U.S. radio revenue in the first three months of the year was up 1% from the same period a year ago, continuing a long period of modest overall industry performance.
RAB quotes research by Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co. saying local revenue was up 1%, national was off 1%, network revenue was up 9% and non-spot continued to outpace the other larger categories, up 10%.
Industry revenue in the quarter was estimated at $4.72 billion.
“Non-spot activity presents a significant growth opportunity for radio to increase its revenue stream,” RAB stated. “Unmeasured prior to 2004, this category is 6.4% of total radio revenue and is an important factor in Radio’s total ad spend, impacting the medium into the positive growth position it displayed” in the first quarter.
