Traditional radio revenue streams, local and national spot, were down 19% in Q3 2009, but continued improvement in digital revenue smoothed the bottom line to only a 16% loss. Both results are considerably below YTD figures. The numbers are from the Radio Advertising Bureau and are based on research from Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co.
Here are the raw numbers for Q3: Local spot $2.798B (-19%); national $639M (-17%); total spot $3.437B (-19%); network $253M (-11%), digital $126M (+14%), off-air $335M (-9%); grand total $4.151B (-16%).
Q3 numbers are invariably as good or superior to the YTD results, a clear sign that radio is starting to emerge from the bleakness that has characterized the year. Here are the raw numbers for YTD: Local spot: $7.983B (-23%); national $1.703BM (-22%); total spot $9.686B (-23%); network $765M (-11%), digital $347M (+12%), off-air $954M (-11%); grand total $11.752B (-21%).
RBR-TVBR observation: This isn’t half bad. When percentages have a minus sign in front of them, we like it a lot better when they start with a “1” instead of a “2.” We have also heard anecdotally during a few quarterly conference calls that revenue comps may start to flatten out after the month of October, the point at which political advertising dried up and the economy began to tank in earnest last year. We therefore expect an even better report for Q4 2009.
