The gap is widening
Radio DRS In the first half of 2003, Radio DRS reached record-high listener numbers, while the private stations' figures hit a record low.
Radiocontrol In the first half of 2003, Radio DRS reached record highs in terms of listenership, while the figures for the private stations reached a record low.The picture is the same in all parts of the country: SRG stations are gaining in terms of reach and, in most cases, market share, while the foreign stations are losing ground. The private broadcasters are also suffering losses - with one exception, however: in Ticino they are even able to make slight gains. The latest figures from Radiocontrol show that the gap between private and SRG broadcasters is widening the most in German-speaking Switzerland. Radio DRS increased its reach from 63.3 to 65.4 percent and also increased its market share by 2.2 percentage points, although total radio usage fell from 124 to 121 minutes. With 2.812 million listeners per day and a market share of 63%, Radio DRS has thus achieved record figures since the introduction of Radiocontrol. In terms of reach, all DRS stations (with the exception of MW 531) have improved slightly. On the other hand, the average listening time at DRS 1 fell by four minutes and at MW 531 by five minutes.
The private stations are the big losers: they still have a total of 2.253 million listeners or a reach of 52.4 percent (-1.6 %). They have never been so close to the 50 percent mark. Because they also lost two minutes of usage, they still reach a
market share of 25.1 percent
(-1.3 %). The fact that foreign channels also fell further is little consolation.
There were only two real winners among the private stations that were able to increase not only their reach but also their listening time: ExtraBern - and at the bottom of the list - the cable station 32 Goldies. ExtraBern was apparently able to increase its listening time by five minutes to 41 minutes thanks to continuous restructuring in the last semester - at the expense of BE1, which was listened to for three minutes less. However, ExtraBern was by no means able to win the neck-and-neck race in Berne, as BE1 also made gains, namely by 5700 listeners. As a result, the gap between BE1 and ExtraBern has widened again in terms of reach, but in terms of market share the two are now only 0.1 percent apart.
Radio 105 was also among the winners, losing a good 6,000 listeners but increasing its listening time by seven minutes and increasing its market share to 0.5 percent. This is significantly more than competitor Virus, which only has a market share of 0.1 percent.
Radio 24 remains the leader in Zurich
The clear loser was Hitradio Z (selig), which lost 25,800 listeners (-12.4 %) and fell well below the 200,000 listener mark. Competitor Radio 24 was thus able to consolidate its position as number 1 among the private stations despite a slight loss of 2900 listeners, all the more so as numbers 3 (Top) and 4 (Argovia) also lost ground (-10.2 and -7.1 %).
The first half of 2003 was also a disappointment for Radio 32 and Central: Both made slight gains in reach (although still within the confidence range), but in listening time they lost six and eleven minutes respectively, which also reduced their market share. It is also worth mentioning the change in rank of Regenbogen, which swapped positions with Radio 7, falling from 16th to 22nd place (and vice versa).
The new survey is not without consequences for the advertising pools: The One Pool is losing reach and, above all, market share, the Pool 2000 has only just managed to maintain its previous level, while the City Pool has emerged slightly stronger from the last six months thanks to ExtraBern and Pilatus.
NRJ loses in French-speaking Switzerland
In French-speaking Switzerland, where radio usage increased by two minutes to 118 minutes, the RSR stations gained 1.1% market share, clearly at the expense of the private stations, which lost almost as much. The loss of foreign stations, on the other hand, remained statistically irrelevant.
A new situation has also emerged among the private stations: Nostalgie, which belongs to the NRJ Group and was previously the clear number 1 in French-speaking Switzerland, is now fearing for its position. Since the Radiocontrol measurement began, it has lost a third of its listeners, meaning that it is now only just ahead of Lausanne FM, which has increased both its reach and listening time.
NRJ has suffered a double loss: In terms of listening time, it lost four minutes, and its reach has reached an all-time low of 6,500 listeners. In view of the losses of the two NRJ radios, there are doubts as to whether the NRJ Group's new conceptual ideas for the radios Edelweiss/Basel 1 and Hitradio Z/Energy Zürich will also help to achieve corresponding success.
