After a summer of steadily approaching pre-COVID advertising levels, Toronto’s radio market has begun to taper off slightly.
According to the latest charts from Media Monitors, which cover the week ending Aug. 23, the top buyers in Toronto bought big, although some categories, particularly government, slowed down.
Speedy Glass entered the market, having not advertised on radio last week. It ended up buying more than any other brand in Toronto, with 1,322 ads, 30% more than last week’s top buyer.
Bell Canada came in second with 1,136 ads, while Nissan and the Toyota Dealers Association both followed with more than 1,000 ads. Sleep Country Canada rounded out the top-five with 913 ads. Three of the top individual advertisers in Toronto had bigger orders than last week’s top advertiser.
Business and consumer services was the top buying category in Toronto, rising nearly 50% to 2,810. And Asian factory autos also made a big lift with 2,565 ads, up from 1,734 the previous week. But auto dealer associations, the third-place finishing category, saw a small dip to 2,540. The finance category also posted a 16% drop to 2,193 ads, and local auto dealers saw a 5% drop to 1,857 ads.
Local auto dealers rose more than 40% to 1,435, while auto parts, services and towing made major gains with 1,344 ads, up from 21. Wireless carriers, government and union advertisers and and public service categories saw drops, but only in the double-digits.
In Montreal, the provincial government continued to buy big with 945 ads. Dormez-vous rose slightly to 376 ads, while new entrants Esso-Mobil and Mazda were neck-and-neck at 357 and 356 ads. Consolidated Credit closed out the top-five with 345 spots, staying consistent with its buy over the last several weeks.
For categories, Asian factory autos grew their share to top the charts at 1,523 ads. However, in second place was government and unions, which fell slightly to 1,083.
The finance category came in third with modest growth to 703 total ads. Local auto dealers also boasted a 16% increase to 687 ads. But domestic factory autos took a slight tumble, down 20% to 588 ads. Other moderate drops came from business and consumer services and wireless carriers. However, internet service providers saw moderate gains, while bedding retail and manufacturers got a small boost.
