According to figures released by Commercial Radio & Audio,  Australia’s metropolitan commercial radio networks reported a five percent increase in advertising revenue in 2022.

The figures compiled by Milton Data, show the total for the year reached $701.4 million  compared to $665.6 million in 2021.

The result comes despite a decline in December, with ad revenue down by 6% year on year to $52.6 million and 2% below the levels of December 2019.

For 2022 Melbourne stations led the revenue gains with 8.1% growth, while Sydney increased by 7.7%, Perth rose 2.2%, Adelaide 1.8% and Brisbane lagged with 0.1%.

CRA chief executive officer Ford Ennals says the industry had rebounded well from the impacts of Covid over the past two years, but radio had not yet fully recovered from 2019 pre-pandemic levels.   

He says, “Radio has benefited from strength across a broad range of business sectors and the return to cars, with revenue ending the calendar year five percent higher than 2021 and 23% above levels in 2020.

“We are moving closer to a full recovery and while we have seen some caution among advertisers in December, we believe radio will continue to do well in 2023 due to the success of broadcasters in attracting new listeners and maintaining audiences at a record high across broadcast and streaming. Forward bookings for the March quarter are looking solid.”