Radio revenue statistics show a mixed picture across markets and formats. UK commercial radio relevant turnover reached £651m in 2024, while UK digital audio advertising expenditure reached £175m. In the United States, the NAB-hosted BIA chart reported $11.3bn in over-the-air radio station revenue and $2.611bn in digital revenue in 2022. These measures cover different markets and definitions, so they should be read as separate indicators rather than combined totals.
Contents
- UK commercial radio revenue trend
- National, local and sponsorship revenue
- Digital audio and podcast advertising
- Radio advertising in the wider UK market
- US over-the-air and digital station revenue
- UK local-radio revenue per person
UK commercial radio revenue trend
The UK commercial radio series reported by Ofcom measures relevant turnover. It was £581m in 2018 and increased to £613m in 2019. Turnover then fell to £530m in 2020 before recovering to £638m in 2021. The series reached £656m in 2022 and £667m in 2023, followed by £651m in 2024. The source is Media Nations 2025 - UK Report.
| Year | UK commercial radio relevant turnover |
|---|---|
| 2018 | £581m |
| 2019 | £613m |
| 2020 | £530m |
| 2021 | £638m |
| 2022 | £656m |
| 2023 | £667m |
| 2024 | £651m |
The highest reported value in this seven-year series was £667m in 2023. The 2024 figure was £16m below that level. The 2020 figure was the lowest in the period at £530m, followed by a £108m increase in 2021 to £638m. These are reported turnover values for UK commercial radio; they are not a measure of profit, total broadcasting-sector income or audience size.
The pattern also shows why a single current-year number can miss the shape of the market. Revenue was already above £600m in 2019, fell below that mark in 2020, returned above it in 2021 and remained above £650m in each year from 2022 through 2024. The source reports the figures by year, so the measurement period is the calendar year associated with each value.
National, local and sponsorship revenue
The same Ofcom report separates UK commercial radio revenue into national commercial, local commercial and commercial sponsorship streams. National commercial revenue was £298m in 2018 and £300m in 2019. It fell to £284m in 2020, then rose to £346m in 2021. The values were £337m in 2022, £328m in 2023 and £341m in 2024.
Local commercial revenue was £133m in 2018 and £118m in 2019. It fell to £79m in 2020, then recovered to £97m in 2021 and £102m in 2022. The reported values were £98m in 2023 and £93m in 2024. Commercial sponsorship revenue was £108m in 2018, £114m in 2019 and £87m in 2020. It then reached £110m in 2021, £128m in 2022, £133m in 2023 and £125m in 2024. All three series are reported in Media Nations 2025 - UK Report.
| Revenue stream | 2018 | 2020 | 2022 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National commercial | £298m | £284m | £337m | £341m |
| Local commercial | £133m | £79m | £102m | £93m |
| Commercial sponsorship | £108m | £87m | £128m | £125m |
National commercial revenue was the largest of the three reported streams in every year shown. Its 2024 value was £341m, compared with £93m for local commercial revenue and £125m for commercial sponsorship. The local stream’s 2020 value was £79m, while its 2024 value was £93m. Sponsorship reached its highest reported value in this series in 2023 at £133m, before recording £125m in 2024.
These categories describe revenue streams, not necessarily separate companies or station groups. The figures should therefore be used to compare the reported categories and periods, rather than to infer the financial performance of an individual broadcaster.
Digital audio and podcast advertising
Digital audio advertising has its own reported measures. UK digital audio advertising expenditure grew 12% between 2022 and 2023, according to Media Nations: UK 2024. The same source reported UK podcast advertising expenditure of £83m in 2023, after year-on-year growth of 23%.
The 2024 figures in Media Nations 2025 - UK Report put UK digital audio advertising expenditure at £175m. This measure included podcasts, audio streaming platforms and online radio applications. UK podcast advertising expenditure reached £90m in 2024, up 8% year on year.
