Rate Charging

[DanG]

Hi everyone, I have a question on rate charging. Today I exchanged business cards with the Commercial Production Manager for ABC 15 T.V. here in Phoenix, Arizona which I am assuming is considered a large market city? am I right on that one? Anyways I did not get to talk to here very long at all since I was so busy at work but she wanted to know my rates. I guess I would like some info on Commercial T.V. Promos and Imaging in the Phoenix market that is fair enough to get me that job. Any ideas and feedback will help a lot since I need to contact her right away.

[bigbry]

Here's a ball park for you...
Radio: Local / Regional
:15 100
:30 150
:60 200
Radio: National
:15 250
:30 300
:60 400
Television: Local / Regional
:15 200
:30 300
:60 400
Television: National
:15 300
:30 400
:60 500

[ScottLarson]

Phoenix is market number 15 in the radio industry, I'm not sure how television market rates itself. I can't answer the monetary end of the question, but I'm sure there's someone in here that can. Hope you get the gig, it would be very lucrative.
Best of Luck
Scott Larson

[JoeActor]

My 2 cents: I've always charged more for the LA/NYC/Chicago markets, and left the rest at the regular rates. Mine are just a scoche higher than BigBry's...

Joe J Thomas
Joe J. Thomas Acting Portfolio (http://www.JoeActor.com)

[JulieRei]

Thank you guys so much for the info!

I just had my first experience earlier today with a client asking me specifically for my rates and it caught me by total surprise.

[Jon Morss]

One place to start is with the AFTRA site. This could give you some sort of base line.
AFTRA (http://www.aftra.org/locals/phoenix.htm)

Also, check with Grant Holmes who has his own thread in the forum. Is seems to be in your area and should have a good idea with regards to rates.
Grant Holmes, Voice Over Artist (http://www.grantholmes.com/voiceover.php)

Jon

[billelder]

Most of my stations pay a flat rate per month for stagers and ID's. Some of them only use me as another voice for the occasional tag, promo or commercial. At that point it's a different deal altogether because I'm not giving market exclusivity.

A brief search of the web shows this non-union rate sheet (http://www.scribd.com/doc/81653/Voicescom-Voice-Over-Rate-Sheet) (or the pdf here (http://www.voices.com/documents/Voices.com-Voice-Over-Rate-Sheet.pdf)) from Voices.com that may help as a template. But, you have to use your good sense to judge whether those rates will price you out of your market.

[Julie Williams]

I can go along with the local commercial rates posted, but on national... needs to be at least $2000 for non union national spot!

Remember, as non union talent... airtimes are not tracked for residuals. So you are basically giving them a buyout. If you do a national for a product... and they have a buyout, you can never ever ever ever do a spot for that type of product again.

Don't give that away for $100!

My rates are typically based on AFTRA rates.

[dnegrey]

Good advice, Julie - thank you!

[avitoots]

I can go along with the local commercial rates posted, but on national... needs to be at least $2000 for non union national spot!

Remember, as non union talent... airtimes are not tracked for residuals. So you are basically giving them a buyout. If you do a national for a product... and they have a buyout, you can never ever ever ever do a spot for that type of product again.

Don't give that away for $100!

My rates are typically based on AFTRA rates.


I have to respectfully disagree with Julie regarding the non-union buyout. I have done non-union on-camera work and what I always require is a limited buy-out. If you have a limited buy-out then the client can only use the spot for the specified timeframe so you avoid the conflict issue. If they want to use it beyond that timeframe, they have to negotiate a new fee with you. If they run it without your knowledge after the contracted period, they are in breach of contract and have, in effect, stolen your services. I have actually turned down auditions through one of my agents because the client wasn't offering a limited buy-out.

There is a floor covering company that didn't do the unlimited buyout and, although the guys did a lot of spots so probably made some decent money, they ran for what seemed to be forever. Someone must have finally said something because they stopped running the old ads. Also, there's a guy here in Chicago who did some voiceover early in his career for a local junk yard. He has since become a staff member of one of the major stations. Within the last few years I noticed that when the spot runs on the station where he is a staff member they use the version with his voice. When the spot runs on other stations, they re-voiced the demo. Not sure what they did to make them re-do the VO on the spot, but they managed to make the client re-do the spot.

Arlene

[DanG]

Hi everyone and thank you so much for the info sorry i haven't thanked you earlier I was called out of town. I believe this will be mostly local work and found out that day in our newspaper that we are the 12th largest market in the country which I like 15th in radio. Arlene I like the limited buyout that you mentioned I will see if that amkes sense also with my agent. Well once again I would like to thank everyone who posted, you are all great people and know your business

Thank you again Dan

[Julie Williams]

THe limited buyout sounds good, in theory. And if you have time to keep track of work that is not airing in your area... or even that is airing in your area, then it's a great solution for you.

I do not have time for that. So I would not do a national spot for what is closer to local rate.

[avitoots]

Actually, the buyouts can run into the $2,000 range depending on the time limit. My rate for the non-union shoot plus one year buyout for the Louisville Airport spot six years ago was $1200 and it was only going to run in two markets (Lexington, KY and, I think, Cincinnati). So, in my mind, $2,000 for a national buyout would seem a low rate. However, that would depend upon the amount of time the buyout would cover. I would also think that if you have a written contract stating that the client is only allowed to run the spot for one year and after that one year you accept a spot in the same category and then find out they're still running the spot after the second spot is airing you'd be covered from a legal standpoint. You've met your contractual obligations by turning down work in the same category for the one year period. However, the first client breached their end of the contract by running the spot past the buy-out end date. So, if a problem arose with the second client, I would think that both talent and the second client would have legal recourse against the first client.

Also, how often does the conflict issue truly arise in VO? I can understand that it would be a major concern for on-camera, however, unless you have a voice that is so distinctive that it sounds like no one else, how would they really know that you're voicing two spots in the same category?

Arlene

[bobbin beam]

Hi.
Here's a link that displays the latest Fall 2007 Arbitron Radio Market rankings
Market Ranks and Schedule (1-50) (http://www.arbitron.com/radio_stations/mm001050.asp)

I regard the majors as 1-20
Large markets- 21-50
Medium- 51-150
Small-151+

There are many considerations to calculate a fair rate. Market size, type of use, duration of use, and if it goes network (no buy outs for union).
There are a lot of non-union rates out there. You can find suggestions like this one compiled by Voices.com here:
http://www.voices.com/documents/Voices.com-Voice-Over-Rate-Sheet.pdf

[DanG]

Thank you Bobbin for the info sorry I havent got back sooner but I guess you are in a mess there in cali> I really injoyed the worksheet and where my market is thanks again so much. by the way were you ever a DJ in milwaukee because that name is very familiar.

[DanG]

Well first of all I would like to thank everyone who answered my post and for all the great info I recieved. I have a good idea on the rates for my market but now I need the TV station to call me back.

Thanks again everyone
Dan Gough