Canada: radio advertising revenue 2015-2023

In 2023, radio advertising revenue in Canada amounted to approximately 1.1 billion Canadian dollars. The corresponding figure was roughly 1.11 billion Canadian dollars a year earlier. This marked a slight decrease.

Radio industry in Canada

Canada’s radio industry has experienced ongoing revenue declines for over a decade. In 2022, operating revenues from Canada’s radio sector stood at 1.52 billion Canadian dollars. A decade earlier, this respective figure was roughly two billion. That said, radio ranked among Canada's primary offline news sources for Anglophone news consumers as of early 2023.

Is radio advertising still effective?

In 2024, global radio advertising spending was projected to reach over 30.5 billion U.S. dollars. A year earlier, the corresponding spending was less than 30 billion dollars. Yet, radio remains a popular news and entertainment source for millions of listeners. It makes for an impressive audience base, even if many listen only in the car. A growing trend — in line with the general digitization of the media industry — is consumers moving away from traditional radio and to online radio stations. Aware of the ongoing changes, marketers assign higher budgets to digital radio advertising. The future of the radio will likely be digital.