Radio

Radio has been an important source of information for Albanians during the twentieth century; however, its influence has dwindled after the collapse of the communist regime in 1991– which lifted restrictions on media ownership, while technological advances such as the internet and digital television has carved away its market. The public broadcaster Radio Tirana was launched in 1938 and flourished as propaganda medium during the communist regime, from 1945 to 1991.  

There are currently 5 national radio stations broadcasting in Albania and 60 regional radio stations. Three out of five national radio stations, Radio Tirana, Radio Tirana 2 and Radio Tirana 3 are public radio stations, while the two other, Club FM and Top Albania Radio are private commercial radio stations.   The number of regional radio stations, includes 4 stations that rebroadcast foreign radio stations: Radio BBC, Radio RFI, Radio World Family, Radio China International, CRI. In this list are included also four community radio stations linked with religious organizations: Radio Spektrum/The Muslim Community; Radio Dodona: Bektashti Order; Radio Maria/ Radio Maria Foundation and Radio Ngjallja/ The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania.  According to data provided by IDRA Media, the advertising market for radio was 430.8 million lek (€3.2 million), from January to November 2017.

Most radio stations in Albania, apart from the public broadcaster Radio Tirana, broadcast mainly music and only short newscast at the turn of the hour during the day. Some radio outlets, that are part of media groups also operating 24 hour news stations, simply re-broadcast the feed from these TV channels during the day or a combination of news from TV and music. The sample of 10 radio stations chosen for this study was based on two core factors: data on market share published by the Audiovisual Media Authority, AMA, as well as audience data on radio listenership provided by Abacus research and whether the radio station in question broadcasts news.