the 38 minute hour

[radiowizard101]

It's what is contributing to the demise of the talk radio format. Are the 8 minute windows of redundant content on the bottom and top of the hour really helping the health of the format? Some of the breaks are intolerable to sit through.

I think it is time to evaluate this concept of FEWER COMMERCIALS and more SHOW content. Also, get rid of the puke sounding image voices that are polluting the airwaves. Non-stop mindless commercial matter (viagra anyone?) and the same PSA's over and over and over and over again makes for a horrible listening experience. None of which offers listener benefit. How come the consultants don't tell the station groups that the problem is CLUTTER. GARBAGE. SLUDGE.???? PLEASE address this issue and you just might see an improvement in your ratings.

Really, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!!

 

[wadio]

Frankly I'm ambivalent about the male enhancement and wrinkle cream spots because, without them, talk radio might be dead already. But in general your post is spot on!

A really good example of the destructive nature of "CLUTTER GARBAGE SLUDGE" can be found on KABC's morning show. It's unlistenable. Yet the host, Doug McIntyre, was responsible for one of the best talk shows ever, IMO -- the original "Red Eye Radio." Same host ... totally different listening experience. Point being, even McIntyre, as talented as he is, can't overcome a rancid environment, as KABC's ratings prove.

Good talk radio is pretty simple. It involves a host with a depth of knowledge and life experience, a sense of humor, the ability to interact with listeners in an entertaining way and a good sense of timing to keep the show moving along. It does NOT require constant interruptions, imaging and non-productive (unpaid) PSA's etc. Also, is it necessary to keep breaking for outsourced weather and traffic? This is 2013 ... radio management is programming like the 1900s.

Really, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!!

+1

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I agree that the formatics of news/talk are a problem.

The bigger problem is that fixing the formatics requires something radical. Hannity has 35:40 of show content every hour, for example. If Premier wanted to make that 40 minutes, they would probably make the entire cut from the local time. At $50 per minute spot rate, the station loses $167,000 a year in revenue. If Dickey thought Sandra Fluke hurt revenue, they should try this.

And before you say that "better ratings will improve the spot rate:"
If the station used the 14 minutes of local time they'd get in my brave new Hannity all for spots (no news, weather, traffic), their spot rate per minute would have to increase by $15 to make up the difference.

 

[wadio]

If Premier wanted to make that 40 minutes, they would probably make the entire cut from the local time.

And that would be a mistake. The network and affiliates both need to share some pain to fix the problem. As the OP pointed out there's plenty of non-revenue clutter that can be cut on the local level, but still the network needs to take the lead.

Sam Walton grew Wal*Mart by identifying the profit margin necessary to sustain and grow the company. Then, while the competition tried to maximize profits by charging as much as they could, even when suppliers gave them special deals, Walton stuck to his number and passed along the better price to customers. It took discipline but it worked.

That same kind of discipline is needed in this case. Set a spot load that's less likely to drive listeners away -- not the highest number you can get away with. Don't kill the golden goose!

 

[Groove1670]

#1 Most of your major national advertisers will not do talk radio.

#2 The sponsors that will pay are the ads you hear. I'm sure they have smaller spending budgets, and in turn you have the huge spot breaks.

Talk radio still has a large audience. Yes, it will erode as the population ages.

and now on with the countdown...

 

[livingfruitvirus]

Alex Jones does something that might be a regular thing at GCN. His program/net ads/local ads time is 45:40/7:00/7:20, but part of that program time is from 0:00 to 5:00 at the top of the hour. However, most of his affiliates cover that break up with local news/spots, since the local allotment is so tiny. Adding an optional show segment under there is something I'd be interested in seeing more networks try, but I also wonder if Alex's audience on the radio ever feels they missed something because their local station didn't play that piece.