6-24-14
"107.7 The End" in Seattle could wind up being a test model to finally determine whether or not listeners are tuned out by lengthy commercial stopsets and turned on by hearing more music. The unanswered radio industry question has always been, "Why not just play fewer commercials and charge more?" Not only does that theory reduce clutter -- which is defined as anything not music -- it helps an advertiser stand out, as opposed to being the 5th commercial in an eight-commercial pod. On another note, these shorter stopsets -- along with targeted ads -- have been Pandora's strength as it comes after radio's advertising revenue. So what's this all about at "The End" in Seattle?
The station announced a "2-Minute Promise" on Monday. The details of that promise are that the station, which, at times, was running two six-minute stopsets will now only run three two-minute commercial blocks every hour. GM Jack Hutchison said, ?We are proud to be the first station in the United States to offer this bold, innovative approach to radio. We know our listeners will be more than excited about this change and we are just as excited we can provide our clients an incredibly unique platform to showcase their message to our End listeners.?
After requesting feedback, not surprisingly, listeners told the station they played too many commercials on the radio, and the commercial breaks take too long. What was the station's response? "We heard you, and we?re going to do something about it. Starting now, we will take half of our commercials off the air, and we?ll never play more than two minutes of commercials at a time. We call it the 2-Minute Promise ? we promise to get you back to the music faster and play more music every hour." PD Garett Michaels says, ?The End?s ?2-Minute Promise? gives our listeners exactly what they?ve asked for, more music with fewer breaks, and is a groundbreaking new way to showcase our advertisers with less clutter and more music.?
(6/24/2014 3:31:16 PM)
We adopted a similar policy over 20 years ago. The commercial environment on our stations is fantastic. Advertisers and listeners win and win big. No-Brainer.
(6/24/2014 2:25:24 PM)
There's a station that does have long breaks that tries to hook the listener with "Here's the next three songs..." followed by a five second snip of each. That trick backfires often, as I may not be interested in those songs, and I tune away before the commercials even begin.
(6/24/2014 2:18:19 PM)
A station in our area has been doing 1 minute commercial breaks recently. First time I realized it I had actually tuned away to find something else to listen to thinking it would be a long commercial break. But after scanning the dial and finding nothing but commercials, I went back and found they were playing a song I wanted to listen to. Then I realized I had only driven about a mile so it could only have been a 1 minute break. Now I know the breaks are short and don't tune out.
(6/24/2014 12:10:45 PM)
Steve Warren is dead on. Also forget the 2 minute promise. Just do it and it will work. The 2 minute promise only promotes that commercials are bad. They are not. They are part of the whole station experience. If they are written well they can be entertaining and informative. I have never understood why radio has promoted commercials as negative when it is the commercials that make radio money.
(6/24/2014 12:03:26 PM)
Wow! Bold move to do radio the way it used to be done. 20 years ago if you brought up the idea of running 8 to 10 minutes in one stop set you would be considered stupid and crazy. Now in an attention deficit disorder world it has become standard. Of course this is going to work. It is the proper way to program. Raise the rates. I have been conditioned to turn off music stations the minute they start a commercial because I know that they are going to be in the stop set for 10 minutes.
Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend
