WERU is very grateful for the support of its Business Members, who contribute financially to the radio station and in return receive on-air announcements identifying them to our listeners. This is a great way to support WERU and connect with our listeners and volunteers at the same time. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) refers to these announcements as “sponsorship identification” or “underwriting acknowledgements,” which must comply with rules for noncommercial broadcasting when identifying for-profit entities and their products, services, or facilities.

Sponsorship announcements are broadcast live on the radio and streamed live on our website and app. Announcements can also be heard in the music show archives on our website and app. For complete information about how to get your businesses name and identity on WERU view the downloadable WERU Sponsorship Rates.

Sponsorship Rates at a Glance:

1. $17 per announcement between 6 am and 6 pm
2. $15 per announcement between 6 pm and 6 am
3. $13 per announcement for nonprofit organizations
4. $200 minimum total purchase
5. 10% discount on sales of $500 or greater, paid fully in advance

Sponsorship Identification Announcement Rules:

1. Content: announcements may include the business’s name, location, website address, email, brief value-neutral description of goods and services, and an established tagline that is not promotional.
2. Value-neutral: announcements describing goods and services must be value-neutral and have minimal adjectives and no promotional language (price information, calls to action, inducements to buy, and comparative or qualitative language)
3. Duration: announcements are 15 seconds in length for for-profit entities and 20 seconds for non-profits
4. Scheduling: announcements may not interrupt regularly-scheduled programming and are typically scheduled at the beginning or end of a program or program segment. (To the best of our ability, we will schedule announcements at times that the Business Member requests.)

If you would like more information, please contact our Business Support Manager, Denis Howard, at 469-3088 or email denis@weru.org.

In the words of long-time Business Members:

• “Support for WERU comes from all kinds of people and all kinds of local businesses. Hi, this is Jon from Fogtown Brewing in Ellsworth, a proud business member of WERU. We support WERU financially because of all the great programs, the people on the air and behind the scenes, and for the community-minded spirit that flows out of the radio. Please consider joining Fogtown Brewing by becoming a WERU Business Member, and make strong connections with the WERU community.” 
• “Support for WERU Community Radio comes from BookStacks in Bucksport. That’s me, Andy Lacher, and I’ve been a business supporter for over 25 years. I value WERU because of the diversity it presents over the airwaves, and like WERU, my bookstore offers great variety, so underwriting programming on WERU is a perfect fit for me to connect with the station’s listeners who appreciate diversity. I encourage you to think about having your business support Community Radio.”