Television has aquired a considerable amount of first quarter advertising spend in the U.S. According to Magna Global, print is down about 5.6%, radio is down 0.3%, while TV is up 4.5%. For the full year, Magna has predicted a 6.8% increase in television ad spend thanks to political campaigns and the summer Olympics. Meahwhile, 11% will go to web; 0.8% to radio; and 4% to outdoor.

Gulf News reports that the Arabian Radio Network (ARN) has announced that Al Arabiya 99 entertainment radio station has been rebranded with the new tagline ‘Music First’. The network is hoping that the rebranding will draw more ears to the station and increase their share of advertising. Only two to three per cent of advertising spent in the UAE goes into radio, although it’s too cheap, it is a cost effective medium that can show return on investment said Steve Smith, Chief Operating Officer at ARN, adding that the research was conducted to make sure that they “stay ahead, fresh and relevant.”

UAE Telecommunications company du announced this week that it was pulling a radio advert off the air in Dubai, after a Briton said it was “offensive”.

Britons are divided on whether a scrapped du advert that featured a man ordering fish and chips to the tune of their national anthem was offensive.

How much can the airwaves take? A recent report by Arab Advisors Group shows slightly a growth of around 21% in the number of radio stations in the Arab world, with the total number of FM radio stations jumping from 175 to 211 in the last two years!