Clear Channel: Ad cuts a success

In the "Less Is More" initiative, launched in mid-December, many of the company's available ad spots have been cut to 30 seconds or 15 seconds from 60 seconds, and the number of commercial minutes aired per hour is down to 11 to 12 minutes from around 20 minutes... Results from two independent studies commissioned by San Antonio, Texas-based Clear Channel (CCU: news, chart, profile) show that listeners notice the greater amount of music and enjoy it, and that they tend to remember those commercials that do air better than they did before, the company said... In its study, research and consulting firm Burke Inc. concluded that over time, "fewer commercials and more music are likely to improve listener loyalty."... Cincinnati-based Burke, which conducted the study across nine Clear Channel markets and a variety of radio formats, also found that the effectiveness of an ad doesn't depend on its length, and that creative spots were easily remembered by listeners... A separate study, by Atlanta-based Naviguage, found that with shorter commercial breaks featuring four or fewer ads, about 80 percent of the audience was still listening after the second commercial, and around 70 percent after the third spot... Naviguage also discovered that the first 30-second spot kept more of its audience than a first-position 60-second spot, regardless of how many spots were included in the commercial break...