digital

While broadcast radio's first quarter revenue was flat, digital performed well throughout the quarter, up 9% ($179 million), according to today's RAB report.

"Radio’s digital sector revenue continues to grow as radio stations invest in and promote their digital offerings to listeners, driving increased attention by the ad buying community," commented RAB CEO Erica Farber.

Spot spending by Communication/Cellular advertisers was up 36% for the quarter, making it the top category for the period.

Broadcasters' overall revenue in the first quarter was $3.5 billion, held back by automotive spending's 20% slide.

The RAB's Q1 revenue press release is here.

Religious media company Salem Communications has launched its ChristianRadio.com website as a portal to streams of its more than 60 Christian/conservative music and talk broadcast properties. The new portal also includes on-demand programming from Christian ministries as well as several live streaming Spanish-language Christian talk stations.

While Salem radio streams will still be available elsewhere (e.g. iHeartRadio), ChristianRadio.com will exclusively showcase Salem properties.

In addition to its extensive broadcast holdings, the Salem Web Network provides online Christian and conservative-themed websites, content, and streaming. Seventeen percent of Salem's Q4 revenue came from its online businesses; 15% across all of 2012.

"ChristianRadio.com is a joint effort of Salem's radio and new media divisions. Together we have built a content aggregator that gives our listeners, ministries and advertisers digital content delivery within an environment that is consistent with their values and ours," said Salem Radio Division President, Dave Santrella.

BIA/Kelsey projects online ad revenue for radio will grow 10.8% annually over the next five year (while on-air ad revenues will grow only 2.5% a year), hitting $818 million by then. The group's new Investing in Radio Market Report is out today.

Radio earned $491 million online in ad revenues last year, accounting for just over three percent of total revenue (though markets like Boston earned as much as 14.2% online).

The RAB reported radio's Q4 2012 digital revenue at $206 million (up 11%), and overall 2012 digital revenue at $767 million (up 8%) (see RAIN here). BIA/Kelsey recently released its forecasts on local media ad spending (and the digital share thereof) (see RAIN here). The Pew Research center predicted satellite and online-only radio have an even brighter digital ad revenue upside (see RAIN here).

RAIN Summit West will feature two panels, "Profiting from Mobile" and "Jump Start Your Revenue," to examine trends and discuss strategy to maximize digital revenue. More info is here.

Read more about BIA/Kelsey's report today in NetNewsCheck.com here.

Forbes asked Jacobs Media president Fred Jacobs how FM rock radio will survive in the new digital world.

Jacbos pointed to "disruptive innovation" authority Clayton Christensen and his concept of knowing the "job to do:"

"The stations that have had the most success – and will likely thrive in the future – are the ones that have a strong grasp on what jobs consumers are hiring them to do." Jacobs said. "Proprietary personalities, a hometown POV, solving local advertiser needs, and serving their communities."

Forbes contributor Michele Catalano points to online-only services' lack of "the human connection" as an Achilles heel, one that broadcasters should focus on to compete. Jacobs agrees.

"We’ve seen research that points to key downsides with Pandora – listeners feel detached from their hometowns and often miss hearing personalities they love."

That said, successful FM stations embrace digital technology for the advantages it affords, "rather than seeing it as a foe," Jacobs says. He cites data showing as much as 15-20% of some FM rock stations' listening coming from online and digital.

Read more at Forbes.com here.

Borrell Associates, in new research for the RAB, says radio's local digital ad revenues grew 22% in 2012 over the previous year -- slightly higher than the local media average of 20%. This follows news (in RAIN here) that radio's overall digital revenue was up 11%.

However, for the past three years radio has been losing local online market share to newspaper, TV, yellow pages and Internet companies, and radio's share of local online sits at just 2%.

"It looks like quite a few groups are breaking out and challenging their newspaper and TV competitors for a slice of that very large digital pie," said Borrell Associates CEO Gordon Borrell (pictured). He expects online ad revenue to pass $420 million this year for radio.

RAB CEO and president Erica Farber (also pictured) said, "Revenue opportunities continue to grow for those who are pushing the digital limits with online and mobile initiatives." Farber, by the way, will keynote RAIN Summit West April 7 in Las Vegas. Please see more information here.

The new report is called "Benchmarking: Local Radio Stations’ Online Revenues," and is available to RAB members here. The RAB and Gordon Borrell will present the findings with a free webinar Thursday, March 7 (more info here).

Read more in NetNewsCheck here.

Ad buyers say they're going to be looking to digital media -- especially mobile and social -- at the expense of traditional media like print (and radio) in 2013. This however does not mean, eMarketer reports, that we'll see a huge migration of dollars away from traditional and towards digital this year.

The vast majority (82%) of U.S. marketers in a new study say they expect to "increase their focus" on mobile media, and only slightly less (76%) on social media (broken out separately from "social networking sites").

Those media that will lose marketers' focus the most: newspapers (32% said they expect to focus less), consumer magazines (28%), and radio (24%).

However, "while marketers expressed a clear understanding of the importance of digital media... they also expressed trepidation about the speed at which marketing can now change. Just over half of respondents, 54%, felt that their marketing team was unable to handle new technologies and trends."

Inavero conducted the poll of U.S. marketing professionals from October through November 2012 for staffing firm Aquent and the American Marketing Association (AMA). Read eMarketers coverage here. H/T to the jacAPPS blog.