• by Joe Mandese , May 5, 2005

Clear Channel Communications, the nation's largest operator of radio stations, gambled big earlier this year when it initiated a program to air fewer commercials, and more radio programming. The strategy appears to be paying off with advertisers and consumers alike. Recently, Clear Channel announced that it is getting more ad dollars for the fewer ad units it is broadcasting, and on Wednesday a top radio researcher revealed findings of a study indicating that ad clutter is an important issue for radio listeners, though not as much of a problem as for TV viewers.

At least that was the perception of a majority of more than 1,000 radio listeners surveyed in March by Arbitron and Edison Media Research. While 37 percent of listeners perceived there are more commercials on radio than a year ago, a significant majority (71 percent) believe there are more commercials on TV, and (67 percent) that TV commercials are far more intrusive than radio's.

Commercial Perceptions: TV Vs. Radio

                                       TV    Radio  
Has More Commercials:                 71%      22%  
Commercials Are
More Intrusive:       67%      27%  

Source: Arbitron, Edison Media Research.

The findings also appear to affirm Clear Channel's strategy. Nearly half (47 percent) of the respondents said they would listen to a radio station "a lot more" if that station had noticeably fewer commercial breaks, while 44 percent said they would listen "a lot more" if that station had shorter commercial breaks. "There is considerable evidence in this study that reductions in radio spots loads should lead to greater time spent listening to radio - as long as these spot load reductions are noticeable and stations inform their listeners of the changes," said Joe Lenski, executive vice president of Edison Media Research.

The study also found that consumers are more likely to change channels during commercial breaks while watching TV than listening to radio. While watching television at home, only 6% of viewers say they "never" change channels when television commercials come on, with a total of 19 percent saying they "rarely" or "never" do.

Nearly half of radio listeners at home (49 percent) say they "never" change stations when radio commercials come on, with a total of 73 percent saying they "rarely" or "never" do. Nearly half (48 percent) of television viewers "always" or "usually" change channels when a television commercial comes on. Just 11 percent of radio listeners at home "always" or "usually" change stations when radio commercials come on.

And while it was unclear how it might impact their actual media usage behavior, the researchers said the vast majority of listeners believe commercials are a "fair price to pay for free programming on radio" and that the percentage has actually grown since 1999, the last time that question was asked.

Listening to commercials a fair price to pay for free programming on the radio:

1999     82%  
2005     84%  

Source: Arbitron, Edison Media Research.