2-20-2012
The Radio Advertising Bureau reports that radio revenue in 2011 totaled $17.4 Billion. Overall in 2011 radio revenue increased 1% from 2010 according to RAB President and CEO Jeff Haley. Comcast and McDonalds continue to be big radio spenders. We have all the details on the RAB's latest revenue report.
NOTE: This is a correction from Monday morning's news headline. Auto made up 10.9% (nearly $2 Billion) of all radio spending in 2011 (not 26%). READ THE ENTIRE RAB REPORT HERE
Here's the breakdown within the auto category for spot radio revenue:
Chrysler Group $199.2 Million
Toyota Dealers $133.4 Million
Chevrolet Dealers $66.1 Million
Ford Dealers $64.9 Million and Ford Motor Corporation $60.8 Million.
Overall in 2011 radio revenue increased 1% from 2010 according to the RAB. Comcast and McDonalds continue to be big radio spenders.
Additional categories that came in big for radio in 2011 were: Communications, restaurants, TV and Cable networks and financial. All categories were up either one or two percent.
The Communications/Cellular category boasts four of Radio?s top 10 spenders for 2011 ? AT&T (#1 at $364.9M), Verizon Wireless (#4 at $261.1M), MetroPCS (#8 at $160.7M), and T-Mobile (#9 at $150.8M), although the category?s rank went from #2 in 2010 to #3 in 2011. Spending in the sector was impacted by challenges to the two top players ? the contested merger of AT&T and T-Mobile and ongoing issues with Verizon?s 4G network among them. While both these advertisers curtailed spending in Q4, much of that volume was offset by stepped up commitments from other advertisers.
Competing with grocery stores and C-stores for consumers? food dollars, major players in this category increased their Radio spend by 12% Q4, to $312.4M. Total year spending was up 5%, to $1.4B. McDonald?s continues to add money to Radio and dominate this category with Q4 and full-year 2011 spend close to the total of the next four advertisers combined. Head-to-head competitor Burger King beefed up its efforts substantially in Q4 to move into second-place in category spending for the period.
Other restaurants that more than doubled their Radio expenditures in 2011 were: Applebee?s ? up 104%, to $46.4M, Denny?s Advantica ? up 177%, to $19.9M, Jack in the Box ? up 165%, to $19.4M, Domino?s Pizza ? up 120%, to $16.6M, Firehouse Subs ? up 142%, to $15.2M. With an expanded national footprint, Buffalo Wild Wings topped the Q4 Network Radio charts with $1.4M ? a five-fold investment over Q4 2010 and ended 2011 up 134% to $2.1M. Subway ended 2011 at #1 with $6.6M and $1.4M for the quarter (at #2).
Comcast Cable is the definitive leader in the Tv/Cable category with expenditures of $341.5M for the year (+19% over 2010). The increase moves Comcast to the #3 ranking among all Radio advertisers in 2011, up from 4th a year ago. TV Broadcast Networks Fox, CBS and ABC led the uptick in Q4 revenue, spending 80% (to $46M), 20% (to $22.2M), and 129% (to $15.6M) more, respectively. Radio also scored with ESPN in the fourth quarter: The sports cable outlet kicked up spending nearly six-fold, to $14.3M.
Insurance Companies were Radio?s top growth category in Q4 and year-over year, up an impressive 23% and 26% respectively. Three advertisers (Allstate, GEICO and State Farm) in this category spent over $100M in 2011 Radio compared to just one ? GEICO ? in 2010. GEICO retains a solid hold as top spender for the year at $172.3M. Allstate represents a major Radio success story proclaiming their increased commitment to the medium this year; full-year spending is up by 130% to $137.7, moving them into the #2 spot within the category (from 3rd in 2010). Number three State Farm Insurance boosted its spending by 39%, to $101.1M.
Major spending increases by State Farm (+226%, to $48.1M) and Allstate (+114%, to $40.3M) edged GEICO ($39.1M, -11%) from its perch as category leader in Q4. American Family Insurance also significantly increased its Radio voice (+143%, to $19.6M), moving up to 5th in rank from 8th same period last year; and health-provider. Blue Cross Blue Shield was up 11%, to $20.9M. Across the Network sector, Allstate retained the top slot for the quarter increasing more than four-fold increase over 2010 at $9.7M and ended 2011 up 124% to $12.9M. Competitor GEICO held the top spot by year-end with $25.3M and ranked at #2 for Q4 with $6.7M.
(2/20/2012 9:18:34 AM)
Well Larry,
I think it's like this: When the auto business tanked in 08-09 and dealers were spending little on radio, we still had a payroll to meet. So, some of us started calling on clients and categories we had driven by for years. You know, businesses that used the newspaper, billboards and yellow pages but radio didn't call on them because they...I dunno, didn't fit the format or something. And you know what? many of them bought. And now we have new customer types so we don't need the car dealers, bars, furniture stores, and fast foods quite as much. Good thing it happened that way. Radio would have never thought of it otherwise.
(2/20/2012 8:08:10 AM)
I wonder if anyone had the same initial reaction to the news about the share of radio revnue derived from automotive as I did? Intense anxiety! Having one industry represent so much of radio’s annual revenue means that if (when) that industry catches a cold, radio gets pneumonia. The auto industry is hot right now. When the industry is hot, radio performs in positive space. When the industry hits a speed bump, radio performs in negative space. The real questions in my head are:
1.What can radio do to super-serve the auto business so that we can become stronger partners with the industry on both a local and national level? We have the assets and consumer relationships to be an invaluable business partner.
2.In what ways might radio develop other revenue streams to reduce it’s reliance on automotive to drive its revenue? I'm silly enough to believe that there are new opportunities in our "new economy" that have yet to be exploited both in terms of business categories and how we deploy our assets within the programming, marketing and sales environment.
Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend
