Private radio stations Hitradio Z, which has been renamed Energy Zurich, is turning to a much younger listener base and is bringing Roman Kilchsperger back to the microphone.From August 15, nothing will be the same in the Zurich radio market. After two decades of neck-and-neck competition between the two top dogs for the same audience, Hitradio Z is saying goodbye to the 15 to 34-year-olds - Radio 24 will serve the target audience of 15 to 49-year-olds on its own in future. More importantly, with the name change to Energy Zurich, a new radio philosophy is arriving in the city on the Limmat: the French NRJ Groupe is bringing its radio know-how, tried and tested in nine European countries, to the editorial offices of the former Hitradio Z. NRJ will be able to implement its recipe for success without compromise from day one, as its radio professionals will have sole control of the station in future. A clear division of responsibilities has been established between the two owners: NRJ operates the station, Goldbach Media takes care of marketing and sales.The Swiss local radio landscape is expecting the biggest makeover since its birth 20 years ago, as the station representatives made clear at a customer orientation event. "Together with the opportunities offered by the international NRJ network, we will set ourselves apart from all other private radio stations in Switzerland," explained Board delegate Jörg Bachmann. The message to previous competitor Radio 24 sounded completely unusual: "We want to get past each other," emphasized IPM boss Michi Frank. The days of me-too products were a thing of the past.
At the forefront were the widespread fears that a standard foreign recipe with little connection to the local audience would now be implemented in Zurich. "A station can only be successful if it is geared towards its local audience, as our own experience has shown us time and time again," explained Francis Rivollet, International Management Deputy at NRJ Groupe. "Energy Zurich will be different from all the other 100 NRJ stations." This was obviously not without pressure on Goldbach Media. According to Rivollet, they did not agree to simply rename Hitradio Z "Energy".
The youth-oriented Energy Zurich has a strength that is rather rare here in Switzerland: The radio network cultivates lively relationships with the stars - and lets its audience participate in them: Invitations to private concerts, backstage reports and meet & greets are all part of this. With the concentrated potential of star connections, Radio 24 - until now the only station with a connection to the world of glamor - is now facing stiff competition.
DRS 3 and 105 also in its sightsFor NRJ Groupe, the entry into the Zurich radio market is also a novelty because it represents a departure from its previously strict business model. "This is the first case in which NRJ Groupe is handing over marketing to the local provider," explained Rivollet.
However, the greatest excitement now lies in the audience success at Energy Zurich. One thing is already clear: If the target group segment is shortened by 15 age groups, a number of target group-compliant listeners will have to be gained in return in order to compensate for the departures to some extent. "Many of our existing listeners will stay, some will leave - we have to live with that," said Frank. However, Energy Zurich will work towards appealing to a new audience. "For example, we certainly sound good to people who previously listened to DRS 3 or 105."
Calculating the advertising rates is no simple matter - because the future number of listeners to the converted station is currently written in the stars. And this will remain the case until a few weeks after the launch, when the first Radiocontrol figures are available. Goldbach Media has solved the problem as follows: Hitradio Z's rates will remain valid until the end of the year, but the marketer will grant an introductory discount of 30 percent. From 2004, the actual audience figures will count. However, Frank does not expect a loss of attention anyway. "We believe that Energy Zurich will make a difference from day one," he said.
A fresh breeze over Zurich's radio landscape: With the end of Hitradio Z, the visual appearance of the local station is also changing.
Radio Edelweiss becomes Basel 0neWith a new name, a new format and a new logo, Basel-based Radio Edelweiss is also heading into the future: from August 25, it will be called Basel One. This is because the station wants to expand its core audience "so that Basel One becomes a more successful radio station", says Tanja Schmidt, Head of Audiovisual Media at the owner Basler Mediengruppe.
Internally, there is also the ambitious goal of making Basel One "the number one in the entire region - not primarily in the city of Basel - by two years' time", she says.
But unlike Hitradio Z, it will not break with the past. "Basel One will not be something radically new - but it will definitely be different," says Schmidt. NRJ, which holds a 24 percent stake, has also contributed to the concept of Basel One, but "no NRJ concept has been imposed", emphasizes Schmidt. It is also not yet clear how Basel One will benefit from the international NRJ network. In any case, Schmidt does not want it to simply take over star interviews from German NRJ radios.
Basel One will roughly continue the current music style, but will be more specifically tailored to the target audience of 15 to 40-year-olds. Schmidt would like the news to be more concise - and probably on the hour (or every half hour during prime time). Until now, they have been broadcast five minutes before DRS and Basilisk.
In advertising, Basel One will now offer cross-media packages with the
Basler Zeitung and the Baslerstab. The number of sales staff has already been increased by two. (mk)
Less standardization "Radio has already been invented, but we're going to reinvent it a bit anyway" - this was the tenor of the customer orientation at the launch of Energy Zurich. The recipe: lots of local relevance in the hourly (half-hourly in the morning) news - on a music carpet with the "hits of today's stars". Zurich's best-known morning voice, Roman Kilchsperger, has been signed up as a guaranteed crowd puller. He presents the morning show "Energy - mein Morgen" (Energy - my morning) every day from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. In terms of music, there will be more variety: New music titles will be played earlier and not just when they have reached the top of the charts. However, they are also replaced more quickly. Energy wants to become a trendsetter - in line with the wishes of a younger target group. (dse)
Daniel Schifferle