Leading radio advertiser industries in the U.S. 2022, by radio ad spending

In 2022, the retail industry spent almost 394 million U.S. dollars on radio advertising in the United States, the highest expenditure among all sectors of advertisers. Miscellaneous services and amusements followed with an investment of over 365 million dollars in the medium, while the government, politics, and organizations segment's expenditure amounted to nearly 339 million dollars.

Radio advertising in the U.S.

Music, podcast, and radio altogether saw their advertising spending in the U.S. increase by 11 percent in 2022. The segment's growth stood slightly ahead of the internet (with 10.8 percent) but below out-of-home (OOH) media (14.6 percent). However, a mid-2022 study forecast that U.S. radio ad revenue will grow by less than four percent between 2022 and 2026, perhaps reflecting the medium's struggle to keep its relevance in an increasingly digital mediascape.

Retail and leisure advertisers

The signs of a swifter recovery in radio ad expenditure for the retail sector were already present shortly after the pandemic. According to another source, in 2021, retail ad spending on the radio in the U.S. amounted to 292 million dollars – around 84 percent of the annual figure recorded in 2019. Meanwhile, the U.S.'s radio entertainment and leisure ad expenditure reached 459 million dollars in 2021, or 78 percent of the pre-COVID-19 result.