Space… The final frontier…

It is also a land loaded with floating metal objects that rotate the planet and beam signals back to our gadgets. One of these floating metal objects is a satellite designed to push radio programming to our receivers. In the United States the only brand on the market is Sirius XM satellite radio.

Satellite radio is filled with hundreds of stations with programming that varies from hit to obscure music; talk programming from conservative views to home design tips to Howard Stern. Essentially it is a medium that offers something for everyone. This is one of the reasons it is becoming a very popular option for satellite radio advertising.

A common misconception about the medium is that it is “commercial free”. While the music stations do remain free of any satellite radio advertising, the talk stations do not. They have several commercial breaks per hour just as any talk show on AM or FM radio would. The shows that offer advertising options are quite diverse and offer advertisers a way to micro-target an audience with a specific interest.

What does satellite radio advertising cost? The answer to that question will vary depending on the station you want to advertise on. Some of the more nich’ formats with a lower audience can fall as low as fifty dollars per commercial, while the top stations such as Howard Stern may cost hundreds of dollars per airing because the reach of a station like this is much greater.

Satellite radio offers smaller and medium-sized companies that do not have a large budget the opportunity to reach a national audience.

This is something new, because the price point to reach a national audience on national TV or a syndicated radio show can be far to cost prohibitive for most small and medium sized businesses. With a starting budget of around 5k, almost any business can have their message broadcast to the nation through satellite radio advertising. The message can also be targeted to a very specific group of people based on the programming that the radio commercial airs on. Programming targets range from pet lovers to cigar enthusiasts to new moms and everything in between.

What was once the work of science fiction, is now a medium that puts another tool in the arsenal of small business when they want to get an effective message out to the masses on a restricted budget.