{"id":2014,"date":"2009-09-08T00:06:48","date_gmt":"2009-09-08T07:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/?p=2014"},"modified":"2009-09-07T23:29:47","modified_gmt":"2009-09-08T06:29:47","slug":"radio-positioning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/","title":{"rendered":"RADIO POSITIONING: “COMMERCIAL FREE” OR “NONSTOP MUSIC”?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A loyal reader writes from the UK:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I have a difference of opinion with a colleague regarding the positioning statement, “Commercial Free” \u2014 as in “40 minutes commercial free.”<\/p>\n

Can you please explain the reason so many U.S. stations use this statement? Is it not raising too many questions about the amount of commercials there usually are? Would it not be better using “40 minutes nonstop music” instead?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here are the arguments on both sides.<\/strong><\/span>
\n
\n“Commercial Free”: <\/strong> You’re telling listeners, “We know you’d rather not have your music interrupted by commercials. For the next 40 minutes, you’ll hear only music, no commercials.”<\/p>\n

“Nonstop Music”: <\/strong> 1) That’s really what we’re selling, isn’t it? Nonstop music?\u00a0 2) We don’t want to imply that commercials have any sort of negative connotation.\u00a0 3) We don’t want to offend our advertisers (by implying that commercials have some sort of negative connotation).<\/p>\n

My opinion: <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I can argue both sides, but “Commercial Free” is stronger.<\/p>\n

To music station listeners, commercials are interruptions. To listeners, “Commercial Free” = “It’s safe to keep this station on for the next 40 minutes without hearing any commercials.”<\/p>\n

Some people, of course, will argue that you shouldn’t promote what people won’t be hearing (commercials) but what they will<\/strong> be hearing (nonstop music). But promising not to inflict a negative in a situation where people otherwise would expect it can be effective.<\/p>\n

“Painless dentistry” (dentistry without pain) for example, will attract more patients than “neutral experience dentistry.”<\/p>\n

You’ve heard TiVo users say they like “being able to skip past the commercials,” right? But I doubt you’ve heard even one of them say, “I like being able to enjoy the programs nonstop.”<\/p>\n

But what about your advertisers?<\/p>\n

They know that, in general, people don’t enjoy having their favorite music interrupted by commercials. (The exception, of course, being each advertiser’s own commercial, which is a timeless work of art.)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, for the audience it goes beyond which pair of words you choose to describe your programming. The station in my market that boasts “another half hour of nonstop music” and runs 10-second promos before and after every song reminding people that they’re hearing 30 minutes of nonstop music:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Doesn’t get it.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Is lying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A loyal reader writes from the UK: I have a difference of opinion with a colleague regarding the positioning statement, “Commercial Free” \u2014 as in “40 minutes commercial free.” Can you please explain the reason so many U.S. stations use this statement? Is it not raising too many questions about the amount of commercials there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"yoast_head":"\nRADIO POSITIONING: "COMMERCIAL FREE" OR "NONSTOP MUSIC"? - DAN O\u2019DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RADIO POSITIONING: "COMMERCIAL FREE" OR "NONSTOP MUSIC"? - DAN O\u2019DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A loyal reader writes from the UK: I have a difference of opinion with a colleague regarding the positioning statement, “Commercial Free” \u2014 as in “40 minutes commercial free.” Can you please explain the reason so many U.S. stations use this statement? Is it not raising too many questions about the amount of commercials there […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DAN O\u2019DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DanODayRadio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-09-08T07:06:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan O'Day\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Dan_ODay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Dan_ODay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan O'Day\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/radio-positioning\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/radio-positioning\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dan O'Day\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/afe504342187ed9676675802d9c9b19c\"},\"headline\":\"RADIO POSITIONING: “COMMERCIAL FREE” OR “NONSTOP MUSIC”?\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-08T07:06:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/radio-positioning\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":366,\"commentCount\":20,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/radio-positioning\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/radio-positioning\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/radio-positioning\\\/\",\"name\":\"RADIO POSITIONING: \\\"COMMERCIAL FREE\\\" OR \\\"NONSTOP MUSIC\\\"? - DAN O\u2019DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-08T07:06:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/afe504342187ed9676675802d9c9b19c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/radio-positioning\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/radio-positioning\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/radio-positioning\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"RADIO POSITIONING: “COMMERCIAL FREE” OR “NONSTOP MUSIC”?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"DAN O\u2019DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO\",\"description\":\"Straight talk about radio programming, radio advertising, radio production...Well, you get the idea.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/afe504342187ed9676675802d9c9b19c\",\"name\":\"Dan O'Day\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/danoday.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/assistant\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"RADIO POSITIONING: \"COMMERCIAL FREE\" OR \"NONSTOP MUSIC\"? - DAN O\u2019DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"RADIO POSITIONING: \"COMMERCIAL FREE\" OR \"NONSTOP MUSIC\"? - DAN O\u2019DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO","og_description":"A loyal reader writes from the UK: I have a difference of opinion with a colleague regarding the positioning statement, “Commercial Free” \u2014 as in “40 minutes commercial free.” Can you please explain the reason so many U.S. stations use this statement? Is it not raising too many questions about the amount of commercials there […]","og_url":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/","og_site_name":"DAN O\u2019DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DanODayRadio","article_published_time":"2009-09-08T07:06:48+00:00","author":"Dan O'Day","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Dan_ODay","twitter_site":"@Dan_ODay","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan O'Day","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/"},"author":{"name":"Dan O'Day","@id":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/afe504342187ed9676675802d9c9b19c"},"headline":"RADIO POSITIONING: “COMMERCIAL FREE” OR “NONSTOP MUSIC”?","datePublished":"2009-09-08T07:06:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/"},"wordCount":366,"commentCount":20,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/","url":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/","name":"RADIO POSITIONING: \"COMMERCIAL FREE\" OR \"NONSTOP MUSIC\"? - DAN O\u2019DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-09-08T07:06:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/afe504342187ed9676675802d9c9b19c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/radio-positioning\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"RADIO POSITIONING: “COMMERCIAL FREE” OR “NONSTOP MUSIC”?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/","name":"DAN O\u2019DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO","description":"Straight talk about radio programming, radio advertising, radio production...Well, you get the idea.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/afe504342187ed9676675802d9c9b19c","name":"Dan O'Day","url":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/author\/assistant\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2014"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2017,"href":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014\/revisions\/2017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}