Between them, Bauer’s Radio Comercial network and GRM rival RFM control nearly 50% of the Portuguese radio audience. Comercial has a bigger share (26.2 to 21.4), but RFM is the one I heard for a week in every Uber that was playing the radio, which has been almost all of them. It’s also the station that I saw everywhere using outdoor advertising. (Maybe that has something to do with winning the Uber battle.)
Part of what I’ve been enjoying about Portuguese radio has been seeing other people enjoy it as well. In the UK, there’s enough “radio everywhere” to make you feel better about the medium’s prospects. There’s also a significant digital tier that has been part of radio’s vitality. There’s no DAB here, although there are numerous side channels on both networks’ websites, but there is something encouraging about two big, vital brands.
Both stations are on the seam between Hot and Mainstream AC, to the point where even ROR reader Eric Jon Magnuson, who follows Portuguese radio very closely, isn’t quite sure how to categorize them. Comercial has a Modern AC lean. RFM is the harder one to categorize. Since I’ve heard “All the Stars” by Kendrick Lamar & SZA or “Heathens” by Twenty One Pilots, I guess I should call it Hot AC, too, but the feel is more Bright AC.
Then again, hearing AC radio in another territory, especially Europe, is a reminder of the arbitrariness of those format distinctions anyway, particularly since AC’s borders are always under negotiation. There are also those songs that never made it to recurrent at home. (I’ve heard Adele’s “Oh My God” a few times now.)
There are also the currents. Like AC here, RFM’s top-25 countdown still includes “Beautiful Things,” “Birds of a Feather,” and “Lose Control.” But the No. 2 song is Sombr’s “Back to Friends.” There’s also Role Model, Gigi Perez, Ravyn Lenae, Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae, as well as Portuguese and Spanish-language titles.
Hearing two big AC stations with a significant current presence is also a reminder that AC’s decision to effectively not play currents is arbitrary, too. (The two stations are also how most radio listeners are hearing the hits, since their two national CHR sister networks have a six share between them.)
RFM’s current contest, in conjunction with its two sister networks, is a Cash Call contest where the correct amount is available on the website, among other places. Its name translates to “The Big Suitcase of Cash.” Here’s RFM at 11 a.m., July 14:
- Post Malone, “Sunflower”
- Ed Sheeran, “How Would You Feel”
- Giulia Be f/Luan Santana, “Inesquecivel”
- Damiano David, “Born with a Broken Heart” — a song encountered often enough that it will likely be the one that reminds me of this trip
- Maroon 5, “She Will Be Loved”
- Lewis Capaldi, “Wish You the Best”
- Vizinhos, “Por Do Sol” — current loping tropical dance
- Tate McRae, “Greedy”
- Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile”
- Paramore, “The Only Exception”
- The Weeknd, “The Hills”
- WizTheMC, “Show Me Love”
- Barbara Bandeira, “Nao Gosta”
- Of Monsters & Men, “Little Talks”
Here’s Radio Comercial, at 3 p.m., July 15 with Tecas and Pedro Andrade, one of three two-person shows between 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
- Lewis Capaldi, “Someone You Loved”
- Mark Ronson & Raye, “Suzanne”
- American Hi-Fi, “Another Perfect Day”
- Teddy Swims, “Bad Dreams”
- Syro, “Castelo de Cartas”
- Manuel Turizo, “La Bachata”
- Pink, “What About Us”
- Calema, “Amar Pela Metade”
- Fray, “How to Save a Life”
- Sam Fender, “People Watching”
- S’House, “Love Tonight”
- Os Quatro e Meia, “Na Escola” — power ballad with a similar feel to Oasis, “Don’t Look Back in Anger”
- Damiano David, “Next Summer”
(Update: Since I wrote this article, another wave of Portuguese ratings has come out and the race is even tighter, with Comercial leading 24.7 to 23.4.)
This is really great insight on how a market can evolve, too. Bauer’s CIDADE was at one point in the recent past the leader, while “RFM” was sort of the 35+ brand that “older” audiences gravitated to. Today, with streaming taking younger audiences in country after country, the fact RFM and Commercial have half of the audience alone is testament to the bigger challenges facing all broadcast radio, even in Portugal. What’s “cool” about RFM is that they’re playing Tame Impala. And you noted Sombr. These songs show that older can maintain a level of hipness that our “LITE FM” and “MIX” stations in the U.S. don’t employ and is a nod to younger audiences likely tuning in at-work or in mixed company. Meanwhile, Bauer owns “M80 Radio,” a brand formerly used by Grupo PRISA in neighbouring Spain for its Adult Hits brand. It is intriguing that Bauer owns both Cidade and M80 while also in control of Radio Commercial, now the leader of the three. Why? Commercial is like the K-Earth 101 of Lisbon, only it plays currents instead of 1980s and some 1990s tunes, given its position in the marketplace. Again, the older audiences are driving Commercial and RFM while each gain younger demos, not so unlike KOST and KRTH in L.A. but done in a way that could provide important learning lessons to those in other U.S. markets.
Are you saying that you want market-leading K-Earth 101 to play currents for the first time in 40 years? Interesting to think about a much hipper KOST though, especially since “Californication” would probably test for them.
Well Move 103.5 also is hipper than KOST and KKCW since they tend to play Nelly and some artists US stations would never play and even more Hot AC content like most of the AC stations in Canada but also with some Canadian artists since they tend to try to support them plus meet the requirements.
A lot of the recent Canadian AC music comes from the superstar DJ/producer artist side–Felix Cartel, Frank Walker, Loud Luxury, etc.