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Radio Revenues Down 5 Percent In Q1
NEW YORK -- May 22, 2008: Radio revenues came in at $4.5 billion in the first quarter of 2008, the RAB reported today, down 5 percent from the same period a year ago.
Local revenues were down 6 percent in Q1 2008, to $3.2 billion, while national was off by 11 percent, to $649 million. Local and national combined for a 7 percent decline, to $3.8 billion. Network radio revenues were up by 7 percent in Q1, to $275 million, and off-air (formerly nonspot) revenue was at $388 million, up by 15 percent.
Based on Miller Kaplan data, the leading growth category in the quarter was insurance, spending $170 million in Q1 '08, up by 24 percent. Geico remained the top insurance spender, while Nationwide came in second with a new "major radio commitment" in Q1.
Specialty retail spent $57.8 million in the quarter, up 20 percent, while the professional services category also added 20 percent more spending, for a total of $129.3 million. The beverage category was up 12 percent, to $122.2 million.
Those increases, the RAB said, "went a long way to offset spending decreases in some of radio's traditionally dominant categories, including automotive and communications."
"Radio has always served a wide variety of advertising categories," said RAB President/CEO Jeff Haley. "We are encouraged that first quarter has brought new and returning advertisers to radio. Agressive pursuit of brand-extension opportunities, new programming formats, and interactive on-demand experiences maintains radio's relevance and provides advertisers a recession-resistant outlet to engage their consumers."
On the network radio side, retail and automotive led the growth for the quarter. Citing TNS Media Intelligence data, the RAB said retail was up 41.9 percent at network radio while automotive spending rose 9.3 percent.
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