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Sweden’s media regulator, the Swedish Agency for the Media has awarded licenses for the country’s three commercial FM networks for the next eight-year licensing period, which begins in August.
Bauer Media’s Mix Megapol and Viaplay Group’s Rix FM will retain their national networks through 2034. NRJ Group has lost its national license. The Authority instead awarded that network to the country’s biggest newspaper, Aftonbladet, owned by Schibsted, which plans to launch the news-focused station Aftonbladet Radio.
“For the first time, we received applications to run news-oriented commercial radio stations. According to the new legislation, we are to award licenses to radio stations with varied content. We decided to give licenses to two stations with music and entertainment and one license to a news-based station,” said Ola Vigström at the Swedish Agency for the Media.
Lotta Folcker, publisher of Aftonbladet, said the decision marks a major step for the newspaper. “Aftonbladet is about to take a historic step into national radio. This is one of our biggest investments in many years, and a clear expression of our ambition to reach more people with journalism in everyday life,” said Folcker.
An attractive advertising platform
Joakim Flodin, managing director of Schibsted Marketing Services in Sweden, said the national reach strengthens its commercial position. “The combination of strong journalism and national reach provides us with an attractive platform for advertisers that want to reach a broad audience in a relevant environment. Sound is a medium that is growing, and this decision gives us a possibility to take a clear position in this development,” said Flodin.
Richard Mazeret, managing director of NRJ Sweden, said the company was disappointed. “It’s a shock decision that we have a hard time to comprehend. We’re both sad and angry. One-and-a-half million listeners will lose their station, and our employees may lose their jobs,” said Mazeret, who also criticized the Authority’s decision to award the license to a media company without radio experience.
One-and-a-half million listeners will lose their station, and our employees may lose their jobs
Richard Mazeret, managing director of NRJ Sweden
NRJ began broadcasting in Sweden 33 years ago and has focused on a young adult target group. Mix Megapol and Rix FM serve older audiences. “We know that young people have different listening habits than older listeners. If they don’t find a relevant station, they stop listening to the radio altogether. This is a problem for the future of this entire business. It’s hard to see how this strengthens radio or content diversity, which has been the intent of this licensing process,” Mazeret said.
NRJ said it will seek to secure as many as possible of the 35 regional FM licenses to be awarded later this spring. The application deadline is March 6.
This is the first licensing round under a new “beauty contest” system, which gives preference to companies with radio experience and aims to ensure varied content and avoid ownership concentration. Under the previous legislation, licenses were awarded to the highest bidder.
In 2018, Bauer Media, NRJ Group and Viaplay Group bid a combined €84 million for their current national licenses. Under the new model, radio companies will pay an annual fee based on 3% of the radio industry’s total income.
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