‘Radio is a mass medium and radio advertising is still very effective’

Tom Klerkx and Boaz Shkolnik

Text: Maarten Hafkamp, media journalist, Adformatie Images: Marcel Molle

After acquiring new radio stations and the FM auction in 2023, we built the overarching organisation Mediahuis Radio in 2024. You can take that literally, because the finishing touches are being made to studios at “Radioplein” in Amsterdam as we speak with Tom Klerkx, CEO of Mediahuis Radio, and Boaz Shkolnik, Director B2B at Mediahuis Nederland.

First, let’s go back to 2023: what do you remember from that hectic year?

Tom: “First, there was the rush towards the FM auction. We absolutely wanted to focus on radio, but in the Netherlands we only had Sublime. So we had to look at acquisitions. We found them in RadioCorp, with 100%NL, SLAM! and SUNLITE, and Radio Veronica from Talpa Network. The FM auction itself was the most stressful period in my professional life. An auction like that lasts almost a week with 135 rounds, and you constantly wonder: will we make it?

“We secured two national FM frequencies: for 100%NL and Radio Veronica. We then quickly brought all the radio activities together. First temporarily from the RadioCorp building in Naarden and eventually permanently here at Basisweg in Amsterdam. We had to merge various companies, each with their own culture. It was essentially a start-up within a corporate environment and it was a real challenge to align everything.”

Why did you want to add radio to the portfolio in the Netherlands?

Tom: “Radio still reaches a lot of people. It’s a mass medium. About 80 to 85% of people listen to the radio. I often hear that young people no longer listen to the radio, but 25% of their audio consumption is still radio. I think that’s quite a lot.

“As an investment, radio is also interesting due to its clear cost structure and a straightforward revenue model: adverts. Your market share equals a certain revenue, it’s that simple. Radio advertising also remains very effective. Mediahuis is not in television, so the potential large reach of radio greatly enhances our other activities. Radio is also a medium that you can offer on all possible carriers.”

You’ve expanded the core target group from 20-49 to 20-59. Why is that?

Tom: “It’s to do with life stages. Many people still listen to the radio, but that group is getting older. So it’s much more relevant to extend it to 59. With One Media Sales (OMS), we conducted studies and made a recommendation to Audify, the marketing organisation for audio.”

Are you reaching the desired target groups?

Tom: “We have brands that don’t need to compete with each other. We have Radio Veronica with a clear profile: classics, but also some new music, for a more male audience. 100%NL is more focused on women. And then you have SLAM! for young people. With that, we cover the target groups we want to engage.”

“I often hear that young people no longer listen to the radio, but 25% of their audio consumption is still radio”

Tom Klerkx

And do you engage those listeners in the right way?

Tom: “2024 was a difficult year because the number of listeners fell. But from June, we felt traction, and now, at the beginning of 2025, we are clearly on the right track. 100%NL and SLAM! were on that track from the start. Radio Veronica was a challenge, but the station has existed since 1968 and has had so many incarnations. Everyone has an opinion about it and what it should represent now. Ultimately, it became ‘the club feeling’.”

Well-known DJs like Gerard Ekdom are still important, aren’t they?

Tom: “People like familiar voices that provide reassurance. Radio is also a community. People like to belong somewhere, hence the principle of ‘join the club’ at Veronica. That also applies to the people who make radio. They’re people the listener would like to be friends with.”

“All the pieces of the puzzle are there, but they don’t quite fit yet. Streamlining processes and integrating people takes time”

Tom Klerkx

Radio is easier than ever to listen to, given all the digital options. How are you harnessing these possibilities?

Tom: “The basic premise is that you want to be where your listener is. And then you just have to make sure you have no technical issues. We’re working on that with the entire sector because ultimately, we all have the same goal: that the transition to digital listening goes smoothly.”

Drive time – hours spent in the car on weekdays – is still very important, isn’t it?

Tom: “That’s right. The future will show what the preferred way of listening will be. FM is still dominant now, but I think DAB+ will become the standard in the car. In Belgium, people listen to DAB+ in the car much more than in the Netherlands. European regulations require DAB+ in new cars, but the fleet in the Netherlands is much older than in Belgium."

