Radio prospects on the up and up

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Finally, a ray of sunshine from revenue prognosticators, who say things look like they will finally begin picking up for the beleaguered radio industry. "[M]edia buyers are far more optimistic about the sector than they were a year ago," says a new report.


Unfortunately, the report, "The Future of Radio," is referring to that little place across the pond know affectionately as Great Britain. But hey, maybe it is a sign of events that may be repeated here in the Western Hemisphere.

According to UTalkMarketing.com, growing disenchantment with internet advertising results is fueling a new look at the older radio medium. The report says that UK internet advertising revenue is three times radio’s income, but radio’s ads attracts five times more consumer time than the internet. The report says, "This relationship appears unsustainable and suggests that advertising spend will swing back towards radio."

The report notes that digital advertising is here to stay, and new digital revenue streams are on the rise. It says that radio must take advantage of digital synergies and tie its over air and internet platforms together. "As listeners migrate to digital platforms, new advertising revenue streams are opening up," the report notes. "We believe commercial radio should feel confident in its role as an advertising medium."

RBR/TVBR observation: Many execs have predicting a US radio revenue upswing when the honeymoon with the internet gets stale. We think those execs were thinking that it should have happened already, but the fact remains that it still may be in store. It is critical for radio to cement its biggest natural advantage — localism. No internet portal has the ability to get to a large block of people in one tightly-knit geographical area, and radio has traffic jams performing this invaluable service for it just about every business day. Do an effective job of tying this in with a fabulous internet presence and there’s no reason radio can’t turn things around.

However, we caution: Every silver lining has a cloud. UTalkMarketing.com is talking about a potential radio rebound. They haven’t pulled it off yet. But we’ll hang onto any tiny little piece of optimism we can find, at this point.