While the overall size of the ad spending pie has steadily increased over the past few years, radio’s slice of the pie has slowly declined. In 2007 11.9% of ad spending in the US was going to radio, but that figure has gone down every year and, if forecasts hold, it’ll be a mere 7% by 2021. Over that same period internet ad spending is expected to go from 8.2% in 2007 to a projected 53.3% by the end of next year. Meaning that more than 50 cents of every dollar spent on advertising in the US will go toward internet advertising in 2021. 

Source: Zenith and www.adage.com 

Yes radio ad spending is expected to grow by nearly half a billion dollars by 2023, but with OTA (Over the air) spending steadily decreasing virtually all of that growth will come from digital. The fastest growing overall advertisers are all online based, Facebook, Netflix, Chewy and Overstock. Plus, some of our top traditional ad spending categories in radio are struggling, like retail and auto. 

However, if we commit to change our approach in 2020 radio can prove those bleak forecasts wrong. 2020 can and should be the year we experiment with formats, find new ways to create digital content, adapt our sales approach to better monetize that new content, and embrace new and emerging technologies. 

2020 would be a great year to reevaluate and adjust our hourly spot-loads and utilize every platform we have to surround our listeners throughout the day. We have a megaphone that still reaches an enormous amount of people and our industry is full of incredibly creative and innovative content creators. Now is not the time for us to double down on all the things that have worked well in the past. It’s the time for us to innovate, adapt and embrace change. If we do, we’ll find new ways to attract and retain an even broader audience and we'll better serve our advertisers. 

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