0Radio Spot Listenership Higher Than Imagined!

A surprising new study has just been released by Coleman Insights, showing that radio listenership through commercial breaks is incredibly high. Much higher in fact than many industry analysts had imagined. The study—”What Happens When the Spots Come On: 2011 edition”—was conducted over a 12 month period covering 18 million commercial breaks on 866 radio stations.

The result? In a 3-minute commercial break, the average radio station retains 96% of its listeners. If the break lasts 6 minutes, the retention drops to 85%…(but what station would be cruel enough to run 6 minutes of commercials?)

Of course, we believe that the quality of the spot matters. Is it entertaining and engaging enough to hold a listener’s attention? Does it entertain first and sell second? These are the spots that get solid results for the advertiser. For more on that, enjoy my series Tune Your Radio.

For a summary of this new report, click here. To download the report, click here.

—Brent Walker