The Toronto radio market has been heating up over the course of the summer after seeing a lockdown-related slump. However, September saw a slight slowdown, with categories like auto and QSR cooling off once again.
This week, the Media Monitors reports for the week ending Sept. 20 show yet another spike, driven by a handful of categories in Toronto.
The biggest individual buyer in Canada’s biggest city was meal delivery service Goodfood. While not a typical radio buyer, the service debuted with a big buy of more than 1,300 ads, more than 100 ads ahead of second-place buyer Benjamin Moore.
Also new to the charts was third-place finisher Lexus with 1,165 ads. HSBC rose up the list in a big way with 1,054 ads, while Shopper’s Drug Mart let its buy slump just a little to 999 (down from 1,039) to round out the top five. Overall, only one out of Toronto’s top-five buyers had under 1,000 ads on their order this past week. Last week, only one out of the top five had under 1,000 ads (with all under 1,100).
As for categories, there was an explosion in buying across the board. Auto dealer associations topped the list with a 37% increase to 3,727 total ads. But it wasn’t the only category that saw a big climb. Finance was up 40% (2,886 ads), as were food and beverage retailers (more-than-doubled to 2,302). Asian factory autos doubled to 2,222 and QSR went up 55% to 2,046. Other big lifts came from domestic factory autos, insurance and paint. However, business and consumer services, as well as home furnishings, saw moderate decreases.
While Montreal lacked some of the drama, categories are still continuing to show radio some love.
One of the few noteworthy decreases was in government advertising. While the provincial government was still the top buyer in the city, that amount was essentially cut in half to 457 total ads.
Other buyers, though, were consistent. Mazda debuted in second place with 346 ads. Shoppers came in third with a close 342, up slightly from the week before. Bell Internet and Brault & Martineau both stayed put at fourth and fifth.
Despite government advertising slipping and auto dealer associations also dropping slightly, a number of categories shot way up. Asian factory autos nearly doubled to 1,117. Domestic factory autos saw a healthy increase to 552, and local auto dealers quadrupled to 526 ads.
Other increases were seen in business and consumer services, finance and department stores. Home furnishings and pharmacy, however, saw moderate decreases.
