Sweden’s media market, whose influence lies in a small, concentrated group of commercial media houses such as Bauer Group, Viaplay, Bonnier News and Schibsted, is undergoing a transformation. What’s making things interesting, however, is that within these organisations, individual outlets are growing and diversifying to reach an audience base that gets their media through a variety of platforms.
About a third of Swedes are willing to pay for online news, according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. They represent among the highest percentage of paying news readers in Europe – second only to Norway – which means that the market is not only ripe for engagement but is potentially lucrative too. And the major corporations are taking notice.
This summer Schibsted-owned tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet, which has been in publication since 1830, launched a radio station. The new venture is emblematic of where Swedish media is headed: established brands are spreading their content across various platforms to leverage their resources and talent.
Radio Aftonbladet is positioning itself as a serious commercial competitor to the public-service broadcaster, Swedish Radio, which has had a near monopoly on newscasting over the country’s airwaves for the past century. In the hopes that the newcomer would help to diversify the media landscape, the Swedish Press and Broadcasting Authority awarded Radio Aftonbladet an FM licence that was previously held by a music station with a million listeners. Known for the speed at which it deploys reporters upon breaking news, the radio station can pull from a pool of Aftonbladet’s 200 journalists to fill its airwaves with news, entertainment, sports and podcasts faster than any of its competition.
As global audiences increasingly turn to a wide variety of sources, journalists – as well as the companies that employ them – understand that testing new ground is the only way to survive long term and Sweden is no different. My journalism colleagues in the industry tell me how they are dabbling in different formats, and becoming good at it too.
Aftonbladet’s entry into the radio sphere marks the first time that a commercial broadcaster is attempting to give the public-service behemoth a run for its assured audience, which is admittedly an uphill task. Swedish Radio has been on air for the better part of a century and reaches more than seven million listeners every week (out of a population of 10 million). Radio Aftonbladet might be small in comparison, reaching less than 200,000 listeners per week in its first month, but it is agile and moves quickly. It has also poached some big names from Swedish Radio, such as presenter Henrik Johnsson, suggesting that, in terms of high-quality output, its continued development is likely to be a success.
Though it’s still early days in the race, Radio Aftonbladet makes a compelling case that Swedish media companies are doing it right. I, for one, will be tuning in.
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