• The New York Times, Tuesday, February 21, 2012 11 AM

Radio advertising, badly hit by the recession, is bouncing back. According to a report released Friday by the Radio Advertising Bureau, revenue from radio advertising last year was $17.4 billion, up 1% from the year before. Automotive companies, the largest category of sponsors, made up 26% of spending.

It was the second year of growth for the industry, after three down years. Spending in 2010 was $17.3 billion, up 6% from the year before. But the market is still down 18% from 2007, when ad revenue was $21.3 billion, according to the advertising bureau, whose data is collected by the accounting firm Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Company.

Read the whole story at The New York Times »