The 2024 report also recorded a different direction for streaming-audio advertising. Expenditure fell 8% in 2024, from £92m to £85m. That decline sits alongside growth in the podcast measure: podcast advertising rose from £83m in 2023 to £90m in 2024, while streaming-audio advertising was reported separately at £85m in 2024.
The definitions matter here. “Digital audio advertising expenditure” includes the categories specified by Ofcom for the 2024 measure, while podcast and streaming-audio values are narrower reported components or segments. The values should not be added to UK commercial radio relevant turnover without a consistent scope definition.
Radio advertising in the wider UK market
UK radio advertising expenditure was £693m in 2019 and £577m in 2020. It increased to £720m in 2021 and £740m in 2022, then was reported at £716m in 2023 and £738m in 2024. These figures come from Media Nations 2025 - UK Report.
| Year | UK radio advertising expenditure |
|---|---|
| 2019 | £693m |
| 2020 | £577m |
| 2021 | £720m |
| 2022 | £740m |
| 2023 | £716m |
| 2024 | £738m |
The lowest reported value in this series was £577m in 2020. The highest was £740m in 2022. The 2024 value of £738m was £22m above the 2023 value of £716m, while remaining £2m below the 2022 value. This is radio advertising expenditure in the wider UK advertising market, so it is a different measure from commercial radio relevant turnover.
Comparing the two UK series helps show the scope distinction. Commercial radio relevant turnover was £651m in 2024, whereas radio advertising expenditure was £738m. One is a turnover measure for commercial radio; the other is advertising expenditure. Neither figure should be treated as a direct substitute for the other.
US over-the-air and digital station revenue
The NAB-hosted BIA chart reports US radio station revenue in two categories: over-the-air and digital. The chart reported over-the-air revenue of $13.5bn in 2017, $13.3bn in 2018 and $12.8bn in 2019. It then reported $9.7bn in 2020, $10.8bn in 2021 and $11.3bn in 2022.
US radio station digital revenue was reported at $0.880bn in both 2017 and 2018. The value was $0.854bn in 2019, $2.024bn in 2020, $1.931bn in 2021 and $2.611bn in 2022. The chart is published in Local Radio and TV: Helping Drive the United States Economy.
| Year | US over-the-air revenue | US digital revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $13.5bn | $0.880bn |
| 2018 | $13.3bn | $0.880bn |
| 2019 | $12.8bn | $0.854bn |
| 2020 | $9.7bn | $2.024bn |
| 2021 | $10.8bn | $1.931bn |
| 2022 | $11.3bn | $2.611bn |
The over-the-air series reached its highest reported value in 2017 at $13.5bn and its lowest in 2020 at $9.7bn. Digital revenue was highest in 2022 at $2.611bn. The chart’s categories are US station revenue measures and use dollars, so they are not directly comparable with the UK’s pound-denominated advertising and turnover series.
UK local-radio revenue per person
Ofcom’s Media Nations 2025 - NI report gives 2024 commercial local-radio revenue per head for the UK and its nations. The UK figure was £6.22 per head, with a year-on-year change of -10%. England recorded £6.18 per head and a -9% year-on-year change. Scotland recorded £6.45 per head and a -21% change.
Wales recorded £5.07 per head in 2024, with a year-on-year change of 0%. Northern Ireland recorded £9.24 per head and a -15% year-on-year change.
| Geography | 2024 local-radio revenue per head | Year-on-year change |
|---|---|---|
| UK | £6.22 | -10% |
| England | £6.18 | -9% |
| Scotland | £6.45 | -21% |
| Wales | £5.07 | 0% |
| Northern Ireland | £9.24 | -15% |
Northern Ireland had the highest reported 2024 local-radio revenue per head at £9.24, while Wales had the lowest at £5.07. The UK-wide figure was £6.22 per head. The year-on-year measures indicate the reported change for each geography; they do not provide a longer historical series. These figures are local-radio revenue per head, not total radio revenue for each nation.