To the ländler the dignified joint
Radio DRS 1 gets fit for growing core audiences
Radio DRS 1 is making itself fit for a growing core audienceBy Ernst Weber Schweizer Radio DRS 1 wants to remain what it is: a station for Swiss-German listeners between the ages of 45 and 65 - and is rejuvenating its appearance. The first results of the formal and content-related renovation can already be heard.
The same applies to radio stations as to many other media products: They have to think very carefully from time to time about how to adapt their programs to changing media consumption habits, otherwise they will disappear from the market along with their consumers - readers, listeners, viewers. The modernization of programming and station identity recently undertaken by public broadcaster DRS 1 should also be understood in this sense.
"Quality for the ear" is displayed with new music logos
According to its own figures, DRS 1 currently has a market share of over 40 percent - and the trend is rising. Women and men between the ages of 45 and 65 form the core audience. However, older people and listeners under the age of 45, who are not attracted to DRS 3 or 2 due to their somewhat conservative taste in music, also regularly tune in to DRS 1.
So that the current listenership can keep pace with the modernization and not suddenly feel like they are on a different station, the adaptation is being carried out gradually. In the formal area, the further development has so far affected the DRS-1 lead melody, various section jingles and section logos such as the news, sports and weather signets.
The new corporate sound design, realized by the Selmi recording studio in Zurich with a view to a contemporary overall musical appearance, is based on the updated version of the station's previous lead melody. It forms the common musical origin and home from which the updated acoustic identifiers have emerged in a wide variety of styles.
"We no longer live in the sixties of the last century. The core listenership of DRS 1 today is made up of a generation that listened to Jimi Hendrix and smoked joints back then," says recording studio owner Renzo Selmi.
The redesigned jingles were mainly those that have been on the air for years. Historically anchored jingles such as the signature tune of the "Nachtexpress", which has been broadcast in unchanged form for 30 years, were not modernized.
Word bridges are built to Ticino and French-speaking Switzerland
According to SRG listener research, DRS 1 is not primarily tuned in because of the music, but generally because of a certain range of words at a certain time. "We are not a music station," says Ralph Wicki, Head of Editorial U-Musik DRS 1.
In terms of content, the modernization will also have an impact on the music program, but will particularly affect the station's spoken word offering. It is hoped, for example, that a more pronounced regional focus of the program will provide new impetus that will lead to a deepening of listener loyalty.
Ralph Wicki describes the fact that DRS 1 broadcasts for the whole of Switzerland - in contrast to private radio stations, which cover a specific region - "as a trump card that we want to play".
"In order to anchor ourselves regionally, we want to provide more regional information from Ticino and French-speaking Switzerland, which we assume will also be of interest to listeners in other parts of the country," says Wicki.
The necessary infrastructure is already in place: The station has three large studios in Basel, Bern and Zurich and three smaller broadcasting sites in the cities of St. Gallen, Lucerne and Aarau. The station also employs correspondents in French-speaking Switzerland, Ticino and the canton of Graubünden. These positions will be strengthened in the course of this year. The fact that the regional concept is to be given even more prominence is also demonstrated by sections such as "Schauplatz Schweiz", which has been a fixed part of the program since 8 April.
"We don't want to lose listeners just because we didn't think about what we needed to change in terms of content and form in good time," emphasizes Wicki.
The same applies to radio stations as to many other media products: They have to think very carefully from time to time about how to adapt their programs to changing media consumption habits, otherwise they will disappear from the market along with their consumers - readers, listeners, viewers. The modernization of programming and station identity recently undertaken by public broadcaster DRS 1 should also be understood in this sense.
"Quality for the ear" is displayed with new music logos
According to its own figures, DRS 1 currently has a market share of over 40 percent - and the trend is rising. Women and men between the ages of 45 and 65 form the core audience. However, older people and listeners under the age of 45, who are not attracted to DRS 3 or 2 due to their somewhat conservative taste in music, also regularly tune in to DRS 1.
So that the current listenership can keep pace with the modernization and not suddenly feel like they are on a different station, the adaptation is being carried out gradually. In the formal area, the further development has so far affected the DRS-1 lead melody, various section jingles and section logos such as the news, sports and weather signets.
The new corporate sound design, realized by the Selmi recording studio in Zurich with a view to a contemporary overall musical appearance, is based on the updated version of the station's previous lead melody. It forms the common musical origin and home from which the updated acoustic identifiers have emerged in a wide variety of styles.
"We no longer live in the sixties of the last century. The core listenership of DRS 1 today is made up of a generation that listened to Jimi Hendrix and smoked joints back then," says recording studio owner Renzo Selmi.
The redesigned jingles were mainly those that have been on the air for years. Historically anchored jingles such as the signature tune of the "Nachtexpress", which has been broadcast in unchanged form for 30 years, were not modernized.
Word bridges are built to Ticino and French-speaking Switzerland
According to SRG listener research, DRS 1 is not primarily tuned in because of the music, but generally because of a certain range of words at a certain time. "We are not a music station," says Ralph Wicki, Head of Editorial U-Musik DRS 1.
In terms of content, the modernization will also have an impact on the music program, but will particularly affect the station's spoken word offering. It is hoped, for example, that a more pronounced regional focus of the program will provide new impetus that will lead to a deepening of listener loyalty.
Ralph Wicki describes the fact that DRS 1 broadcasts for the whole of Switzerland - in contrast to private radio stations, which cover a specific region - "as a trump card that we want to play".
"In order to anchor ourselves regionally, we want to provide more regional information from Ticino and French-speaking Switzerland, which we assume will also be of interest to listeners in other parts of the country," says Wicki.
The necessary infrastructure is already in place: The station has three large studios in Basel, Bern and Zurich and three smaller broadcasting sites in the cities of St. Gallen, Lucerne and Aarau. The station also employs correspondents in French-speaking Switzerland, Ticino and the canton of Graubünden. These positions will be strengthened in the course of this year. The fact that the regional concept is to be given even more prominence is also demonstrated by sections such as "Schauplatz Schweiz", which has been a fixed part of the program since 8 April.
"We don't want to lose listeners just because we didn't think about what we needed to change in terms of content and form in good time," emphasizes Wicki.
