• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 26, 2010

The radio business got another shot of good news this week, with a new forecast from BIA/Kelsey predicting that total broadcast radio revenues will grow 4.4% in 2009 to $13.9 billion this year. Digital radio revenues (including Internet advertising) should top $459 million, bringing the 2010 total to $14.4 billion -- up 5.1%.

This represents a slight increase from BIA/Kelsey's earlier forecasts, reflecting substantial improvement in the advertising environment in the middle months of this year; some markets are expected to do even better.

According to BIA/Kelsey, the top 10 markets should see total ad revenues jump 6.3%. That includes big gains of 8% in San Francisco and Philadelphia, powered by national advertising growth. The second-tier markets (ranked 11-25) will increase about 4%, and smaller markets will lag behind average growth with more modest gains of 2.7%-3.7%.

The revised BIA/Kelsey forecast comes not long after a positive report from the Radio Advertising Bureau on ad revenues in the first half of the year. According to the RAB, total revenues increased 6% to just over $4.5 billion in the first six months of 2010, led by a 3% increase in local ad revenue to just over $3 billion and a 16% increase in national ad revenue to $700 million.

Digital revenues jumped 25% to $157 million, while off-air revenues increased 2% to $375 million and network radio remained flat at $274 million.

A number of major ad categories saw increased spending, per the RAB -- including communications and cellular, up 9% to $385 million; automotive, up 28% to $336 million; financial services, up 24% to $251 million; and professional services, up 14% to $84 million.