As part of welcome and burgeoning Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, marketers and agencies are making commitments to invest more of their ad spending in minority owned media. The problem has been finding a definitive listing of these media. According to the FCC there are over 15,000 AM and FM radio stations. NABOB and BIA Advisory Services collaborated to determine that of this total only 220 radio stations are Black Owned.

To help ad buyers, policy makers, financial and other industry leaders better understand the Black Owned Radio industry, NABOB commissioned the BIA study, Black Owned Radio Stations: Ownership and Revenue Report.

Leveraging both BIA and NABOB data, the report provides a first-time, in-depth look at station level data including ownership, station contacts, revenue metrics, audience data, and rep firms.

In addition to the written report, NABOB’s president and CEO Jim Winston and BIA’s Rick Ducey dig into some of the deep implications and opportunities arising from this research in BIA’s Leading Local Insight podcast series.

Here are a few key takeaways:

Of the total Black Owned Radio Stations, 168 are in ranked markets and many any face a challenging competitive environment.

About a third (32.7 percent) of these stations had no minimum reportable audience. The average Black Owned Radio Station achieves 2.8 percent of the over-the-air ad revenue generated by commercial stations in their markets.

The average Black Owned station has a “power ratio” (revenue share divided by the average local commercial share) of 0.9 which means these stations are not able to convert audience ratings into revenue as well as other stations with higher power ratios. In other words, Black Owned station audiences do not attract the same level of ad investment as other stations with higher power ratios.

As NABOB president/ CEO Jim Winston concluded, “The report shows that, of the 168 stations researched for this report for which revenue estimates are produced by BIA, 121 (72.0%) gross less than one million dollars per year in advertising revenues. In addition, while African Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population, Black Owned radio stations average just 2.8% of Local Commercial Share. This report provides clear evidence that Black Owned radio stations are not getting full share of advertising dollars. NABOB looks to engage with the advertising community to do significantly more business with our stations.”

With this report offering detailed station-level data, DEI-minded ad buyers seeking to support Black Owned Radio and reach African American consumers in a compelling and engaging marketing channel now have the ability to specifically target these stations with their advertising budgets.

The full report is available for free download here:
Downloadable Report – NABOB