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Peter J. Oleshchuk
(Prairie Radio Consulting)
We’ll Be Right Back After These
Messages...” It's
a phrase we have come to know mostly from television. Talk shows,
games shows, news programs and others all seem to point out that
something different will be coming up, and the hosts will be going
away somewhere. I have always been a firm believer that you should
not draw attention to your commercial breaks or treat them as some
other entity that you have no control over. While it is good to
promote that you have more quality programming after the
commercials, be creative and try to develop new ways of promoting
that fact. Turn the negative into a positive. Point out that there
is a positive reward for sticking through the commercial break. As
this article explains, make your commercial breaks as unobtrusive as
possible. For more on "drawing attention to the negative," and tips,
suggestions and different ways on how to talk into a break without
pointing out that you are taking a break, please read the following
section of the article,
"Seven Quick Ways to Improve Your Local Talk Shows."
While commercials and commercial breaks are
a part of survival in this business, they are seen as a negative by
a majority of radio listeners. Most air talent and programmers treat
commercial breaks as something other than part of the station's
programming. I assert that commercial breaks are a part of your
programming. Think about it from a listener's point of view. He/she
sees the whole picture (hears the whole sound). He/she doesn't
differentiate between every little element on your station. As a
programmer you care about the entire sound of your station. You make
sure that your liners, sweepers, promos and jingles all fit the
overall sound of your station. You care about the transitions from
songs to songs or programming elements to songs. Thus, you also need
to care how your commercials and commercial breaks are handled.
Here are six suggestions on how to improve
those commercial breaks:
1. Set up your breaks by length of your spots. Most
people sense change rather than time. When you are in a break, most
listeners won't notice the length of the individual commercials, but
will get a sense of when the commercials change from one advertiser
and message to another. This is why you should stack your
commercials by length. :60s first, then :30s, then :15s and :10s.
This way you avoid having a great deal of change at the opening of a
commercial break.
2.
Play your best produced commercials
first in the break. It is less abrasive for listeners to hear a
commercial featuring a gentle announcer with a nice music bed or
jingle rather than a "screaming" used car sales person yelling "no
money down!". Try to play your voice-only, unproduced commercials
late in the break as well. In other words, hide the poorly produced
commercials. Often (but not always) your best produced commercials
are the ones you receive from agencies and production companies.
Typically these are regional or national clients. I recommend that
you meet with your production personnel and devise an easy to
understand code system for your air talent. This way you can decide
and control which commercials you would prefer to have played first
or last. If you're using carts, try using different colored labels.
If you are on a digital system, just make a simple code using
letters and/or numbers.
3.
If your station runs barter commercials and
you air them as "piggyback" spots, place them between your :60s and
:30s.
4.
Keep your breaks tight. Make the commercial
break seem as though it is one continuous event. The dead air holes
just help to draw attention to the commercial break.
5.
Avoid airing commercials produced by the same
voice talent back to back. Also avoid playing commercials back to
back from advertisers doing the same business or selling the same
product..
6.
If you play station promos, make sure you
either open or close your break with the promo. The message won't
get lost in the middle of a commercial break. At the same time, your
promotional message is placed closer to your station's product (your
programming - music, news or talk, etc.).
If you want to people to listen to and keep
listening, then avoid giving them an opportunity to tune away. And
remember that everything that you put on the air from music, talent,
jingles, promos and even commercials are your product. From a
listener's point of view, all these items are part of your radio
station.
You and station management should also have
control over all commercials you air.
If you have any questions or
comments about this article, please e-mail me at
petero@prairieradio.com.
Peter J. Oleshchuk
Prairie Radio Consulting
Small Market Radio Programming Specialists
7426 Perrier Drive Suite 13
Indianapolis IN 46278
317-695-2530
petero@prairieradio.com
http://www.prairieradio.com
If you're a consultant or radio personality wanting
to submit articles to "Tips from the Pro's," contact:
The Morning Skoop
Phone: 800-614-4892
E-mail:
info@themorningskoop.com
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