S&P Report Forecasts Radio Outlook for 2024

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, October 21, 2024 | 11:33am CT

S and P

According to the newly released S&P Global Market Intelligence's Kagan Radio & TV Annual Outlook, the U.S. broadcast station industry is forecast to reach $36.19 billion in total advertising revenue in 2024, up 9.3% from $33.10 billion in 2023, primarily from the influx of record political ad spending in a presidential election year.

Core ad categories, including automotive, retail and travel, have continued to see softness due to high interest rates and inflationary pressures dampening consumer spending on big-ticket items. Pharmaceuticals, telecom and professional services continue to outperform other ad categories.

The local ad market continues to be stronger than the national side of the spot ad business for broadcast stations with their ties to the local community. Ad agencies and major brands are shifting budgets to digital native platforms as content shifts from linear to streaming. S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan's 2024 projection shows $11.24 billion from radio stations, which includes national and local spot and digital, excluding network and off-air.

The radio station industry's five-year ad outlook, driven more by the local market and less political ad uptick, is expected to decline 3.7% in 2024 to $11.24 billion, excluding network and off-air revenue.

As radio advertising continues to shift to streaming audio and podcasting alternatives, S&P expect declines in the national spot of 5.0% CAGR and the local spot of 3.6% CAGR, as digital ad growth of 5.9% CAGR offsets larger declines with total radio ad revenue contracting to $10.08 billion by the end of the projection period in 2029.