Other French-speaking Swiss radio stations also saw their reach fall, including Rhône FM, One FM, Fréquence Jura, Jura Bernois, Chablais and Canal 3. However, two of them, One FM and Fréquence Jura, were able to increase their listening time by five minutes each and, with 55 and 60 minutes per day, now achieve the best usage figures among the private stations and rank third and fourth among all stations in French-speaking Switzerland. Only RSR1 and Option Musique, with 100 and 65 minutes respectively, are positioned even higher in listeners' favor.
In Ticino, four minutes less radio was listened to each day (now 119 minutes). This decline in radio usage was clearly felt by all RSI stations as well as the foreign radio station Studio Star, which was listened to 8.5 minutes less. RSI 1 also lost reach and still has a market share of 51.7 percent. RSI 2 and RSI 3, on the other hand, were able to increase their market shares thanks to gains in reach. The leader among the private stations is still the Italian station RTO with 21200 listeners (-9.4 %).
Losses due to new satelliteThe cable station Radio Eviva fell from 86400 to 80100 listeners in the first semester. One might be inclined to think that this is a continuation of the decline seen in the second half of 2002 (-10000 listeners). However, Eviva Managing Director Alfons Spirig waves this away. This is due to a change of satellite, he says. "We switched from analog (Astra) to digital (Eutelsat Hotbird). Because Radio Eviva could not afford to operate Astra and Hotbird in parallel, we made this switch at the end of last year without a transition period." In addition, a number of technical problems had arisen in the run-up to the switch, which had repeatedly led to outages. (mk)
Radios German Switzerland (2nd semester 2002 + 1st semester 2003), net reach in 1000 listeners and market share in % in German-speaking Switzerland, Mon-Sun, 24 h, persons 15+
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
Total radio 3896.0 100 3927.5 100
Time: 121 (127,119, 124)
Radio groups
Total SRG 2912.3 64.5 3009.7 66.8
Private CH 2313.6 26.4 2253.6 25.1
Abroad 1803.2 9.1 1761.4 8.1
SRG
Total DRS 2714.1 60.8 2812.6 63.0
DRS 1 1982.3 42.1 2032.5 42.6
DRS 2** 396.8 4.3 438.8 5.0
DRS 3 914.0 11.2 999.9 12.5
MW 531** 293.1 3.1 275.9 2.7
Virus 27.9 0.1 33.1 0.1
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
1 Radio 24 253.1 3.0 250.2 3.0
2 Hitradio Z 207.7 2.2 181.9 2.0
3 Top 189.8 1.5 170.5 1.3
4 Argovia 169.1 2.0 157.1 1.7
5 Zürisee 157.7 1.6 149.2 1.4
6 (7) Pilatus 138.1 1.5 144.8 1.6
7 (6) Grischa/Piz 153.4 1.2 141.7 1.1
8 (9) Radio 32 131.9 1.6 140.2 1.5
9 (8) Basilisk 132.6 1.5 128.4 1.4
10 Central 120.7 1.1 127.7 0.9
11 Sunshine 117.2 1.2 116.5 1.1
12 (13) BE1 86.3 0.9 92.0 0.9
13 (14) ExtraBern 85.0 0.6 88.7 0.8
14 (12) Eviva 86.4 1.0 80.1 0.8
15 BeO 80.5 0.9 71.6 0.8
16 (21) Radio 7 (D) 63.5 0.4 70.2 0.5
17 Edelweiss 71.2 0.6 69.9 0.6
18 (19) Rottu 71.1 0.6 67.2 0.6
19 (18) Current 71.1 0.7 67.0 0.6
20 Radio Munot* - - 64.2 0.2
21 Canal 3 (net) 71.1 0.3 64.0 0.3
22 (16) Rainbow (D) 74.8 0.5 63.9 0.4
23 Freiburg (net) 61.0 0.2 60.4 0.2
24 Ri 52.0 0.3 51.5 0.3
25 (23) Radio 105 57.1 0.4 50.9 0.5
26 Emme 49.4 0.3 48.7 0.3
27 Radio L (FL) 38.2 0.1 37.2 0.1
28 Antenne Vorarlberg 33.5 0.1 32.2 0.1
29 Toxic.FM 31.9 0.1 32.1 0.1
30 triple 28.2 0.1 29.7 0.1
31 Tropic 26.9 0.1 26.4 0.1
32 32 Goldies 22.8 0.1 26.2 0.2
In brackets: Position in 2nd semester 02.
