• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Rationale for moving stopsets

N

Nu_Roo_2

I've noticed that since the PPM arrived in Columbus most stations have shifted their stopsets to around the :15 and :45 minute points. They were previously at about :20-:25 and :50-:55. I believe the rationale for placement under the diary was (1) trying to sweep listeners across quarter-hours, to get credit for two qh's instead of just one; and (2) research showing that the 4th qh had the lowest listening, making it a logical place to dump spots.

I'm not sure why either of these rationale would have changed with the PPM. Any insight into the rationale behind the shift to :15 and :45 would be appreciated.

On a related note, 106.7's apology for playing spots -- which they do before EVERY stopset -- seems kind of odd to me. Don't advertisers resent having the station calling their spots "really annoying," or begging forgiveness for the fact that they have no choice but to play spots because they need to "help our sales department reach their goals"? I know that to some degree this is an acknowledgment that listeners are more "media smart" (and cynical?) than they used to be, but it still sounds awfully negative. Any thoughts?
 
Yeah, I really detest the fact GenX does that into spots. Sounds REALLY tacky. I would do that differently. Nothing like telling the hand that feeds you, "Hey, you suck." lol
 
Nu_Roo_2 said:
I've noticed that since the PPM arrived in Columbus most stations have shifted their stopsets to around the :15 and :45 minute points. They were previously at about :20-:25 and :50-:55. I believe the rationale for placement under the diary was (1) trying to sweep listeners across quarter-hours, to get credit for two qh's instead of just one; and (2) research showing that the 4th qh had the lowest listening, making it a logical place to dump spots.

I'm not sure why either of these rationale would have changed with the PPM. Any insight into the rationale behind the shift to :15 and :45 would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

With PPM, you get credit for the quarter hour if you have five logged minutes of listening and they don't have to be continuous minutes. Five separate minutes will give you the QH. Problem is...now with PPM, the actual time spent listening with each occasion is very small. So, it's to your benefit to have as much continuous content/music each quarter hour. That way you have a better chance of saving the quarter hour, in case they go away for one song and then come back quickly. The best way to maximize that opportunity is to straddle your stopsets so that they fall across the quarter hour. Half of the stopset in the first, the other half in the second and so on. That gives you the best chance to accumulate that precious 5 minutes of listening. It also works if you run spots at the top and bottom of the hour.

The "dumping" of spots in one quarter hour will kill you (trust me..I know.) It takes quite a few minutes for listeners to come back after that. You're training them to stay away for much longer than just the stopset.
 
Nu_Roo_2 said:
On a related note, 106.7's apology for playing spots -- which they do before EVERY stopset -- seems kind of odd to me. Don't advertisers resent having the station calling their spots "really annoying," or begging forgiveness for the fact that they have no choice but to play spots because they need to "help our sales department reach their goals"? I know that to some degree this is an acknowledgment that listeners are more "media smart" (and cynical?) than they used to be, but it still sounds awfully negative. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

It's also a great way to telegraph to your audience that you're going into spots. They'll listen deeper into a stopset if you don't scare them away first. Listeners understand that you have to play commercials...just don't remind them that you're doing it..it only highlights the issue.
 
Gen X Radio 106.7 goes into stopsets the same way Fly 92.9 in Dayton does...i.e. very Jack/Adult Hits-like with smart-aleck comments about the upcoming stopset. I don't think it's necessarily tacky to make comments on the way into stopsets, but kind of funny and entertaining. They're just saying what the audience is thinking.
 
If I were the advertiser, I'd say to the station, "Oh, yeah? Well if that's your attitude, screw you," and then I'd spend my money elsewhere.
 
So would I, particularly for the extra-negative ones, e.g. that say commercials are "annoying." I don't think Fly has anything quite THAT negative...if so, I haven't heard it. That one, and some of the other anti-commercial stagers on Gen-X lack any "wink, wink" tone that would mitigate the negativity.
 
In response to Gen X announcing "we hate commercials as much as you do" or " you think you have a big electric bill.." and then run a 5 min spot set:

Gen X'ers ( I am one) don't LIKE to be lied to and this is a solid way to keep them listening. I was very impressed with this technique when I heard it on Gen X. This won't work on , say, WCOL or Qfm because that generation would be p---ed off before th first adlet played. They have to be 'teased' and Gen X HATES that. They want real and they want it NOW. If you can't deliver then just be straight up so they can sit there or switch to NCI/Power/IPod/Droid/IPhone for 5 min and then come back.


Just from my reading..if you don't believe it then whatev! Carry on! I like the convo.
 
106.7 often comes out of a stopset with, "OK, we promise not to stop the music again for a REEEAALLLY long time." What is the GenX-er definition of a REEEAALLLY long time, i.e., the number of minutes below which a GenX-er would feel ticked and lied-to?
 
Nu_Roo_2 said:
106.7 often comes out of a stopset with, "OK, we promise not to stop the music again for a REEEAALLLY long time." What is the GenX-er definition of a REEEAALLLY long time, i.e., the number of minutes below which a GenX-er would feel ticked and lied-to?
Click to expand...

106.7 would be better served by quickly telling the audience about the music they play instead of engaging in "Radiospeak" about how long their music sweeps are. Listeners think that's all crap anyway. Just tell them what you do and then do it.
 
Yes, that's the definition lol. If it goes under exactly 24 minutes we get very upset. No, I think what he's trying to say is that the crowd that listens to "Gen X radio" gets really annoyed with commercials because of ipods and such, so the station points out essentially that "Hey, we know you don't like commercials, but we have to play them in order to make money." One thing I'll say about 106.7 is that their commercial breaks are actually short enough to sit through. So that's a plus.
 
bwilliam614 said:
One thing I'll say about 106.7 is that their commercial breaks are actually short enough to sit through. So that's a plus.
Click to expand...
I've noticed that, too. Wonder to what extent that's by design?
 
Nu_Roo_2 said:
bwilliam614 said:
One thing I'll say about 106.7 is that their commercial breaks are actually short enough to sit through. So that's a plus.
Click to expand...
I've noticed that, too. Wonder to what extent that's by design?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I remember when I was 12 I'd listen to the 107.1 side of hot 105/107 and I used to love that they had short commercial breaks. Well, less than a year later they flipped formats lol. I do hope that's not the case for 106.7.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom