For the RAB, it had to be a monumental task organizing these revenue reports, not only compiling the revenue data from radio companies, but adding the detail from radio’s largest advertising categories, which were also included in the report. It appears the RAB will continue to focus on providing members with that detailed advertiser information moving forward. But what about the numbers?
It will be interesting to see how radio’s revenue is accurately compiled in the months and years ahead. While there are other organizations reporting radio’s revenue, the RAB report was the most detailed, and quoted as gospel by many groups outside the industry. For example, when Pandora and SiriusXM CEO’s say they are coming after radio’s revenue, which they often do, it’s often that RAB number they quote as the total pie of revenue.
To give you examples of other organizations that report revenue numbers for radio, BIA/Kelsey reported in March that radio revenue for 2015 was $14.9 Billion. It was about $3 Billion off from the RAB report for that year, but that was because the RAB also included network advertising and NTR and BIA/Kelsey only covers over-the-air and digital. Will BIA/Kelsey now include network advertising and NTR? In the last Kantar report we looked over, radio figures only reflect commercial spot sales, and the Kantar radio revenue numbers are thrown into a much larger revenue report for all media.
