1 of 1- RadioActive
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Why I Turned Off CFRB In Disgust Twice On Tuesday
How many is too many? I've been thinking about that a lot on Tuesday, after NewsTalk 1010 irritated me so much, I finally turned it off altogether and went to another station.
The problem? Too many damn commercials.
It started in the early morning hours just after the 6:30 AM news. I was involved in getting ready for the day, and I usually listen to John Moore in the morning. And then it started. Spot after spot after spot after spot. It felt endless. Most of them passed me by without notice, as I was busy with something else and audibly tuned them out, although the radio was still on.
But after yet another commercial, I suddenly realized I'd been listening to so many sponsors and so little programming, that I was wasting my time. And so it was over to AM640.
I didn't listen to a lot of radio the rest of the day until I took the dog out for his third walk around 7:45 PM. And with apologies to Britney Spears, whoops they did it again. So many 30 secs. spots, I simply ran out of patience and turned on the Jays' game instead.
That's twice they lost me in the same day.
I've complained about this many times before, but for some reason, what they did on Tuesday was way over the top. Look, I get it. Commercials pay for the programming and when I was in radio, I was happy to have them. But in moderation.
At some point, you reach a place where you just can't take another one. Or two. Or three. Or eight.
How long do you stay tuned to a show if they over-lard it with commercials? My limit is maybe two minutes, perhaps three if the content is something I'm really interested in. Any longer than that and you're defeating the purpose, causing a tune-out. Which means your clients' spots will never be heard.
I'd vastly prefer a few more interruptions in a show than over loaded spot breaks where you can travel to Buffalo and back before the show you were listening to returns.
They all do it, but 'RB seems to be the worst. And as the ratings show, they're driving their audience away.
Last edited by RadioActive (April 9, 2024 8:19 pm)
- Tomas Barlow
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Re: Why I Turned Off CFRB In Disgust Twice On Tuesday
It’s usually 8 or 9 plus weather or traffic. You usually get 39 or 40 minutes of show per hour, not counting the news.
- RadioAaron
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Re: Why I Turned Off CFRB In Disgust Twice On Tuesday
They are cashing out.
- RadioQuiz
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Re: Why I Turned Off CFRB In Disgust Twice On Tuesday
What's worse is the poor stations that have to fill those breaks in smaller markets.
It's poor inventory management on part of the sales leaders who clearly have no respect for their product.
Sad.
- paterson1
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Re: Why I Turned Off CFRB In Disgust Twice On Tuesday
Long commercial breaks on TV annoy me much more than on radio. On CFRB if they are broken up with a feature like traffic or weather doesn't bother me as much. Often, especially during a talk show, the commercial break gives me a chance to check out to see what the other talkers are doing. AM is not as bad as FM with the stations playing ads at the same time.
Roy Green annoys me a bit since he is constantly referring to how much time he has left with a guest or segment and his show isn't especially jammed with ads. He wastes too much time getting to the guest or giving a long backgrounder prior to introducting the topic and guest. You don't need to go into great detail about the carbon tax everytime Premier Moe from Saskatchewan is on your program. The Premier seems to either have just been on Roy's show, or coming up whenever I tune the program in.
Aaron, what do you mean that they are cashing out? Is Bell trying to unload 1010? If so, I could see the station taken over by an ethnic broadcaster.
- RadioActive
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Re: Why I Turned Off CFRB In Disgust Twice On Tuesday
paterson1 wrote:
Long commercial breaks on TV annoy me much more than on radio. On CFRB if they are broken up with a feature like traffic or weather doesn't bother me as much. Often, especially during a talk show, the commercial break gives me a chance to check out to see what the other talkers are doing. AM is not as bad as FM with the stations playing ads at the same time.
The only reason I disagree with part of this is that I tend to PVR all my TV shows, So ads are skipped quickly and gone before they really start. You can't quite do that with radio. I think we both concur that 680 NewsRadio tends to handle their spot load the best.
As far as that statement about AM vs. FM, I can't say for sure one way or the other, since I rarely listen to FM. But one thing that drives me crazy (not a long drive) is every talk station throwing to break at or close to exactly 15 minute increments. CFRB goes to break? AM640 is also in the middle of one. So is CKTB. So even is Sauga 960!
I understand quarter hours tuned and all that, but if one station just went earlier, they might pick up people tuning away from a competitor, who is just going to break. It kind of reminds me of the old WABC doing news "five minutes sooner" so they would have music on for the kids tuning away from WMCA, which did news at the top of the hour.
It worked, but yet no one in this market ever does it. Stagger the spot breaks a tad earlier and ears may seek you out when your competition goes into a five minute spot break - and you have programming on. So maybe they'll stay with you if your content is interesting enough.
Maybe it won't work. But I wish someone would at least try it for a while and see what happens.
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Thread Starter- RadioAaron
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Re: Why I Turned Off CFRB In Disgust Twice On Tuesday
Aaron, what do you mean that they are cashing out? Is Bell trying to unload 1010? If so, I could see the station taken over by an ethnic broadcaster.
Nothing specific to post here, but...
They've obviously stopped investing in or promoting the product and the ratings aren't going to move in any significant way, so why not sell every spot you can at any rate you can get? Squeeze every last dime out of it until you offload it or shut it down.
- Radiowiz
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Re: Why I Turned Off CFRB In Disgust Twice On Tuesday
Squeeze every last dime out of it until you offload it or shut it down.
Depends on the sports load. I like to believe 1010 is not going to shut down if there is a second home for sports when 1050 is full.
RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person.
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.
- peter
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Re: Why I Turned Off CFRB In Disgust Twice On Tuesday
I think the big surprise is that a lowly 1% share station has too many commercials!
Maybe those advertisers should review the analytics of their media plan
- Walter
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Re: Why I Turned Off CFRB In Disgust Twice On Tuesday
Long commercial breaks on TV annoy me much more than on radio. On CFRB if they are broken up with a feature like traffic or weather doesn't bother me as much. Often, especially during a talk show, the commercial break gives me a chance to check out to see what the other talkers are doing. AM is not as bad as FM with the stations playing ads at the same time.
Roy Green annoys me a bit since he is constantly referring to how much time he has left with a guest or segment and his show isn't especially jammed with ads. He wastes too much time getting to the guest or giving a long backgrounder prior to introducting the topic and guest. You don't need to go into great detail about the carbon tax everytime Premier Moe from Saskatchewan is on your program. The Premier seems to either have just been on Roy's show, or coming up whenever I tune the program in.
Aaron, what do you mean that they are cashing out? Is Bell trying to unload 1010? If so, I could see the station taken over by an ethnic broadcaster.
"HAMAS 1010: All Terror All The Time!" Wouldn't surprise me in this city.
- RadioActive
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Re: Why I Turned Off CFRB In Disgust Twice On Tuesday
Many North American cities (but not all) generally have at least one AM station that bucks the trend of FM dominance. In Vancouver, for example, CKNW still holds its own in the ratings. Chicago's all-newser WBBM has its share of listeners - although to be fair, they also have an FM translator. KFI makes some inroads in L.A.
And even 680 Newsradio in Toronto, while hardly #1, gets respectable numbers most books.
Which shows if nothing else, if you build it, the ears will come. CFRB's old market dominance is a thing of the past, but if they put the right programming on it, I still think 1010 could be a factor again in this city. Perhaps if Bell sold it to someone who actually cared about radio, it could happen.
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