Happy Friday, everyone!
Here is this week's poll question:
How often does your station raise its rates, and for what reason?
Looking forward to reading your replies!
In the markets I work with I raise rates each year regardless of market conditions. Our costs of operation move upwards yearly and I want to keep our service levels to our communities up and improving. So I am moving rates up 3-5% each year. Now my markets are mostly single station markets and aren't measured. Where I have competition form other stations I still keep my rates moving. We work to keep our product differentiation understood with our clients and don't get push back.
Our rates go up as inventory goes down. Usually you can expect to pay higher rates in Q2, and Q3. This year though our rates have already gone up, about a month early. Which is a good sign this year!
We raise our rates yearly based Montana's CPI
I guess I should add that our rates do go up every year, and of course we are always trying to get clients to increase their buys with us each year. But the one thing that triggers an immediate increase is avails and sold out inventory.
Have a good weekend everyone!
Where I work now, we get a new rate card every week. It lists how much inventory is left and what the bottom line price needs to be for a spot to clear.
So, rates change based on inventory demand.
As a rule, I think this is an area radio falls short. Gannet will raise newspaper rates seven to ten percent every year. We need to train buyers to expect a base rate increase every year. Some companies are happy to get the same buy from a client for the same rate they got last year. This is the easiest area for growth.
We went to a yield management system last year. The base spot rate goes up in odd years and sponsorships, promotions, etc. go up in the even years.
