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WNCI had 21 minutes of commercials in the 11:00 am hour
- Thread starter william#1
- Start date
I don't blame you. The welcome you received here is typical of the treatment most new characters get on Radio Discussions.
So true!
Programmers have no say in commercials. They are what they are. Especially at a company that already went through bankruptcy,
You're judging the food at a restaurant by the expense you see when you get the bill.
It's not just young people. The use of streaming began a long time ago. It's a reality that everyone in radio knows all about it. The streaming companies have much lower operating expenses and no regulation.
It's called Radio Discussions. That's what we're doing. Someone says one long commercial break on one radio station is killing all of radio, and that kind of sweeping generality deserves a response. Nothing wrong with that. As I said in my first post, if too many commercials are killing radio, why isn't WOSU #1? I bet everyone but that OP don't even listen to WNCI.
There are lots of other radio stations in Columbus. Don't like commercials on WNCI? Change the station. We can talk about this all day. They're not going to cut their only revenue stream.
As I've pointed out, there is only one 21 minute break in the entire day. The rest of the day has 6 minute breaks. They don't do it on weekend. For some, that's also too long. People want to hear music for free.
I don't think anyone is saying they're fine with it, but they all know about it. They know what they're buying, and they see the ratings for all of the spots they buy. So they know if people tune out during long stop sets. Here's what I tell all advertisers. They can be the ONLY advertiser in a stop set. They can ask to be the first spot. We have a price for that. Nobody has ever taken me up on that. What some have done is buy two :15s, one for the beginning of the stop set, and one for the end. So they know about it, and they've addressed it.
The OP's comment assumes people turn the radio on, and listen non-stop. What we see is they don't listen that way. They start and stop a lot. Most of it has to do with the fact that they're listening in the car. They get where they're going, and they stop. They get back in the car, and the radio turns on. It may be near the end of a commercial break. In that case, they didn't hear the first spot. They heard the one at the end. Or perhaps they tuned away, and came back. Nielsen documents listener behavior, so the station knows how many people tune out because of commercials or a song they don't like.
You're wrong. They know what they're buying. As I said, nobody buys one commercial. They buy hundreds, sometimes even more. One spot in one long break means nothing in the context of the overall buy. You have to understand they're the reason why you hear so many commercials, and why they repeat so often. They not only know what they're buying, but they create a lot of the problems listeners have with spot breaks. The repetition, the quality of the production, and even how loud they are. That's done by the advertiser. They want to create an impression. Even a bad impression works for them.
My view is the FCC and their over-licensing the spectrum and never-ending regulations have hurt radio. They keep adding more stations to the FM band, with LPFM and translators. Every time they add stations, it dilutes the advertising market even more, That makes the value of each spot worth less money, Meanwhile, the internet and streaming radio operates with no regulations. There are no ownership regulations. I can own as many internet stations as I want. I can put a paywall up, and require people to give me their credit card numbers in order to listen. I can't do that with broadcasting. This is why iHeart is so heavily into digital and streaming.
Sorry, but I refuse to believe advertisers know with eyes wide open that a couple of their spots (granted, a very small percentage in the context of a full week) are buried in a 21 minute stop set.
I totally get the impressions (i.e. high play frequency) angle.
If the 21 minutes of commercials during the 11a hour is a routine thing weekdays (I do not know if that is indeed the case), it absolutely could be harming their AQH share. Listeners can flip the dial to Sunny, Mix or the Bus.
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The FCC will get involved in regulating the internet. That will come sooner or later. Maybe we will have to license every device that uses the web. That way if a creep or a jerk says something stupid the government knows who it is.
If broadcasters think 21 minutes of commercials in a row are fine? Maybe the FCC needs to step in and regulate them.
The FCC hasnt helped but opening every single god darn frequency available..,.. some people think because a frequency can technically/engineering wise, fit in a market or region, it should.... nope. And people see an open frequency to bid on or apply for and go for it.
Stations like wJKB 105.1 Sheffield, PA should've never been proposed for auction
Does that mean a station or two I've worked at wouldn't have been auctioned and built? Maybe
We have too many radio stations and its not just the owners/engineers at fault
Dutchman: How much can the FCC do about streaming? Of the main 5 streamers I listen to only one (WWOZ) originates in the US.
An honest consultant would tell you that it's not a good idea to build a new radio station in 2024. In the old days people tuned around the dial. Today we have presets on TV and in the car. A new station can be on the air a long time before you find it .
Some consultants only think about their own pocket.
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My passion too. That's why I'm a grumpy old man.
In order to still have a purpose they will start regulating the internet as radio fades. They can license US streamers and web users.
Think your freedom is fading too?
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I agree with you more often than not, but the FCC does not have the authority to block content from internet service providers. If they did, there would be no porn and no hate sites.
This will change. We have to protect the children, you know. Modern day slavery is connected to the porn trade. And, neo-Nazis give me the creeps.
Twenty one minutes of ads is not free music. It's clutter and free music is all over the internet. I'm amazed the same people who say stations should only play tested music justify twenty one minutes of commercials. A station shouldn't risk playing a song that might be a squirrel or a lemon because it might cause a listener to tune out. What about twenty one minutes of commercials?
Lighten up! It's just radio.
The spot price is typically based on the daypart. Most stations charge more for drive time. This is the first hour that is technically outside of morning drive. So they know because the cost in this hour is less.
Most Hot AC and AC stations run fewer spots in mid-days, often because they have fewer advertisers that want that daypart. It's not unusual for a station to run their commercial-free hour at 11 or noon. Especially if they brand themselves as your at-work station. This station doesn't for some reason.