RAB Cuts Revenue Reports To Twice Yearly

Yet another media industry trade organization is cutting back on its publication of industry-wide data.
The Radio Advertising Bureau revealed that it will no longer publish quarterly reports detailing ad revenues for publicly traded radio broadcasters.

Instead, according to Mediapost, it will publish reports twice a year, with a report covering the first half of the year published in August, and a second report on the second half of the year published in the first few months of the new year.

The RAB portrayed the decision as a move to bring it in line with other media and marketing trade organizations. It’s not clear whether the biannual reports, based on data collected by Miller Kaplan, will still break down radio ad revenues by major categories.

Previously, the quarterly reports provided separate figures for categories including spot, national, digital and off-air. The latter category including things like event sponsorships, experiential marketing, merchandising and related businesses.

The announcement follows a particularly weak quarter for the radio business, as reflected in the quarterly results from a number of big broadcast groups. The list of broadcasters announcing revenue declines over the last few weeks includes Cumulus, down 7%; Saga, down 1.2%; Radio One, down 4.8%; and Beasley, down 10.3%. Emmis and Entercom were both basically flat compared to the first quarter of 2014, and only iHeartMedia saw radio revenues increase, with a 4.1% gain.