In 2010 the radio market saw revenues increase by 7.7% compared with the previous year, once again making it one of the best performing media.
The trend was markedly different between the first half (+14.7% compared with 2009) and the second half of the year, which, while remaining positive, was markedly less so, (+0.8%; Source: FCP Assoradio).
Advertising sales for R101 generated net revenues of €14.5 million, an increase of 5.1% on 2009. Such revenues are essentially the company’s share of total gross advertising sales of around €20.5 million.
In R101’s advertising sales too there was a big difference between the first and second halves of the year and this was the reverse of the market trend, with performance poorer in the 1st half due to a lower number of special initiatives and decidedly better than the market average in the 2nd. This trend continued in January 2011 (R101 +9.5% on 2009, market +0.3%).
| (in €m) | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenues | 14.5 | 13.8 |
| Other revenues | - | - |
|
|
14.5 | 13.8 |
| Operating costs | (15.4) | (15.9) |
| Gross operating profit | (0.9) | (2.1) |
| Amortisation and depreciation | (1.8) | (1.7) |
| Operating profit | (2.7) | (3.8) |
2010 was an anomalous year for Audiradio, the audit bureau for Italian radio listening figures. The publication of national data has been blocked by an internal debate in the organisation’s board regarding the validity of the Panel Diari survey (the latest figures, published for the first quarter of 2010 gave R101 a daily average of 2.5 million listeners and around 7 million over 21 days).
To date, Audioradio has so not begun any measurement of listening figures in 2011.
However, Monradio has bought a survey conducted by the research institute Eurisko based on a passive system of audience measurement (metering) that attributed to R101 in 2010 a daily average of 3 million listeners, putting the station among the most successful in the Italian radio market and closing the gap with the historic players.
Communication activities in the first months of the year focused on a poster campaign in support of the morning show “La Carica dei 101” and, in particular, the game show with prizes “Il botto alle otto”. The station’s attention to multimedia development remained high, through its web radio activities and the creation of dedicated applications.
The “Spiaggia 101” Tour was once again organised during the summer months, bringing R101’s music and entertainment to some of Italy’s most popular seaside resorts.
R101 also continued to develop digital activities both by supporting traffic on the web site www.r101.it and developing its presence on the most important social networks, with a view to promoting the station, its brand and content.
In particular, R101.it recorded around 200,000 unique users per month and over 3.6 million page views in 2010. The station’s official Facebook page has already attracted the growing involvement of tens of thousands of fans.
With its authentic video productions, R101 is also a partner of Google, thanks to the creation of a branded channel on You Tube, the celebrated video in streaming social network.
A process has been running since the closing months of 2010 for the renewal of the station: music with a greater emotional impact, new presenters, a greater focus on the concept of adult contemporary radio, in other words, a radio station designed for the 25 to 54 year-old target. The new music policy also continued online, with a new web radio offering dedicated to the ‘70s being added to the existing ones.