* collected for the first time
** DRS 2 and MW 531 take over the messages from DRS 1 at the same time, which can also be correctly assigned by the RC system since 1.1.02. Source Publica Data
Radios Romandie (2nd semester 2002 + 1st semester 2003)
Net reach in 1000 listeners and market share in % in French-speaking Switzerland,
Mon-Sun, 24 h, persons 15+
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
Total radio 1241.9 100 1244.2 100 Time 118' (as 2/01, in between 115' and 116')
Radio groups
Total SSR 884.8 61.7 903.8 62.8
Private CH 717.2 23.1 709.6 22.1
Abroad 636.2 15.2 635.2 15.1
SRG SSR
Total RSR 760.8 54.3 775.7 55.4
RSR 1 536.6 37.5 573.4 39.0
RSR 2 99.1 3.7 95.5 3.4
RSR 3 142.6 4.6 130.3 4.2
Option Musique 194.7 8.6 196.1 8.8
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
1 Nostalgia (F) 98.6 3.0 95.8 3.2
2 Lausanne FM 86.9 2.8 92.5 3.0
3 Framboise 80.6 2.4 80.2 2.2
4 (6) RTN 2001 67.9 2.2 66.3 2.2
5 One FM 68.0 2.4 62.7 2.3
6 (7) Rhône 62.8 2.3 61.5 2.0
7 (4) NRJ (F) 75.3 2.0 61.5 1.5
8 Lac 59.4 1.6 61.3 1.6
9 Fribourg (net) 57.0 1.6 56.6 1.6
10 Fréquence Jura 56.3 2.1 53.7 2.2
11 Jura Bernois 51.6 1.6 46.6 1.3
12 (13) Europe 2 (F) 43.9 0.9 46.3 1.0
13 (12) Chablais 48.4 1.8 43.8 1.6
14 Thollon (F) 33.2 0.6 29.0 0.5
15 Canal 3 (net) 23.5 0.5 21.3 0.3
16 WRG FM 20.4 0.4 16.4 0.3
17 Meyrin FM* - - 4.5 0.0
In brackets: Position surveyed for the first time in the 2nd semester 02*
** RSR 2 and Option Musique take over the messages from RSR 1, which can also be correctly assigned by the RC system since 1.1.02. Source Publica Data
Radios Ticino (2nd semester 2002 + 1st semester 2003)
Net reach in 1000 listeners and market share in % in Ticino,
Mon-Sun, 24 h, persons 15+
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
Total radio 245.3 100 245.9 100 Time 119' (120,117,123)
Radio groups
Total SSR 206.5 81.3 207.5 81.3
Private CH 82.3 5.3 85.4 5.6
Abroad 129.7 13.4 127.7 13.1
SRG SSR
Total RSI 183.4 69.9 184.9 69.5
RSI 1 153.2 53.9 151.2 51.7
RSI 2* 27.8 7.2 31.1 7.6
RSI 3 50.8 8.8 53.2 10.2
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
1 RTO (I) 23.4 3.0 21.2 2.9
2 Fiume Ticino 17.7 2.2 16.6 2.2
3 3iii 14.3 1.8 15.0 2.0
4 Studio Star (I) 5.8 0.6 4.9 0.4
RSI 2 takes over the messages from RSI 1 at the same time, which can also be correctly assigned by the RC system since 1.1.02. Source: Publica Data
Unclear data situationSince May 12, DRS 3 has taken over the four-hour hit parade from the cable station Virus at the same time on Sundays; conversely, Virus has been broadcasting the four-hour hit parade on Sundays since May 12.
