Local radio stations more popular

Radio Digital DABRadio. Photo pixabay.com

Number of listeners increase for local radio stations

Local radios increased by 20 per cent listeners in 2017. At the same time, the total radio audience has dropped; NRK has lost listeners in most parts of Norway.

 

Figures prepared by Kantar Media reflect this. According to the statistics, most local radios that were included in the survey has been stable or experienced growth last year.

– This indicates that the digital radio transition has been a contributing factor to the growth of local radios, says Director in Medietilsynet, Mari Velsand.

In Telemark, Buskerud, Hedmark and Oppland, local radios increased from 9.9 to 15.3 per cent share from 2016 to 2017.

Decline in most parts of Norway

However, despite the growth for local radios, there has been a decrease in the total radio listening in five regions. Troms and Finnmark are the only regions that have more radio listeners in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to the same period the year before.

The traditional channels such as Radio Norway, P4 and NRK channels P1, P2 and P3 lose listeners to the niche broadcasters of the NRK, the P4 group and Bauer media in all six regions.

– That the digital radio transition would lead to a drop in radio listeners in 2017 did not come as a surprise. It is also natural that NRK is experiencing the biggest drop ase they switched off their FM broadcasts in most regions first, says Velsand.

The media authority expects that the total radio listening will stabilize and finally increase slightly in 2018.

The decline in total radio listeners must be seen in the context that central channels such as P5, P7 Klem and NRJ was not part of the fourth quarter survey and were only partaking in two out of three months in the third quarter.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today