CKMS 102.7 FM Radio Waterloo (elongated teal rectangle with yellow and black sunflower on the left and black text on the right and empty space at the bottom)

Advertise on CKMS

So you’re thinking of getting some exposure with CKMS for your event or business? There are many ways that your business can gain exposure with community radio. Here is a “How to” on what each type entails…

 ^  Advertising

Advertisement (commercial) — An ad is an announcement made for any business, the intent of which is to promote the business and its products or services, whether or not CKMS receives direct or indirect payment (cash vs. in-kind service).

Advertising Packages: Contact advertising@radiowaterloo.ca

Advertising Rates
Package Contents Cost
Platinum
  • 4 ad plays per day
  • 1 social media post per day
  • Web banner for one month
 Value: $950
Cost: $500 per month
($50 setup fee*)
Gold
  • 2 ad plays per day
  • 1 social media post per week
  • Web banner for one month
 Value:$390
Cost: $225 per month
($50 setup fee*)
Silver
  • 3 ad plays per week
  • 1 social media post per week
 Value:$136
Cost: $50 per month
($50 setup fee*)
Receive 12% discount when you bundle a CKMS Radio Ad with an Imprint Newspaper Ad. Contact IMPRINT to take advantage of advertising in print! ads@uwimprint.ca

*$50 Setup fee is charged for Radio Waterloo to produce an audio advertisement. This charge does not apply if you have an existing recorded ad.

  1. All Ads are to be approx 30-45 seconds.
  2. Social media posts to one of: CKMS Facebook Page, Instagram, Twitter. Your supplied graphic will be used if available. Otherwise, a text ad will be posted with your logo.
  3. Web banner will be posted on radiowaterloo.ca. Your supplied graphic will be used if available. Otherwise a text ad will be posted with your logo.

Check Media Reach (below) for some statistics on our broadcasts.

Due to the social media companies’ retaliation against Bill C18, The Online News Act Radio Waterloo has been restricted on social media, and we can no longer offer social media in our advertising packages

 ^  Show Sponsorship

A show sponsorship is a mention or thank you for a business or individual who has provided funding to a show. Each show producer or host is responsible for maintaining the appropriate number of mentions.

How to set up a Sponsorship on CKMS

  1. Visit our shows page or the schedule and look for a show that meets your businesses audience. If you are having trouble finding a specific show please contact the Program Co-ordinator at progcom@radiowaterloo.ca to help you find a show.
  2. Contact the show producer and set up an arrangement of payment for mentions and associated media.

 ^  Events Listings

Mentions by show hosts of concerts, plays, poetry readings, gallery showings, and other similar events are not ads. If the event listing announcement is recorded, and the event is “for profit” then it will be considered an ad, and advertising rates will apply. CKMS producers and show hosts may mention various events during their shows. If there is an event that you would like promoted please contact a specific show host. The show host may be interested in promoting the event.

 ^  Public Service Announcements

A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest played without charge, with the objective of raising awareness about a social issue. If there is an event that you would like promoted please contact office@radiowaterloo.ca. Pre-recorded PSAs will be added to our PSA rotation and played at the show hosts’ discretion; there is no guarantee how often a particular PSA will get played.

The staff at Radio Waterloo can assist in producing a public service announcement, including script development. There is a $50.00 production fee.

 ^  Stings

Famous people, local bands, etc. briefly saying “Hi I’m ____ of _____ and you’re listening to CKMS-FM, 102.7 in Waterloo Region”. These are often added to the CKMS library and played throughout the day. Please send your pre-recorded stings to office@radiowaterloo.ca.

 ^  Media Reach

Here are some statistics on Community Radio and our broadcast reach:

CKMS-FM broadcasts at 102.7 MHz with 250 Watts from our transmitter in Waterloo. Our broadcast radius is 15km (the 50 μVolt contour inside which there is a “clean” signal, outside that radius the quality of the signal diminishes), with a maximum reach of about 30km towards Guelph. That encompasses a population of about 450,000 people.

The CRTC Communications Monitoring Report of 2020 didn’t provide a “Community Radio spotlight” as their previous reports did, and measures market share in dollars of revenue for commercial radio, which doesn’t fit well with a non-profit community radio.

Previous reports indicated that 88% of Canadians listen to broadcast radio, an average of 15 hours a week. 1.7% of those listen to community radio, so 1.7% of 88% of 450,000 is about 6,500 listeners. A study commissioned by another radio station about 5 years ago indicated there are about 10,000 community radio listeners in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

CKMS-FM is a terrestrial broadcast radio station concentrating on the local community, so while we provide streaming audio it’s not our main product. We do have Internet streaming courtesy of the local KWVoIP user group. A snapshot of stats in March 2021 shows an average of 3600 daily connections with an average of 4 simultaneous clients, peaking at 43 simultaneous clients. The 2019 CRTC report indicated about 22% of Canadians listen to streaming radio 8.6 hrs/week.

CKMS-FM also has a presence on Rogers Digital Service on channel 946. Rogers doesn’t share listener statistics, but some weekend show hosts report the bulk of their listeners are on Rogers.

In 2020-2021 our website averaged 1425 hits per day from 314 daily unique visitors.

Radio Waterloo