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

Cleveland

Radio Advertising in Cleveland

A market where the Browns, the Guardians and the Cavaliers each have a radio home, a heritage news talk AM at the center, and Akron’s signals overlapping from the south. Berk Marketing buys Cleveland for advertisers and represents no station in it.

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

Free Cleveland media plan

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Short answer. Cleveland is a three team market. Newsradio WTAM 1100 is the news talk leader and the home of the Guardians and the Cavaliers, the Browns are on 92.3 The Fan, 98.5 WNCX and 850 ESPN Cleveland, and Sports Radio 99.1 is the newest sports option. AM 1420 The Answer is the other talk station, and there is no all-news station. On the music side Majic 105.7, Star 102, 99.5 WGAR, 93.1 WZAK, Q104 and 96.5 Kiss FM are the big signals. Akron and Canton are a separate market with heavy overlap. The practical entry point is about five thousand dollars a week.

Station by station

Three teams and a heritage AM

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

Station	Dial	Branding	Format	Owner
WTAM-AM	1100 AM	Newsradio WTAM 1100	News Talk	iHeartMedia
WHK-AM	1420 AM	AM 1420 The Answer	Talk	Salem Media
WKRK-FM	92.3 FM	92.3 The Fan	Sports	Audacy
WKNR-AM	850 AM	850 ESPN Cleveland	Sports	Good Karma Sports
WNCX-FM	98.5 FM	98.5 WNCX	Classic Rock	Audacy
WMJI-FM	105.7 FM	Majic 105.7	Classic Hits	iHeartMedia
WDOK-FM	102.1 FM	Star 102	AC	Audacy
WGAR-FM	99.5 FM	99.5 WGAR	Country	iHeartMedia
WZAK-FM	93.1 FM	93.1 WZAK	Urban AC	Urban One
WQAL-FM	104.1 FM	Q104	Hot AC	Audacy

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 Cleveland listens

Three things about Cleveland that change a buy

Each team has its own home. The Guardians and, for 2026 to 2027, the Cavaliers are on WTAM 1100, the Cavaliers also on 100.7 WMMS. The Browns are on 92.3 The Fan, 98.5 WNCX and 850 ESPN Cleveland under an extension signed in 2025. A Cleveland sports plan follows the season from one station to the next.

WTAM is the spoken word anchor. Newsradio WTAM 1100 combines news talk with two teams, which makes it the station that reaches both a news audience and a sports audience. For a considered purchase it usually does more than any music station.

Akron overlaps from the south. Cleveland and Akron-Canton are rated separately, but their signals overlap heavily, and 96.5 Kiss FM is licensed to Akron while selling Cleveland. The market also runs east and west along the lake, so outer county coverage varies by signal.

News, talk and sports

The listener is following a story or a game, so fewer commercials a day do the job. In Cleveland that means WTAM for news and the Guardians, and The Fan or 850 ESPN for the Browns.

Music formats

The listener is half attending, so the message needs repeating, which means weight on one station rather than money spread across four. Majic 105.7, Star 102, WGAR and WZAK each reach a large habitual audience bought for frequency.

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

Money

Buying Cleveland: scale, and who does the negotiating

iHeartMedia owns WTAM, Majic 105.7, WGAR, 96.5 Kiss FM and WMMS, Audacy has The Fan, WNCX, Star 102 and Q104, Good Karma Sports holds 850 ESPN, Urban One has WZAK, and Salem owns The Answer. 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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland is the right buy, and when it is not

Worth a conversation

You can serve greater Cleveland, or you are buying Cleveland as one market among several
You can fund roughly five thousand dollars a week for long enough to build frequency
You know whether you need Akron and Canton as well
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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland

We will run a competitive monitoring report at no charge and with no obligation. It shows which Cleveland 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

Cleveland radio advertising questions

Which Cleveland radio station is best for advertising?

For a considered purchase, WTAM or The Fan 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 Browns, Guardians and Cavaliers?

The Guardians are on WTAM 1100. The Cavaliers are on WTAM 1100 and 100.7 WMMS. The Browns are on 92.3 The Fan, 98.5 WNCX and 850 ESPN Cleveland.

Does a Cleveland buy reach Akron?

Many Cleveland signals reach Akron, but Akron-Canton is rated as a separate market. If customers there matter, we plan for them on purpose.

How much does radio advertising cost in Cleveland?

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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland station?

No. Berk Marketing represents advertisers and holds no inventory on any Cleveland 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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