Commercial radio ad revenue rose 5.9% in the first half of 2018

Commercial Radio Australia has reported a rise in advertising revenue throughout the states in the first six months of 2018, resulting in a nationwide increase of 5.9%.

The results, compiled by Deloitte, showed that Melbourne faired the best with a 9.3% increase to $127.167 million.

Adelaide came in second increasing 5.6% to $34.953 million, Sydney rose by 5.2% to $124.577 million, while Brisbane was up 4.5% to $61.810 million and Perth posted a 2% increase to $52.482 million.

CRA chief executive officer Joan Warner attributes the encouraging results to commercial radio’s willingness to adapt to changing media environments.

“Radio has managed to retain listeners on the core broadcast platform, which still accounts for about 90% of radio listening, while expanding across streaming, podcasting, online and radio-branded social media channels,” said Warner.

Results from the entire 2017/2018 financial year for the five major markets also showed an overall increase of 3.8% to a record $802.974 million.