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

Pittsburgh

Radio Advertising in Pittsburgh

A sports town with its teams spread across the dial, a heritage news talk station on AM and FM, and hills that decide which stations reach which neighborhoods. Berk Marketing buys Pittsburgh for advertisers and represents no station in it.

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

Free Pittsburgh media plan

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Tell us what you sell and what makes it different. If you have a compelling story, we’ll tell it in 60 seconds to the listeners who matter to you. Let’s work to make you famous.

You get back real ideas to consider, and a written plan if broadcast is right for you. No cost, no obligation. Or call (866) 747-4707 and tell Peter Berk directly. Want to see what your competitors are running first? Ask for a free competitive report.

Short answer. Pittsburgh is a sports town. NewsRadio KDKA on 1020 AM and 100.1 FM is the news talk leader, and 93.7 The Fan carries the Pirates and Pitt. The Steelers are on 102.5 WDVE and Fox Sports 970. There is no all-news station. On the music side 3WS 94.5, 96.9 Bob FM, WDVE, 96.1 Kiss and Y108 are the big signals. Hills, rivers and tunnels shade FM signals in the valleys, so coverage needs checking. The practical entry point is about five thousand dollars a week.

Station by station

A sports town on a hilly map

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

Station	Dial	Branding	Format	Owner
KDKA-AM	1020 AM / 100.1 FM	NewsRadio KDKA	News Talk	Audacy
KDKA-FM	93.7 FM	93.7 The Fan	Sports	Audacy
WBGG-AM	970 AM	Fox Sports 970	Sports	iHeartMedia
WDVE-FM	102.5 FM	102.5 WDVE	Classic Rock	iHeartMedia
WWSW-FM	94.5 FM	3WS	Classic Hits	iHeartMedia
WRRK-FM	96.9 FM	96.9 Bob FM	Adult Hits	Steel City Media
WKST-FM	96.1 FM	96.1 Kiss	CHR	iHeartMedia
WDSY-FM	107.9 FM	Y108	Country	Audacy
WBZZ-FM	100.7 FM	100.7 Star	Hot AC	Audacy
WXDX-FM	105.9 FM	105.9 The X	Alternative	iHeartMedia

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 Pittsburgh listens

Three things about Pittsburgh that change a buy

The Steelers are on a rock station. 102.5 WDVE and Fox Sports 970 carry the Steelers, so football is bought on a classic rock signal as much as a sports one. 93.7 The Fan has the Pirates, through 2027, and Pitt. A Pittsburgh sports schedule follows the season and the team, not one station.

KDKA is the spoken word anchor. NewsRadio KDKA is the heritage news talk brand, heard on 1020 AM and 100.1 FM. For a considered purchase it gets more across in fewer spots than a music station.

Hills decide coverage. Pittsburgh’s hills, rivers and tunnels shade FM signals in the valleys, and the metro spreads across many counties toward Ohio and West Virginia. A weaker signal can look fine on a map and fade in a valley, so we check coverage before relying on it.

News, talk and sports

The listener is following a story or a game, so fewer commercials a day do the job. In Pittsburgh that means KDKA for news, and The Fan or Fox Sports 970 depending on the team.

Music formats

The listener is half attending, so the message needs repeating, which means weight on one station rather than money spread across four. 3WS, Bob FM, WDVE and 96.1 Kiss each reach a large habitual audience bought for frequency.

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

Money

Buying Pittsburgh: scale, and who does the negotiating

iHeartMedia owns WDVE, 3WS, Fox Sports 970, 96.1 Kiss and 105.9 The X, Audacy has KDKA, The Fan, Y108 and Star 100.7, and Steel City Media holds Bob FM. 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 Pittsburgh 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 Pittsburgh is the right buy, and when it is not

Worth a conversation

You can serve the Pittsburgh metro, or you are buying Pittsburgh as one market among several
You can fund roughly five thousand dollars a week for long enough to build frequency
Your offer suits a loyal, sports minded audience
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 Pittsburgh 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 Pittsburgh 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 Pittsburgh

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

Pittsburgh radio advertising questions

Which Pittsburgh radio station is best for advertising?

For a considered purchase, KDKA 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 Steelers and the Pirates?

The Steelers are on 102.5 WDVE and Fox Sports 970. The Pirates and Pitt are on 93.7 The Fan.

Does terrain affect Pittsburgh radio coverage?

Yes. Hills and river valleys shade FM signals in places, so we check each station’s coverage against your service area.

How much does radio advertising cost in Pittsburgh?

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 Pittsburgh 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 Pittsburgh station?

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