• by Erik Sass , March 15, 2010

In another sign that the radio business may finally be turning around, national spot radio sales are pacing up 20% in the second quarter of 2010, compared to the same period last year, according to Katz Media Group, with a 17% increase in April, a 23% increase in May, and a 21% increase in June.

The news was first disclosed by Katz boss Stu Olds in a memo to staff, which noted that the second-quarter results were a big increase over single-digit growth in the first quarter, seeming to confirm the general upward trend.

Some of the strongest categories in the second quarter include retail -- up a whopping 86% -- telecoms and utilities -- up 52% -- and automotive, up 42%.

These figures compare favorably with first-quarter growth rates of 9% for retail, 21% for telecoms and utilities, and 37% for automotive. Big second-quarter advertisers include Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, GM, Ford, Target, Home Depot, Walmart, Safeway, Pfizer, Blockbuster and Sony Pictures.

Katz also expects a big boost from political ad spending later this year, with 37 gubernatorial races and 38 U.S. Senate races, not to mention the entire House of Representatives up in the air.

Conversely, some core categories went negative in the second quarter, including finance, down 11%, entertainment, down 19%, and consumer products, down 10%.

Katz also found that the second-quarter increases, like the first quarter's, were spread relatively evenly across different market segments and regions. The top 10 markets were up 29%, markets 11-25 were up 25%, markets 26-50 were up 19%, and markets 51-75 were up 19%. Growth rates were somewhat slower in markets 76-100, with a 12% increase there.

It's anyone's guess what the next nine months will bring, but if national spot radio continues to post these kinds of increases, it stands to make a complete recovery from dismal results in 2009 -- when local and national radio took big hits, along with the rest of the media business.

According to the Radio Advertising Bureau, for the industry as a whole, national advertising fell 20% in 2009 compared to 2008.