The top 10 radio stations by over-the-air revenue as compiled by BIA Advisory Services for 2022 has been released.
To little surprise, Hubbard Broadcasting‘s all-News WTOP in Washington, D.C., has a commanding lead over the No. 2 station. That property would be the iHeartMedia flagship Top 40 property serving Southern California.
While WTOP is ranked No. 1 with $69 million in over-the-air revenue in 2022, it is KIIS-FM that is No. 2, with some $44 million in over-the-air revenue as determined by BIA.
For iHeart, it’s a “two-three punch,” as its Adult Contemporary WLTW “106.7 Lite FM” in New York is ranked No. 3, with $35.1 million in revenue.
The findings come from the first edition of Investing In Radio Market Report for 2023, in which BIA reports that total local radio’s over-the-air and digital revenue for 2022 topped $13.6 billion in 2022, growing 7.4% from $12.6 billion in 2021. Over-the-air advertising grew 2.2% to $11 billion (up from $10.7 billion in 2021) and digital income rose
35% to $2.6 billion (up from $1.9 billion in 2021) — a reflection of trends that have been well-documented across broadcast media.
“Looking at last year’s ad revenue results, it shows that radio is maintaining an important
position in their local markets, particularly as it expands and improves its online digital
presence,” remarked Nicole Ovadia, VP of Forecasting at BIA. “This year, we are making a particular effort to track the digital revenue of local radio stations and believe this breakout in our forecast will be valuable to everyone in the industry.”
For 2023, Ovadia forecasts that the bump in revenue experienced in 2022 will be harder
this year without significant political spending but expects that 2024 political advertising will start earlier in the cycle than usual, potentially bleeding into late Q4 of 2023. That’s already being seen by broadcast television station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group, which saw $3 million in political dollars during Q1 2023, that company reported on Wednesday.
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While WTOP dominated again, two Audacy Corp. big-billing News stations saw significant revenue declines.
Compared to last year’s list, WBBM in Chicago dropped to the No. 9 position as WCBS-AM in New York fell out of the top 10, landing at No. 11.
Meanwhile, in contrast, WSB-AM & FM in Atlanta is on the top 10 for 2022 with $31.6 million in revenue.
By comparison, here are BIA’s OTA Station Revenue rankings for 2021.
The big takeaway? Even the top 3 stations saw lower revenue year-over-year, as the economy continued to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. KBIG was up, joining WSB as the lone gainers on the top 10 list:
WTOP – $70,000
KIIS – $43,000
WLTW – $34,600
WBZ-FM – $33,400
WHTZ – $33,000
KBIG – $32,300
WINS – $31,600
WFAN – $31,500
WBBM – $34,000
WSB – $25,500
