Off-Air (non-spot) revenue surpassed last year’s midyear forecast by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) and is expected to approach $2B by the end of 2008 – nearly a full year ahead of the projected timeline, RAB reported (via MarketingCharts).

At 9 percent of radio’s total revenue, off-air is composed primarily of online activity, followed closely by experiential marketing partnerships.

Off-air revenues in the first half of 2008 were up 12 percent from the year-earlier period – the only sector other than network (up 3 percent) to record gains:

The greatest revenue decrease was for national (-11 percent), while overall radio revenues in the first half of the year were down 5 percent.

Exceeding expectations that were based on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 percent from June 2005 to June 2007, off-air activity surged in late 2007 and has been increasing at a CAGR of 12.3 percent over the past two years.