Internet ad revenues are in the passing lane

Over the next few weeks the Internet medium will pull up beside the Radio medium, wave goodbye, and then accelerate away down Canada’s ad revenue expressway. The moment of eclipse, the point in time when Radio and Internet media capture comparable rolling 12 month ad revenue levels, will probably happen sometime in February ‘08. By the end of this year, Radio will become a spec in Internet’s rearview mirror as the medium grabs $1.7 billion, well ahead of Radio’s $1.5 billion in annual ad revenue (2008).

These projections are contained in the Canadian Marketing Association’s recently released data book entitled “Marketing’s Contribution to the Canadian Economy 2007”. The chart below plots past, present and future (to 2011) ad revenue by medium and extrapolates further out to 2014 (phd Canada).

It has been fascinating to watch the Internet move so dramatically from media upstart to media usurper in the space of just a few short years. Out-of-Home and Magazine media were the first to bit Internet’s dust in 2004 and 2006. But the Radio medium is a longstanding member of the billion dollar club. It has held a number three mass media revenue rank position as far back as any of us can remember. Radio’s drop to the number four rank position today is a testament to the Internet’s relentless, ever increasing absorption of hours of consumer media attention. Just how far the Internet has come, in the battle for the hearts and minds of Canadian consumers, is carefully charted in the Internet Advertising Bureau of Canada’s newly released Annual Canadian Media Usage Trends Report. The study isolates trends in media usage over the last seven years and shows the Internet currently neck and neck with TV in the fight for youthful hours of media usage.