June 2, a total of ten hours of "Sounds" from DRS 3. This is a problem for the Radiocontrol system: when identical content is broadcast at the same time, it cannot always identify the station that the listener has actually switched on. The SRG research service therefore looked for a "scientifically correct solution". However, this has not yet been found, FD and Radio DRS announced on request. But to whom were the unclear listeners assigned in the data for the first semester of 2003? Due to vacation absences at the Research Service and at
Radio DRS was unable to clarify this. (mk)
Markus Knöpfli
The private stations are the big losers: they still have a total of 2.253 million listeners or a reach of 52.4 percent (-1.6 %). They have never been so close to the 50 percent mark. Because they also lost two minutes of usage, they still reach a
market share of 25.1 percent
(-1.3 %). The fact that foreign channels also fell further is little consolation.
There were only two real winners among the private stations that were able to increase not only their reach but also their listening time: ExtraBern - and at the bottom of the list - the cable station 32 Goldies. ExtraBern was apparently able to increase its listening time by five minutes to 41 minutes thanks to continuous restructuring in the last semester - at the expense of BE1, which was listened to for three minutes less. However, ExtraBern was by no means able to win the neck-and-neck race in Berne, as BE1 also made gains, namely by 5700 listeners. As a result, the gap between BE1 and ExtraBern has widened again in terms of reach, but in terms of market share the two are now only 0.1 percent apart.
Radio 105 was also among the winners, losing a good 6,000 listeners but increasing its listening time by seven minutes and increasing its market share to 0.5 percent. This is significantly more than competitor Virus, which only has a market share of 0.1 percent.
Radio 24 remains the leader in Zurich
The clear loser was Hitradio Z (selig), which lost 25,800 listeners (-12.4 %) and fell well below the 200,000 listener mark. Competitor Radio 24 was thus able to consolidate its position as number 1 among the private stations despite a slight loss of 2900 listeners, all the more so as numbers 3 (Top) and 4 (Argovia) also lost ground (-10.2 and -7.1 %).
The first half of 2003 was also a disappointment for Radio 32 and Central: Both made slight gains in reach (although still within the confidence range), but in listening time they lost six and eleven minutes respectively, which also reduced their market share. It is also worth mentioning the change in rank of Regenbogen, which swapped positions with Radio 7, falling from 16th to 22nd place (and vice versa).
The new survey is not without consequences for the advertising pools: The One Pool is losing reach and, above all, market share, the Pool 2000 has only just managed to maintain its previous level, while the City Pool has emerged slightly stronger from the last six months thanks to ExtraBern and Pilatus.
NRJ loses in French-speaking Switzerland
In French-speaking Switzerland, where radio usage increased by two minutes to 118 minutes, the RSR stations gained 1.1% market share, clearly at the expense of the private stations, which lost almost as much. The loss of foreign stations, on the other hand, remained statistically irrelevant.
A new situation has also emerged among the private stations: Nostalgie, which belongs to the NRJ Group and was previously the clear number 1 in French-speaking Switzerland, is now fearing for its position. Since the Radiocontrol measurement began, it has lost a third of its listeners, meaning that it is now only just ahead of Lausanne FM, which has increased both its reach and listening time.
NRJ has suffered a double loss: In terms of listening time, it lost four minutes, and its reach has reached an all-time low of 6,500 listeners. In view of the losses of the two NRJ radios, there are doubts as to whether the NRJ Group's new conceptual ideas for the radios Edelweiss/Basel 1 and Hitradio Z/Energy Zürich will also help to achieve corresponding success.
Other French-speaking Swiss radio stations also saw their reach fall, including Rhône FM, One FM, Fréquence Jura, Jura Bernois, Chablais and Canal 3. However, two of them, One FM and Fréquence Jura, were able to increase their listening time by five minutes each and, with 55 and 60 minutes per day, now achieve the best usage figures among the private stations and rank third and fourth among all stations in French-speaking Switzerland. Only RSR1 and Option Musique, with 100 and 65 minutes respectively, are positioned even higher in listeners' favor.
