The Central Sales Unit at Mumbai is the major commercial office that procures and executes ad-business on All India basis for AIR, while its 15 Commercial Broadcasting Service Centers handle ad-sales regionally. In the pyramid below are Sales teams at each AIR station catering to local clients. This sales structure in AIR is supported by the Commercial and Revenue Divisions (CRD) of Prasar Bharati, located in the 4 metros providing a common window to clients desirous of booking ads on AIR and Doordarshan channels locally or anywhere in the country. The CRD’s procure business and pass it on to the concerned AIR CBS Centre or CSU Mumbai or to the Doordarshan Channels as the case may be, for broadcast and billing.

AIR accepts ad bookings through Accredited agencies/Registered agencies/Canvassers/ and directly from Govt. Clients: Accredited agencies are given credit facility of 45 days for making payment. Government clients are entitled for a credit period of 60 days. Registered agencies/Canvassers are to pay in advance for any ad booking.

In AIR, for FM transmission, the entire 24 hours’ time of a day is divided into three categories. Similarly for Primary channel, LRS stations and Vividh Bharati services are divided in various programme/ time categories and accordingly have different rates.

Time Categories for Ad booking

1. For FM Channels:
   Prime Time : 0700 – 1100, 1700 – 2300 hours
   Mid Prime Time: 1100 – 1700 hours
   Non-Prime Time: 2300 – 0700 hours
2. For Vividh Bharati:
   Category I : 0630-1000, 1900-2300 hours
   Category II : 0600-0630, 1000-1200
   1330-1430, 2300-2330 hours
   Category III : 1200-1330, 1430-1900 hours
   Vividh Bharati Stations are divided in to three Groups A, B, C .
3. Primary Channelsstations and LRS are divided in four different Groups, and
4. Programmes are divided in two broad categories mainly music and non-music.

Inventory for Commercial Purposes

1. Spot Buy: Booking of Spot buys is done in tranches of 10 seconds or its multiples (restricted up to 120 seconds) in various programmes as per grouping of the station and time/ programme category.
2. Sponsorship Packages: The in- house programmes are sponsored by clients as per the rates of a particular station. These sponsorship could be for a program series or event for a certain timeduration viz. month, quarter, half year or year. Clients buy bulk FCT (Free Commercial Time) for a fixed sponsorship amount. This deal may be for a program series or event for a certain time duration viz. month, quarter, half year or year.
3. Sponsored Programmes: These programmes are mainly produced by outside agency for broadcast on AIR by giving a prescribed fee for the same. These programmes are accepted for 15 min, 10 min and 5 min by giving FCT of 60 seconds, 40 seconds and 20 seconds respectively. On the request of clients sometimes the Production of these programmes is also done in-house by charging a production fee for the same.
4. Special Events: Events like live commentary of Cricket and other matches, International sporting events like Olympic, Commonwealth games, Marathon, Sports events etc. are special events marketed by CRD and other units of AIR like CSU, CBS and all AIR stations for which special rates are devised.

Based on the rate card of advertising for All India Radio, advertising agencies/ clients send release orders (RO) and schedules for a fixed period. The booking is finalized through a contract signed between the clients/agency and All India Radio for different inventories. CBS stations / concerned AIR stations maintain a schedule register for each program. Register contains agency name, client name, SBR/ sponsorship package, amount etc. On the right side of the register, details of spots scheduled, client name, brand name, status like SBR, sponsorship/ sponsored programme and rate etc. is detailed. A separate register is maintained showing the account of each client’s FCT Purchased, Consumption, etc. Specimen copy of these registers, various reports and other records can be studied during SRS. Rate card of advertising for All India Radio is available here.

Commercial Cue Sheet: A day before the broadcast, the CCS (Commercial Cue Sheet) is prepared, which reflects the commercials booked for various programs. For a 30 minute program, 3 break bumpers and for 60 minute program, 5 break bumpers are provided to insert commercials. An authorized officer from CBS/Commercial section of the AIR station prepares the CCS. The monthly schedule prepared by CSU/ CBS is sent electronically to different AIR stations.

Credit Lines: E.g. “This program is brought to you by…” are allowed as value additions to sponsors before and after the program.