Radio: after NRJ, RTL, RTL 2 and Fun Radio will reduce the duration of advertising by several minutes per hour

This is undoubtedly what annoys listeners the most on all radio stations: advertising. Long advertising screens lasting several minutes which interrupt the music and talk shows. With a peak during major commercial periods such as Christmas, Black Friday or sales. If the duration of advertising is limited on TV to 12 minutes per hour, there is no limit on radio.

With a permanent dilemma for decades for private radios. Advertising is their only income. Increasing the number of advertising screens means additional income and higher turnover. It is also a significant risk: driving away listeners. And so that they don’t skip, radio stations often broadcast the ad at the same time slots.

Up to 2 hours 49 minutes of advertising per day on RMC

The radio station which broadcast the highest advertising volume in 2024 was RMC with 2h49 on average per day ahead of RTL with 2h35, Europe 1 and RFM with 2h13 and RTL2 with 2h12. Next come Fun Radio with 2:06 and Europe 2 with 2:03, according to Kantar. NRJ and Chérie FM are at 1h47, Skyrock at 1h44 and Nostalgie at 1h43. Far, far behind is the public service: 23 minutes per day for France Inter, 21 minutes for France Info and 17 minutes for Ici (formerly France Bleu).

The three public service radio stations have been authorized since 2016 to broadcast 17 minutes of advertising per day, excluding messages of general interest and administrative information campaigns. This low advertising volume is one of the ingredients of the success of the Radio France group. Less advertising means more space for programs. Thus France Inter broadcasts 6 minutes of advertising per hour in its morning compared to 15 minutes for RTL.

Less advertising sold at a higher price

In June 2020, NRJ was the first national radio station to broadcast less advertising: from 12 minutes to 9 minutes per hour at the national level (local advertising must always be added on urban frequencies). The calculation paid off. It is now RTL’s turn to make the same choice. Advertising screens will go from 15 minutes to 12 minutes per hour maximum and even 10 minutes in the morning with 4 cuts per hour instead of 6. Same decision for the RTL group’s music radio stations. On RTL2 and Fun Radio, national advertising screens will decrease from 12 minutes to 9 minutes per hour.

The RTL group’s radio stations will lose several million euros. “We have integrated it into our budget forecasts and accept that our revenues will drop this year. It is an investment which should allow audience share gains,” explains RTL boss Régis Ravanas to Le Parisien. Advertising spots will be fewer in number but sold more expensively to advertisers.

Calculation of the media group: if there is less advertising, listeners will listen to the antenna a little longer, which will increase the radio’s audience share and therefore its revenues. For the radio media, there is an urgent need to retain its listeners: 38.5 million listeners aged 13 and over were recorded throughout France over the period November-December 2024 by Médiamétrie’s National EAR survey. Nearly a million listeners were lost in one year.