It is not only radio Europe 1, in the media center of the Lagardère group, which has attracted all eyes, since Vincent Bolloré became its largest shareholder. There are also the music networks Virgin and RFM, which, united within a single economic and social unit (UES), are the target of an employment safeguard plan (PSE). Announced on October 7, it aims to eliminate thirty journalist positions and four animators scattered throughout the country, out of a total workforce of around 140 people.
While the music radios, challenged by the streaming platforms, record a sharp decline in their audience, their economic model based on advertising revenue would he suffer the blow? “Our two radio stations sent the group 3.6 million euros in dividends in 2020, even though the year was complicated by the Covid-19”, defend Laurent Lemaire and Jean-Charles Fontlupt, respectively CFDT and SNJ-CGT union delegates, for whom “This PSE is not justified”. According to an expert report mandated by the Social and Economic Committee (CSE), between 2014 and 2020, RFM and Virgin paid 46.8 million euros in dividends to their parent company.
The management of the two stations, however, read the accounts differently, separating the results obtained by the national entities, which are positive, from those of the local branches, which are in deficit. An unfair calculation method in the eyes of employee representatives who point out that, the rest of the time, the economy is “Globalized” within the SIU.
“Inappropriate, contradictory strategies”
Of the two stations, Virgin suffers the most. In 2020, the resort saw its consolidated operating profit fall into the red, at – 500,000 euros, when that of RFM rose to + 5.2 million euros. Virgin is also the station with the least flourishing audience: with 2.8% cumulative audience between April and June, it lost 1.4 points compared to the same period of 2019 (4.2%), either before the health crisis. While that of RFM climbed to 4.1%, between April and June, in 2019, it rose to 3.4% in spring 2021.
“For several years, like Europe 1, our two radio stations have suffered seriously from inconsistencies in governance chosen by the group”, condemn elected officials in a press release, pointing to “Incessant changes of leaders, inappropriate strategies, contradictory and even sometimes non-existent at crucial moments, the freezing of human and material investments”. However, Virgin is preparing to pay the heaviest price: while the two networks have 71 anchor points in the country, twenty-six Virgin stations are set to disappear, when RFM plans to sacrifice four.
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