In this week's AdBiz series, we ask radio buyers for their predictions and prognostications on Q3 and Q4 radio spending. In the wake of a record-breaking TV upfront and strong Q2, is radio set to finish the second half of the year on a strong note?

Part 1

Irene Katsnelson,
VP, Director of Network Radio,
MediaVest

What are your predictions for Q3 and Q4 national network radio spending?

Third quarter network radio is very, very active and I believe that it's going to carry over into fourth. I think right now the next couple of weeks are kind of a lull before Q4 activity starts to kick in. Second, as you know, was extremely active. In the next couple of weeks, Q4 will definitely start moving.

What about supply and demand?

I would say the demand will definitely be up. The supply is kind of not overly abundant. For Q3 a lot of the networks are sold out of inventory. There's still syndication out there. There's plenty of syndication, but in terms of the line RADAR network inventory, especially from the vendors that have very limited inventory to begin with, there are a lot of holes in some of the weeks. And definitely, that will carry into Q4.

Do you see TV's record-breaking upfront spending trickling down to radio's upfront?

I don't know that network radio will be breaking records this year, necessarily, but it's definitely above and beyond where we were last year at this time, which is excellent. I don't think we'll be breaking any records but I think that things are more active than even the networks anticipated.

What about rates/CPMs?

They're definitely up. Not that WE'RE paying more, mind you...I think that suppliers will be asking for higher CPMs, especially with any new scatter advertisers that are coming in to third and fourth quarter. It's hard to say how much because obviously depending on who you are, rates vary considerably, but it's definitely an increase over last year for scatter and new advertisers.