Commercial radio saw adspend increase by a solid 6.3% year on year to just below £150 million during the second quarter of 2003, suggesting the industry is leading the way out of the advertising downturn.
According to the latest figures from the
Radio Advertising Bureau, this seventh consecutive quarter of growth highlights commercial radio’s recovery ahead of other media, given that television revenue for the same period increased by just 1.1%, whilst display pagination in the national press dropped by 4.3%.
Commenting on the figures, Michael O’Brien, director of marketing operations at the RAB, said: “The very strong performance by commercial radio in these results demonstrates that as the advertising industry gradually pulls out of the slowdown, advertisers are increasingly turning to radio ahead of other media.”
The RAB claims that revenue from national advertisers grew by 6.4% year on year, whilst that from local advertisers reached a record high of almost £43 million. This helped commercial radio to see revenue top £582 million in the twelve month period to September 2003, an increase of 4.4% on the same period the previous year.
The growth has once again been driven by FMCG brands, which have increased their spend on radio by more than 50% year on year. Procter & Gamble led the way in the twelve months to September, along with rival household goods manufacturer, Lever Faberge, which owns the Domestos and Persil brands.
The latest RAJAR listening figures for the three months to September also brought good news to national commercial radio, which saw its weekly reach 19.5% year on year to 12.5 million, up from just under 10.5 million in the same period the previous year.
