Spot loads

[CAwasinNJ]

We touched on spot loads recently. Here's an interesting article talking about what happened when a cluster reduced the spot load to just 5 minutes per hour on each station.

radioink.com/2023/03/22/john-ostlund-five-minute-stopsets/

I really like this guy's thinking. Less really is more. He doesn't do bonuses and discounts and all that nonsense. You pay for what you get, but what you get is more valuable so the advertiser should be willing to pay it. The 12 unit stopset test is really telling. Even if you can get the listener to stay for the whole break they still aren't really listening. And that was from a group of advertising professionals who pay attention to this stuff for a living!

The problem of course is that the mega-corporation managers who might be able to make this decision would be risking a lot trying to implement it, if they would even be allowed to by those higher up. If it doesn't work quickly they're liable to find themselves out on the street with a big black mark on their forehead. That's a shame.

[amanuensis]

I almost never listen to spots. When I hear the DJ start into saying what is coming up after the break, I switch to a different station. Of course the stations try to work around this by all scheduling their commercial blocks at the same time each hour. But there is almost always some station that is not conforming to that right then. KRSP used to start their "Free Ride" at 8:45 precisely, so that was at just the right time to switch to 103.5. But now, it starts later, at about 8:49. So I switch to 96.7 instead (since at that time of the morning I am south of Point of the Mountain, if I am in my car driving to work).

If a station was to consistently only break for, say, a minute before coming back, then I would be much more likely to not switch, if the song that the DJ pitches for after the break is one that I like. I have noticed a station (KODJ?) starting to have the DJ say, hey, this will just be thirty seconds or a minute before we get back to the music. I want more of that more often.

[CAwasinNJ]

I don't think it's collusion that causes the breaks to be at the same time. Why would they? It would be a competitive advantage to not do that so you'd stay, at least for a while. I think it probably has more to do with counting quarter hours for ratings and the stations/groups figuring out what the best time to schedule breaks would be. Being at the same time would just be a consequence of that being the right answer.

[David]

The only time I've ever listened to KODJ and not heard at least 5 or 6 commercials in a row is between 8:00 AM and 12 Noon on Sunday mornings, when KODJ airs repeats of Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" show. In fact, there have been times during afternoon drive when 94.1 has aired 5-6 minutes of back to back commercials, which IMO is extremely off putting. However, heavy spot loads during certain dayparts seems to be typical for iHeart stations, at least the ones that I've listened to. YMMV.