Radio ad revenues increase 3.2% year on year to £738m

• EE increases spend by 91% to become the UK’s largest radio advertiser
• Big increase in spend among online-only brands – some more than doubled radio investment

Radiocentre has reported that annual commercial radio revenue for 2024 was £738m, up by 3.2% on 2023 and just £2m short of its record revenue year of 2022.

Telecoms provider EE, whose advertising benefits from the consistent audio asset that is the familiar voice of American Actor Kevin Bacon, has risen from 7th highest spender in 2023 to become the UK’s biggest radio advertiser last year. Across 2024, the brand spent a total of £22.3m, up +91% year-on-year.

With newly-proven effectiveness in driving online response, as demonstrated in Radio: The Performance Multiplier, it’s not surprising that some of the biggest increases in radio spend have come from online-only brands, which have now become familiar voices on radio. Travel brand Kayak.com increased y-o-y radio spend by 410%, Octopus Energy by 61%, OVO Energy by 184% and eBay by 132%. These were joined by other online brands such as Monzo, Vinted and Wayfair.com which used radio advertising for the first time in 2024 with a combined spend of £3.3m.

Several other advertisers significantly boosted their investment in the medium in 2024. Retail and Automotive sectors each grew radio spend by over 11% y-o-y, prompted by double-digit y-o-y increases from Specsavers (+97%), Matalan (+75%) and IKEA (+36%); with automotive brands Ford and Volkswagen UK increasing y-o-y spend by 238% and 58% respectively.

Cosmetics and Personal Care re-entered the Top 20 product sectors for radio in 2024 for the first time since 2020, with a 69% overall increase in y-o-y underpinned by boosted spend from brands such as The Body Shop and Boots, together with a welcome return from Procter and Gamble brands Always, Discreet and Gillette.

Radiocentre CEO Matt Payton said:

“Although there is still a degree of economic uncertainty, it’s good to see that radio growth is back on track after a slight dip in 2023. It’s also encouraging that so many digital-only brands recognise the power of radio advertising to help them grow. Using radio and audio to advertise a brand not only helps build trust but also helps drive those all-important website visits.”

A full breakdown of annual commercial radio ad revenues is available here.