From: jwc@netx.com (Jeffery W Comer)
Subject: More on commercial breaks
Originator: wdp@gagme
Organization: NetExpress 
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 20:51:41 GMT

I've been following the discussion on stop sets for awhile, and I would
like to offer a few remarks.

[1] I think the maximum stop set length should be no longer than 4 minutes.
    If I were a client in the middle of that block, I would worry that my
    message was getting buried by the others. That would motivate me to
    make sure my spot had impact, but in a 4-minute block, face, you've
    lost maybe 3-6% of the listeners, and there are other high-impact spots
    in the set.

    That having been said, as a listener, I think I would prefer less
    frequent but longer stop sets. I get annoyed at frequent breaks, but
    I seem to notice it less if there is one long one less often. Compare
    it to watching a movie.... Boston Channel 38 WSBK has a Movie Loft
    feature that has long breaks, but they come only once every 30-45
    minutes. This allows me time to get up, hit the head, get a beer or
    cup of tea, make a few phone calls, walk the dog, chat with my neigh-
    bor, mow the grass, .... q:-))

[2] The first spot is an advantageous position, but it also seems the last
    spot is almost as coveted. Assuming that you don't go on too long, the
    last thing the audience has heard before the jock comes back on is 
    your message. Even if 6% has jumped, your message was the last one,
    and many folks readily remember what they heard last.

[3] I've seen little discussion about content. I can tolerate a long stop
    set if I don't have to listen to insidious spots. But if I have to 
    hear a commercial that's stupid, insulting, cutesey, or just plain
    annoying, I'm outta here. Now, defining "stupid" or "insulting" is
    difficult, but avoiding it is easy if your clients have several
    versions of their spot, doesn't repeat the same joke over and over
    again, and doesn't feature annoying voices.

    There is a spot circulating in the Mid-Atlantic area right now, fea-
    turing Frank Purdue (the King of Chickens). His voice has been fil-
    tered to sound something like a talking chicken, and it's got a little
    reverb on it. As Men on Film say, "Hated it!".

[4] I'm not impressed when Rap-100 or whomever sez, "We've got 92 minutes
    of commercial free music coming up." It's just silly hype. If I am
    listening to Rap-100, it's because I like the music, and I don't
    really care how long it is until the next stop set. It makes the pro-
    gram seem too structured. Just let the music flow! Besides, I think
    some of those claims are sometimes wrong.

Well that's it for now. Oh, for awhile here, rock station WCXR 105.9 ran 
a spot that claimed "We play more music than our competitors." They then 
instructed you to that to prove it, tune to DC-101 because they are playing 
a commercial right now (which in fact they were). While you were supposedly
tuned to DC-101, WCXR would play a music bridge for about 12 seconds. 
Cute, eh?

-- 
Jeffrey W Comer *  * 703-749-2369 (v) * 703-749-2375 (fax)
"We will, we will, rock you!" -George Bush (U-2)

Newsgroups: rec.radio.broadcasting