RAB Study: Digital Revenue Grew 13.4% During 2017

Radio stations rapidly expanded their digital offerings in 2017 to complement and help drive their over-the-air advertising packages, driving digital revenue 13.4% higher last year, according to research released today by the Radio Advertising Bureau and ad-tracking firm Borrell Associates Inc.

The report shows that 85% of radio advertisers are also buying some form of digital advertising, and that three-quarters of them are buying digital and radio together. Moreover, the report shows that digital ad revenue now accounts for 7.5% of the average station’s ad revenues, up from 6.3% last year.

The findings are a part of the 6th annual RAB-Borrell report,  “Benchmarking Local Radio Stations’ Online Revenues,” being released today. The report analyzes online ad revenue from more than 10,000 radio stations, as well as survey responses from more than 1,300 local businesses that buy radio advertising.

Among the findings:

• Digital revenue grew 13.4% in 2017, to a total of $700 million. The forecast for 2018 is even higher.
• Over the past two years, the number of stations selling high-demand digital services such as SEO, website development, and social media management has doubled.
• Radio advertisers’ top marketing goal is to acquire new business, and they rank Social Media and Radio as the Top 2 methods to achieve those goals. 
• Stations’ confidence in their digital strategy is improving.

“Digital has been integrated into all facets of broadcast radio’s offering both in programming and sales, and the results are definitely paying off,” stated Erica Farber, President and CEO, RAB.  “As radio continues to provide integrated marketing solutions to its advertisers we expect to see continued growth,” added Farber. “The RAB is focused on providing digital training and continued knowledge building for our members so they can better serve their clients.”

“Radio is definitely embracing digital as an opportunity to serve customers better, more so than in previous years,” said Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates. “Stations are clearly offering a level of marketing expertise to their customers that makes the digital buy ‘safe’ and certainly stronger when combined with radio spots.”