Commercial Radio Sees Adspend Increase In Q1

Commercial radio revenue figures, released today by RadioCentre, the industry body for commercial radio, show that radio advertising continued to grow during the first quarter of 2008 with a year on year increase of 6.7%, to £158.8 million.

Within this figure national revenue showed the strongest growth with a 9.4% increase year on year.

The commercial radio sector has now seen four successive quarters of growth and a 5% revenue increase over the last 12 months.

Andrew Harrison, chief executive of RadioCentre, said: “This is great news for our sector and these revenues show that there is an increasing understanding of radio’s role in the digital age – including its effectiveness when used alongside online advertising.

“As these excellent results show, although we are aware that uncertainties in the economy will be a challenge for all media, we are confident that radio is well positioned to withstand a downturn.”

Simon Redican, managing director of the RAB, the marketing arm of the RadioCentre, said: “These figures are another set of impressive results. Advertisers are continuing to see that radio is a critical part of the media mix. We can see that advertisers are recognising that radio adds bite to their media campaigns, multiplying the effectiveness of their other media.

“RadioGauge, the bespoke research tool from the RAB that gives advertisers a measure of how their radio campaigns perform has proved hugely popular and provides advertisers with clear evidence of the return they are getting on their radio investment.”

The latest RAJAR figures, for Q 2008, show that while All Commercial radio reported a year on year decline in its weekly reach, it was up period on period by 1% (see All BBC Radio Sees Weekly Reach Growth).

RadioCentre: www.radiocentre.org