Thursday 7 September 2017

DAB-transition in Norway: Public Radio Down, Up for Local FM Radio

NRK switches to DAB with 14% lower listening rates than last year. Local FM radio the winner.
In total NRK week 33 had a daily gain of 43.0%. This is a 14 % decrease compared with the same week in 2016, when NRK had a total of 49.0% of PPM measurements. Looking at the individual channels, the NRK P1 has gone from 33.4% in week 33 last year to 27.6 this year. The numbers are alarming for NRK P3, ranging from a support of 12.0% to only 7.8% 



Positive for NRK is that P1 + increases from 3.7% to 6.3%. Other digital public channels like Mpetre and P13 are approximately stable compared with last year.

The commercial networks operated by German Bauer and Swedish MTG (P4 and Radio Norway) have lost listeners on their main channels. P4 decreases from 20.3% support in week 33 last year to 16.3% this year while Radio Norway goes from 13.0% to 8.6% this year.

NRK has a larger decline than the commercial companies, as NRK has closed several more areas on FM, including in major cities such as Bergen and Stavanger. The overall national radio listening level has fallen from 67.0% in week 33 last year to 63.4% in week 33 this year according to radionytt.no

Foreign based radio on-line, as well as Swedish public radio receivable
on FM in many parts of Norway, are not included in these measurements.

Gold for local radio

The DAB transition for the national channels seems to be gold for many local radio stations remaining on FM. Nea Radio is increasing strongly this time to almost unbelievable listening figures after being left alone on FM in its coverage area.

Nea Radio was measured during the second quarter with 48% daily support during the second quarter, increased from 42%. Similar increases are seen for Radio 3 Bodø from 12 to 15% and for several channels to Hedmark radio, especially Elverum radio with 70% increase.

Common for all of the above radio stations is that they have a concession in areas where both NRK, P4 and Radio Norway have turned off their FM transmitters.



The major local commercial broadcaster Radio Metro is very pleased that NRK disappears
from FM. It has given the local radio a solid increase. Radio Metro has 22 licenses in several areas in eastern Norway, including Gjøvik and Lillehammer, where the national channels have now switched off their FM transmitters.

After NRK and P4 beat their FM broadcasters, Radio Metro has increased its support by 136% in Hedmark and Oppland, as measured by Kantar TNS. The figures refer to week 25-30 2017 in comparison with the same period last year. It's also good for Beat, which is also run by Metro. This means that Radio Metro and The Beat together have 47,872 listeners a week in Hedmark and Oppland.

The official number of listeners, valid during the second quarter, confirm the trend, giving Radio Metro an increase of 35% compared with the same period last year.

In several counties, listeners now show a sharp increase for local radio, depending on the national channels closing their FM transmitters. In Nordland, which was first out with FM shutdown, local radio more than doubled its listening audience.

Read more in radionytt.no (in Norwegian)
Fortsatt lave lyttertall
Lokalradio Topp 15 - De mest populære lokalradioene i 2. kvartal 2017

Also read
Will DAB Kill Radio? Continued Listening Decline in Norway
Continued Local Radio on FM Welcome by Advertisers in Norway
FM Radio Retained in Norway - Also After 2022