Radio ad spend down 55.8% for May 2020

Ad spend in Australia continues to fall as businesses tighten their belts during the coronavirus crisis, with SMI reporting that radio alone has copped a 55.8% dip in spend for the month of May.

That was worse than overall ad spend, which was down 40.4% in May, as reported by AdNews. That fall comes out to a $234m downward turn in corporate advertising expenditure.

It’s a significant month on month dip for all advertising mediums, with spending having already fallen by 12.6% month on month in April compared with March.

SMI AUNZ managing director Jane Ractliffe said several significant product categories pulled most of their advertising budgets in May.

“In May last year the Travel category was the market’s fifth largest but this month it plummeted to 30th position after a shocking 92% fall in ad spend as the industry shut down,” she explained.

“Similarly, the value of bookings from the Live Entertainment category slumped 95% and even the large Automotive Brand category reported a massive 62% fall in year-on-year bookings.”

It’s not all doom and gloom though, with SMI predicting a stronger return and a more normal-looking spend in the upcoming months of July and August. SMI’s forward bookings data is already showing stronger demand for those months.