Commercial radio bucked a downward revenue trend in March with a 4.65% increase across metropolitan areas according to data compiled by Deloitte for Commercial Radio Australia (CRA). They include all direct and agency revenue.
The market picked up last month across all five metro markets, accruing revenues just shy of $60 million.
Melbourne spiked highest, up from March last year by 7.79% to $18.2 million, followed by Perth, up by 5.84% to $8.4 million. Adelaide increased by 3.76% to $5.5 million with Sydney by 3.33% to $18.1 million. Brisbane posted weaker growth of 1.1%, taking revenues for the month to $9.8 million.
CRA chief executive Joan Warner said that the March figures reflected recent economic figures which had shown "better than expected growth" in areas such as retail trade and house building approvals.
The news will be welcomed by industry given the overall sluggishness since July. Revenues so far this financial year have dipped 1% to a total of $502 million for all the metropolitan markets with only Perth bucking the trend. The Western Australian capital increased its revenue by 3.6% to $70.9 million.
Perth was also the only sector to post growth, albeit marginal, for the 2012 calendar year, up 0.3% to $91.6 million.
Its resilience may be due to a combination of factors, including Perth's position as the fastest growing state capital of the last 10 years. The city's population is now 25% higher than it was in 2001.
More refined data may be available next year. The commercial radio industry will roll out a new measurement system from 2014, replacing the current Nielsen system. It will include mobile data capture and online recruitment and data capture. CRA will also introduce an e-diary system to replace the current paper ones.
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