Radio in Connecticut
A 30-second spot starts around $15 in the small markets. The average across Hartford and New Haven is about $279. Here is the whole dial, priced, and which stations fit your budget.
Country 92.5 pulls an 11 share in Hartford. Every rep knows it. Now you do too.
The Straight Answer
Nobody will hand you a radio rate card. So we built one.
Call any station in the state and you’ll get the same two-step: a friendly rep, then a meeting request. The rate arrives only after the pitch.
Below is our running rate card for Connecticut airtime: what each buy really starts at, checked against published market averages. Bring it to the station meeting.
84% of American adults listen to AM/FM radio every single week.
Source: Nielsen, 2025
The Rate Card
Six buys cover every way to be on the air in Connecticut. This is what they start at.
| Buy | Starting Cost | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Small-Market Spot | from $15/spot | 30 seconds on Torrington, Norwich, Willimantic-scale stations |
| Metro Spot, Off-Peak | from $40/spot | Hartford and New Haven FMs, middays and evenings |
| Metro Drive Time | from $75/spot | The 6 to 10am and 3 to 7pm commute blocks |
| Weekly Schedule | from $200/wk | 15 to 20 spots on one station, enough to stick |
| Traffic & News Sponsorship | from $300/wk | Your name on the report every driver waits for |
| Streaming Audio | from $250/campaign | Spotify and iHeart self-serve, targeted by zip code |
Last verified August 2026. Market reference: the average 30-second spot across the Hartford and New Haven market runs about $279 (published market rate data). Your exact rate depends on the station, the daypart, and how many spots you commit to.
The Hartford Market
Hartford, New Britain and Middletown make up America’s #57 radio market: 1,113,500 listeners across the capital region. Country 92.5, Lite 100.5 and Hot 93.7 own its mornings.
11.0 share for Country 92.5 in the latest book, the biggest audience of any station in the market.
Source: Nielsen Audio PPM, July 2026
New Haven & the Shoreline
444,900 people live inside the New Haven market, and they are loyal: WPLR has been the shoreline’s rock station for more than 50 years, and KC101 has run the school-run for generations.
11.4 share for WYBC 94.3, the biggest audience on the New Haven dial this spring.
Source: Nielsen Audio, Spring 2026
Fairfield County
Since 2020, Bridgeport and Stamford-Norwalk have been one rated market: Metro Fairfield County, #73 in America, served by Star 99.9, WEBE 108 and WICC 600. Long commutes, high incomes, radios on.
787,200 people live inside the Metro Fairfield County radio market, the state’s wealthiest.
Source: Nielsen Audio, Fall 2025
Streaming Audio
Spotify and iHeart sell audio the way Google sells clicks: pick your towns, set a budget, see exactly how many people heard you. No rep, no contract, and the floor is $250.
$250 starts a Spotify campaign reaching roughly 10,000 to 16,000 listeners in the zip codes you pick.
Source: Spotify Ads
An Honest Read
Radio is a great buy for some businesses and a bad one for others. Here is the honest split.
Not sure which side you land on? Get the Answer for Your Business
The Station Groups
Three groups control most of the airtime in Connecticut. We don’t own stations and we don’t take a side: we tell you which group has the right audience for your budget.
The biggest reach on the Connecticut dial: Country 92.5, the Hartford market’s #1 with an 11.0 share, plus Kiss 95.7 and The River 105.9, and KC101 and WELI in New Haven. Hartford Rates New Haven Rates
The other Hartford heavyweight: WTIC 1080 news talk, on the air since 1925, alongside Lite 100.5, Hot 93.7 and 96.5 TIC-FM. Lite and Hot each pull an 8.0 share. Audacy Rates
Fairfield County and the shoreline: Star 99.9, WEBE 108 and WICC 600 out of Bridgeport, plus 99.1 WPLR, New Haven’s rock station for more than 50 years. Fairfield Rates WPLR Rates
WDRC-FM, Connecticut’s oldest station, on the air since 1922 and still top five in Hartford. Townsquare’s i95 in Danbury, WCTY in Norwich, and streaming dashboards from $250. WDRC Rates Danbury Rates Spotify Rates AdBuilder Rates
The Process
Three steps from budget to airtime, in plain English.
Two minutes: what you sell, where your customers live, and what you can spend each month.
Actual stations, dayparts and spot counts for your budget, in writing, before you ever talk to a rep.
Stations usually produce your spot free with a schedule; pro production runs $300 to $500. You can be on the air inside a week.
Questions
A 30-second spot runs from about $15 on small-market stations to $75 and up for drive time on the big Hartford and New Haven FMs; the published average across the Hartford and New Haven market is about $279 per spot. A useful schedule of 15 to 20 spots a week starts around $200 on a single station, roughly $800 a month. Streaming audio campaigns start at $250.
Radio pays off through repetition, not one airing. Plan on at least 15 to 20 spots a week on one station, and hold the same message for a month before you judge it. Three weeks on one station beats one week spread across three: listeners need to hear you again and again before the name sticks.
The one your customers already play. In the July 2026 ratings, Country 92.5 leads Hartford with an 11.0 share, with Lite 100.5 and Hot 93.7 at 8.0. In New Haven, WYBC leads at 11.4, with KC101 and WPLR at 5.8. But format beats raw ratings: a landscaping company belongs on country and classic rock, a med spa on AC and CHR. Tell us what you sell and we will name the stations.
AM/FM owns the car: 83% of in-car ad-supported listening is still broadcast radio (Edison Research), and the average Connecticut commute is 26.5 minutes each way. Streaming wins on precision: from $250 you can target single zip codes and see exact delivery numbers. Under $500 a month in one town, start with streaming. Building a name across a whole market, buy AM/FM.
Usually nothing. Stations write and voice your spot free when you buy a schedule. Professional production with custom voicing and music runs $300 to $500 one time. A live read, where the host talks about your business in their own words, costs more per spot but borrows the host's trust, and hosts in Connecticut have been building that trust for decades.
Yes. Small-market Connecticut stations sell spots from $15 to $30, so $500 buys real frequency in the Torrington, Norwich or Willimantic-scale markets. In Hartford or New Haven, ask for overnight and rotator packages. Or put the whole $500 into two streaming audio campaigns aimed only at your towns.
Tell us your budget and your towns, and we’ll come back with real stations, real spot counts and real weekly costs, free, in one business day.
Price My AirtimeTakes 2 minutes · Free · Real rates in writing
Get Started
Tell us the basics. We’ll match your budget to the stations and dayparts that actually reach your customers. Here’s what you get:
Takes 2 minutes. Free. Real rates in writing.