How does the integration of Mediahuis Radio look now?

Tom: “All the pieces of the puzzle are there, but they don’t quite fit yet. Streamlining our processes and integrating people until they are really at full strength takes some time. For example, we decided to combine advertising sales with Mediahuis Nederland. That started in October, but it takes a while for everything and everyone to be in the right place.”

Boaz Shkolnik and Tom Klerkx

Are you looking at expanding the portfolio? Another FM station, for example?

Tom: “I think we should first develop what we have and then we’ll see. Digitally, you could expand, but preferably from the existing brands. For example, we just started the theme station Goud van Oud from Radio Veronica. And SUNLITE was on DAB+, but is now only available online.”

Then there is the commercial side, which Mediahuis Radio has chosen to do with Mediahuis Nederland. Boaz, can you explain this strategic choice?

Boaz: “Mediahuis has bought various media companies in the Netherlands in recent years and has become the leading audio publisher with Audiohuis. We had six advertising sales desks, and that was very inefficient. In 2024, we brought those desks together, starting with podcast and radio sales.

“At the beginning of 2025, we merged Mediahuis Noord, Mediahuis Limburg and Mediahuis Nederland into one organisation. We also wanted to convert all those different desks into one department, one face, one direction and one point of contact for the market. So we offer our advertisers the full cross-media portfolio through one desk.

“We also used the opportunity to put Mediahuis back on the map with our new cross-media proposition, Mediahuis Raakt: words that touch, sound that resonates and images that stay with you.”

“We are working hard to offer audio with print, display and video as a true cross-media proposition”

Boaz Shkolnik

You also added Mediahuis Radio with the move in October 2024?

Boaz: “That’s right. We believe that cross-pollination occurs when you bring sales colleagues close together. In terms of knowledge, but also in sharing sales opportunities and developing propositions. At the same time, we are working hard to offer audio in the broadest sense with print, display and video as a true cross-media proposition in the market. Advertisers can reach their target groups more effectively and on a larger scale with their campaigns, at different times of the day and on different platforms.”

What effect has that had for your sales organisation?

Boaz: “Not much, except that we have more sales capacity and can serve more customers with a richer portfolio of brands and advertising opportunities. The customer portfolio of radio sales is complementary to that of Mediahuis Nederland. This enriches our service in both directions. Radio advertisers can increase their reach with the Mediahuis Nederland network, and Mediahuis Nederland customers have access to the possibilities and reach of the radio stations. It’s a win-win.”

“The demand for radio advertising is greater than the supply. Fortunately, there is still a lot of advertising space in podcasts”

Boaz Shkolnik

Mediahuis Radio has a collaboration with Talpa Network in OMS. Recently, this was expanded to podcasts. How does that collaboration work?

Boaz: “Mediahuis is a shareholder of OMS, which bundles the radio spot sales of Mediahuis’ portfolio with those of Talpa Network’s radio stations, so advertisers can buy their radio campaigns on a large scale. Eighty percent of our joint revenue comes from traditional spot sales. Due to television inflation, lots of budgets are being shifted from television to radio. As a result, demand is often greater than our supply.

“With Audiohuis, Mediahuis has one of the largest podcast networks in the Netherlands, and there is still advertising space in digital audio. That’s why we looked at the possibility of placing spots intended for radio on the Audiohuis podcast network. This is unique on this scale in the Dutch market.”

The advertising market for podcasts is still quite young. How do you see it developing?

Boaz: “The landscape is fragmented, with many podcasts, often with limited reach. But if you bundle them within one network, it becomes interesting for advertisers. That’s exactly what makes Audiohuis so strong: with our total portfolio, we create the scale the market is looking for to make an impact with audio campaigns.”

On their hopes for 2025, both Tom and Boaz say they intend to continue the growth of the radio stations and relationships with advertisers. In the advertising industry, audio is the growth market of the moment, so there is every chance to realise those ambitions.