BIA Advisory Services has released its annual list of the top ten radio groups by billing.
As expected based on their size compared to the rest, iHeartMedia leads the way with $2.15 billion in revenue in 2023 down from $2.26 billion in 2022 and its pre-pandemic showing of $2.6 billion in 2019. The decreases for iHeartMedia and others were expected due to the lack of political revenue last year.
The remainder of the top five in ranking stays the same year-over-year. Audacy was second with revenue of $1.3 billion down from $1.35 billion in 2022 and $1.6 billion in 2019. Cumulus Media was third with $413.9 million in revenue down from $493 million the previous year and $531 million in 2019. Hubbard Radio was fourth with $240.5 million with BIA noting that the top overall station biller 103.5 WTOP Washington accounted for nearly 28% of the company’s revenue. Beasley Media Group rounded out the top five with revenue of $232.2 million down from $248 million in 2022.
Radio One rose from eighth to sixth overall with a year-to-year gain from $213,350,000 to $214,500,000 as it absorbed the former Cox stations in Houston. That led Cox down from $240.3 million in 2022 to $207.8 million in 2023. Townsquare Media placed eighth with $206.8 million in down from $213.8 million. Univision was ninth at $194,450,000 down from $204,925,000. Alpha Media rose into the top ten with $126.6 million in revenue with BIA noting the company was up 0.2% from 2022 as Salem Media Group fell out of the ranking.
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com