MUMBAI: Advertisement is a major revenue source for radio stations, but retaining listeners is also of equal importance. Thus, to balance both these aspects major FM stations have taken some strong decisions. One of them is the increase of ad rates.

The radio stations have started increasing their ad rates apart from putting a cap on their ad time. The change began early this month with MY FM increasing its advertising rates by 25 per cent. Red FM followed the trend but it stepped cautiously and increased the advertisement rates by 15 to 20 per cent. The latest piece of information suggests that Fever FM has joined the earlier mentioned stations and increased its ad rates by 20 per cent.

Also Read: MY FM increases advertising rates by 25 per cent

Red FM increases ad price by 15 to 20 per cent

Fever FM has 13 stations with four stations in metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata. These stations continue to dominate the market according to Fever because of its ideology, ‘money can’t buy experiences’, something that the radio network provides across its content pillars - Bollywood, music, sports, city and non-music.

· In Delhi, it is enjoying absolute leadership for over 350 weeks with 19.1 per cent market share.

· In Mumbai, it is the number one station with 16 per cent market share.

· In Bengaluru it leads the non-Kannada space with 13.3 per cent share; more than the combined share of other non-Kannada players.

· It is the number one station in Kolkata.

According to RAM Data Week 14, 2017, Fever leads in five of the eight drive times across the four metros. Fever FM completely dominates two of the biggest radio markets - Delhi and Mumbai, by virtue of being the only network to have two stations in each city.

Talking about Fever FM’s decision to increase the advertising rates HT Media Ltd. CEO – Radio and Entertainment Harshad Jain said, “Fever FM’s key priority is to deliver value to its key stakeholders, listeners, and advertisers. Our constant endeavor is to design initiatives that drive high engagement for listeners and response for clients. Our consistent growth and leadership in listenership across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata are testimony to connect with our listeners. We dominate markets with highest share and TSL. The increase in the price is in the backdrop of continued growth in listenership and in line with our constant endeavor of keeping advertising inventory under control. We are ever committed to deliver innovative content and better creative solutions.”