France Inter in the lead, France Info loses points, not Europe 1

Despite figures which show a general erosion, certain radio stations are doing well. The trends observed in the previous quarter are confirmed, according to Médiamétrie data published today.

Pace of surprise for radio audiences, which overall continue to crumble: every day, 38.7 million people tune in to the airwaves, or a million less than last year. Nevertheless, France Inter continues to establish its domination, remaining the leading radio station in France, with a new historic record of 7.18 million daily listeners from January to March 2024, according to figures from Médiamétrie published this Thursday. In one year, the station gained 144,000 additional followers and reached a cumulative audience of 12.8% (+ 0.2 points), far ahead of RTL which is in second position, with 9.6%. cumulative audience and which lost 233,000 listeners along the way over one year. On the last step of the podium, France Info (8.5%) reports the loss of 165,000 pairs of ears over the year. Is it the anxiety-provoking news that many French people are tempted to flee?

The other Maison Ronde stations have made progress: France Bleu is recovering (+45,000 listeners) and France Culture is breaking records (+245,000). “ [Ils] send us the message to continue not to give in to the buzz and the caricatures,” declared the CEO of Radio France, Sibyle Veil. But these two stations are ahead of music radio stations with, in fourth position, NRJ with 7.9% cumulative audience (4.4 million people), despite the recent controversies surrounding two flagship voices of the station, Sébastien Cauet, suspended following three complaints for rape and sexual assault, and Manu Levy, assigned to the industrial tribunal for moral harassment. Just behind NRJ, a station from the same group (but not of the same style!) observes the strongest progression of all radio stations combined: Nostalgie, which brings together 3.5 million fans (pell-mell) every day of Michel Berger, Dire Straits or Florent Pagny. This is 0.8 points more than the previous year.

As for aficionados of Pascal Praud, poached from RTL last summer, they seem to find their happiness on Europe 1 which, although in ninth place in the ranking, continues its “comeback”. Controlled by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, who undertook to bring it closer to CNews through co-broadcast programs, the station has stopped its long fall and is experiencing a third consecutive quarterly increase, with 223,000 additional listeners over one year. “These very good results confirm the relevance and coherence of our project,” said Constance Benqué, president of the Lagardère News group.