For this week’s Programming To Win column, Rich Van Slyke tackles the myth that anything on your station that isn’t music is a commercial, and therefore people are tuning out. Or are they? Van Slyke digs in to the results of a recent study commissioned by Arbitron to see how listeners actually react to spots and production elements.
By Rich Van Slyke
Rich Van Slyke
Do you cringe every time spots play on your radio station? Do you freak out if a station promo goes past 30 seconds? Do you see horrible visions of listeners reaching down to change the station?
You are not alone.
Most people in our industry feel the same. Anything other than music (spots- promos-liners-jocks) is a commercial. And when a commercial is on, people change the station.
Or do they?
One thing I’ve always wondered about. If people change the station when the spots come on, why do advertisers continue to spend millions of dollars on radio commercials? Everybody knows people hate commercials and tune out. Spots can’t be effective if no one is hearing them. But companies continue to buy spots. Why? They are not stupid. They don’t spend money on something that doesn’t work.
Now we have the answer.
And it can help us image our stations better, because we understand something important. There is a BIG difference between what people SAY they do and what they ACTUALLY DO. Ask your parents!
When The Spots Come On 2011 Edition is a study conducted by Arbitron, Media Monitors, and Coleman Insights. It’s a survey of 18 million commercial breaks on 866 stations in 48 PPM markets.
Ask everyone you know, “what do you do when a commercial comes on the radio?” Everybody will say the same thing. “I change the station.” This is the standard belief.
When asked by Arbitron, advertisers and ad agency insiders said that the audience during commercial breaks goes down to just 68% of the audience level before the commercial break. Radio people provided a higher estimate saying that it’s 78% during spot breaks. But according to a study by Arbitron, most people don’t change the station! In fact, in a long 6 minute break, you retain 93% of your audience during the break. Yes! 93% during a six minute break. Remember, this is a study of 18 millions breaks in 48 markets.
And here’s the best part. In a one minute break, which is what our promos and sweepers are…. 100% of the audience is retained. Whether it’s a :10 sweeper or a :60 promo. WOW! After 3 minutes into the break it drops to 96%. There is remarkably little difference by market or time of year with audience delivery. Delivery of lead in audience is highest during morning drive, demonstrating the power of morning radio. Why? Because morning radio breaks are shorter, and more people are tuning in, than those who are leaving. Also, listening remains remarkably strong during the day, compared to industry perception.
Am I saying that people never change the station during breaks? No, some tune away and some new folks tune in. But so few, that the overall audience level stays almost the same.
Here’s the bottom line: even though most people say the hate commercials, most people don’t change the station when the spots come on. Which means: at any given moment, your imaging is being heard by 100% of your listeners! We have the power, now we must know what to do with it.
So what does this mean to you, the Program Director?
First, you can stop obsessing about the negative impact of running commercials. Some folks do tune out, but not nearly as much as we radio people think they do. Which explains why radio is a great medium for advertisers, people do hear the commercials.
And you can stop obsessing if your promos go over 25 seconds. In a one spot break of one minute or less, 100% of the audience is retained.
A much LARGER factor in more listening is promoting benefits of your programming over the other stations. People need a reason to listen to your radio station over another. Or over their cell phone. Give them one. Or two! And making sure your imaging reflects the lifestyle of your listeners. THIS is the key when it comes to imaging your radio station. We hear from the radio research experts over and over again, people want to hear things that matter to them. Things that are part of their daily life. So if it’s local, if you listeners are laughing at it, talking about it, you want it reflected on your radio station. Every time you write a promo, imagine your listener is saying “Is this for real? Does this matter to me?” Answer these questions in your copy. And don’t worry if your copy goes over :30!
Rich Van Slyke is the voice of WBIG Washington, WCSX Detroit, KXTG Portland, KISS San Antonio, WGRD Grand Rapids, WRIT Milwaukee, 1037 The DAM in Kansas City, KDFO Bakersfield, WZEW Mobile, WKQZ Saginaw, WKZQ Myrtle Beach, KZOZ San Luis Obispo, KQWB Fargo, KTUX Shreveport, KZND Anchorage, WIXO Peoria, KCBL Fresno, WSFM Wilmington, KKPL Fort Collins, WRZK Tri-Cities, XFM Nairobi, and the New Production Vault Classic Rock. www.richvanslyke.com 770.962.4788 richvs@bellsouth.net
