ADS...THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF THEM

Have you heard the latest? Commercials that is. They’re getting shorter and more frequent. I think this is an idea whose time has come. Especially to Radio, a medium in search of more revenue and less clutter. These new "quickie" ads are referred to as "adlets" or "blinklets". I like ‘em. For years I have been saying to the few who would listen, that shorter commercials would "free" up more time for more program material and content on the air. After all, programming has sacrificed much over the years with shorter promos, condensed liners,
shorter newscasts(even NO newscasts), fewer DJs and air talent, no jingles, and smaller budgets. Now it’s the Sales Department’s turn. This should have happened long ago when individual music selections got longer. It’s the old management quandary. How to meet the annual budget and make a profit, while satisfying the listener’s desires for fewer commercial interruptions.
"Adlets" are 10 second spots, while "Blinklets" are 2 seconds...mere mentions. These mini-messages are now being embraced on Madison Avenue, so there’s hope for a change in the way commercials are bought and sold. Many stations are charging 20 percent of their station’s one minute rate card rate for the "adlet", and the "blinklet" goes for 10 percent of same rate card’s one minute rate. Station’s using the new shortened ads are limiting these to no more than a mixture of 3 per hour to further cut down on clutter. This is debatable with me however. Whatever, or however a station chooses to produce revenue and spread it’s commercial load through-out the sound hours is a matter of individual need and/or programming taste. But I applaud those for trying a new approach to ads and their placement. I believe there can be even more dividing of the length for ads and commercials. Why does it have to be 30 and 60 all the time?. This was ingrained into Radio sales consciousness many years ago, an idea stemming from the old "network" days. As long as the division of commercial time adds up to 60 seconds( for timing on network situations), why can’t commercials be 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 40 or 45 seconds...even 50 seconds? How often have you wished you had 10 more seconds when producing a 30 second commercial? Or sometimes you don’t need a full 30 or 60 seconds to get the advertiser’s message across. Instead of resorting to "fill" music or sound effects, the sponsor would have a choice of a 20 or 40 second spot. Much is changing in Radio these days...technically, musically, and formatically. Now change is needed commercially! I always liked the old Top 40 promo line: "You’re listening to the sweet sound of success" (station jingle). People(i.e. listeners) love to be associated with success despite what they tell survey and ratings takers.. A winning station is usually a successful top billing station.
Now, there’s a better choice of ways to achieve that success. Multi-length commercial time. That’s my RadiOpinion, what’s yours? -Gary Allyn www.garyallyn.com