Sydney revenues drag down radio market in 2008

Tim Burrowes

January 9, 2009 11:31

Sydney’s radio market had a tough 2008, with a drop in revenue of 7% compared to 2007, new figures from Commercial Radio Australia have revealed today.

The poor performance of radio in Australia’s biggest media market, helped drag the country’s whole radio industry into a slight decline for 2008 compared to the previous year. Nationwide advertising revenue for metropolitan stations fell from $644.5m in 2007 to $643.6m in 2008.

However, apart from Sydney, all other major markets did enjoy some growth. Perth grew by 9%; Melbourne by 3%; Brisbane by 1% and Adelaide by 0.2%. But that looks set to evaporate this year. In the last quarter of 2008, nationwide radio revenues fell by 6% compared to the same period in 2007.

CRA’s CEO Joan Warner described Sydney’s market as “patchy”. She said: “The radio industry has proved again to be a very resilient media in tough times.”

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.