Commercial Radio Revenue Growth Continues To Outperform Market

In the twelve months to March 1999 commercial radio increased its total revenue by 18.8% to £434 million year on year. This compares to an 8.8% growth for the total display advertising market, and a 10.0% growth for television, according to Advertising Association figures.

Figures for the first quarter of this year, released by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), put revenue at £103 million, a 16.2% increase on Q1 1998 and the highest ever spend on radio for a first quarter.

It is the national advertisers that are becoming increasingly tuned in to radio: national advertising expenditure for Q1 was 26.8% ahead of the same period last year. Across the whole year, national revenue accounted for 62.5% of all income and was 27.3% higher than the year to March 1998.

The Advertising Association’s Quarterly Survey Of Advertising Expenditure shows that radio took a 5.3% share of display advertising across the year, an increase of 0.4% points on the previous year.

Commenting on the strong performance, RAB operations director, Justin Sampson, says: “The industry is naturally pleased to have regained the position as the fastest growing medium across ’98. Five years out of six demonstrate the extent of the reassessment that radio has benefited from. The ad industry clearly value radio now.”

Radio Advertising Bureau: 0171 306 2500