NYT: Radio’s Revenue Falls Even as Audience Grows

 

Radio advertising was down 10 percent last month from October 2007, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau, the 18th consecutive month of declines.

Stations in small markets are doing relatively well. Stations in the 10 biggest markets had revenue drop about 12 to 15 percent this year. Stations in the smallest markets, though, have been about flat, Leland Westerfield, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets, said.

The New York Times’ Stephanie Clifford writes: Listeners are diverted by iPods and Internet and satellite radio. Companies are loaded with debt. Advertisers are heading to television or the Web — and the advertisers that have continued to advertise on radio, like auto dealers and retailers, are being hit by the economic crisis and pulling back.

Is it a problem too big for the sales department to fix? Read more from the NYT article.