Public radio stations lock up the first two places. Médiamétrie published, this Thursday, November 14, 2024, the results of the first wave of audiences for the 2024/2025 season for general and Music stations. The enchanted parenthesis of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games closed, national political news – the first steps, without a solid majority, of Michel Barnier's government – and international – the duel between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris for the White House and the continuation of the Israel/Hamas war – imposed themselves at the start of the school year. In this context, which grid – it’s time for the first test for adjustments and new features – stood out?
Historic record for Inter which ignores the decline in radio media consumption
As never since the application of the current radio audience measurement by Médiamétrie (2005), listeners have turned to France Inter. With 7,20 millions of daily listeners on average, public radio, directed by Adèle Van Reeth, is reaching unexplored areas and erasing its already stratospheric historical record from the start of the year (7.18 million between January and March 2024). Over one year, she managed to recruit 265.000 listeners despite the difficulties of the radio medium, now listened to by less than 38 million listeners (37.85 million exactly, i.e. 295.000 less over a year).
On the criterion of audience share, so dear to private channels which draw a large part of their resources from advertising, France Inter displays a solid score of 15,1% (+ 1,4 point over one year) and here too rises to a level never before reached in radio. Next to it, the red of RTL, its first private competitor, is losing its shine. Credited with a PDA of 10.7%, the radio of the M6 group unscrews by 1.3 points over a year. Above all, she lost her second place overall!
France Info double RTL, under 5 million listeners
Tighter than ever, the duel for the position of the challenger is indeed turning to the advantage of France Info. The radio, now directed by Agnès Vahramian, was listened to on average by 4,97 millions listeners on average each day between September 2 and October 27, 2024. A stable score over one year (– 18.000 listeners). In addition to France Inter and France Info, France Culture is also making a strong comeback in the public radio sector.
The station, played among others by Guillaume Erner and Marie Labory, attracted the attention of more than 2 million listeners on average each day (+ 267.000 over one year). It gained two positions in the ranking to the detriment of RTL2 and Fun Radio. For its part, France Bleu, at its lowest historical level last fall, is finally getting its head above water with a gain of 87.000 listeners over one year.
RTL, now the 3rd station in France, is losing its splendor with, for the first time in its history, less than 5 million listeners listening to its grid (– 307.000 listeners over one year). This has been significantly overhauled this fall with the replacement of Yves Calvi, now anchorman of “RTL bonoir”, by Thomas Sotto in the morning and the arrival of Faustine Bollaert in the evening.
Nostalgia in great shape, RMC is suffering, Europe 1 is coming back strong
NRJ maintains its status as France's leading music radio station. Radio in the “Hit Music Only” format nevertheless loses 277.000 listeners over one year. It is too early to measure the impact of the arrival of Camille Combal in the afternoon. The TF1 host took control of the 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. station at the end of the wave, on October 14. In the NRJ group, Nostalgie once again carried out an excellent operation with a gain of 374.000 listeners over one year. This is the best variation across all stations. It doubles and far outdistances Skyrock, which recorded the biggest drop of all radio stations over one year (– 428.000).
RMC, for its part, is suffering and has not reached the threshold of 3 million listeners. “It's a bad wave“, admitted Karim Nedjari, general director of RMC, this Wednesday at Puremédias. “It is a counter-blow after a last season driven by the Rugby World Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Euro football. It is now up to us to create the event beyond sport. We can't have an event like the Olympics every year“.
In 9th position, Europe 1, with Pascal Praud in the morning and Cyril Hanouna in the afternoon, is coming back strong with a gain of 347.000 listeners over one year. For Europe 2, another station of the Lagardère group, however, it is a rout. Now ahead of France Musique and Radio Classique, both on the rise, the station, which recruited Benjamin Castaldi at the start of the school year, is listened to by less than a million listeners, i.e. 351.000 less than a year ago.
Channel rankings for the September-October 2024 wave
1. France Inter / 7.196.000 / + 265.000 / 15,1% / + 1,4
2. France Info / 4.969.000 / – 18.000 / 4,7% / – 0,1
3. RTL / 4,903,000 (historic low) / – 307,000 / 10.7% / – 1,3
4. NRJ / 4,145,000 / – 277,000 / 5.4% / – 0.9
5. Nostalgia / 3,694,000 / + 374.000 / 5,7% / + 0,6
5. Skyrock / 3,004,000 / – 428.000 / 3,9% / =
7. RMC / 2.892.000 / – 330.000 / 5,5% / – 0,5
8. France Bleu / 2,591,000 / + 87,000 / 4.6% / + 0.1
9. Europe 1 / 2.486.000 / + 347.000 / 4,2% / + 0,9
10. France Culture (historic record) / 2,111,000 / + 267,000 / 3.5% / + 0.4
11. RTL2 / 2,046,000 (worst historical return) / – 93,000 / 3.0% / + 0.1
12. Fun Radio / 1.840.000 / – 150.000 / 2,7% / =
13. RFM / 1.677.000 / + 67.000 / 2,5% / – 0,1
14. Chérie FM / 1,661,000 / – 80,000 / 1.9% / – 0.7
15. Laughter and Songs / 1,395,000 / + 120,000 / 1.4% / + 0.2
16. France Musique / 1,263,000 / + 206,000 / 2.2% / + 0.3
17. Classic Radio / 1,012,000 / + 32,000 / 1.7% / – 0.1
18. Europe 2 / 916.000 / – 351.000 / 1,0% / – 0,5
19. M Radio / 608.000 / – 17.000 / 0,9% / =
Position / Channel / Number of listeners / Evolution over one year (September-October 2023) / Audience share / Evolution over one year. Source: EAR (Radio Audience Study) Médiamétrie September-October 2024. Audiences in average quarter of an hour. Monday to Friday. The comparisons expressed are over one year (September-October 2024 vs. September-October 2023) and over a wave (September-October 2024 vs. April-June 2024).
