Number crunching January’s radio ad revenue

Commercial metro stations reported “modest growth” growth in advertising revenue in January, up 0.85% to a total of $50.551 million.

The figures – sourced by Deloitte and released by Commercial Radio Australia – follow December’s growth of 6.75%, with an overall annual growth of 4.04% to $779.960 million for the 2016 calendar year.

“Radio achieved a fourth successive year of advertising revenue growth last calendar year, and though there has been a slower start to 2017, the industry has been remarkably resilient,” said Joan Warner, chief executive officer of CRA.

The Sydney market increased ad revenue by 0.67% to $15.257 million in the month of January, but Melbourne was 0.02% lower to $15.448 million. Brisbane increased by 9.93% to $7.610 million, while Adelaide declined 9.61% to $4.743 million and Perth was 0.37% higher to $7.067 million.

For the seven months of the financial year to date, total ad revenue was 1.12% higher to $445.868 million compared to the same period a year ago.

The Sydney market was up 1.77% to $137.273 million for the financial year to date, and Melbourne was up 1.91% to $137.258 million. Brisbane rose 3.01% to $70.693 million, Perth was slightly up 0.10% to $61.220 million, and Adelaide was 5.21% lower to $39.424 million.

The industry plans to introduce some initiatives this year as it continues to evolve to meet the needs of listeners and clients.

CRA has announced a move to an automated holdings system to be rolled out in 2017 to make radio ads easier to buy. It also plans further enhancements to its industry-wide streaming app, called RadioApp, which was launched in late 2016, to ensure radio remains readily available to listeners on multiple platforms.

“Radio has been a reliable performer over many years, and we expect that trend to continue due to our consistency in attracting audiences,” Warner said.

The Deloitte figures report actual revenue received by metropolitan commercial radio stations and include all metro agency and direct revenue.

NOVA Entertainment CEO Cathy O’Connor – who is leading the industry’s push for programmatic radio buying – said that the radio market and NE are continuing to see overall growth.

Speaking at last night’s pre-Red Room concert with Ed Sheran O’Connor said, “In a radio market that has grown 2.5% over the last seven years, we have experienced a compound annual growth rate in revenue of 8.5% with EBITDA of 21%.