Radio audiences: France Inter still number one, music at its lowest

A total of 39.3 million people listened to the radio every day in November-December, down 1.5 million from the same period in 2021. This is approaching the all-time low recorded by the radio medium in the spring. 2021, at 39.1 million.

Not enough to disturb France Inter: with nearly 6.9 million followers, i.e. a cumulative audience (AC) of 12.4% (-0.3 points over one year), public radio is certainly losing some 100,000 listeners compared to to its record at the end of 2021, but retains its first place.

Still second, RTL, whose cumulative audience fell by 0.7 points over one year, to 10.3%, saw the gap narrow with the third, France Info (9.2%, +0.7 points) .

Still second in 2022, RTL, whose cumulative audience fell by 0.7 points over one year, to 10.3%, saw the gap narrow with the third radio station, France Info (9.2%, +0, 7 points) © LOIC VENANCE / AFP/Archives

The latter marks the strongest growth in the sector, winning 422,000 listeners.

At the foot of the podium, NRJ, the leading radio station in France until the mid-2010s, saw its cumulative audience fall by 0.7 points, to 7.4%, misleading more than 300,000 listeners.

A result that illustrates the rout of music stations, almost all down.

Abandoned by 1.2 million listeners over a year, they are listened to daily by 17.3 million people (AC of 31.4%), a low.

Among the other radios of the NRJ group, Nostalgie saw its AC fall by 0.4 point, to 5.5%, Chérie FM losing 0.6 point, to 3%.

Virgin Radio (Lagardère group) - which has just been renamed Europe 2 - fell to a new low, at 2.5% (-0.3 points), while Skyrock lost 0.6 points, to 5, 6%.

RTL 2 (M6 group) remains stable at 4% cumulative audience over one year.

On the generalist side, Europe 1 continues the plunge that began more than ten years ago, to 3.6% AC (-0.6 point).

The network of local public radio stations France Bleu shows a drop of 1.1 points, to 4.9% AC.

Radio France will quickly open a project to rework its "editorial proposal, its distribution and the modernization of the brand", explained to AFP the director of antennas and strategy of the public group, Laurence Bloch.

© 2023 AFP