Commercial Economic Advisory Service of Australia (CEASA) figures, released today, for the first half of the 2006 calendar year show radio continues to perform in attracting advertising revenue with an increase of around 2 per cent (2.1%) to a total of $425.1 million.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner, said CEASA's Advertising Expenditure in Main Media report for the six months ended June 30, 2006 shows radio advertising continues to perform in a competitive market with the metropolitan market recording growth of around 2 per cent (1.8%) to a total of $280.4 million and regional markets growing by 2.5 per cent to a total of $144.7 million.

Ms Warner said lower level of growth in comparison to last year reflected the short-term nature of the advertising market but radio remained an important component of any advertising mix.



The radio industry is working hard at keeping the industry top of mind for advertisers. The award-winning, multi-million dollar advertising campaign which has been running for more than three years highlights the many benefits of radio advertising and also shows how well radio partners with other media,' Ms Warner said.Ms Warner said the growth of internet advertising was good news for the radio sector as recent research had highlighted how well radio worked with the medium

'Radio advertisements with a strong call to action have been proven to increase website hits by 60 per cent according to research conducted by Millward Brown.'

Ms Warner said the research, called Radio Advantage - Advertising Effectiveness Study also looked at creative attributes of effective radio campaigns and would be extended to look at the overall impact of combining internet and radio advertising.

'Today's media market is increasingly competitive and as a traditional medium we must work with emerging channels to ensure radio exposure in any advertising campaign is maximized. We are well underway with initiatives in this area,' Ms Warner said.