January to September 2023 revenue for all radio operators in Ireland is up 2% compared to the same period last year.
The 2023 Irish Audio Report collated by Radiocentre Ireland revealed that the Irish radio advertising market enjoyed revenues of €113 million for the January to September 2023 period, up 2% on the same period last year.
Revenue for quarter 3 (July to September) was up 1%, compared to the same period last year.
The €113 million revenue was made up of €86.5 million of spot revenue (radio commercials) which was flat for the January to September period.
The trend towards increased investment in non-traditional solutions continues with branded content revenue (sponsorships, partnerships, content solutions) up 7%, with revenues of €21.5 million, while digital audio revenue continued to grow substantially, up 35% for the period, with revenues of €5.1 million. The digital audio revenue is made up of revenue from Irish radio operators, it does not include revenue from global audio players such as Spotify or Acast.
Sectors that showed strongest growth were motors, pharmaceutical, travel/transport and business to business. The largest decline in category spend over the period came from Government. The audio sector continues to outperform the market with latest estimates suggesting the that total Irish advertising market is showing a decrease in revenue of between 1% and 2% for the January to September 2023 period.
Ciaran Cunningham CEO Radiocentre Ireland said: “It is great to see continued growth in radio revenue, following on from such strong revenue growth in 2022.
“The recently released Irish Audio Report shows that audio is universally listened to, with 98% of adults listening to audio content every single week.
“More people are listening every week, and they are listening for longer. And this is at a time when television audiences are challenged in virtually every market and even big digital platforms are struggling to maintain audiences.
“It is great to see that advertisers recognise the power and the reach of the medium as they continue to increase investment."
The 2023 Irish Audio Report reveals that there is almost universal listening to audio content with 98% of adults listening every week. Live radio dominates with a 74% share of total audio listening while on-demand audio has a 26% share.
Radio listenership
Between the ongoing strength of live radio and innovation within on demand audio, audio has never been in such a strong position. The 2023 Irish Audio Report reveals that there is almost universal listening to audio content with 98% of adults listening every week. Live radio is the dominant player reaching 92% of adults weekly while listening to on-demand audio (streaming services, podcasts) reaches 57% of the population each week.
Irish audiences are highly connected with a rapid growth in smart speaker ownership with 45% of adults now owning a smart speaker, up from 13% of all adults back in 2019. 92% of adults own a smartphone.
On an average day, in terms of time spent listening to audio, live radio has a 74% share of the audio market while on-demand audio has a 26% share.
Within on-demand audio, music streaming has a 12% share of listening while YouTube Music and Podcasts have a 7% and 3% share respectively.
For the young 15- to 24-year-old age cohort, live radio accounts for 45% of total listening, followed by music streaming services with a 29% share, YouTube Music with 13% share and podcasts with a 3% share.
Within music streaming services, 67% of all adults pay a subscription to block out advertising. This means when you look at share of “commercial” audio for all adults, live radio commands an 88% share of all listening compared to a 3% share for music streaming services.
Most listening to audio content happens in the home with seven-in-ten (69%) having listened to audio at home yesterday.
However, as the country has moved back outside of the home, there has been some increase in listening outside the home with 41% listened in the car yesterday and 11% listen to audio while out walking/cycling/running.
