Value of radio declined by 10.6% in 2020, as podcasts continue to boom [report]

Apple Music, Spotify

A new report on Australia’s media and entertainment sector has found that the value of radio declined by 10.6 % in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Commissioned by consulting giants PwC, the Media and Entertainment Outlook found that the total value of the radio segment sits at $1.4 billion, with the 10.6% decline being largely attributed to a loss in traditional radio advertising revenue.

The report acknowledged that while terrestrial radio and digital audio broadcasting (DAB) is expected to make a recovery once audiences return to predictable daytime patterns, it is not anticipated the sector will return to 2019 levels within the next four years.

PwC also noted that while metropolitan stations witnessed a decline in revenue, regional radio largely maintained its market share throughout 2020, with talkback radio also growing to dominate radio listenership once surveying resumed in September 2020.

Streaming, on the other hand, is predicted to continue to see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% to 2025 based on midpoint forecasting scenarios, with the boom in alternative mediums such as podcasting and music streaming services leading the way.

Throughout the report, PwC also noted the significant maturity of the podcasting sector, highlighting the launch of Southern Cross Austereo’s (SCA) LiSTNR app, ABC’s Listen and Acast as being key to the medium’s continued popularity.

The report also claimed that the number of monthly podcast listeners reached 25% of the population in 2020 – up from 17% in 2017 – and marked an increase in terrestrial radio and catch-up podcasts, with 101.3 million out of 420 million podcast downloads measured by Triton being affiliated with a radio show.

“The audio market has continued to evolve, with the segment now covering a range of products that consumers use to access audio services,” the report said.

“The traditional stronghold of terrestrial radio is now fully complemented by streaming, podcast, and catch-up services.

“What was once referred to simply as ‘radio’ may now be better referred to as ‘audio’ as the competition for share of people’s time listening to content intensifies.”

PwC’s Media and Entertainment Outlook for 2021 can be viewed in its entirety here.

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Stats Guy
19 Jul 2021 - 1:16 pm

Misleading title… maybe reflect ‘due to the pandemic’ not because of the medium itself.

There is no credibility in the PwC reports. Their forecasts are wrong year after year, they report on trends well after they have occurred, yet the reports just still keep coming out and the same old people spin the same old lines.

Radio and TV surged during the pandemic, so how can you say the value of radio decreased? Value to listeners/audiences would be higher than ever now.

Sales Guy
19 Jul 2021 - 3:45 pm

@stats guy, have you interacted with a radio network as a client recently?

Ask for a promotion – Here’s something a guy who worked here once created 5 – 10 years ago, buy it, the hard costs are about 70% of the budget.

Ask for a sponsorship – All sold to local clients, they have had first right of refusal since 1980 and they buy it for 12 months, sorry.

Ask for integration – Here are some interviews, they can’t be live though, we have to pre-record them and put them into the log, in commercial airtime, so it will cost you based on our rate card multiplied by however many commercial lengths the interview goes for.

Our future talent abandoned us, we are just left with a bunch of people punching the clock until retirement leading us.

The value for the advertiser is fast diminishing, reporting on results is more complex than our competitors, our audience data is archaic compared to our competitors we are a difficult medium to deal with.

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