CHANTILLY, VA. June 4, 2009
– The economy has affected the radio industry more this year than originally
projected, according to the second edition of BIA Advisory Services’
quarterly
Investing In Radio® Market Report.
New estimates project 2009 revenues of approximately $14 billion, a 15
percent decrease over last year, based on revenue reports from stations
across the country. However, analysts at BIA believe that the economy has
begun to bottom out and that it will not be quite as bad in the fall and
winter months as it was in the beginning of the year. This situation
presents an opportunity for radio to leverage new sources of income by
making effective investments in new, sustainable ways to attract listeners.
“The residual effects from the recession had a
detrimental impact on radio stations the first half of this year,” said Mark
R. Fratrik, Ph.D., vice president, BIA Advisory Services. “However, facing
this calamitous situation, radio has shown agility by adjusting its
programming and how it’s delivered, and listeners are responding.
These adjustments could translate into a viable
way of attracting advertisers and showing them positive returns on
investment.”
BIA's Investing In Radio Market Report
tracks nationwide station formats and notes a 9.2 percent rise in consumers
listening to news-only stations across the country when comparing Q1’08 with
Q1’09. Factors including the availability of music formats from sources
other than radio and growing consumer interest in local, political and
economic news are motivating stations to change their formats and move
toward all news. In addition, Investing In Radio found an increase in
consumers listening to rock (3.8 percent) and urban (3.4 percent) formats
over the same period time.
Migration to new formats, in particular
all news, although expensive, has set radio on the path to carry over
programming into multiple platforms, including the Web and mobile, where
news applications (“apps”) are increasingly popular and can provide sources
of income.
Mobile represents an area where radio stations can significantly increase
their share of listeners. According to Michael Boland,
program director, Mobile Local Media,
BIA’s The Kelsey Group: “Many stations are creating apps for iPhones and
other devices that offer streaming access at mobile users’ finger tips. This
move represents an opportunity to target different demographics of mobile
users and gain incremental listeners, especially among younger listeners.”
Investing In Publications for Radio
A comprehensive profile of all 302 radio
markets is available in the second edition of the quarterly
Investing In Radio® Market Report and
the 2009
Investing In Radio® Ownership Report
published by BIA. Both publications are part of the Investing In
financial guide series that includes market trend analysis, demographic and
economic overviews, competitive overviews, technical data, ownership data,
pending and completed transactions, and Arbitron ratings. For more
information, call 800.331.5086 or e-mail
info@bia.com.
Mobile Local Media Advisory Service
For
broadcasters interested in learning how a mobile strategy would serve the
changing needs of advertisers and audiences, BIA’s The Kelsey Group delivers a continuous advisory
service (CAS) called
Mobile Local Media
that provides
the insight and technical details for
developing sound business plans.
To learn more, contact
Michael Taylor at
mtaylor@kelseygroup.com or 937. 610.6257.
