The Missing Info From The Arbitron Spot Loads Study

Two presentation graphics with very different persepctives on whether it's better to stop for two six unit breaks or three four unit breaks from what was announced yesterday were omitted. I happen to have obtained those two slides.

If you know why the decision was made to not announce the other side of the "fewer but longer breaks vs more but shorter ones" research, I'd love to hear about it. If you'd like to see the two missing slides from the public presentation, drop me an email and I will send them to you. Warning: the choice of whether to stop twice or three times an hour when you have a 12 unit commercial limit won't be quite as clearcut when you see them, as the info made public makes it appear.

Meanwhile, here are some highlights from Arbitron and Edison Media Research, Spot Load Study 2005: Managing Radio Commercial Inventories for Advertisers and Listeners.

Free Radio Is a Good Deal: Eighty percent of consumers say that commercials are a "fair price to pay" for free radio programming.

Fewer Commercials, More Listening: Forty-seven percent of consumers say they would listen to a radio station "a lot more" if that station had noticeably fewer commercial breaks; 44 percent say they would listen "a lot more" if that station had shorter commercial breaks.

Most Stay Tuned During Commercials: The majority of consumers say that they "never" tune away from radio commercials at work (63 percent) or at home (49 percent).

Button-Punching is Rare: Relatively few radio listeners say they switch stations upon hearing the start of a commercial break. Six percent of those listening at work say they switch immediately; 11 percent of home listeners and 28 percent of those listening in a car do the same.

Spot Reduction Awareness: Just under one-quarter of respondents were aware of radio stations that played noticeably fewer commercial breaks than they used to (23 percent) and noticeably shorter commercial breaks than those stations used to (23 percent).

The study includes recommendations on how radio stations can use the findings to develop a spot load strategy that boosts listening and reduces tune-outs. To download the complete study and see a recorded webinar presenting the study, visit http://list.arbitron.com/t/21142/136250/345/0/.