NEW DELHI: Even as the results of some of the Sun Group’s bids in the FM Phase III are being held back as the matter is pending in courts, 93.5 RED FM has implemented a 35 per cent hike in ad rates across all its stations.
The new rates became effective today (21 September).
Red FM COO Nisha Narayanan said, "We have not had a rate hike for a while now. Today, radio as a medium is growing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18 per cent and attracts a large number of advertisers as consumption of radio is on an overall high. The demand and supply scenario has a huge imbalance with demand way beyond the inventory that we can play on Red FM. Also the advertisers have shown faith in us to provide customised solutions for their brands and do not have an issue in paying premiums.”
“With Phase III and newer cities we plan to venture into, we have decided to go ahead with rates hike of 35 per cent across the network. With strong hold in metro cities as well as Tier II and III cities, we will continue to provide customised quality solutions for all our clients across the network and hope to receive their support for the desired increase.”
Narayanan further said these were very interesting times for the FM radio space as the advertising community has been showing its faith in the medium continuously, which is evident fromthe overflowing radio inventories.
Demand across most of major metro’s and big cities has seen growth, which is equivalent to festive season rush and thus there is an eminent reason for the rate hike, which have been stagnant for almost two to three years now.
Narayanan added the Phase III auctions and an overall optimism within the industry isalso going to put pressure on the operational expenses. Thus the rate hike is one of the steps that have become a necessity to optimise the demand and supply and offer best of entertainment and mileage to advertisers and stakeholders. “More and more volume is also coming from lot of new categories and it’s good to see their trust in the medium by planning campaigns with FM stations,” she added.
