A strong September for online listening
The back-to-school season has been good for digital radio in France. According to the certified measurement run by ACPM, the radio stations and webradios it audits racked up 236 million active listens in France during September 2026. That is a 4% increase year on year, confirming that live online radio listening keeps growing well beyond the holiday periods.
The scope of this measurement is broad: more than 1,600 radio stations and webradios are included. The France ranking by station lists exactly 1,638 streams, from major national broadcasters down to small themed channels, making it one of the most complete snapshots of live digital listening in the country.
The big brands stay on top
Unsurprisingly, the top of the table is still held by legacy stations. France Inter leads the brand ranking with almost 34 million active listens. In the station ranking, the public broadcaster totals 33.2 million active listens, ahead of RTL (26.9 million), franceinfo (19.6 million) and RMC (18.5 million). Europe 1 and NRJ follow with 9.9 and 9.4 million respectively.
At group level, Radio France is far ahead with 79.6 million active listens, followed by the RTL group (38.1 million), the NRJ group (33.3 million) and the Les Indés Radios alliance (28.1 million). These figures show that most online volume is still captured by brands that are already strong on FM and DAB+.
Themed streams are carving out a place
The ranking also highlights an interesting trend: themed spin-off streams distributed online manage to slot in among the broadcast stations. FIP Cultes reaches 21st place with around 1.64 million active listens, and Skyrock Klassiks 25th with just over one million. A little further down, Fip Groove, Fip Rock and 100% Grosses Têtes each exceed several hundred thousand listens.
These results show that a clearly identified stream, focused on one music genre or a specific universe, can find its audience online, even against general-interest stations that have been on air for decades.
What it means for webradios
For independent broadcasters, these figures offer several practical lessons:
- The market is growing: a 4% rise over one year means new listeners are getting used to streaming radio. The pie is getting bigger, which leaves room for newcomers.
- Niche is a viable strategy: the best themed streams prove that precise, consistent programming builds loyalty.
- Certified measurement is a selling point: appearing in a recognised ranking means you can show credible figures to advertisers and partners.
- Visibility remains decisive: up against the big brands, being listed in directories, aggregators and apps, and on smart speakers, is essential to get discovered.
Finally, the long tail of the ranking, with more than 1,300 streams below 40,000 monthly active listens, is a reminder that most webradios live on loyal communities rather than mass audiences. That is exactly where a webradio can stand out: consistent programming, a technically reliable stream and a direct relationship with its listeners.
Source: La Lettre Pro