BIA/Kelsey projects mobile besting radio for local ad revenue

Market forecaster BIA/Kelsey released its updated report on 2017 U.S. local ad revenues with mid-year data. So far, the forecast projects that revenue from mobile will edge out local radio from the top five media sources this year. Mobile is projected to see an 11% share with revenue of $16 billion, pushing the source into the top five in a tie with newspapers. Local radio dropped to sixth with $15.6 billion in revenue. Direct mail still tops the list with a 25% share, followed by local TV at 14%. Online and interactive sources also had a share of 11% with $18.6 billion in forecast revenue.

The firm slightly decreased its advertising estimate for 2017 to $147.9 billion due to a weaker than expected economy at the start of the year. But the anticipated growth rates over the 2016-2021 period have been increased to 11.9% for online and digital advertising revenues. Traditional advertising revenue is expected to see decline over the same timeline, with a -0.6% CAGR.

“We are on the precipice of different advertising channels taking lead positions in the local advertising marketplace,” said Mark Fratrik, chief economist at BIA/Kelsey. “Although national and local businesses still utilize a mix of digital and traditional advertising platforms, the opportunities afforded by mobile, social and video advertising are incredibly valuable due to their measurability, adoption by consumers and enhancements by technologies such as beacons and data attribution that blend extraordinarily well with today’s mobile consumer.”