Borrell Advertiser Survey Shows Radio Still Has A Seat At The Table.

A review of Borrell Associates’ spring 2025 survey of more than 1,200 direct ad buyers and more than 100 agencies shows that, much like the company’s recent forecast, radio still matters in media plans, even if it isn’t one of the trendier choices named most effective, or most likely to attract greater interest or increased spending.

AM/FM radio lands among the top 10 ad formats respondents consider very or extremely effective, named by 34% of the sample, as noted in a recent webinar hosted by Borrell CEO Gordon Borrell, President Jim Brown, and Executive VP of Local Market Intelligence Corey Elliott.

Topping the list of most effective ad media are search engine marketing, social media, and streaming video/OTT, which are also the top three where agencies see increased interest and more spending in 2025, and where radio again makes the top 10, named by 21%. When ad buyers are asked where they plan to invest more this year, 8% name AM/FM radio.

One perhaps-surprising finding is that, during both Borrell’s fall 2024 and spring 2025 survey waves, businesses established since 2020 are nearly twice as likely as those established prior to 2020 to increase spend on AM/FM radio this year. That’s also the case for other traditional media such as broadcast TV, newspapers, and magazines, although there’s higher intent for radio over both waves.

The sense is these younger businesses select radio as a “differentiator” in ad buys. “A small business [may] look at everybody else buying TikTok and Facebook and say, ‘wow, [they’re] really effective,’ [then see that older media has] got some broader audiences, and say ‘I’ll try some of that,’” Gordon Borrell says. “That’s [just] a theory but reaching those newer businesses with traditional media offerings might be pretty effective.”

Borrell’s revised forecast pushing radio’s local ad spend up from $6 billion to $6.5 billion in 2029, even with a still-estimated decline for this year, may reflect the medium’s favorability among brands. “It’s still declining, but at a slower rate,” Elliott says. “We believe it’s helped by radio doing a good job bundling digital and radio sales [for] community-focused advertisers. That’s the reason that radio isn’t falling off a cliff. They’re working hard out there.”

As for podcasts, Borrell is surprised that the medium doesn’t make the cut for intended increased spending. “We keep tapping our fingers waiting for podcasting to take off, and it really hasn’t at the local level, but that may change,” he says. “Streaming audio/podcasting may be a ‘sleeper’ ad medium poised for growth. Usage is very low, effectiveness ratings mediocre, but a marriage with video may change that.”