In Jersey, about £1,000 buys either 21 daytime radio spots or a month of modest Facebook and Instagram advertising, and the two do different jobs. Channel 103's published 2026 rate card prices 21 thirty-second daytime spots at £999.60 and 28 at £1,278.20, plus £245 to £299 to make the advert, with GST at 5% on top. Radio reaches a big, broad audience quickly: Channel 103 reaches 43,000 adults a week (RAJAR). £1,000 of Meta ad spend can be aimed at the people most likely to buy and measured in enquiries; for a business where a lead is worth £200, our rule of thumb says that budget should bring roughly 15 to 20 leads if the campaign reaches a healthy cost per lead. Radio for broad awareness and dated events; Meta for measurable enquiries; both when you can.
What radio costs in Jersey: Channel 103's 2026 rate card
| 30-second Run of Day package | Per spot | Airtime total |
|---|---|---|
| 14 spots | £48.90 | £684.60 |
| 21 spots | £47.60 | £999.60 |
| 28 spots | £45.65 | £1,278.20 |
| 35 spots | £44.20 | £1,547.00 |
Making the advert is extra: £245 for a one-voice commercial when you supply the script, or £299 with script, music and sound effects written for you. Additional voices are £130 each. So a first 21-spot campaign comes to about £1,307 with GST if you write the script, or about £1,364 if Channel 103 writes it; 28 spots come to about £1,599 to £1,656. The station also sells a cheaper Total Audience Package (6am to midnight, 70% daytime and 30% evening): 21 spots for £861.00.
What radio does well
- Big, fast reach. RAJAR measures Channel 103's weekly reach at 43,000 adults, 48% of its 89,000 adults aged 15 and over, who listen for 8.4 hours a week on average (12 months to 5 April 2026). BBC Radio Jersey, which does not carry adverts, reaches 15,000.
- People who are not on Facebook. Meta's tools reach about 54,400 people in Jersey on Facebook, about 52% of the population (DataReportal, late 2025). Radio reaches many of the rest, especially older listeners and people in the car or at work.
- Dates and urgency. A sale that ends Saturday, an event, an opening: repeated spots in the week before suit a fixed date well.
- A voice and a name. Hearing your business name said, again and again, builds familiarity that later makes other advertising work harder.
What Facebook and Instagram ads do well
- Aim and measure. Spend goes where the leads come from, and every enquiry can be counted, with a cost per lead you can compare against what a customer is worth.
- Small, flexible budgets. You set the budget and can pause, change or move it at any time; there is no seven-day cancellation period.
- Show the thing. Video and photos of your premises, people and products, with a button to book, call or buy.
- A natural ceiling. The audience is the same 54,400 people or so, so creative tires and frequency climbs; budgets have to be paced, not simply raised.
The same money, side by side
| Item | Radio: 21 Run of Day spots | Meta: £1,000 of ad spend |
|---|---|---|
| Media cost | £999.60 + GST = £1,049.58 | £1,000, paid to Meta |
| Making the ad | £245 to £299 + GST | Photos or video you or your agency make; costs vary |
| Who it reaches | Channel 103 listeners, 6am to 9pm; 43,000 adults a week listen | The people you target, from about 54,400 on Facebook and 44,100 on Instagram |
| How long it runs | Spread over the days you book | As long as you set the budget to last, for example a month |
| What you can measure | Indirectly: ask callers, use a dedicated offer code or web address | Directly: leads, cost per lead, bookings |
| Worked example: lead worth £200 | Not measured in leads | Healthy cost per lead £50 to £67: roughly 15 to 20 leads |
| Worked example: gym, trial worth £150 | Not measured in trials | Healthy cost per trial £37.50 to £50: roughly 20 to 26 trials |
The Meta rows come from the method in our guide to what Facebook and Instagram ads cost in Jersey: what a lead is worth, a healthy cost per lead of a quarter to a third of that, and the budget divided by it. Your own numbers will differ, and the free break-even calculator works them out. If an agency manages the ads, its fee is on top of the ad spend.
Which should you choose?
- Choose radio when you need lots of people to hear about something with a date on it, your customers skew older, or your name is not yet known.
- Choose Meta ads when you need a steady flow of enquiries or bookings you can count, on a budget you can change week to week.
- Use both when you can: radio builds the name, Meta ads catch the people who now recognise it, and a clear website turns either into an enquiry. Use a separate offer code or web address on radio so you can tell what it brought in.
Not sure where your money would work hardest? Our free website and ads check looks at your website and your Facebook and Instagram and sends the three changes Kai would make first. See also Facebook ads or Google Ads for a Jersey business and our Facebook and Instagram ads service.
Sources
Checked 9 November 2026: Channel 103, advertising rate card (effective 1 June 2026); RAJAR, quarterly summary of radio listening, survey period ending 5 April 2026 (Channel 103 and BBC Radio Jersey: 12-month figures, adults 15+); DataReportal, Digital 2026: Jersey (Meta's advertising reach, late 2025).
Questions people ask
How much does radio advertising cost in Jersey?
Channel 103’s rate card (effective 1 June 2026) prices 30-second Run of Day packages (6am to 9pm) from £684.60 for 14 spots to £1,547.00 for 35, with 21 spots at £999.60 and 28 at £1,278.20. Making the advert costs £245 (your script) or £299 (script, music and sound effects included). Rates exclude GST at 5%.
How many people listen to Channel 103?
RAJAR puts Channel 103’s weekly reach at 43,000 adults aged 15 and over, 48% of its survey area, with listeners averaging 8.4 hours a week (12 months to 5 April 2026).
Is radio or Facebook advertising better for a Jersey business?
They do different jobs. Radio reaches a broad audience fast and suits dated events and building a name; Facebook and Instagram ads can be aimed and measured in enquiries, on a budget you can change at any time. Many businesses do best using radio for awareness and Meta ads to turn that familiarity into enquiries.
How many leads does £1,000 of Facebook ads bring in Jersey?
It depends on your offer and what a lead is worth. Using our rule of thumb that a healthy cost per lead is a quarter to a third of a lead’s value, a business whose lead is worth £200 should aim for £50 to £67 per lead, which means roughly 15 to 20 leads from £1,000 of ad spend. That is a target to judge a campaign against, not a promise.
Related: Facebook and Instagram ads in Jersey · See the results behind our numbers · Terms explained in the glossary