Analysis: Local Radio Revenue To Break $12 Billion Mark.

U.S. local radio revenue for 2025 is estimated to reach $12.3 billion, encompassing both over-the-air and digital radio, according to a comprehensive analysis by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) and BIA Advisory Services. The figure is a slight adjustment compared to 2024, as reported by BIA Advisory Services’ latest U.S. Local Advertising Forecast.

Local radio ranks as the fifth-largest advertising medium within the $171 billion local advertising marketplace. Key categories in radio advertising include investment & retirement, quick service restaurants (QSRs), supermarkets, commercial banking, and hospitals. Advertising trends indicate robust engagement in digital radio advertising from both the finance and insurance sectors, as well as QSRs, with expected investments exceeding $95 million for each.

“Notably, hospitals are projected to be one of the top spenders in local radio advertising in 2025, according to our advertising forecast,” Celine Matthiessen, VP of Insights and Analysis at BIA Advisory Services, says in a news release. “As they allocate parts of their media budgets to Radio Over-the-Air (OTA), Radio Digital, and other platforms like Connected TV (CTV), it’s evident that local radio continues to be a trusted and culturally relevant medium, especially in rural and remote communities.”

The forecast says significant growth in Radio Digital ad spending is expected in verticals such as real estate development (projected to increase by 15.8%), full-service restaurants and bars (+8.6%) and mattress and sleep centers (up 7.2%).

“Local radio is undergoing a significant transformation,” Matthiessen continued. “The fusion of digital innovation with traditional broadcasting capabilities enables radio to uphold its crucial role in local market communications while creating new value propositions for advertisers.”

RAB and BIA will host a live presentation, “Radio Ad Forecast 2025: BIA’s Latest Projections,” at noon CT on Wednesday, April 16, for RAB members. Matthiessen will share custom local radio data, insights, and analysis and discuss the “What’s Next?” economy, which examines BIA’s forecast through the lens of how issues like tariffs and consumer sentiment might impact ad spending.

“Our continued partnership with BIA allows RAB membership insights into opportunity across local advertising categories,” said Mike Hulvey, President/CEO of RAB. “Broadcast radio and its digital assets can deliver the services that local businesses want and need to increase their sales revenue. Local businesses across sectors are dependent upon marketing professionals to help guide their growth. Understanding challenges of advertising categories and potential opportunities that exist is the value that this information brings to RAB members and their prospective advertisers.”

Register for the webinar HERE.