MUMBAI: While the metro markets have shown a rising demand for on-air inventory leading to a rise in ad rates by some players, non-metro markets too are witnessing a significant rise with the demand stated to get better in the coming months. Keeping this in mind, leading non-metro player My FM has increased its advertising rates by 20 per cent across all its 17 markets.

The company had also increased their rates last year, but this hike is stated to be uniform across all its markets as they aim to offer a good product to the listeners, which can only be achieved if the value of the product is maintained.

Spread across the seven states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, My FM is available in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Jalandhar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Udaipur, Gwalior, Indore, Ajmer, Amritsar, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Raipur, Kota and Jabalpur.

The decision to hike rates was taken to address the current inventory crunch and comes as a reflection of changing market dynamics, with retail and national advertisers, realizing the effectiveness and efficiency of the medium.

Speaking with Radioandmusic.com, My FM CEO Harrish M Bhatia said, “Out of our 17 markets, we have exhausted our inventory in 12-13 markets already and have consumed more than what was supposed to. So if we don’t increase the price, we will not be able to serve the client well. The new price structure is designed keeping the interest of both clients and listeners in mind.”

Unlike some other players, My FM has not been focusing on regular vanilla FCTs and instead believes in a perfect combination of on-air integrations and amplification of on-ground activations.

“The need arises to increase the prices from the first day itself rather than wait for the peak months. We need to maintain a balance between the advertisers and listeners,” he added.

Recently Radio One had increased its ad rates by 30 per cent. The move is stated to help the industry grow as it is slowly getting commoditized. Most players have shown a decent growth in the past year, and the move to increase advertising rates to push inventory is a step in the positive direction.

Bhatia mentioned, “If you don’t increase the prices now, players will face problems with the advertisers and clients. Thus we have taken the step to ensure that the value of the commodity is not compromised going forward.”