Canadian Broadcast Sales (CBS), which represents 60% of all private Canadian radio national revenues, have announced that national ad sales have dropped 5% in the second quarter. However, certain markets withstood the economic challenge, and posted gains. The largest decreases were in Ontario (-7.2%), British Columbia (-7.2%) and the Atlantic provinces (-6%). The largest increases were in Quebec (12.7%), Manitoba (6.8%) and Saskatchewan (1.5%).

‘We believe consumer spending is dividing into ‘needs’ and ‘wants,’ and we won’t be seeing strength on the ‘wants’ side until consumer confidence begins to return,’ says Patrick Grierson, president of CBS.

Lead times for campaigns have also become shorter. ‘Traditionally, two-thirds of the business is booked four weeks out, with about 10% booked in the final week. We’re now seeing campaigns being booked with even shorter lead times. On the other hand, this does underscore radio’s flexibility,’ adds Grierson.

The retail category increased its market share to 23.6%, despite being down in total dollars spent. Telecommunications spending was down 33%, accounting for 9.5% of the market value. Restaurants accounted for 9.4%, Financial Services and Insurance were at 8.3% and Automotive was up marginally to 7.6%. All of the numbers were adjusted to reflect the fact that Q2 was a 12-week quarter instead of 13 weeks.