Posted on 07/25/2010 10:26:19 PM PDT by Minn
Have you ever wondered what the fact that Hydroxatone was “given away in VIP gift bags at international film festivals” has to do with anything whatsoever? Have you wondered how dense you’d have to be to think the fact that a product was given away means it works to remove wrinkles? Have you ever been mildly insulted when you were informed that you were listening to “a public announcement” and that “Those with last names starting with A through N can start calling now. Those with last names beginning with O-Z can begin calling tomorrow; Nine AM”? Have you ever considered projecting significant physical violence upon the proprietors of Window World and their ad agency, sometime around the 400th time you were exposed to their incipit jingle? Would you like to just have two minutes with the drone that convinced the Alarm Force people that the best way to get people to call them was to make up a melody free jingle that repeats their phone number countless times?
If you answered yes to any questions, chances are you have an appreciation for Rush, Dennis, Mark, Glenn, Laura, Sean (not so much), Michael, Hugh, or their local counterparts.
As far as I can remember I’ve been listening to talk radio regularly since 1982. I’ve been with Rush when my work scheduled allowed since the beginning of his run. I think Dennis Prager is one of the country’s great minds and a hell of a good guy. Levin, while he would be more entertaining if he didn’t come unglued and shout down idiot liberal callers, has a first class wit and intellect. Medved, Ingraham, Ghallager, all have their plusses and minuses, but are worth tuning in to. Many local shows are also enlightening and informative.
So, what’s not to like? Well, as the opening paragraph indicates, I’ve recently reached the conclusion that the advertising on talk radio is so lame, so frequent, and so repetitive that I can barely stand it anymore. I still manage to tune in to the programming, but am becoming better and better at reaching for the dial or the power switch the second a commercial period starts. Sometimes I bother to tune back in a few minutes later, sometimes I don’t. I find my life is better when lived talk radio commercial free.
Further, rather than having any sort of loyalty to the brands advertised on talk radio, I have a growing contempt for many of them. So, not only will I not go out of my way to support them, I actively boycott them. Window World and Alarm Force will certainly never see a dime from me. Perhaps I am a lone curmudgeonly crank on this issue, and one of the very few thinking these thoughts. But I doubt it.
If I had the ear of a radio or advertising executive I’d like to ask them this: do you not understand that when something like 30% - 35% of your airtime is advertising, your listeners will judge the entertainment/annoyance factor of advertisements, just as they do the programming itself?
I understand that the number of willing sponsors for any station or show is limited. But does that mean that the same exact commercial must be repeated over and over in the same hour, and hundreds of times a week? Do you ever have the slightest inclination to enforce some sort of quality control on what you decide to allow on your air, for your own benefit and the benefit of your advertisers? Do you understand that you don’t sell products to people by annoying them and insulting their intelligence? I wonder if it has ever occurred to a radio exec to say something like “You know Mr. Window World, our listeners just have a limited tolerance for the same jingle over and over and over, just like music radio listeners have a limited tolerance for any one song. Let’s see if we can work with you to vary your pitch so as not to annoy and insult our listeners; prompting them to tune us out.”
I’m sure an answer to these questions would be that individual radio stations really aren’t in a position to tell potential sponsors how to treat their national advertising campaigns, and revenue needs require taking any advertising you can get. So be it. But sooner or later the fact that the advertising model you are selling to sponsors pushes listeners, that actually like the programming, away will start to effect the rates you can charge. Will it not?
I would think that after being on FR for 12 years you would know this belongs on personal/bloggers rather than news/activism.
At least they don’t play those annoying Vermont Teddy Bear and Pajamagram ads year round.
So I suggest you buy up all the commercial time to spare us of the horror.
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The advertisers pay the bills so you can listen to these radio shows free. If you don’t like the ads, change the station. If you want socialized radio, listen to NPR with all of the other liberal freeloaders.
IBTZ
Don’t you believe in capitalism?
They get their revenues from advertisers. If nobody would advertise, they would go off the air.
I do. And often hit the power switch, as I explained. Something people in the ad business might be concerned about.
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What I do is change the channel whenever a commercial comes on.
But now that Rush et al are incorporating commercials within their on-air time....
I rarely listen.
(Don’t EVEN get me started when Rush yammers on and on about his Elton John Wedding.)
The words "Life Lock", "Carbonite" and "Go To MY.." are automatic cues to hit the switch
View them as comic relief and they won’t grate so bad.
I understand what you mean, especially the “Name begging with A through..., may call..” made we want to smash the radio.
Lucky for me, however, I left the USA five years ago and now get all radio online via Radiotime.com
I listen to a few talkers, like Savage and Levin, and Rush I get via Rush 24/7.
The rest is all music from non US stations.
I don’t think he is irritated about the amount of advertising, but simply the quality. These people pay a LOT of money sometimes to advertise on these shows. Why the dearth of quality, entertaining advertising? Must they annoy? I believe that is the question. It is not that he is complaining about water being wet, he is complaining about the water tasting bad.
Some of your responses are as idiotic, annoying (Uh didn't you know that's how they get funding etc.) and even as childish (wrong forum?) as the advertisers you despise.
To name a few. I have to turn it off when a (obvious) woman uses a child voice to do a commercial.
Whenever Obama speaks.
When the news comes on.
Might be just Local, when it's about telling your child about sex.
Or, like you said, any commercial that repeats a phone # over and over...
Radio Advertising Bureau’s Top 10 radio formats
1. Country
2. News/talk
3. Oldies
4. Adult contemporary
5. Hispanic
6. Adult standards
7. Top 40
8. Soft adult contemporary
9. Religion
10. Classic rock
Source: www.radio.about.com/cs/funradiothings/f/faqradio6.htm
Rush should work for free so you don’t have to listen to any of his sponsors, right?
It is disturbing. Sean Hannity did a personal testimonial for EZ Water, which is a transparent flim-flam.
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