A new report from the Radio Advertising Bureau highlights the continued growth of non-spot revenue in the industry. Non-spot activity—largely in the form of innovative brand extensions to the Internet and enhanced event sponsorship packages—remains a focal point for Radio. This strength, evidenced by 16% gains in the second quarter of 2007 for non-spot, helped to offset the slight dips in local, national and network revenues.
According to Jeff Haley, CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau:
The average monthly non-spot revenue growth rate for the last two years has been 10%. At this rate non-spot revenue will be over $1.5B for 2008 and approach $2B by the end of 2009.
Haley acknowledges that radio stations’ online efforts are bringing in the majority of this revenue, and many in the industry expect such efforts to accelerate in the coming years. The question will be, how quickly and gracefully can the radio industry step up online offerings?
Noted for localism and targetability, radio is poised to capitalize on a major share of advertising spending. To draw listeners and therefore advertising dollars online, radio will need to successfully leverage offline multimedia content. Radio offers great brands, great content, and a massive industry, however as it stands today the brands and content are not yet being leveraged to capacity. Radio’s vast and varied content must be made available, accessible and navigable online for the industry to capitalize on their valuable brands, radio names and programs. The success story for radio will be both a reaction to and a continuation of the growth of non-spot revenue and the expansion of stations online.
