The latest Médiamétrie survey published this Tuesday confirms a mixed picture of the French radio landscape. The medium isn't collapsing, but neither is it returning to the levels of a few years ago: 38,4 million French people listened to the radio daily between January and March 2026, compared to 38,46 million a year earlier. The overall cumulative audience thus declined from 68,1% to 67,2%, indicating a market that is stabilizing rather than experiencing a significant rebound. Médiamétrie's EAR (Audience Rating Survey) remains the benchmark study for the sector, based on 100,000 interviews with individuals aged 13 and over.
France Inter still dominates, despite a slight decline
France Inter remains the leading radio station in France. It boasts a 12,4% cumulative audience share and 7,086,000 daily listeners, still more than two million listeners ahead of its closest competitors. This is a very high level, but the growth is less spectacular than projected for 2025: Inter has lost around 170,000 listeners over the past year, according to press estimates, even though Radio France insists that it remains above the symbolic 7 million mark.
RTL and franceinfo neck and neck for second place
Behind them, the battle for second place remains one of the key takeaways from this survey. RTL and franceinfo are tied at 8,6% cumulative audience share and around 4,9 million daily listeners. RTL claims a very slight advantage in listener numbers, with approximately 16,000 more loyal listeners than franceinfo, enough to fuel its marketing. In reality, the main takeaway is that the private station is minimizing the damage after a difficult period, while franceinfo confirms its strength in an international context that continues to support news channels.
RMC loses ground, Europe 1 loses momentum
The picture is bleaker for the other generalist stations. RMC has fallen back to 5% cumulative audience share and 2,86 million listeners, a decrease of 190,000 year-on-year. Europe 1, on the other hand, remains at a level significantly higher than it was two years ago, but its recovery has stalled: the station has fallen to 4,6% cumulative audience share, or approximately 2,62 to 2,63 million listeners, with a loss of around 30,000 listeners year-on-year and an even sharper decline compared to the previous survey. In other words, Europe 1 is not collapsing, but its growth has stopped for the time being.
NRJ and Nostalgie in a period of turbulence
It's in the music sector that the shocks are most pronounced. NRJ posted the most dramatic decline in this report: the station's cumulative audience share fell to 6,6%, with 3,77 million listeners, representing a loss of approximately 450,000 listeners year-on-year. The drop is brutal, especially since NRJ had still climbed above 4 million listeners last season. And the NRJ group no longer finds sufficient support in Nostalgie: the station is also suffering significant losses, with 3 million daily listeners, a decrease of 316,000 year-on-year. This double decline confirms that traditional music stations are bearing the brunt of the fragmentation of audio consumption.
Skyrock confirms its rise and wins
In this landscape, Skyrock stands out as a solid exception. The station gained approximately 270,000 listeners in a year, reaching 3,43 million daily listeners, with a 6% cumulative audience share. It thus regained its position as the second most popular music radio station in the country behind NRJ and reaffirmed its strength with young audiences and the rap scene, where several general-interest and music competitors are struggling to renew their audience base.
Nova, the real explosion of this wave
The other important development, and undoubtedly the real surprise of the day, concerns Radio Nova. The station has reached a 2,8% cumulative audience share, representing approximately 1,6 million daily listeners. According to various sources, this represents an increase of around 823,000 to 830,000 listeners over the past year, which is equivalent to nearly doubling its audience in twelve months. This phenomenon goes beyond a simple "good score": Nova is now outperforming Europe 2 in daily audience figures and is establishing itself as one of the few radio brands to benefit from a clear, visible, and measurable editorial strategy.
Europe 2 can finally breathe a sigh of relief
Europe 2, for its part, is also making progress and finally emerging from its slump. The station has reached a 1,8% cumulative audience share and approximately 1,02 million daily listeners, an increase of around 200,000 year-on-year. While this rise remains modest on a market scale, it contrasts sharply with previous years and demonstrates that Europe 2 is once again a force to be reckoned with in the music radio scene. The previous survey had already shown an improvement in the morning show hosted by Cauet, and the station even decided in early April to further strengthen its on-air presence. We can therefore speak of an upturn, without prematurely concluding that a complete recovery is underway.
