But the global weight of the local markets in the Old mentation but also from a multitude of owners with radio
Continent is not comparable to America’s. European local stations mostly being owned by the local daily papers. A
budgets are far more volatile and to generate long-term consolidation into two major national sales houses has
advertisers it is necessary to ensure the development of allowed the development of targeted national packages
the national market. This has clearly been a handicap in which have eased radio buying for national advertisers.
those countries where the radio landscape has been built Today radio scores a 4.5% advertising market share and
on a regional base. That was the case in the UK. The com- certainly has a strong potential for growth in the coun-
mercial dynamism of sales houses originating from strong try.
RADIO ADVERTISING MARKET SHARES
Luxembourg 16.3%
Belgium* 10.6%
Slovakia 10.3%
Spain 9.2%
Austria 8.6%
Netherlands 8.2%
Ireland 8.0%
France 7.5%
Portugal 7.2%
Czech Rep 7.0%
Poland 6.3%
UK 5.5%
Hungary 4.9%
Germany 4.4%
Italy 4.3%
Greece 4.0%
Norway 3.8%
Finland 3.8%
Sweden 3.2%
Romania 2.9%
Denmark 1.1%
USA 13.2%
20 Radio 2002

21. A specific part within communication plans
National advertisers trust Radio as a fast acting media. and specialised retail stores. But these tend to be rather
Thanks to its very special relationship with its listeners, conservative with their budgets. Nevertheless, as radio
it has an incomparable power to push them to action such remains in close proximity to reality, it is also one of the
as traffic building for retail or telephone calls for direct very first media to recover when the economic situation
marketing operations. This hot and effective media was improves and when consumer purchasing recovers. The
quickly recognised by the telecom and Internet related trend for radio should thus be positive over the coming
budgets, as well as the financial services, in the boom at months especially during a period when most advertisers
the beginning of 2000. The media was thus one of those are convinced of the benefits of the media complemen-
that benefited strongly from the growth of the New tarity. Not only has radio proved to be efficient as a hot
Economy. As a consequence it was also one of the first to and fast acting media, it is also the ideal complement for
suffer when the dot.com bubble burst. Along with the television because, as we noted, the consumption of the
advertising market as a whole, radio was hit by the crisis two media covers two very specific moments in consumer
in 2001 and 2002. It then had to fall back on its tradi- life.
tional advertisers like the automotive industry and food
An old, traditional and friendly media, radio has also con- other moments of the day, following us throughout our
tinued to evolve, adapting to the new technologies, new active lives in order to remain in non-stop contact with
life styles, new listener expectations. It could well have dis- us. And it is continuing along this route.
appeared with the arrival of television, but this was not For our greater pleasure. For the maximum satisfaction
the case. It has on the contrary managed to talk to us at of the advertising community.
Radio 2002 21

22. 22 Radio 2002