Radio Advertising to grow by 3.9% in 2024 according to GroupM.
Irish advertising investment is likely to rise by 3.2% to €1.32 billion in 2024 according to the annual forecast from GroupM, the media investment arm of WPP which includes Mindshare, EssenceMediacom and Wavemaker. For the radio sector, GroupM has predicted a growth of 3.9% to €157 million. GroupM predicts that radio’s success will continue, with the market reaching €178.3 million in 2028.
This comes as no surprise as 2023 saw outstanding figures in radio listenership. According to the Irish Audio Report, published in October 2023 by Radiocentre Ireland, more than 3 million listeners tune in to radio every day, listening for a total of 13.4 million hours. Radio also remains the dominant form of audio listening with 79% tuning in each day, compared to 24% using music streaming platforms, and 8% using podcast streaming platforms each day. Read the full report here.
With radio stations creating more content across various audio platforms, radio listeners will expect a surge in on-demand content in 2024. In a recent interview with AdWorld, Peter Smyth, CEO of IRS+, outlined some of the key trends that will underpin the evolvement of the Irish radio industry in 2024. Peter predicts that radio stations will continue to invest in digital audio platforms and develop new ways to deliver content to their listeners. Peter also predicts a growth in podcast popularity, and podcast advertising will become even more important for businesses looking to reach a targeted audience. Read the full interview here.
In September 2023, Nicola Murphy, Director of Marketing at IRS+, featured on an episode of RadioTalks, the official industry podcast by Learning Waves, to speak about the power of radio advertising. Nicola spoke on the misperception that radio is behind in the digital world. She said “I do think that there is a perception that radio is a little bit old-school. That perception is incorrect. What I find interesting, particularly about Irish radio, is how resilient it has been over the last number of years.” Nicola also gave light to the immediate effect of radio advertising for businesses, reflecting on research completed by Radiocentre Ireland on the direct link between transmission of radio ads and response. She said “Radiocentre Ireland have done an incredible amount of research on this. One that comes to mind is the research they did with Sky Ireland. It has been proven that radio drives people to their website. The data is fascinating. The relationship between radio spots and the search action is undeniable.” Read the full report here.
Ciaran Cunningham, CEO of Radiocentre Ireland, also featured on this episode. Ciaran discussed how advertisers are beginning to increase their radio advertising budgets as they are starting to understand its power. He said “Brands and advertisers do not realise the power of this medium. I do not think they are leveraging that power as much as they should. An example of that, in the U.S, Procter & Gamble, the biggest advertisers in the world, have made the strategic decision to invest in radio. They made this decision because their reach declined through television over the years. They focus on their ‘reach.’ They are now the highest advertiser in radio in the U.S.”
Brian McCarthy, National Sales Director at Urban Media, will feature on our new episode of RadioTalks, coming out on Thursday 11th of January 2024. While discussing the forecast for Irish radio in 2024 Brian said "Radio is going to keep growing. I'm looking forward to seeing that growth in 2024. I think we have to work hard to make sure we deliver that. For example, when I see things like Fáilte Ireland running campaigns for staycations across all radio stations in Ireland last year, that really excites me. I think we have an opportunity as a group to grow the pie for us."
GroupM’s predictions have set 2024 off with a great start for the Irish radio sector. According to the predictions in the report, the radio sector’s advertising will exceed some of its competitors. GroupM has forecast that TV/AV advertising will decline overall by around 1.3% to €209.9m in 2024, having already declined by around 6.1% in 2023. Press print advertising is likely to fall again this year by as much as 2.6% to €87.5m while magazine advertising is forecast to decline by 11.1% to around €8.5m.
Sources: AdWorld, IrishTimes