BIA: Radio Revenue Expected to Drop 7% This Year

BIA Advisory Services, a subsidiary of BIA Financial Network, predicts radio industry revenue to drop 7 percent this year to $16.7 billion, the lowest total in more than five years. Next year radio revenue could plummet 10 percent, going as low as $15 billion. Positive growth isn't forecast until 2010 with a very modest 1.5 percent gain. Radio station values are down and transactions have significantly slowed. Between Jan. 1 and the end of October, some 641 radio stations were sold in transactions valued at $698 million, a 34 percent decline in the number of stations sold compared to the first 10 months of 2007 and a 44 percent decline in value, the lowest level since 1992.