In recent weeks, the war in Ukraine and the campaign for the presidential election have increased radio listening on digital media. That is to say mobile phones, connected speakers, tablets and computers.
Digital radio is therefore hugely successful and unlike the audiovisual antenna, it is not subject to the same rules. During the electoral campaign, everything was corseted on the antennas, it is besides what listeners regretted, not understanding the rule of speaking times. We had the opportunity to talk about it in this meeting. Lucas Menget, deputy director in charge of digital at franceinfo discusses this issue of the digital offer with the mediator of the antennas of Radio France, Emmanuelle Daviet.
Emmanuelle Daviet: Let’s first talk about the figures which show that listeners’ consumption patterns are changing dramatically?
Lucas Menget: Yes, franceinfo consumption patterns are changing with the evolution of the world quite simply, and uses, connected speakers, telephones, computers. franceinfo is not an antenna, it’s antennas. A few figures to remember: 31.3 million world listeners in March 2022 on digital means that these are people who listen to the radio outside of a conventional radio station, quite simply. 7.5 million listening on demand: these are people who will specifically listen to a program, a presenter, a particular slice of information.
And then we obviously have social networks, more than 2 million people who follow us on Twitter, 2 million fans on Facebook, but we are also on YouTube, on Dailymotion, on Twitch. During this presidential campaign, we opened a Twitch antenna which was led in particular by Jules de Kiss. We try, and we succeed, obviously, from what the figures tell us, to diversify our offer. The digital offer is less corseted, as you rightly said, because it was not subject to these rules before the digital breakthrough.
You are not subject to the rules, but you nevertheless ensure a balance?
Obviously, we ensure a balance and that is very important. We did a podcast this year led by Manon Mella, whose name is generation 2022. Since the start of the school year in September, Manon Mella has gone to meet very young voters. Of course, that’s not subject to exactly the same rules as when you’re on a podcast. Except that we were extremely careful. We held the tables, saying to ourselves that we have to make the right, the left, the far right, the far left and people speak that they are not aligned with political parties. We also do this work, but it’s not done to the nearest second.
franceinfo is also the leading news platform consulted by 3.5 million Internet users every day. And you know very precisely which are the most consulted articles. Does this influence your editorial choices?
No, it’s very useful, it’s like an audience tool that allows us to know what people read first, it’s also very variable. At the time of the start of the war in Ukraine of course, people were passionate about all the reports in this country. Then from time to time, a news item attracts the attention of our readers enormously. But that doesn’t influence our editorial choices.
franceinfo is also the most listened to channel on connected speakers, and enjoys a very high level of live listening on digital media. More generally, how do you explain this success?
Again, this is simply one of the new tools. You have to realize that today, when you go to household appliance stores, or buy a radio, you are offered these connected speakers. It is true that we are very listened to. We have become one of the most listened to radio stations on the training. There are 2 and a half million. We make + 16% in one year. Which means that in fact, all these news flashes that we call news feeds, all these news flashes that we do all day long on franceInfo, are very listened to by people who have a use different, who have it in their bathroom, in their kitchen.
It’s also important for podcasts, for example, we have a podcast offer that follows the editorial line of franceinfo, which is news. The quarter of an hourfor example, which is a daily news podcast that has had over 3 million plays since its launch. hi info which is aimed at young people, Complorama who decrypts fake news, and Elysee, the battle which made it possible to follow the entire political campaign with the political service of franceinfo. Our listeners, our readers will peck everywhere in the antennas of franceinfo.