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(10/1/2001) Bonneville Washington, DC Station Cuts Back To Six Units Per Hour. Eliminates Clutter To Focus On Listeners And Clients.
Since man created the wheel, Radio managers have argued about the impact that long commercial stopsets have on listeners. All right, maybe it hasn't been that long, but it sure seems like it. Programming consultants have long taken the position that too many commercials turns off listeners. The success of Howard Stern, despite excruciatingly long commercial loads, can only be explained as an anomaly. One could drive from L.A. to San Francisco during one of Howard's morning stopsets.
Perhaps Bonneville's WWZZ in Washington is taking advantage of current low demand, or perhaps it really is a company that is paying attention to the research. Tthe station says it's reducing its commercial load to no more than six units per hour as of today.
The company says, "The move to eliminate the excess clutter is unprecedented in American radio broadcasting, putting Z104 at the forefront of a new paradigm in broadcasting." Of course, that remains to be seen.
Bonneville has taken a step rarely seen in Radio. The company has actually sold its morning show as a sports franchise or city would sell a stadium. Earlier this month, the station secured a two-year sponsorship from the McDonald’s Family Restaurants of Washington, D.C. for “The McDonald’s Morning Drive with Dylan and Erin,” the first sponsorship of its kind for a major market morning show.
The station will run two stopsets of three units each. The station says the change resulted from research in which women, 18-49, wanted to hear more music, fewer commercials and less hype. “Commercial clusters do a disservice to everyone,” said Carol Briolat, vice president of media at The Bomstein Agency, Z104’s agency-of-record. “Commercial clusters provide a prime opportunity for the listener to change stations, thereby alienating them from the advertiser and the radio station. Eventually, as more and more stations indulge in clusters, the consumer will perfect the practice of avoiding the bombardment – and then everyone loses.”
No longer will a local client be the fifth commercial heard in a stopset of 10 ads — on this station anyway. Z104 General Manager Mark O’Brien said, "Imagine running a radio station that really works for both clients and listeners."
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