A guide to UK radio advertising costs, airtime rates and production fees

What to take away

Key findings

Airtime rates by station tier

National stations sell to the whole country. Regional stations cover a large area such as the North West or Scotland. Local stations serve one town or county, and digital-only stations sell online streams.

Stations set their own rate cards. This guide does not print tier prices because the official sources checked do not publish them. Ask each station for a written rate card that shows daypart, duration and term.

Breakfast and drive-time cost the most at every tier. Mid-morning, afternoon and evening cost less, while overnight and weekend slots cost least. Volume discounts, measured in spots or total spend, then move the price again.

Station audience data underpins station rates, because larger measured audiences command higher rates. RAJAR quarterly data is the comparison most buyers use. Broadcast radio has the highest reach of any media type in the UK, with just under nine in ten adults tuning in each week, and the audio sector's revenues have stayed resilient (Ofcom, Media Nations 2026, published 29 July 2026).

Booking early rarely removes the charges that arrive later. Our guide to radio advertising hidden costs names the ones to check before you sign.

Production, voiceover and revision fees

Production turns a script into a broadcast-ready spot. Most studios quote per spot, then charge extra for additional versions or languages.

A studio quote usually covers five cost lines:

Voiceover pricing depends on usage as much as experience. A voice cleared for one region for three months costs less than one cleared nationally for a year. Campaigns with several durations pay extra for each cut.

The brief controls revision costs. Send duration, tone, target listener and brand guidelines before work starts, then approve the script before recording.

A station may write the script free if you buy its airtime, while independent studios charge separately. Ask for a quote that separates copy, voice, studio and revisions, and check quotes for extra charges before you sign. Our radio advertising budget template lists the headings to collect first.

Music licensing, clearance and re-clearance

The station holds PPL's Traditional Radio Licence, which is for Ofcom-licensed commercial stations that include recorded music in their broadcasts (PPL). For 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2027 the minimum fee for an AM/FM platform is £833 a year, and minimum fees are indexed to RPI every three years (PPL fee summary). Check PPL's current fee schedule before relying on the figure. PPL and PRS for Music are separate companies.

Whether a commercial recording needs direct clearance from its rights holders is a legal question, so take rights advice before using one. That kind of clearance can take longer and can be refused, so ask early.

Clearance is a separate line. Every advert must be cleared before broadcast, and Radiocentre-cleared radio copy that is more than six months old must be re-submitted and given a new clearance number (BCAP Code guidance, ASA). Budget a re-clearance line when a Radiocentre-cleared spot is re-run more than six months after its clearance. For the rules behind this, see Ofcom licence or ASA code. The broadcaster or its clearance body must hold the evidence for factual claims in an advert, so have your substantiation ready.

Ask the station or its clearance contact whether it charges for clearance and for any re-submission, and keep licence and clearance paperwork with the campaign file.

Example: a four-week local radio budget

This example uses a 100-spot schedule on one local station. Every figure is an assumption for illustration, not a quotation or a market rate.

Replace each assumption with a written quote before using the total. The budget template gives you somewhere to record them. Airtime takes about three quarters of that total. Cut spots before you cut production, because a weak advert wastes airtime you have already paid for.

Forecasting media inflation into next year's plan

Media inflation is the annual rise in the cost of buying advertising time. Radio rates tend to follow it, so this year's card will not hold next year.

UK CPI inflation was 3.5% in the 12 months to September 2026, up from 3.1% the previous month (ONS, released 21 October 2026). Use it to cross-check the general price trend.

Media inflation is not general inflation. Advertising demand and audience shifts move radio rates independently of the headline index.

Annual deals often fix the rate for the term, which protects the budget from mid-year rises. Our guide to the data and sources behind a cost guide shows how to justify the figure you choose.

Common questions

Does a national spot always cost more than a local one?

At the same daypart, yes, because the audience is far larger. A local breakfast spot can still cost more than a cheap national overnight slot, so compare daypart, duration and station together.

What does a station production fee usually include?

Most cover a script, one voice, studio time and one or two revision rounds. Extra voices, additional versions and other languages are charged separately.

Do I need a PPL PRS licence if I use a library track?

Ask the studio or library to confirm in writing what licence covers the track in the UK and for how long. The station's PPL licence covers the station's own broadcasts; it does not replace that written confirmation. For a legal answer, take rights advice.

How much contingency should a radio budget carry?

Around 10 per cent is a planning assumption, not a sourced figure. It covers revisions, extra clearances and small rate movements. Campaigns with several versions should carry more.

Methodology

The statements and figures above come from official pages: Ofcom Media Nations 2026 (published 29 July 2026), the ONS consumer price inflation release (21 October 2026), PPL's Traditional Radio Licence fee summary for 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2027 and its commercial radio licensing page, and the BCAP Code guidance on the ASA site, which carries no date. Each was checked against the page text in October 2026. No airtime or production prices are included, because no official source publishes them; the budget example uses labelled assumptions. Competitor pages were read for gaps only and are not used as sources.

Cite this

Sound Campaign (2026). "A guide to UK radio advertising costs, airtime rates and production fees". https://soundcampaign.co.uk/uk-radio-advertising-costs-airtime-production-fees

Sources