New York - May 18, 2012 - In a report created by the Radio Advertising Bureau, radio posted its third consecutive Q1 increase in 2012 with a 1 percent rise to $3.814B. Surges in digital (+10 percent) and network (+8 percent) and a significant increase in off-air (+3 percent) combined with a stable spot sector led to the positive results.

Growth from a diverse group of categories and advertisers contributed to the Q1 increases. The top ten spot radio advertisers for 1Q2012 in order:

Political advertising is playing an important role in radio's 2012 revenue growth. The RAB has partnered with PQ Media to provide the industry with a deep-dive view of the political sector and its impact on radio.

Spot radio, digital and off-air revenues are based on a pool of more than 100 markets as reported by the accounting firm of Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co. and extrapolated to the entire U.S. Digital revenue is comprised from activity generated by websites, Internet/Web streaming and HD Radio including HD2 and HD3 stations. Network revenue includes the top five radio network companies. Revenue data has been randomly verified since 2002. The lineup of markets/stations/networks may vary from year to year. Percent change is calculated on revenue adjusted to current year reporting.

The report is available online.