Borrell: Digital Radio Set to Rise 27% to $1.2 Billion in 2020

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Borrell Associates has recast its 2019 estimates for Addressable Digital Advertising across all U.S. markets and is issuing overall advertising forecasts for 2020. The company reports that radio's digital ad revenue in 2018 was $0.8 billion and is expected to rise 22% in 2019 to $1 billion and grow 27% in 2020 to $1.2 billion. This mid-year update focuses on the big change in the market-level Addressable Digital Revenue and why it's occurring.

The firm's overall local advertising forecasts for local advertising remain the same with tepid growth this year and next. For 2019, Borrell expects local advertising to grow 1.4% over last year, reaching $128 billion. For 2020, it's forecasting growth of 1.3%, to $129.7 billion. What's changing most is the Addressable Digital Revenue segment and the company says "Radio has finally discovered the Internet, with a vengeance," while TV and cable are also gaining more ground in digital sales.

Addressable Digital Advertising is the total amount of digital ad expenditures for all local businesses located in a market that can be captured by local media companies. It ranges from about 2% of all digital advertising being spent in a market to as much as 24%.

For more details, visit https://www.borrellassociates.com