Another Study Confirms Obvious: Fewer Ads Are Better
Causing all to utter a collective "no shit," an Edison Media Research study done for Clear Channel found 47 percent of people would listen to a lot more radio if there were fewer ads. Gee, that's stunning. But, we all know most people won't simply take Clear Channel's word that their "less is more" approach to radio ad sales is working. So, money has to be paid to a company to confirm the obvious. Perhaps more insightful and beneficial to radio is the study's finding that very few (73 percent "rarely" or "never") change the station when a commercial airs. The figure for TV is dramatically different with 19 percent claiming they "rarely" or "never" change station when a commercial airs.
Comments
Clear Channel radio says 73percent rarely or never change the station. Perhaps they just turn it off!
Your "rant" states that Clear Channel paid for the study, and there is an implication that this somehow influenced the findings. Where did you get that "fact"? It certainly wasn't in the article you link to. From what I read, the study was conducted by Arbitron and Edison Research and not by a radio station owner at all. What does that do to your argument?
Webber,
It does nothing to my argument. When have you ever seen a published study that ran counter to the sponsoring company's mission. Aside from that, my rant had less to do with who conducted the study and far more to do with the number of studies published to confirm the obvious. Of course, fewer commercials will be appreciated by people. A study doesn't have to tell us that.
Certainly, Clear Channel did not meddle with Arbitron and Edison's work. But you can bet they would not have published the findings if they weren't in their favor.