Radio executives had very high hopes that political advertising was going to give the industry a big revenue bump in 2016. That didn’t happen and digital is the reason why. Radio’s share of political revenue in 2016 was 6.3 percent of the total amount spent, according to the latest data released from Borrell & Associates. That’s a 23% decline from the 2012 election cycle.
Broadcast TV lost a lot of ground, going from a 57.9% share of all political advertising in 2012 to a 44.7 in 2016. Digital went from 1.7% in 2012 to taking in over 14% of the political advertising dollars in 2016. Overall the total amount of spending was up 4.6% with $9.8 billion spent on political campaigns in 2016, including local, state, and nationwide spending.
Was local and regional radio standing by with fat, juicy and influential copy for the candidates?
Even as an out-of-town voicer-guy working in a number of American and Canadian elections, I can’t begin to explain how atrocious was the copy I was reading.
No impressive spots – no sale.
This is not a drill.