Reviewed by Peter Berk, President and Chief Media Strategist, Berk Marketing · Last updated 31 October 2026

Cincinnati

Radio Advertising in Cincinnati

A three state market anchored by a 50,000 watt AM that carries the Reds and the Bengals, and a music dial where Hubbard owns several of the leaders. Berk Marketing buys Cincinnati for advertisers and represents no station in it.

Radio since 1978Independent since 1999Certified Radio Marketing ConsultantWe represent advertisers, not stations

Free Cincinnati media plan

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Short answer. Cincinnati is built around 700WLW. The 50,000 watt news talk station carries the Reds and, with ESPN 1530 and 102.7 WEBN, the Bengals, and it shares Bearcats football with WEBN. 55KRC is the other talk station, and Fox Sports 1360 is a second sports option. There is no all-news station. On the music side B105, Q102, Mix 94.9, WEBN and WOSL are the big signals. The metro covers Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana. The practical entry point is about five thousand dollars a week.

Station by station

One big AM and a three state market

The commercial stations most Cincinnati plans start from. Formats and owners as of October 2026.

Station	Dial	Branding	Format	Owner
WLW-AM	700 AM	700WLW	News Talk	iHeartMedia
WKRC-AM	550 AM	55KRC	Talk	iHeartMedia
WCKY-AM	1530 AM	ESPN 1530	Sports	iHeartMedia
WSAI-AM	1360 AM	Fox Sports 1360	Sports	iHeartMedia
WUBE-FM	105.1 FM	B105	Country	Hubbard
WKRQ-FM	101.9 FM	Q102	CHR	Hubbard
WREW-FM	94.9 FM	Mix 94.9	AC	Hubbard
WEBN-FM	102.7 FM	102.7 WEBN	Rock	iHeartMedia
WOSL-FM	100.3 FM	WOSL	Urban AC	Urban One
WIZF-FM	101.1 FM	101.1 The Wiz	Hip Hop	Urban One

Stations change formats and owners often, so we confirm every station against the current Nielsen book before a proposal goes out. A plan built for you shows the current audience for each station on it. Our top 100 markets page lists every market we buy.

How Cincinnati listens

Three things about Cincinnati that change a buy

WLW is bigger than the metro. 700WLW’s 50,000 watt signal reaches far beyond Cincinnati, especially at night, and it carries the Reds, the Bengals and Bearcats football. For a regional advertiser that reach is a bonus. For a local business it is coverage you pay for and cannot use, which is worth weighing.

iHeart holds the spoken word. WLW, 55KRC, ESPN 1530 and Fox Sports 1360 all belong to iHeartMedia, as does WEBN. That concentration matters in a negotiation, because one group controls most of the news, talk and sports inventory an advertiser wants.

It is a three state market. Cincinnati covers Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana, and its signals overlap with Dayton along I-75. A business licensed in one state should plan around where it can actually serve customers.

News, talk and sports

The listener is following a story or a game, so fewer commercials a day do the job. In Cincinnati that means 700WLW for news and the Reds, and ESPN 1530 for sports talk.

Music formats

The listener is half attending, so the message needs repeating, which means weight on one station rather than money spread across four. B105, Q102, Mix 94.9 and WEBN each reach a large habitual audience bought for frequency.

Why format decides frequency, in full, is on the local radio advertising page.

Money

Buying Cincinnati: scale, and who does the negotiating

iHeartMedia owns WLW, 55KRC, ESPN 1530, Fox Sports 1360 and WEBN, Hubbard has B105, Q102 and Mix 94.9, and Urban One holds WOSL and The Wiz. Each group prices its stations as a package built for its own inventory. We buy the station, negotiate each group against the others, and take remnant inventory where it exists.

The practical entry point for a terrestrial campaign here is about five thousand dollars a week, the same floor as every market we buy, and it needs to run long enough to build frequency rather than a week or two to see what happens. What sets the rate, what moves it and how remnant inventory changes the arithmetic is covered on the radio advertising costs page.

Berk Marketing represents advertisers and holds no Cincinnati inventory. We go to the stations and the groups for availability and price, negotiate each against the others, write and produce the commercial in house, place the schedule and track what it returns by station. Where a station has unsold airtime, we buy it as remnant, typically 40 to 60% below the published rate card, and you are refunded or credited for any spot that does not run.

Fit

When Cincinnati is the right buy, and when it is not

Worth a conversation

You can serve the Cincinnati metro on both sides of the river, or you are buying Cincinnati as one market among several
You can fund roughly five thousand dollars a week for long enough to build frequency
You know whether WLW’s wide reach helps you or is wasted
You have an offer that is genuinely worth responding to
You are prepared to test more than one script

Probably not yet

You want a week or two to see whether radio works
Your service area is one town, where the market is far wider than your customer
You need a guaranteed cost per lead before committing
There is no tracking in place and no plan to put any in
You have already been quoted directly by a Cincinnati station, which limits what we can do on that signal

Worth knowing first

Call before you call a station, not after

We work with advertisers who have not already been in contact with a radio station’s sales rep. We are not in the business of taking clients away from stations, and once an advertiser has been quoted directly, our ability to bring remnant pricing on that station is compromised.

The consequence lands on you rather than on us. If Cincinnati is on your list and you have not spoken to anyone yet, that is exactly when this is worth a call.

Find out who is already advertising against you in Cincinnati

We will run a competitive monitoring report at no charge and with no obligation. It shows which Cincinnati stations your competitors are on, at what times of day, how many spots, and it includes the actual audio of their commercials.

In many cases nothing shows up at all, and that is worth knowing too.

Get the Report

Questions

Cincinnati radio advertising questions

Which Cincinnati radio station is best for advertising?

For a considered purchase, 700WLW bought properly usually does more than a music station. For a broad consumer offer, one music station with enough weight beats several bought lightly.

Which stations carry the Reds and the Bengals?

The Reds are on 700WLW. The Bengals are on 700WLW, ESPN 1530 and 102.7 WEBN.

Does a Cincinnati buy reach Kentucky and Indiana?

Yes. Most Cincinnati signals cover Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana, which are part of the market.

How much does radio advertising cost in Cincinnati?

Plan on about five thousand dollars a week as the practical entry point for a terrestrial schedule, run long enough to build frequency. The rate on any one Cincinnati station depends on daypart, season and how much inventory is unsold, and remnant airtime can bring it down considerably. What sets a rate is covered on our radio advertising costs page.

Do you represent any Cincinnati station?

No. Berk Marketing represents advertisers and holds no inventory on any Cincinnati station. We negotiate with every group on your behalf and are paid to get the schedule right for you, not to fill a station’s airtime.

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