"The grid, not a question of ego

LE FIGARO. – RTL ended the season with 12.1% audience. The media is 80.9%. Is not it a little low?

Christopher Baldelli. – The radio has a very good season from September to June with a small decline in April-June RTL is an excellent survey. It confirms two points, observed since January: our audience is progressing and RTL accentuates the gap with the second. This had not happened for two years. Our radio division overall is doing very well. Fun Radio even recorded the strongest growth of all radios throughout the season.

RTL is not followed by NRJ, a musical, but by the France Inter generalist. How do you change the competition?

I come from television. I found the radio, fierce competition. It is multiple, strong, and has talent. The performance of RTL is to have strengthened its leadership this season.Having a generalist such as France Inter behind us is exciting. But I do not choose the number 2. What matters is the performance of RTL, its audience and the gap to the next.

France Inter is leading in some quarters of an hour of the morning, between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m., and 18 h 45-20 h 15. What is your parade?

RTL is the undisputed leader on the morning throughout the season. However, we will intensify our efforts to return in the morning, with Yves Calvi, and lunch with Laurent Bazin and Elizabeth Martichoux.

You just changed the schedule for the 2009-2010 season.The next will Does your brand?

The schedule of RTL is both mine – I made some changes in September with Bixente Lizarazu and Eric Zemmour in January – as it is Axel Duroux, my predecessor, and that of his predecessor, Robin Leproux. If we have been active in the transfer market this year is because our grid is strong and there were points to be strengthened. This is not about egos but effective. There are a lot of our competition and offer must be constantly improved. Thus, the arrival Flavie Flament help to feminize our audience. We want to make a popular radio quality and also of interest to AB +. All our hires are part of this logic.

What will the impact of these arrivals gate at your cost?

I announced that we would be active in the transfer market.The cost of the grid RTL enrich well will be nearly identical to last season. We have begun a savings plan for 20 million euros over three years but we do not rule out investing in the grid at constant cost. Thanks to good audiences and advertising revenue growth, particularly in the second quarter, our profit margin will increase from 2010. This will be a double-digit growth. We aim to improve profitability on all radios without sacrificing programs. We are not in a purely managerial logic but first performance.

What are your goals for long-term stations?

Fun Radio has already made a nice progression of Hearing. We must now expand the total supply, with major events such as Starfloor at Bercy. This allows work on the brand and diversify our sources of income.I have no other target audience for RTL to be the best. We will launch in September a new website rtl.fr, which will more room to podcast and video. The mark must be alive and present in almost-French. We can not measure the impact on the audience, but it contributes.

July 14th, 2010 in economic, features, news, publications, world | tags: , , , ,