Milan, 8 January 2008 — New milestone for Radio 24. For the first time since it was founded in October 1999, Il Sole 24 Ore Group's broadcaster has reached and passed an audience threshold of two million. As reported today by Audiradio, in the final two months of 2007 Radio 24 had an average of 2,044,000 listeners per day, an increase of 10% on September/October that marks the highest growth rate of any private national broadcaster in the country. Radio 24 has climbed to 10th in the ranking of national radio stations. Its weekly audience has also reached a new high, of 4,921,000 (+11%), again outpacing all other national radio stations.
Two million listeners is the ambitious target that Radio 24 had set for itself after gaining an audience of 1,500,000 in its early years, with its innovative news and talk format. Contributing much to this achievement is the “information & passion” formula introduced over the past two years.
Comments Radio 24 Director Giancarlo Santalmassi, “I think our numbers are up because we offer excellent, timely information with our listeners' interests as our guiding star. We realise that people are extremely aware of the gravity of certain topics—the garbage crisis in Naples, of course, but also accidents and death in the workplace, low salaries, or the rising cost of mortgages—, and we have treated these topics with a corresponding degree of importance. But we also know this country is full of bright young adults, outstanding goods and products, and cultural needs to which we've given voice with our shows. Our faithful audience is our encouragement for a job that starts fresh each morning with enthusiasm and zeal.”
Adds CEO Roberta Lai, “Audience loyalty is our foundation, and urges us to maintain and improve the quality of our content and programming. We expect to reach new heights in loyalty and audience, at the service of a keen, active public aware of Italy's problems and opportunities. Our promise, as a business and as a broadcaster, is to keep rising to the professional challenge posed by new and old listeners alike.”
Radio 24 is celebrating its new audience record with the launch of some programmes well in keeping with its successful “information & passion” formula, a well-calibrated mix of news, current events, and intelligent entertainment. In particular, three new shows are planned for 2008. “GR 24 — Edizione Extralarge”, a 60-minute news show, will be co-hosted Monday through Friday from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. “TUTTIFRUTTI: Il grande Albero della Musica” will air weekdays from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. starting on 14 January, reporting the ups, downs, ins and outs of English-language pop from the perspective of two “eye witnesses”: musician Ricky Gianco, armed with voice and guitar, and critic Alberto Tonti.
The third new show is Sunday's current events extravaganza “Il riposo del guerriero”, hosted by Stefano Gallarini from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The live magazine show will alternate in-depth coverage of the day's and the week's top news with Radio 24's lifestyle segments, from classics like Davide Paolini's “Gastronauta” and Salvatore Carrubba's “Un libro tira l'altro” to the new “Hit parade: le classifiche dal mondo” and “Destinazione Pechino”, which will tell the story of the Olympics through archival broadcasts and interviews with Italian contenders for this year's medals in Beijing.
For further information:
Ginevra Cozzi – Radio 24 Press Office
Tel. +39 02 – 3022.4945
Ginevra Cozzi – Radio 24 Press Office
Tel. +39 02 – 3022.4945