{"id":6412,"date":"2025-02-07T11:17:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T00:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bprworld.com\/?p=6412"},"modified":"2025-12-04T17:21:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T06:21:59","slug":"embrace-the-commercial-break-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/news\/embrace-the-commercial-break-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Embrace The Commercial Break \u2013 Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Wayne Clouten, BPR<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you are yet to read the first instalment of this series, then please do so this second part makes sense.<\/p>\n

Embrace the Commercial Break – Part 1<\/a><\/p>\n

In the first instalment we explored the role and impact radio commercials play in the listening experience.\u00a0 They are an integral part of effectively programming a radio station whether we like it or not.\u00a0 The key thing to understand is that the sum-total everything we broadcast forms the listener value proposition or what I like to call, the Shit to Fun ratio (STF).<\/p>\n

The STF is the ratio between the content listeners like and love and the content they dislike of hate.\u00a0 As a general rule; this ratio needs to be no less than 3:1 in favour of the stuff they like and love.\u00a0 Listeners often express this sense of value in the context of a station, personality or show being \u201cworth it\u201d or \u201cnot worth it\u201d.\u00a0 The \u201cit\u201d they refer to being the content they ether don\u2019t need, dislike or hate.<\/p>\n

What constitutes the listener value proposition is a collage of many elements of which commercials are just one, however for the purposes of this article we will keep the focus on radio commercials.\u00a0 Before we delve into some specifics relating to commercials it is important to note the fundamental difference between music stations and news\/talk radio stations.\u00a0 The contrast between commercials and all talk content is less than that between commercials and music. In effect the appearance of a commercial on a news\/talk station can stand out less than what it does on a music station.\u00a0 That does mean the STF rules do not apply to a news\/talk station, it just means that news\/talk formats have a little more leniency for about 30 seconds.<\/p>\n

With regard to radio commercials and optimising their role in the listening experience there are a number of things you can do including.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Length Of Commercial Break:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A commercial break longer than a song is a trip-wire for listeners.\u00a0 Listeners are not watching the clock when listening to radio however they do have an innate sense of when something has gone on for too long, even when listening passively.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Frequency Of Commercials:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listeners do not dislike radio commercials per se.\u00a0 What listeners actually hate are commercials they believe they hear too often, are abrasive or voiced by someone with an \u201cannoying voice\u201d.\u00a0 Unless you have the budget to research this issue then you have to reply on your ears and common sense.\u00a0 If nothing else at least have a policy concerning how many of the same commercial you are prepared to\u00a0 schedule in a particular daypart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Format Fit:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following on from the previous point, a very important consideration is whether the commercial fits the brand of the radio station in terms of its style and sound.\u00a0 The classic example of this is a loud abrasive style of commercial on a Soft AC station.\u00a0 Where possible work with clients and agencies to create commercials which fit the brand expectation of the radio station.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Creativity:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Creativity can be a \u201cget out of jail free card\u201d when it comes to mitigating the potential negative impact of commercials.\u00a0 Humour is a very useful tool as it simply using great voices and well scripted commercials. What is a well scripted commercial? One which captures the imagination and avoids marketing language cliches.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Variety:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listeners hear commercials the same as they hear music and will notice and be likely annoyed by the same commercial at the same time every day.\u00a0 If you are blessed with long term client contracts with the same commercial at the same time each day then work with your client to change the commercials frequently and have at least 3 variations in rotation at any particular time or use different voices for the same commercial.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Scheduling:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Radio has been generally sold as a \u201cFrequency Medium\u201d for as long as I can remember.\u00a0 I certainly sold it that way when I was in sales.\u00a0 Unfortunately now that listeners are no longer held hostage to radio and have virtually limitless listening choice at the swipe of a finger radio stations must take a more holistic approach to commercial scheduling.\u00a0 As much as possible stations must look to imbedding as much variety into the placement of commercials as they can.\u00a0 This is important not just to programming but also to optimise the impact of the client\u2019s advertising campaign.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Negatively Position The Commercial Break:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be back after the break\u201d is quite possibly one of the dumbest things radio presenters can say.\u00a0 The word \u201cbreak\u201d implies something stopping and we do not need to signal that to the listener.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Forward Promote:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following on from the previous point high-lighting what is coming up next is an old-school but highly effective way of assisting listeners through the commercials. In an ideal world presenters should mix this up and avoid being predictable.\u00a0 Where possible use audio clips and demonstrators and not just voiced teasers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are many other ways to optimise commercial breaks but for now this is a long enough list.\u00a0 It is very likely that some of what is recommended in this article stations will find too hard if not impossible.\u00a0 The only approach is to do what you can realising that your programming content and commercials are inseparable components in the listener value proposition and the more your can optimise your commercials, the longer your listeners will listen and the more effective your client commercials will be.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Wayne Clouten, BPR If you are yet to read the first instalment of this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","category-featured"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bprworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/pexels-pixabay-302871-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6412"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7004,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6412\/revisions\/7004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}