Terms of Service

Sponsor Public Media is operated by Market Enginuity, a sponsorship sales agency that represents public media organizations. Through this platform you can sponsor on-air messages on our partner stations without a phone call or a contract negotiation. These terms cover how that works and what each side is responsible for.

Who can sponsor

You need a working email address, which is how you sign in. We do not use passwords for sponsors; we email you a one-time sign-in link instead. Your sign-in is tied to the market you registered in, so if you want to sponsor in another market you start fresh there.

You must have the authority to enter this agreement on behalf of the business or organization you are sponsoring for, and the information you give us about that organization must be accurate.

What you are ordering

You are ordering on-air underwriting messages: a set number of messages per week, for a set number of weeks, on the stations you select. Your messages are distributed evenly across morning, midday, and afternoon, which is why message counts are chosen in multiples of three.

We schedule within those dayparts. We do not sell or guarantee specific times, specific programs, or adjacency to any particular content. Start dates are chosen at least five business days out so there is time to process and approve the message before it airs.

The price you see in the builder is the price you pay. It is calculated from each selected station's rate and your schedule, with volume reflected automatically, and it is recalculated on our servers when you pay so that what is authorized always matches what was quoted.

Your message has to follow public radio rules

This is the part that surprises first-time sponsors, so it is worth stating plainly. Public radio underwriting is not the same as commercial airtime. An underwriting message identifies and acknowledges a sponsor. It cannot make promotional claims, cannot compare you to competitors, cannot include prices or calls to action, and cannot urge listeners to buy. Stations are responsible to their licenses for this, so they have the final say on wording.

The platform helps you draft compliant wording, and station staff can write it for you if the suggestions do not fit. Either way the station reviews it before anything airs.

Drafting help and the copy you approve

The suggested messages in the builder are generated by software from the details you provide about your organization. Software-generated text can be wrong. You are responsible for reviewing the message you select and confirming that every statement in it about your organization is true, including names, dates, locations, and links. Choosing a suggestion means you are adopting it as your own copy.

By submitting a sponsorship you give us and the reviewing station permission to broadcast the approved message, and to make the wording changes needed to meet the station's underwriting requirements.

Review and approval

Submitting a sponsorship is a request, not a confirmed order. Station staff review it and can approve it, send it back with notes for you to revise, or decline it. Nothing airs and no charge is made until a station approves. Stations may decline a sponsorship at their discretion, including for reasons of underwriting compliance or fit with their mission.

Payment

When you submit, we place a temporary authorization on your card for the full amount. You are charged only when the station approves. Your card number and security code are entered on a payment page hosted by Stripe and never reach our servers. Stripe does tell us limited details about the payment, such as the card brand and its last four digits, and we retain those records.

Funds settle to the partner station, and Market Enginuity retains an agreed platform fee out of the amount you pay. Full details of holds, cancellation, and refunds are in our Refund Policy, which forms part of these terms.

Your account and your content

Keep access to your email secure, since the sign-in link goes there. Do not use the platform to submit anything unlawful, deceptive, or infringing, and do not try to interfere with the platform or access other sponsors' information.

You keep ownership of your trademarks and the material you supply. We keep ownership of the platform itself.

How we handle your information is described in our Privacy Policy.

Contact

Market Enginuity, 5227 N. 7th St. Suite 18012, Phoenix, AZ 85014. You can also reach us through marketenginuity.com.