In another stunning waste of time, money and resources to prove the obvious, a recent study conducted by Naviguage for Clear Channel found, shockingly, listeners don’t like long commercial breaks on radio and switch stations as breaks get longer. During a commercial break, the study found 80 percent stay tuned after the second spot, 70 percent after the third and less than half remain after six or more spots. That, pretty much, makes a spot in the last half of a Howard Stern commercial break a complete waste of money.
Now for the self serving part of the study, it was found :30 spots keep more listeners than :60’s. This supports Clear Channel’s recent pushing of advertisers from :60’s to :30’s. While we jest, commercial radio breaks of three spots or less, clearly, work better than longer breaks.
The dilemma, as Clear Channel is discovering, is getting the prices for individual spots back up to a point that allows for reducing spot load without harming revenue goals.
