Ad revenue for Australian metropolitan commercial radio stations held steady in November, totaling AU$69.48 million, down 1% compared to AU$70.32 million a year ago but finishing above pre-Covid levels, according to figures released today by industry body Commercial Radio & Audio.
Results were mixed across the cities, with Melbourne up 2.4% year on year but Sydney down 4%. Brisbane also declined by 4.4% and Perth by 1.9%, but Adelaide was 1.9% higher.
The November result was 5% higher than the AU$66.26 million achieved in November 2019, before the impact of the pandemic.
“After reporting 20 months of successive growth, the commercial radio market stabilized in November in line with broader macroeconomic factors, but the good news is that we are now ahead of pre-Covid levels,” CRA chief executive officer Ford Ennals said.
“November 2021 was a strong month coming out of lockdown, so to be only marginally lower this period is a positive result. There was strong investment from communications, FMCG, insurance and auto brands, and the retail sector continues to hold up well.”
From January to November, ad revenue totaled AU$648.74 million, a 6% increase over the previous corresponding period.
The results follow the release of GfK Survey 8, which showed commercial radio ended the year with a record weekly high of 12.2 million listeners across the five major metro markets.
Media data analytics company Milton Data compiled the revenue figures, which include agency and direct ad revenue.