Format flip: no ads on weekends

[davideduardo]

Here is what is being done in Denver by iHeart:

After stunting with an all-Britney Spears format, iHeartMedia rebrands CHR KPTT Denver from “95.7 The Party” to “Hits 95.7.” The station continues to play pop hits from artists such as Billie Eilish, Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, and Rihanna and will be commercial-free on weekends.

Note that no ads will run on weekends. That shows how unimportant those days are for sales.

(I post this in the national section because it may be indicative of a trend.)

 

[TheBigA]

Note that no ads will run on weekends. That shows how unimportant those days are for sales.

Then again it's a 2 share station, way at the bottom of the company's priority list.

I wonder if the no commercials policy also applies to the station's syndicated shows, such at AT40.

 

[davideduardo]

Then again it's a 2 share station, way at the bottom of the company's priority list.

But it points out the fact that weekends are of little sales value.

Long ago, I did a start-up in a top 20 market. I realized, from managing another station in the market, that agencies almost 100% of the time asked for bonus spots on Sunday. So I reacted by doing "non-stop Sundays" and ran no ads on Sunday, whether sold or bonus. Since we ran no ads there, agencies requested non and we had a huge advantage over all other stations... making us #1 on that day of the week and improving our M-Sun average rating.

I think that is an interesting, and maybe smart, move by iHeart and we should watch as to whether they continue this for the long term.

I wonder if the no commercials policy also applies to the station's syndicated shows, such at AT40.

Good question!

 

[vw86]

It's one of the rare markets where iHeart doesn't have AT40 or Seacrest's daily show. The Hot AC version airs on crosstown KIMN. Not sure if they ran the iHeartRadio Countdown or anything else on weekends, but they may not if they are truly doing commercial free weekends (and not having to clear AT40 may have been a selling point for the commercial free gimmick)

 

[Syfy]

Do they run any syndicated shows on 95.7?

 

[wadio]

I've always wondered how direct marketers can make profitable use of weekends when regular advertisers can't.

 

[davideduardo]

I've always wondered how direct marketers can make profitable use of weekends when regular advertisers can't.

They buy bulk and cheap. Some of it is PI, too.

 

[gr8oldies]

Then again it's a 2 share station, way at the bottom of the company's priority list.

I wonder if the no commercials policy also applies to the station's syndicated shows, such at AT40.

Running AT40 wouldn't be a problem if they can delay national spots

 

[Kent]

But it points out the fact that weekends are of little sales value.

Funny thing is, at least at one time, Saturdays, especially the afternoons, got more listeners than many weekday slots got. Never seemed to matter much from a sales standpoint, though.

Running AT40 wouldn't be a problem if they can delay national spots

Even though I've worked at a couple stations that have carried AT-40 under Premier distribution, I don't know if they require the syndicated spots to air as pledged or not. I seem to remember ABC/Watermark was fine with airing them at different slots under certain conditions, like no overnights.

 

[TheBigA]

Funny thing is, at least at one time, Saturdays, especially the afternoons, got more listeners than many weekday slots got.

I think that's still true, and usually gets better TSL.