Provincial governments continue to turn the radio to get the word out about the latest pandemic developments, according to Media Monitors tracking for the week of Jan. 3 to 9.

Much like last week, both the governments of Ontario and Quebec put a heavy radio push behind PSAs around public health measures and booster vaccination drives to help stem the spread of the Omicron variant.

Otherwise, the radio advertisers in both markets was a mix of old and new.

In Toronto, Peloton held on to its number two spot behind a new year fitness push, while Kijiji rose one spot to number three behind a campaign encouraging people to sell unneeded Christmas gifts to get “what they really want.” The Canadian Cancer Society remained in number five.

The rest of the top ten was a host of brands that are beginning new radio campaigns, including Captial One in fourth, Subway in sixth, the City of Toronto in seventh and OLG in eighth.

In Montreal, Subway started a new radio push at number two, while ads in advance of Bell Let’s Talk day put the campaign in third. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and Royal LePage increased their spot plays to move up the list, while the rest of the top ten was filled out by brands that kept their buys relatively in line with the previous week.

Categorically, PSAs, banks and governments were the most active radio advertisers in Toronto, with governments, medical services and home furnishings the most active in Montreal.