KFI 640 IS SOUNDING REALLY STALE - Gary and Shannon sound like an old married couple

Good point, Big A. And regarding KPCC, many listeners in Malibu/Beverly Hills/Santa Monica Mountains don't pick it up well, due to 89.3's under-1kw ERP. If everyone hated commercials, and tuned to the strongest FM in L.A, then KPFK would be #1 in the ratings, lololol.

LKellerIII said:

RE: the comments above on commercial continuity - as in two personal injury attorney ads back to back. I didn't realize that continuity in this regard was even a consideration in modern media. Non-continuity is rampant on TV and has been for a long time. BMW commercial followed by Lexus commercial. Two bank commercials in a row. I've also seen some real "WTF?s" like an add for a Big-Pharma prescription drug follow by an ad for attorneys doing a class action against Big Pharma.

So I doubt KFI or iHeart are alone in that regard.

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No, they're definitely "not alone" in modern times. But IMHO too many commercials or continuity chaos (examples of which others have given) isn't good. After a time listeners tend to "tune out," thereby reducing the effectiveness of the ad and wasting the advertiser's money. I was alluding to what I feel were "better practices" in former times.

Art Landing said:

After a time listeners tend to "tune out," thereby reducing the effectiveness of the ad and wasting the advertiser's money.

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Maybe...then again I see multiple posts on these message boards about the specifics in commercials leading me to believe they're more effective than people think.

TheBigA said:

And the reason why advertisers still feel its worth it is because, unlike you, the majority of the listeners don't "tire of hearing so many commercials," as you put it.

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Ahhh yes the bar is low these days, especially in the last 540 days or so .....

Art Landing said:

I do wonder at KFI's continuity rules on commercials, allowing (for instance) two competing injury attorney firms to share sponsorship of the same traffic report. Such conflicts were simply not permitted in the old days under Earle C Anthony.

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This morning, on either KFI or KNX (forgot which), I heard an ad for ZipRecruiter followed immediately by an ad for Indeed.Com....(both hiring/recruiting software)

radiocph said:

This morning, on either KFI or KNX (forgot which), I heard an ad for ZipRecruiter followed immediately by an ad for Indeed.Com....(both hiring/recruiting software)

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It's always about the money, just the money!

Signal Geek said:

Good point, Big A. And regarding KPCC, many listeners in Malibu/Beverly Hills/Santa Monica Mountains don't pick it up well, due to 89.3's under-1kw ERP. If everyone hated commercials, and tuned to the strongest FM in L.A, then KPFK would be #1 in the ratings, lololol.

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Uh...no. Am Bay Area resident who hates commercials. Up here we have KPFA, which is definitely not to my liking. I'm not a left-wing idealogue. I do, however, listen to NPR and KQED. Of course, KQED has a very strong signal, and a Sacramento area repeater...so perhaps a bit different than in LA. But I could probably count on the fingers of one hand the times I have listened to commercial news and talk stations in the past decade.

LKellerIII said:

I could probably count on the fingers of one hand the times I have listened to commercial news and talk stations in the past decade.

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Exactly...why would you? This is something people don't know about NPR: You hear storytelling. Not ideology. Sometimes the story can be so riveting, you don't even think about anything else...you're just captivated by the words, the sounds, and the way the combination makes you feel. That's something really unique to NPR. We're starting to hear this kind of storytelling in podcasts. But for some reason, commercial talk radio thinks they have to be one thing to succeed. I'm not sure of that. Talk radio used to have storytellers. Not any more.

TheBigA said:

Exactly...why would you? This is something people don't know about NPR: You hear storytelling. Not ideology. Sometimes the story can be so riveting, you don't even think about anything else...you're just captivated by the words, the sounds, and the way the combination makes you feel. That's something really unique to NPR. We're starting to hear this kind of storytelling in podcasts. But for some reason, commercial talk radio thinks they have to be one thing to succeed. I'm not sure of that. Talk radio used to have storytellers. Not any more.

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I didn't discover NPR until about 15 years ago. I used to commute from SF to Oakland by car - parked in a big cheap parking lot near Sears. I remember arriving and parking, but sitting in my car for about 5 minutes because I was riveted by a story (I no longer remember what it was). Finally, the long story ends, and as I got out of my car, about 5 other people parked nearby did the same thing - and I could hear KQED still playing in some of the cars.

To me, this demonstrated both the power of good storytelling, and the popularity of NPR.

But the problem with commercial news and info stations for me is more than that. It's the format: 2 minute story - commercial - traffic report - commercial - 2 two minute stories - 2 commercials - sports report - commercial, and on and on.

I get that they have an expensive format to service, and that they are in the business to make a profit. But that doesn't mean I have to suffer...

LKellerIII said:

But that doesn't mean I have to suffer...

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Which is why it works so well in non-commercial radio, and in podcasting. And in books on tape. If you haven't tried them, you should.