BIA Forecasts 2.2% Growth for Radio

“How much does the U.S. radio industry bring in each year?”
Various experts have differing takes on that number each year. Some folks say “$20 billion.” RAB has estimated last year at $21.45 billion.
One commonly used source is FIA Financial Network; that company says the radio industry “continued its string of three sub-par years in 2005, only achieving a 0.5 percent increase in station revenues.”
Thus, BIA says radio closed the year with $18.2 billion in station revenues, just slightly higher than 2004.
The company’s Mark Fratrik said radio didn’t keep pace with the overall economy. He blamed competition with other forms of new digital tech and satellite radio.
“This challenge is significant and is certain to cause revenues to remain significantly below the growth of the overall economy in the near future.” He said radio needs to better attract younger listeners by offering new formats and using multiple distribution platforms.
“Also at the same time, radio needs to demonstrate its effectiveness as an advertising medium by utilizing improved research methods, as well as innovative selling efforts.”
BIA predicts the growth rate in 2006 to be 2.2 percent.
“While we expect the growth rate to increase slightly in later years, that additional increase will only add, at most, one percentage point to the annual growth. Overall, radio stations potentially face lower demand from some key advertising categories, limiting the potential for strong growth in the immediate future,” added Fratrik.