The 2025 NAB Show has wrapped, and it was once again a time for stakeholders to come together to move the industry forward. The NAB reported attendance of over 55,000 people from 160 countries, all converging for six days in Las Vegas.
The Marketron team was busy this year. We sponsored the Small and Medium Market Radio Forum (SMMRF), hosted a Radio Roundtable and participated in a panel discussion on the annual benchmarking report on radio digital sales. We hosted meetings in our hospitality suite and spoke with broadcasters on the exhibit floor at our partner ENCO’s booth.
In between all this, we also attended many sessions and wanted to share insights about what’s on the minds of radio leadership.
SMMRF Discussions on Differentiation
SMMRF began with remarks from NAB president and CEO, Curtis LeGeyt and others. From there, roundtable discussions kicked off. Dustin Wilson, Marketron’s senior director for digital strategy, led The Secret to Radio’s Digital Ad Success Is Being Local First.
Wilson noted that 2025 is the first year that local digital ad spending will surpass traditional and what that means. Our mantra is to be local first; radio is uniquely qualified to provide all types of advertising because of its local centricity.
Many questions from attendees came up about how to differentiate their offerings from others. The ad tactics themselves are mostly a commodity. However, not every third-party digital platform is the same, and there are nuances in inventory quality.
Radio’s best angle is simply how your salespeople know the market. A national agency can’t compete with that, nor can a local agency, if it serves advertisers across the world. There is competition from other radio stations, TV and print. According to the latest benchmarking report on radio digital sales, local advertisers trust radio sellers, finding them both marketing and digitally savvy.
Another way to stand out is by being a source of ideas to advertisers. They may be stuck on what to promote, when and to whom. Messaging from businesses also changes because of seasonality, economic trends and consumer demand. If local ad sellers can come to the table with relevant campaigns creative that meet their goals, it could be what wins you the deal.
Overall, there were many other questions about a station’s overall digital strategy. Wilson noted that it’s crucial to have this and must include specific goals around digital and commitment from the top down. He also urged that strategy should have a foundation of solutions-based selling, which means a mixed media plan of traditional and digital.
New Session on Benchmarking Report Was Standing Room Only
As the sponsor of the benchmarking report, we want to make sure that the industry knows about and can learn from it. Putting on the 2025 NAB Show agenda was a great call, as the room was over capacity!
Wilson was also on this panel, as the group discussed the data points from the survey. Some key things addressed were the many local advertisers who are still not buying digital from radio. This number is improving, but there’s still a lot of opportunity for radio. One key thing that would help this is for radio stations to market their advertising solutions consistently and in many channels. Ensure your community knows you can be the single source for local advertising.
The panel shared anecdotes and success stories of stations integrating digital successfully into their offerings. It represents an ongoing evolution, as the world of content and advertising are so dynamic.
Digital Sales Success Starts with Training
We also hosted a radio roundtable, What Makes Digital Sales Training Successful for Local Media. Our senior manager of client onboarding and development Travis Cartier led the session. Cartier shared the must-haves for success and delivered many takeaways for radio sales leaders.
He also introduced our new program, NXT Wave. It’s a three-month program for one seller per station. These sellers receive personalized coaching, media training and hands-on support.
Tactics in the Spotlight
The 2025 NAB Show had lots of tactic talk on the digital side. CTV and OTT were frontrunners with many dedicated sessions. The Trade Desk led one of those discussions, discussing its CTV and OTT inventory and focusing on transparency, content supply chains, and fragmentation. CTV/OTT can be a targeted way for local advertisers to reach customers on small and big screens, and it has been the fastest growing digital tactic for several years.
There was also buzz around combining audio and streaming in campaigns. Several studies have demonstrated the power of radio and CTV. It’s become the best mix to fill the declining linear TV viewership gap. Selling this as a single proposal can be challenging, but Marketron NXT enables radio and digital proposals, orders, reporting and invoicing.
Economic Uncertainty Touched Every Discussion
Almost all sessions had some relevance to the economic picture. With the economy unpredictable, and experts being more likely to predict a recession, local advertising will feel the impact.
Some loyal and long-term customers may cut their budget. Those you’re pitching may pull back, as well. Keep looking for opportunities, and we’ll keep following this story to keep you as up-to-date as possible.
Good News for Radio Spots
There were two very good news sessions. One was led by Edison Research, which produces the Share of Ear® reports. The latest data shows broadcast radio remains the number one mass media for reach, and AM/FM retains the top spot for ad-supported audio listening. The data also pointed to increased levels of listening in the car, which radio wins, as well.
Nielsen also hosted a session on the new three-minute listener qualifier with data from January and February. The numbers showed growth in many areas, including across all dayparts. The change to three minutes from five represents a way for stations to raise rates for ad buys, now that they have new listenership data.
Some highlights of data include:
- Jan/Feb 2025 audience levels were the highest since 2022.
- Daily cume increases occurred at the station level.
- There’s a direct correlation between daily cume and AQH.
Check out the RAB webinar and resources on the three-minute qualifier.
Radio and Political
In the 2024 election, spending on political advertising broke all records. Radio received some of this but still less than it should. It’s a proven channel for connecting with voters. Radio needs to be outspoken in its ability to reach the audience to cash in this year and 2026.
Keep up with all the trends important to radio and local media by bookmarking the Marketron blog and subscribing to Aspire.