In Ticino, four minutes less radio was listened to each day (now 119 minutes). This decline in radio usage was clearly felt by all RSI stations as well as the foreign radio station Studio Star, which was listened to 8.5 minutes less. RSI 1 also lost reach and still has a market share of 51.7 percent. RSI 2 and RSI 3, on the other hand, were able to increase their market shares thanks to gains in reach. The leader among the private stations is still the Italian station RTO with 21200 listeners (-9.4 %).
Losses due to new satelliteThe cable station Radio Eviva fell from 86400 to 80100 listeners in the first semester. One might be inclined to think that this is a continuation of the decline seen in the second half of 2002 (-10000 listeners). However, Eviva Managing Director Alfons Spirig waves this away. This is due to a change of satellite, he says. "We switched from analog (Astra) to digital (Eutelsat Hotbird). Because Radio Eviva could not afford to operate Astra and Hotbird in parallel, we made this switch at the end of last year without a transition period." In addition, a number of technical problems had arisen in the run-up to the switch, which had repeatedly led to outages. (mk)
Radios German Switzerland (2nd semester 2002 + 1st semester 2003), net reach in 1000 listeners and market share in % in German-speaking Switzerland, Mon-Sun, 24 h, persons 15+
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
Total radio 3896.0 100 3927.5 100
Time: 121 (127,119, 124)
Radio groups
Total SRG 2912.3 64.5 3009.7 66.8
Private CH 2313.6 26.4 2253.6 25.1
Abroad 1803.2 9.1 1761.4 8.1
SRG
Total DRS 2714.1 60.8 2812.6 63.0
DRS 1 1982.3 42.1 2032.5 42.6
DRS 2** 396.8 4.3 438.8 5.0
DRS 3 914.0 11.2 999.9 12.5
MW 531** 293.1 3.1 275.9 2.7
Virus 27.9 0.1 33.1 0.1
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
1 Radio 24 253.1 3.0 250.2 3.0
2 Hitradio Z 207.7 2.2 181.9 2.0
3 Top 189.8 1.5 170.5 1.3
4 Argovia 169.1 2.0 157.1 1.7
5 Zürisee 157.7 1.6 149.2 1.4
6 (7) Pilatus 138.1 1.5 144.8 1.6
7 (6) Grischa/Piz 153.4 1.2 141.7 1.1
8 (9) Radio 32 131.9 1.6 140.2 1.5
9 (8) Basilisk 132.6 1.5 128.4 1.4
10 Central 120.7 1.1 127.7 0.9
11 Sunshine 117.2 1.2 116.5 1.1
12 (13) BE1 86.3 0.9 92.0 0.9
13 (14) ExtraBern 85.0 0.6 88.7 0.8
14 (12) Eviva 86.4 1.0 80.1 0.8
15 BeO 80.5 0.9 71.6 0.8
16 (21) Radio 7 (D) 63.5 0.4 70.2 0.5
17 Edelweiss 71.2 0.6 69.9 0.6
18 (19) Rottu 71.1 0.6 67.2 0.6
19 (18) Current 71.1 0.7 67.0 0.6
20 Radio Munot* - - 64.2 0.2
21 Canal 3 (net) 71.1 0.3 64.0 0.3
22 (16) Rainbow (D) 74.8 0.5 63.9 0.4
23 Freiburg (net) 61.0 0.2 60.4 0.2
24 Ri 52.0 0.3 51.5 0.3
25 (23) Radio 105 57.1 0.4 50.9 0.5
26 Emme 49.4 0.3 48.7 0.3
27 Radio L (FL) 38.2 0.1 37.2 0.1
28 Antenne Vorarlberg 33.5 0.1 32.2 0.1
29 Toxic.FM 31.9 0.1 32.1 0.1
30 triple 28.2 0.1 29.7 0.1
31 Tropic 26.9 0.1 26.4 0.1
32 32 Goldies 22.8 0.1 26.2 0.2
In brackets: Position in 2nd semester 02.
