Business

TV Ad Rates

For television ad rates, take the SQAD cost-per-point (in US dollars) for the market and multiply it by the Nielsen rating for the program that airs at the same time. That will equal the cost of the ad.

SQAD Cost Per Point     X     Nielsen Rating = (relative) TV ad cost

Collect SQAD cost-per-point (CPP) data for your market:

1. Go to SRDS (below).
2. Select Broadcast
3. Select  "SQAD Cost Per Point Level Reports”
4. Ffind your DMA (media market) and
5. Select either the SQAD report.

NOTE:  -The dayparts are defined as: Prime Access (6-7PM), Prime (7-10PM), Late News (10-10:30PM) and Late Fringe (10:30PM-12AM).

 Collect Nielsen ratings for the show you want to run your ad during.

• Nielsen has ratings for the Top 10 shows of the week. Look for Top 10 under Insights at the bottom of their homepage
• Screener (formerly Zap2it) has daily and weekly ratings.
• Futon Critic Ratings – includes rating information and a helpful FAQ about the ratings system
• Broadcasting & Cable – ratings and advertising information

Note: Locating local station and show ratings will require digging through articles and press releases. Use the library databases, like Business Source Premiere, in your search. TV stations blogs can also be helpful.

Radio Ad Rates

For radio ad rates, take the SQAD cost-per-point (in U.S. dollars) for the market and multiply it by the Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) rating for the station. That will equal the cost of the ad.

SQAD Cost-per-point   X   Nielsen rating = (relative) radio ad cost

1. You will need to collect SQAD cost-per-point for your market:
   1. Use the Thumbnail Media Planner from the LNDL Reference section to look up CPP for large metro areas. Call number: HF5415.3.T48 2011 – Note: this book cannot be checked out from the library but you can make copies or scans
   2. Note: These numbers are from 2011, so they are general estimates

2. Next, find the Nielsen (formally Arbitron) ratings for your station or program
   1. Use the handout from Nielsen, “Terminology and Definitions” for information about how these ratings are calculated (link to the left).
   2. Go to Nielsen’s Audio page from the research guide. Then click on Radio Ratings on the right-hand side of the screen. Fill out the form for access – you won’t receive spam and you don’t need to pay anything to use this service. FYI: your browser might block this site.
   3. Select a market (i.e Baltimore) from the drop-down menu to see their data. Note the Definition of Terms:

Note: The dayparts are defined as: AM (6 - 10 AM), Day (10 - 3 PM), PM (3 - 7 PM) and Evening (7 PM - 12 AM)

Magazine Ad Rates

1. Go to SRDS (above)
2. Click Magazines
3. Click Consumer Magazines
4. Select by Consumer Class (subject) or search for a specific title

The magazine's profile will include important information like circulation demographics and data, plus ad rates for regular or special issues. 

When looking at the "Rates & Policies" page, the number below "ti" represents the cost of running the same ad a set number of times. For example, "3 ti" = 3 times

Newspaper Ad Rates

1. Go to SRDS (above)
2. Click Newspapers
3. Click Newspapers, Reps, & Press Associations
4. Select by DMA (media market).

When looking at the "Rates & Policies" page, the number below "ti" represents the cost of running the same ad a set number of times. For example, "3 ti" = 3 times.

Find tips, tricks, and some pricing information, in Hootsuite's Social Media Advertising Guide.

Social Media Ad Rates

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Snapchat

Spotify

Pinterest