Radio advertising spending in North America 2000-2024

According to the latest data on radio advertising spending in North America, expenditures dropped to an estimated 14.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. However, this figure represented a 9.6 percent increase, rebounding from the lowest radio ad spend in over two decades experienced in the previous year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Radio industry in North America

North America is the region with the highest radio advertising spending worldwide. In 2020, advertisers in North America invested larger sums in radio promotion than advertisers from all other regions did, collectively. But while radio remains a steady horse among all media and entertainment outlets, radio consumption continues to fall. Audiences spent an average of 104 minutes per day listening to the radio in 2020, down from 135 minutes just a decade earlier. When asked about the reasons for consuming less AM/FM radio in a recent survey, over 60 percent of respondents from North America mentioned reduced car travel.

Radio (advertising) is going digital

Like many other traditional media formats and advertising destinations, radio is gradually embracing the digital revolution. Audiences are increasingly listening to their favorite radio stations online, which explains why advertisers have also started to devote larger budgets towards digital channels. In 2021, local digital radio advertising revenue in the United States reached a record 1.32 billion U.S. dollars, and although over-the-air (OTA) channels still account for the lion’s share of revenue, digital radio is well on track to becoming the advertising industry’s next big hit.