Commercial radio at a glance

See radio differently: reach, resonance and results for your advertising

Commercial radio provides brands with a way to speak to millions of people via a medium they trust.

Radio provides reach, with nearly 38.2m listeners every week; resonance, as an emotional influencer with power to enhance brand perceptions at a subconscious level; and results, delivering an average ROI of £7.70 for every pound spent.

Radio advertising also stretches beyond the traditional 30 second ad, with longer ads, sponsorship, branded content and innovative digital solutions increasingly providing advertisers with new and more creative ways to get their message to potential customers. Throughout this section of the site you’ll find more on how to plan and buy radio, how to make great radio ads, and to use our tools, research and case studies.

38.1
million

adults listen to commercial radio every week

   
Radio fact £7.70

the average ROI generated on radio

Radio fact 380

licensed stations

Radio and the
audio revolution

Radio – the broadcast linear flow of curated, predominantly live, presenter-led music and speech based audio entertainment – is now part of a much wider audio ecology

Find out more Commercial radio at a glance

Great radio
creativity

Great writing, stand-out performance and quality sound design, turbo-charged by innovation in digital audio. This is what radio advertising is all about

Get creative Commercial radio at a glance
Radio fact 67%

of listening is digital

Radio fact 52%

uplift in online brand browsing

89%

of adults listen to radio every week

   
The 7 roles of radio
1

Radio for brand building

The high reach of radio combined with its mood enhancing effect on listeners means that it is able to play a more ambitious role for brands than the tactical role it often holds.

Read More
The 7 roles of radio
2

For targeting: right people, right time

Radio’s unique combination of targeting opportunities enables advertisers to more efficiently reach their audience and optimise their advertising effects.

Read More
The 7 roles of radio
3

Radio for ROI

If your goal is to increase ROI, econometric analysis highlights how moving money into radio from other media leads to greater returns at a total campaign level at no extra cost.

Read More
The 7 roles of radio
4

Using for activation

The short-term, sales-response model of advertising is the way many advertisers use radio, and is based on its obvious strengths of short term lead times and low production cost, cost efficiency and effective targeting.

Read More
The 7 roles of radio
5

Using radio with other media

Radio can play a highly effective role for advertisers either on its own or alongside other media. Using radio as part of a wider media combination can enhance overall campaign performance.

Read More
The 7 roles of radio
6

Radio for local advertisers

Radio is a fantastic medium for local advertisers as it allows you to reach out to the local community in a highly targeted and cost effective way. However these aren’t the only reasons why you should be using radio. If you’re trying to understand how radio can help grow your brand, find out more about how effective radio advertising can be.

Read More
The 7 roles of radio
7

Radio for direct response

With its huge reach, low ad avoidance, and ability to reach people at relevant times, radio is a strong call to action medium. Find out how radio has the ability to drive response.

Read More

20.6
hours

of live radio consumed weekly on average

   
Radio fact 78%

of listeners introduced to new music

Radio fact £719m

annual commercial radio revenue

Introduction to
radio advertising

Radiocentre offers three types of free training, depending on which area of the advertising chain you work in.

Training Commercial radio at a glance
Where next?

Research studies

Research studies

Tools

Tools

The future of radio

The future of radio