Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s what happened
Radiocentre Ireland has published a breakdown of advertising revenue in the radio industry for 2021 and Q1 2022. The data has been sourced from all Irelands radio operators, so this is probably as detailed and accurate as it gets.
So what did we learn from this? Well let’s split this into two categories, the main stuff, and the unreported but still interesting stuff.
Main stuff
This stuff has been posted in the main press release, so you may have already seen these numbers on Radio Today or some other publication.
- Total radio advertising revenue in 2021 was €145.1 million. This is more than previously thought which is a good sign for the industry
- €117.3 million of that came from regular ad spots. Meanwhile, all the more fancy stuff such as sponsorships and other branded content partnerships brought in €24.2 million which is smaller but still a big chunk of the market.
- €3.5 million came from digital stuff. Clearly a lot of growth potential here.
- things grew in q1 2022, so hopefully this years full numbers will also be quite healthy. 21% higher spot revenue, 24% higher branded content stuff, and a great 48% digital boost.
So all in all not bad. That digital number is much lower than I’d like and even though it looks to be the fastest growing segment, it’s clear a lot could be done to grow that. Overall though, they’re not bad numbers.
The unreported but still interesting stuff
This is stuff that didn’t make the cut for the press release, but is still stuff I find interesting.
- €39,663,782 came as a result of direct relationships with brands, but a massive €105,412,161 came from agencies. This really shows how reliant radio is on its bigger advertisers.
- While all areas of advertising tend to grow in the run up to Christmas, spot advertising increases more than other categories. Between July and September 2021, agencies spent €20,804,763 on spot ads while direct relationships brought in €7,747,215 in spot revenue. This grew big time from October through to December though. €27,791,817 came from agencies while direct relationships brought in €10,135,306 worth of spot ads in that period. Really big jumps there.
- January to March was the worst performing period in all categories with just one exception. Agencies spent more on digital ads in this period than they did between April and June. €587,227 in q1 Vs €570,059 in q2. This is the only point at which q1 spend is bigger than q2 spend, and this is only seen with agencies and not with direct relationships.
There’s loads of interesting stuff in the report so feel free to have a look at the link below. It would be great to get more detail such as sponsorships Vs OB’s or podcasts Vs stream pre rolls, but this is certainly a great step forward in transparency for the industry. Great job Radiocentre.
Do you have an interest in the business side of radio or are you only into the on air stuff? Let us know over on our insta story.
Now it’s time for the one off radio land quiz of the week. It’s the quiz of the week that happens for one week only.
I’ll give you the clue and all you have to do is give the answer, it’s simple. You’ll get the idea.
Ready?,,, okay…. This is a large building. There’s one in Mountjoy, there’s one in Castlerea, and there’s one in Clover Hill. What is it?
Think closely. Have you got your answer?
The answer is of course, an Aldi. Or at least that’s the response Galway Bay FM got when they asked that question as part of their breakfast show quiz this week.
That wasn’t the only wrong answer either. from pool tables having six balls to racehorses with stripes in Africa, this poor woman really just wasn’t having a great day.
Unfortunately for her, the moment has now gone viral on Twitter with over 69,000 views at time of writing. Maybe it might be worth another shot in a few months.
Finally this week, RTÉ JR Radio have released a new podcast series called the neighbourhood. The series consists of 9 stories which are narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Ciarán Hinds.
It’s far from the first RTE childrens podcast, with podcasts on everything from art to zombies. They attract big names too, Ciarán Hinds starring in The Neighbourhood, and Ryan Tubridy showing up in Cereal.
So, is The Neighbourhood any good?
It’s not as good as Cereal, but that podcast was next level. It’s certainly well written and well edited, I think the sound effects budget could probably have been higher, as a lot sounded like your typical royalty free sounds. That said though, the music choices and general sound design was good.
It’s important to remember though that I’m a man in my 20s listening to kids podcasts with an adults mind, and kids will obviously respond differently to this than I will. I don’t think your 5 year old cares too much about royalty free sounds, and if they do your definitely raising them well in my opinion.
Great job RTÉ on the kids podcasts lately, it’s great to see our public broadcaster embracing new forms of kids entertainment in this way.
Listen to the Neighbourhood here
Quick Bits
The BAIs new commercial broadcast licensing plan has been published, nothing major to report
Iradio are holding their first ILoveIrish gig this weekend
Tommy Marren of Midwest radio has written a new comedy
Ronan Collins will be back this month after he took some leave
And that’s the summary for this week. Come back to radio land next week for more radio news📻 and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for extra stories.