Irish radio enjoyed another strong 2023 with commercial revenues rising by 4% to €163.9m, according to figures published by Radiocentre Ireland.
The €163.9 million 2023 revenue was made up of €127.2 million of spot revenue (radio commercials) which was up 1% for the period. Revenues from branded content revenue, however, including sponsorships, partnerships and other content solutions, were up 9% to €29.5 million while revenues generated by digital audio continued to surge, rising by 33% to reach €7.2m for the year.
The figures also show that the radio advertising market received a boost in the last quarter of 2023 with overall revenues up by 7% on the previous quarter.
The figures published by Radiocentre Ireland cover all radio operators in the country, including RTÉ. However, the figures for digital audio does not include revenues generated by global audio companies like Spotify, Acast, Sound Cloud or Global. Neither do they include commercial revenues generated by publishers or independent podcast creators.
According to Ciaran Cunningham, CEO of Radiocentre Ireland, sectors that showed strongest growth were motoring, pharmaceutical, travel/transport and B2B. Government advertising on radio, however, recorded the biggest decline.
“It is great to see continued growth in radio revenue, following on from such strong revenue growth in 2022,” says Cunningham.
“It is also great to see that advertisers recognise the power and the reach of the medium as they continue to increase investment. And we are positive about 2024. Despite an uncertain international environment, Irish economic fundamentals are strong. And 2024 has already started very encouragingly with strong growth being experienced by radio broadcasters in January and February,” he says while pointing out that growth of around 6.8% is forecast for the full year.
