Radio Back Up Near $20 Billion

Radio sales are increasing again, and so is radio’s percentage of the ad pie.
Those are some of the headlines out of RAB President and CEO Gary Fries’ comments to the RAB2003 show in New Orleans.
“We are right now one of the leading media, and this is a great time to be in this business.”
2002 revenue of $19.575 billion is near the record set in 2000, of $19.848 billion. Radio revenue was up 6% in 2002. “This was a hard-fought, in-the-trenches, hand-to-hand guerilla combat 6%,” he said.
Moreover, he said of the fourth quarter, “That is one of the strongest finishes we have ever seen in the radio industry. … We’re going into ’03 with a strong, strong foundation.”
Fries said, “There is no reason to predict we will fall off of this type of pacing.”
Also up is radio’s percentage of the overall ad pie, long stuck at 7%. It crossed 8% two years ago; and it was 8.2% in 2002.
“That is not new-found money. That money is coming out of somebody else’s pocket. That is probably the most important economic indicator there is for our industry, verifying that radio is doing it better, understands its job and responsibility, and that we are successful.”