Radio’s Digital Revenue Up 14%
The digital advertising income of U.S. radio stations continued its upward trajectory in 2016, as the industry reported a 14 percent increase in online revenues, compared with over-the-air (OTA) revenue, which remained relatively flat at around $14.1 billion. Those are among the findings in the first quarter edition of BIA/Kelsey’s 2017 Investing In Radio® Market Report.
To the surprise of no one, a Presidential election year was a boon to the News-Talk format in general, and for the sixth time in the past seven years, was very kind to the reigning revenue champ, Hubbard Radio News Monster WTOP/Washington, which topped the 2016 list of highest revenue radio stations, raking in $67,500,000. The rest of the Top 10 list looks very familiar, as it contains the same call letters as last year, albeit in a slightly different order: 2) iHeartMedia Top 40 KIIS-FM/Los Angeles: $65,900,000; 3) iHeartMedia Top 40 WHTZ/New York: $48,000,000; 4) CBS Radio Sports-Talk WFAN/New York: $46,5000,000; 5) CBS Radio News WBBM-AM/Chicago: $45,000,000; 6) iHeartMedia Hot AC KBIG/Los Angeles: $44,000,000; 7) CBS Radio News WCBS-AM/New York: $44,000,000; 8) iHeartMedia AC WLTW/New York: $42,000,000; 9) CBS Radio News WINS/New York: $40,000,000 and 10) iHeartMedia News-Talk KFI/Los Angeles: $38,000,000.
“In an age where consumers have many entertainment choices, local radio maintains its strength and popularity in the marketplace among national and local advertisers,” said Mark Fratrik, SVP and Chief Economist at BIA/Kelsey. “Our forecast also notes that by 2021 we expect radio to surpass newspapers and become the fifth largest media category among advertisers.” Fratrik says the prospects for 2017 remain similar, with OTA revenues increasing less than one percent and online about 12 percent. BIA/Kelsey forecasts that the radio industry’s revenue in 2017 will reach a total of $14.9 billion, representing 10.5 percent of the $148.8 billion U.S. local advertising marketplace as estimated by BIA/Kelsey.
