I know radio advertising spending is down compared to the past. I'm just curious how revenue might compare to earlier decades.
For example, how was radio doing in 2000, say 2010 and 2019. Obviously 2020 is not normal. How substantial are those drops.
The other thing I'm curious about is opinions on how the pandemic may have changed consumer buying habits and business advertising models. I fear more of the advertising pie that went to online might not come back to radio once people return to more retail shopping versus online.
I'm simply asking to get a handle on things. I'm being told radio is down about 30% and then the next guy says 65% in the past 2 decades.
A friend of mine (and station broker) was telling me a great market may have done upwards to $2 or $2.50 per $1,000 in retail sales a decade back but now is doing good to hit $1.
Historically, a small market station I know well once did a good $45,000 a month back in the late 1980s. Today it's more like $20,000 or $25,000. In fact there are businesses that easily spent $1,000 a month plus back in the late 1980s but now spend about $200 or $300. If you run these figures on an inflation calculator it is really alarming.
A couple of stations have told me they actually have been dropping advertising rates to be more affordable to the bulk of potential advertisers.
I'd also add it is not just radio but small town weekly newspapers that have seen huge amounts of revenue dry up. Generally speaking the healthiest newspapers are the small town weeklies where they are the only source of local news. The big city papers are pretty much toast at this point but some have become diversified enough to bolster revenue with online presence.
For example, how was radio doing in 2000, say 2010 and 2019. Obviously 2020 is not normal. How substantial are those drops.
The other thing I'm curious about is opinions on how the pandemic may have changed consumer buying habits and business advertising models. I fear more of the advertising pie that went to online might not come back to radio once people return to more retail shopping versus online.
I'm simply asking to get a handle on things. I'm being told radio is down about 30% and then the next guy says 65% in the past 2 decades.
A friend of mine (and station broker) was telling me a great market may have done upwards to $2 or $2.50 per $1,000 in retail sales a decade back but now is doing good to hit $1.
Historically, a small market station I know well once did a good $45,000 a month back in the late 1980s. Today it's more like $20,000 or $25,000. In fact there are businesses that easily spent $1,000 a month plus back in the late 1980s but now spend about $200 or $300. If you run these figures on an inflation calculator it is really alarming.
A couple of stations have told me they actually have been dropping advertising rates to be more affordable to the bulk of potential advertisers.
I'd also add it is not just radio but small town weekly newspapers that have seen huge amounts of revenue dry up. Generally speaking the healthiest newspapers are the small town weeklies where they are the only source of local news. The big city papers are pretty much toast at this point but some have become diversified enough to bolster revenue with online presence.