• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, May 10, 2010

The Radio Advertising Bureau has revamped and expanded its Web site, RAB.com, with more online resources to better fulfill the needs of ad agencies. The makeover includes a relaunch of the advertiser channel, "For Advertisers," which seeks to arm radio ad sales staff with information demonstrating the medium's effectiveness.

Visitors have to register for full access to the new advertiser channel; however, registration is free to advertisers and agencies.

Among the changes are redesigned Web pages with new interactive menus and links to pages focusing on demographic groups, creative tools, case studies and various facts and figures about radio advertising. The new "For Advertisers" channel also gives registered visitors access to "Instant Backgrounds," which summarize information about different ad categories in concise overviews.

According to RAB President and CEO Jeff Haley, the revamped site "allows advertisers and their agencies to gain the knowledge and research to create their specific media plans, but it also assists our member stations to have a better understanding of the advertising landscape, and to help prepare them for their clients' needs."

Overall, the RAB counts over 6,000 radio stations and 1,000 radio networks as members nationwide, as well as representative firms and broadcast vendors.

The revamp comes amid continuing calls for greater cooperation by radio broadcasters to convince advertisers of the medium's effectiveness in the face of competition from new audio media, including the Internet.

Recent years also brought a new focus on radio groups' online offerings and capabilities, where overall revenues have soared. However, online advertising contributes a minority of online revenues -- compared to subscription fees -- and remains a small part of overall revenues, compared to broadcast.

A new report from SNL Kagan estimated total Internet radio revenues at over $1.25 billion in 2009, but a separate report from the RAB pegged total digital ad revenues at $480 million -- or 38% of total online radio revenues. This represented just 3% of total radio advertising revenues of $16 billion in 2009.