Chantilly, VA - Mar 26, 2009 - A report from BIA forecasts radio's revenue potential in the coming years, and while the economy looks bleak, there are bright spots. BIA says that small and mid-size markets are performing better and that income from digital sources is quickly proving itself to be a part of radio's future.

According to BIA Advisory Services' first edition of its quarterly Investing In Radio Market Report, 2008 closed with $16.7 billion in revenues (including online revenues), a decline of 8.5 percent from 2007. However, BIA's data indicates that markets that are 51 and over were down only an average of 6.6 percent. BIA's research also charts that the industry had online revenues of $247 million in 2008, up $67 million from 2007. Online revenue will increase an average of $132 million a year through 2013, a clear demonstration that as radio transforms into a cross-platform medium leveraging its local advertisers it will boost its revenues significantly. BIA predicts that the industry will start a slight positive trajectory beginning in 2011.

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In 2009 the top 50 markets will see revenue declines in the 11 percent range, while mid-sized and small markets (ranked 51 and higher), such as Grand Junction, CO, Grand Forks, ND-MN, and Odessa-Midland, TX will be slightly lower at 9.64 percent. BIA sees the smaller markets as continuing to provide services to their local advertisers and maintaining their presence in the local media marketplace.