“As consumer habits adapt and digital integration becomes the norm, key industries are reshaping their advertising strategies, yet amidst these changes local radio stands strong as a resilient and potent force in the media mix — the fifth-largest media when you examine the total local advertising marketplace,” BIA VP of Forecasting and Analysis Nicole Ovadia says in a guest column for RAB’s “Radio Matters” blog.
Ovadia notes that aside from political, more traditional radio advertisers comprise the rest of its top five spenders in 2024: investment and retirement advice, quick service restaurants, commercial banking, and supermarkets. With political less of a factor in 2025, BIA’s forecast puts QSRs on top at $558 million, followed by investment and retirement advice, supermarkets, commercial banking, and hospitals.
Focusing on digital, BIA projects finance/insurance to lead in 2025 with a local ad spend of $586 million, up 4.8% year-over-year. Other top-spending categories, all in growth mode vs. 2024, include QSRs (+13.3%), mattress and sleep centers (+8.3%), supermarkets and other grocery stores (+5.9%) and new car dealers (+ 3%).
“As broadcasters continue to expand their portfolio of services and products, interesting trends begin to form within the radio digital sector,” Ovadia says. “It’s a growth medium for key ad categories in local markets in 2025.”
BIA notes other emerging ad opportunities for radio, such as including CTV and video ads to offset spot ads — citing a recent RAB study showing that advertisers putting their money in radio stations also buy CTV ads from them — and the recently FCC-approved over-the-air geo-targeting with content-originating boosters.
“The radio advertising landscape is in the midst of a dynamic transformation, but within this evolution lies a world of untapped potential,” Ovadia says. “With radio’s evolution continuing, tapping into opportunities available with radio can advance the revenue and sales opportunities for the industry as well as advertisers. Radio’s value is proven and tangible, and it’s up to us to use innovative solutions to deliver content and increase engagement with listeners in local markets to navigate the ever-evolving landscape.”
