No relief in sight as radio ad revenue declines

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Reuters

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Newly released data suggests that the U.S. radio industry could be on track to record its worst annual drop in ad revenue in decades.

According to the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), total ad revenue for all U.S. radio markets dropped 10 percent in October from a year earlier. Local revenue fell 15 percent, while national revenue slipped 1 percent.

October marked the industry's 18th consecutive month of year-on-year revenue declines, according to James Boyle, a senior broadcast analyst at research firm C.L. King & Associates in New York.

Given that total ad revenue is down 7 percent year to date through the end of October, the continuing decline evokes comparisons to 2001, when ad revenue was down 7 percent for the entire year, Boyle said in a November 24 research note. But, he observed, that was against a tough comparison to 2000, when revenue grew 12 percent.

"One actually has to go all the way back to 1954, when radio ad revenue was down 9 percent against the prior year's dip of 2 percent" to find a worse decline, Boyle said. "1954 was the fourth straight year of substantial radio advertising underperformance versus total domestic ad revenue."

That was also the year, Boyle quipped, "when 'The Lone Ranger' had its last new radio episode and Sen. Joseph McCarthy was railing against hidden Communists."



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE4B287U20081203?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertainmentNews&rpc=22&sp=true

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I laugh when I listen to the RW hosts railing against saving the Big Three - they are cutting their own damn throats as well.

I'll be curious to see how this affects talk radio in the next year.

[bulloney]

1. I wonder where RW talk radio fits in with this decline in ad sales.

It would be nice to know if they're taking a disproportionate hit in the decline. It would be a sign that perhaps the country is getting tired of the same old BS from the Limbaughs, Hannitys, etc.

I hope it's also a sign that people are just getting tired of this homogenous radio programming that's overtaken the industry. There's little local identity in radio, thanks in large part to Clear Channel. Just a bunch of syndicated shows that you can hear in just about every region of the country.

When I was in radio 25 years ago, radio advertising was hot. Not the case now, apparently.

[Mike Daniels]

2. Probably more a reflection that people aren't listening to terrestial radio

so the advertisers aren't spending money to pitch to people who aren't there.

[maseman]

4. Actually that is not true

I work in radio research and believe it or not more people are listening to radio overall this year than last year. The problem has NOTHING to do with audience level/ratings but rather the overall bad economic situation coupled with more and more media platforms to advertise on.

Sat radio is hurting very badly because they are not renewing contracts. $12.95 per month is tough when you are unemployed.

[Belial]

3. Sat Radio?

I drive a lot.. and I listen to XM all the time. I have noticed it is ALWAYS the same ads.. get out of debt, sex toys and make yourself bigger if you are a man.. LOL Those businesses must be doing well.

[maseman]

5. Sat radio is tiny

compared to overall reach but other media. I have XM/Sirius and love it also. But you take a small group of people with satellite and then divide those people by hundreds of channels...not much overall reach so you get the same BS commercials over and over again.

[atimetocome]

6. and now the national political ad season is gone:

......The dismal October numbers came on the heels of the RAB's release of more detailed data on ad revenue in the third quarter. Despite the benefit of political advertising leading up to the November 4 U.S. election, ad revenue in the three months ended September 30 totaled $4.9 billion, down 9 percent from the same period of 2007. Year to date, total revenue stood at $14.8 billion, down 7 percent from a year earlier.

Local and national on-air revenue dropped 11 percent to $4.2 billion in the quarter. Even network radio, a segment that has defied the rest of the business by managing to grow during the first half of the year, was down 3 percent to $285 million. Off-air revenue, including online advertising, rose in the quarter but managed to grow just 5 percent to $458 million, slowing from the double-digit percentage gains posted in the first two quarters of 2008.

There was little good news for radio's core on-air business with local advertising, which accounts for about 80 percent, falling 10 percent in the third quarter to $3.5 billion. National spot advertising remained the weakest segment, down 12 percent to $767 million.

Amid the recent financial market turmoil, concerns about a deepening recession and a slowdown in consumer spending, the outlook for all local media, including radio, looks tough, according to Marci Ryvicker, a senior analyst at Wachovia Capital Markets in New York.

[LanternWaste]

7. I guess it was about six years ago...

I guess it was about six years ago that I simply stopped listening to radio, and I haven't since-- standard, internet, or satellite. There wasn't any particular reason I'd stopped, I just did and only realized it much later.

And if six years ago was any indication of the direction that radio had taken (and continues to take?), I'm not surprised-- ads, shock jocks shilling bad taste, ads, talking heads shilling bad politics, more ads, DJ's pretending to be just as important as the music, and then even more ads. Even the music stations seemed to allow only 20 minutes per hour of music (a biased guess on my part).

Although I have a fond remembrance of radio from my HS and college days, "it just ain't the same anymore" said in that get-off-my-lawn voice.

[Ian David]

8. Radio has failed to live in a wealth cycle and stay there. n/t

[PassingFair]

9. LOL

I say that to my friends when they complain about the economy.

"I don't know about YOU, but I'm in a WEALTH CYCLE!!1!!"

I heart :sarcasm:

[zbdent]

10. I can't wait until Rush Limbaugh is laid off ...

[Ian David]

12. How would he ever manage to live with only $50 million or so in the bank? n/t

[CatholicEdHead]

11. I still listen to radio all the time (mostly MPR/NPR)

Minnesota Public Radio which has American Public Radio, National Public Radio and other content over the three media types (news, classical, The Current).

Otherwise I find myself at the local rock station when I need a change.

I pay for my radio (MPR Member) and feel it is a good thing to do so even though they are hurting like everyone else.

[ramapo]

13. Radio is so segmented (boring)

Still I mostly listen to radio in the car but only because I am a news junkie.

I used to listen to talk radio in New York in the late '60s, early '70s. It was much more interesting. A station would actually have a mix of programming; conservatives, liberals, MOR, and informational.

Music radio has gotten absurd. Tightly controlled and limited playlists make any one station a bore.
There's little classical or jazz to be found, usually only on college radio, although many college stations try to emulate their culturally bereft commercial cousins.

Even NPR is not what it once was. It definitely toes a more corporate line and during the early Bush years was right up there with the other ass kissers. The NY NPR outlet cut back on their music programming too and I rarely listen now.

With the rise of Clear Channel and robot stations, there are few redeeming facets of local radio. It is a shame.

[bemildred]

14. Right wing propaganda radio loses it's market. Tsk . nt