The iHeart station where I have been listening to Christmas music (I have a second choice as of yesterday) occasionally gets its best 12-plus ratings of the year during this season, even higher than the highest-rated stations get the rest of the year. But are they really getting the full benefit? One of the attractions is how long they play music without commercials, and I have been unlucky enough on several occasions to tune to the station just before the many commercials that are necessary to make it possible to hear music for a long period of time. In the car, this is important because they probably won't get back to music before I arrive home, and I probably won't turn it back on at home. The important question is do the people listening tolerate all those commercials, or more importantly, pay attention? So many people will find something else to listen to. If they are really just keeping the radio on in the background, they might not change but will they hear the commercials?
Most stations I listen to have frequent but short commercial breaks and I stay with the station in many cases.
Most stations I listen to have frequent but short commercial breaks and I stay with the station in many cases.