Press Releases 2 August 2016

UK radio adspend forecast to weather the Brexit storm

Radio adspend (excluding branded content) rose by 2.9% to £127m in Q1, according to the latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report data. And this strong showing for the UK radio ad market looks set to continue, with total radio adspend forecast to rise 2.9% in 2016, and 1.7% in 2017.

Radio’s promising figures are part of bigger picture that is reassuringly buoyant. UK advertising expenditure is forecast to post 4.2% growth in 2016 and 3.8% growth is 2017.

These forecasts follow a strong showing for the UK ad market in Q1 2016, with advertising expenditure rising 4.3% to reach £5,007m – the first time spend has passed £5bn in a first quarter.

Lucy Barrett, Client Director at Radiocentre says: “These healthy numbers suggest that, despite uncertainty surrounding the UK’s vote to leave the EU, the commercial radio sector is both resilient and confident. Radiocentre will continue to work with Government to fly the flag for the UK as a global advertising hub and ensure that we also continue to promote the clear benefits of radio to advertisers and agencies.”

Find the press release here.

 

The Advertising Association/WARC data in full:

Adspend 2015 (£m) 2015 vs 2014 Forecast 2016 Forecast 2017
% change Adspend (£m) %/PP change %/PP change
TV 5,270 7.3% 5,458 3.6% (-1.5pp) 3.1% (-2.0pp)
  of which spot 4,760 6.7% 4,890 2.7% (-1.7pp) 2.3% (-2.0pp)
  of which VOD 175 20.7% 205 17.1% (0.0pp) 14.6% (-2.5pp)
Radio 592 2.9% 609 2.9% (-1.4pp) 1.7% (-2.1pp)
Out of home 1,059 3.9% 1,101 4.0% (-0.9pp) 2.1% (-2.1pp)
  of which digital 332 22.0% 388 17.0% (n/a) 15.8% (n/a)
National newsbrands 1,222 -10.8% 1,098 -10.1% (-4.2pp) -10.8% (-7.4pp)
  of which digital 220 2.5% 222 1.1% (-3.6pp) 1.4% (-9.3pp)
Regional newsbrands 1,176 -6.2% 1,062 -9.7% (-4.3pp) -8.5% (-4.7pp)
  of which digital 199 14.8% 211 6.0% (-7.8pp) 6.9% (-4.7pp)
Magazine brands 941 -5.2% 886 -5.9% (-1.4pp) -7.0% (-4.3pp)
  of which digital 282 5.8% 287 2.0% (-1.4pp) -0.2% (-6.1pp)
Cinema 240 21.9% 243 1.3% (-2.7pp) 2.4% (+0.7pp)
Internet 8,606 17.3% 9,665 12.3% (+0.8pp) 10.1% (-0.5pp)
  of which mobile 2,627 61.1% 3,660 39.3% (+2.5pp) 23.4% (+0.1pp)
Direct mail 1,841 0.3% 1,708 -7.2% (-8.1pp) -5.0% (-4.5pp)
TOTAL UK ADSPEND 20,071 7.4% 20,904 4.2% (-1.3pp) 3.8% (-1.7pp)
Broadcaster VOD, digital revenues for newsbrands and magazine brands, radio station websites and mobile advertising spend are also included within the internet total of £8,606m, so care should be taken to avoid double counting. Radio includes branded content. From Q1 2015, the IAB has included spend for outstream/in-read video for the first time. This amounted to approximately £148m in 2015. Digital out of home forecasts are a new series since August 2016.
Percentage point change since April shown in brackets.
Source: AA/Warc Expenditure Report, August 2016.