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Different Approach

S

SirRoxalot

I keep an ear on our neighbors to the north, and listened with interest when Q-107's offered a new approach to commercial sets. They now promo that they're never more than 2 minutes away from music. In other words, they run lots of short sets instead of long music sweeps followed by long commercial sets.

The latest ratings, found here, indicate that the approach may be finding favor with GTA listeners. Q-107's numbers are up, both 12+ and in their target demo - 25-54 men.

Of course, there are likely to be other factors in play here, but I wonder if their approach would work here?
 
"They (Q107) now promo that they're never more than 2 minutes away from music. In other words, they run lots of short sets instead of long music sweeps followed by long commercial sets...I wonder if their approach would work here?"

It DID work in American radio for many years. That's how legendary stations like WKBW and WABC were programmed, with music and personality chat only broken by short 2 to 2 1/2 minute stopsets...and while you didn't have many multi-song segues, you also never waited very long for more of the entertainment you tuned in for.

You have to believe that going back to that approach would help, not hurt.
 
I disagree. Many studies has been conducted about this, and each has shows that (given the choice) listeners prefer long, uninterrupted sets of music to shorter commercial breaks. If the answer was different, American radio stations would have adopted it by now. The only stations that appear to be doing this are in Canada, Europe, and Australia - witn uneven results.
 
Sorry about the typos in that last post. I could have sworn all was correct when I previewed it, but it's been a long day. At least my facts are correct...
 
Don't hear the "never more than two minutes away from music" approach working in Buffalo, certainly not with the fierce competition that's in place. Couldn't hear WHTT, WJYE or WTSS going that way, nor could I hear WGRF or WBUF taking that approach.

A few weeks ago, a noted consultant was studying the PPM results and found that almost always, listeners stayed with their favorite station through five minutes of commercials. The analysis of PPM listening noted that five minutes seemed to be the maximum length for commercial breaks. I'd always thought it was a matter of units rather than minutes. For example, five 60 second commercials played better in the minds of listeners than ten 30 second commercials.

All things being equal (kinda like the Canadian-US dollar), I don't hear two minutes-song-two minutes-song-two minutes-song working, especially these days, given the alternatives: 18 presets on car radios, remote controls, iPods, mp3 players, CD's and satellite radio.

What KB, CHUM-AM and WABC did 30 years ago could never be duplicated in today's technologically competitive environment. That was then, this is now.

-9-
 
That is interesting. I'll have to listen to Q-107 for an hour or two and see what that sounds like.

In a perfect world if it were me I'd have fewer units, longer spots (60's only), and higher ad rates per spot.
 
Yes, this IS interesting. What's old is new. I can't tell if it would work here either. I do know that this past weekend, my wife and I drove into the Finger Lakes area with 95.1 The Fox on all the way. Whenever the 5 minute commercial breaks came on, we turned the radio down or did a quick scan only to find other stations breaking at the same time. I'm not fond of the 5 minute breaks, but I'm not sure the 2 minute spots between a couple songs would be any better. That could get annoying.

Joe
 
You have to remember that back in the day, 'KB and WYSL were running up to 18 minutes per hour. You're looking a 9 2-minute breaks per hour - or a break every 6 minutes.

Today's songs are a bit longer - approx. 4 min. on average. The pattern on Q-107 seems to be sweep over the top of the hour, with 2-minute commercial breaks around :08, :22, :36, :46, and :56. You're getting 2-song sets 3 times an hour, and 3-song sets twice an hour. To me, the breaks are so short that they're almost over before I realize that they're in commercial. At that point, you only have to wait one more commercial before you're back to the music. They also do a good job of teasing the music.

I know that the current long sweep/long stopset method became successful against the "old" method. I wonder if restricting the hourly commercial minutes by raising rates would work better today.

I don't know the answer, but I think that the approach certainly bears watching. It might be a way for a station to distinguish itself from the competition in a tight marketplace.
 
As a listener the long commercial sets have driven me to satellite and I'm happy with no commercials. Five minutes is way to long. In most cases it's about 7-8 units in a set which sounds like an eternity!

People may keep the radio on that station but I wonder how many mentally tune out till the music comes back on? I'd hate to be the guy with the last commercial in the set!
 
"What KB, CHUM-AM and WABC did 30 years ago could never be duplicated in today's technologically competitive environment. That was then, this is now."



If we must compare now to then, how about even 20 years ago?

Let's not forget the "Commercial free Sundays" on 680 CFTR back in the 80's...explain that one!

Did anyone in the Buffalo market ever do this?
 
I will NEVER understand why stations STILL waste time making references to what they DON'T do, or any references to how many spot breaks there are or how many minutes of spots there are.

Listeners don't get caught up in that, only radio people do.
 
I think you'll find there's far less of the "attack" promos than there once was. These days it seems stations are more inclined to tell listeners what benefits it offers them, from music quality and quantity ("soft rock favorites," "today's country," "the most music" or "the most variety") to contests and website features. The days of noxious promos aimed at the competition are over. Now if they could only rid the airwaves of those Fuccillo commercials. Talk about noxious. I can't reach for the button fast enough.

-9-
 
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