* collected for the first time
** DRS 2 and MW 531 take over the messages from DRS 1 at the same time, which can also be correctly assigned by the RC system since 1.1.02. Source Publica Data
Radios Romandie (2nd semester 2002 + 1st semester 2003)
Net reach in 1000 listeners and market share in % in French-speaking Switzerland,
Mon-Sun, 24 h, persons 15+
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
Total radio 1241.9 100 1244.2 100 Time 118' (as 2/01, in between 115' and 116')
Radio groups
Total SSR 884.8 61.7 903.8 62.8
Private CH 717.2 23.1 709.6 22.1
Abroad 636.2 15.2 635.2 15.1
SRG SSR
Total RSR 760.8 54.3 775.7 55.4
RSR 1 536.6 37.5 573.4 39.0
RSR 2 99.1 3.7 95.5 3.4
RSR 3 142.6 4.6 130.3 4.2
Option Musique 194.7 8.6 196.1 8.8
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
1 Nostalgia (F) 98.6 3.0 95.8 3.2
2 Lausanne FM 86.9 2.8 92.5 3.0
3 Framboise 80.6 2.4 80.2 2.2
4 (6) RTN 2001 67.9 2.2 66.3 2.2
5 One FM 68.0 2.4 62.7 2.3
6 (7) Rhône 62.8 2.3 61.5 2.0
7 (4) NRJ (F) 75.3 2.0 61.5 1.5
8 Lac 59.4 1.6 61.3 1.6
9 Fribourg (net) 57.0 1.6 56.6 1.6
10 Fréquence Jura 56.3 2.1 53.7 2.2
11 Jura Bernois 51.6 1.6 46.6 1.3
12 (13) Europe 2 (F) 43.9 0.9 46.3 1.0
13 (12) Chablais 48.4 1.8 43.8 1.6
14 Thollon (F) 33.2 0.6 29.0 0.5
15 Canal 3 (net) 23.5 0.5 21.3 0.3
16 WRG FM 20.4 0.4 16.4 0.3
17 Meyrin FM* - - 4.5 0.0
In brackets: Position surveyed for the first time in the 2nd semester 02*
** RSR 2 and Option Musique take over the messages from RSR 1, which can also be correctly assigned by the RC system since 1.1.02. Source Publica Data
Radios Ticino (2nd semester 2002 + 1st semester 2003)
Net reach in 1000 listeners and market share in % in Ticino,
Mon-Sun, 24 h, persons 15+
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
Total radio 245.3 100 245.9 100 Time 119' (120,117,123)
Radio groups
Total SSR 206.5 81.3 207.5 81.3
Private CH 82.3 5.3 85.4 5.6
Abroad 129.7 13.4 127.7 13.1
SRG SSR
Total RSI 183.4 69.9 184.9 69.5
RSI 1 153.2 53.9 151.2 51.7
RSI 2* 27.8 7.2 31.1 7.6
RSI 3 50.8 8.8 53.2 10.2
2nd half-year 2002 1st half-year 2003
NR-T MA-% NR-T MA-%
1 RTO (I) 23.4 3.0 21.2 2.9
2 Fiume Ticino 17.7 2.2 16.6 2.2
3 3iii 14.3 1.8 15.0 2.0
4 Studio Star (I) 5.8 0.6 4.9 0.4
RSI 2 takes over the messages from RSI 1 at the same time, which can also be correctly assigned by the RC system since 1.1.02. Source: Publica Data
Unclear data situationSince May 12, DRS 3 has taken over the four-hour hit parade from the cable station Virus at the same time on Sundays; conversely, Virus has been broadcasting the four-hour hit parade on Sundays since May 12.
June 2, a total of ten hours of "Sounds" from DRS 3. This is a problem for the Radiocontrol system: when identical content is broadcast at the same time, it cannot always identify the station that the listener has actually switched on. The SRG research service therefore looked for a "scientifically correct solution". However, this has not yet been found, FD and Radio DRS announced on request. But to whom were the unclear listeners assigned in the data for the first semester of 2003? Due to vacation absences at the Research Service and at
Radio DRS was unable to clarify this. (mk)
Markus Knöpfli
