India’s 94.3 Radio One, the radio brand of Next Radio Ltd, has announced a rate increase averaging 25 percent across its seven markets effective February 1.

According to the network, it is the first to announce a spot rate which allows the brand to charge a premium for its inventory in the high engagement programs most of which are celebrity driven.

The network has also elevated its leadership team.

Saurabh Sehgal has been elevated to COO – Operations, Shyju Varkey to COO – Strategy & New Revenue, Anil Machado to Chief Content & Talent Officer, Debojit Saha to Chief Innovation Officer, Hrishikesh Kannan to National host/producer training Director and

Sabina Sanghvi to Business Cluster Director Pune, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

Vineet Singh Hukmani MD & CEO said: “We have constantly stayed away from being a ‘mere reach’ vehicle like our mass competitors. Our cost control both at an operations level and the fact that we did not strategically bid for expensive licenses in the auctions held earlier makes our P&L model very attractive and unique.”

“The 25 percent  increase is because we have invested heavily into creating differentiated programs across all our cities that get very high engagement for upscale listeners and therefore for the advertiser, both on air and on social media. Furthermore, we are running full on spot inventory and in order to create a good balance for listeners we have no choice but to raise rates. Most large clients and agencies are aware of the high engagement value we bring and have encouraged us to improve value & price thereby reducing on air clutter for listeners,” he added.