Radiophiles
Patrick Jaquin, Head of Communications Service, EBU
Profile of the French radiophile
Médiamétrie* has just brought out a “two-in-one” (the 75000 Premium) study for France in which it is possible – for the first time ever – to decipher, in minute detail, the behaviour of radio listeners and their consumption habits.
We learn that the tribe of radiophiles consists inter alia of the 85% of thirteen year olds and over, who listen to the radio on any day during the week, of people who drive station wagons, play football or take winter holidays in sunny climates.
The data is from two sources, firstly, a radio panel studying listener behaviour over a three-week period, comprising over 300 targets which are gone over with a fine tooth comb: income, personal assets, leisure activities, music, shopping, household equipment, centres of interest. Secondly, for the first time in 2004, the panel’s “Premium” information is merged with that from “75000+”. It is this new study, “75000 Premium”, which provides these hitherto unpublished revelations about the radio audience.
In 10 years radio has gained over 4m listeners on any weekday, rising from 36m in September-October 1994 (79.2% CA in the over-15 age group) to over 40m in the corresponding period of 2004 (84.2%). The audience curve, quarter-hour by quarter-hour, on weekdays has kept the same shape. The morning peak has shifted slightly, no doubt reflecting a minor deferral of French waking-up times. The afternoon audience, between 1 pm and 5 pm, is larger due to the growing number of listeners who turn the radio on at work or in their cars. |
Bobo**
Let us take an example. Over 90% of people with good living standards (1), and nearly as many among mortgage holders or shareholders, listen to the radio. Radiophiles have got more money…but how do they spend it?
Ninety per cent of car drivers turn on the radio on any weekday, against only 76% of pedestrians…9 out of 10 station wagon drivers and convertible coupés listen to the radio on any day during the week, but for shorter periods (2 hours 30) than saloon car drivers (over 3 hours).
Car, leisure, radio
Radio listening depends both on the driver’s age and on the vehicle’s age. The newer the car, the more radio is listened to: nearly 90%, compared with 84% whose car is more than three years old. As is only logical, given that today it’s hard to buy a car without a radio!
The study also reveals the time slots and stations listened to or pre-selected by these radiophile drivers.
Radiophiles likewise devote a bigger budget to leisure activities. Holidaymakers, especially the winter sun-seekers, and those who holiday more than twice a year in France or abroad, are among the inveterate radiophiles. And when not on holiday, many of them go out: 90% of those who spend time at places of entertainment (concerts, theatre, opera, dance), museums or sports events, and also of regular cinemagoers (2), listen to the radio on any weekday.
Consumers
Being loyal to radio does not rule out the use of a game console or a PC: on the contrary! Nine people out of ten who have bought more than 6 CD-ROMs, video games or DVDs during the previous twelve months, or more than five music CDs in the previous three months, have also listened to radio on any weekday.
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* Article based on the conclusions of the “75000 Premium” survey.
** Bohemian bourgeois.
1) People with a household income over €3000 per month.
2) People who visit the cinema at least once a month.
Contact : Lorène Verdeil, Médiamétrie
Tel :+33(0)1 47 58 97 05 lverdeil@mediametrie.fr
pj / ep
