One of my favored local stations recently switched over to an automated format: no DJs, “shuffle” playlist with very limited selections from the 70s/80s/90s/00s, and, according to their promos, “No commercials”.
How does this work? I mean, not the technical aspects…they probably have a satellite radio feed from some centralized location. I’m talking about the absence of commercials. What’s their revenue stream? I can’t imagine that the automated format is being provided to them for free, so they have that expense, plus the broadcasting infrastructure that has both property taxes and upkeep, plus the (I assume) at least two maintenance guys on alternating shifts who keep things repaired and are otherwise there to make sure the feed comes in and goes out smoothly.
Are you sure it is no commercials all the time? The Boston area has one of those stations (93.7 FM) and they have commercials but not during some parts of the day so they include ‘commercial free’ in some of their own promotions but that is only true depending on when you listen to it.
Is the station owned by a broadcasting group that has other radio/tv stations in the same market?
If they already own the transmitting tower and broadcast studio, the manpower required to keep the automated station running would be minimal and could be covered by existing employees within the group.
And even when it’s “commercial-free,” I still noticed a great deal of “Brought to you by…” and special “giveaways” and the like.
And then there’s the Sirius/XM definition of “commercial free”… in which they seem to mean no commercials for anyone except Sirius/XM…because they still advertise their own services on these so-called “commercial-free” channels…
It could be that they have sponsors, (“This song/hour brought to you by X”) rather than full-length commercials. I figure they could get away with it by saying what company sponsored what isn’t necessarily a commercial in the traditional sense…
Even if cost is not an issue, what would be the point of this sort of station? Just some benevolent soul who likes to bring popular music to the masses via the airwaves?
I’ll try to keep an ear out for commercials at other times of the day. Most of when I hear it is drive-time (8ish AM, 5ish PM) and that for not very long. I haven’t NOTICED commercials, but then I didn’t actually notice the “no commercials” slogan until this morning, so I wasn’t listening for them.
It’s been a few years since I listened to any radio, but ISTR one station that was “COMMERCIAL FREE!!!” except for a short commercial break every half hour, during drive time. A big improvement over long strings of commercials after every three or four songs, but not what I’d think of as “commercial free”.
ETA: I’d assume the cost per second of ads during those limited commercial breaks would be significantly higher, making it come out even or better for the station.
That wouldn’t work for a feed-consumer station, would it? The bribes would be going to the central feed service because they’re the ones who decide what gets put in the playlist, not the subscribers. Unless this station is being run off the owner’s iPod or something (and I don’t even want to know how you get performance rights on iTunes or if it’s even possible), he’s not the one deciding what gets played.
There’s one broadcasting in central AZ with no announcers or commercials ever. I’ve read it is basically a “plaything” for someone in the business here, so he has something to listen to.
KCDX
What you described to me sounds like they’re in the middle of a format change (and possibly a management change, as well); I’ve heard a similar sort of thing in the past on a local radio station, when they pulled the plug on their old format overnight, but weren’t going to be ready to go with a new format for several weeks. They had a very small playlist, no commercials, no on-air staff, just some pre-recorded VOs every now and again (including the mandatory station ID at the top of the hour).
If this is the case, at the moment, they’re just filling air until they’ve got everything in place for a new format.
And, yes, you’re right, in the short term, they’re spending money to keep the “lights on”, without any income coming in. But, what you’ve described is likely fairly inexpensive to run (compared to having live DJs, etc.). I may be mistaken, but I suspect that they may have to stay on the air with something during the changeover, or risk issues with their license.
They did that here, only worse. One day in late September the big pop music station was no more (with no prior warning nonetheless), but they weren’t ready for the format change until after the near year. The result? Over three months of steady, continuous Christmas music.
This sounds like a hit. In support of this theory, their website’s a mess. They’ve gotten rid of all the on-air personality bios and the morning show/drivetime show directories, but they still have their ancillary stuff up (like “Half-Price Thursdays”, etc) and they have NOTHING on the station info page. It’s just blank.
I’ve heard “no commericals” radio stations before and it’s always a gimick. After two or three months they switch to “commercials” mode. This way the station hooks you in by having no commercials then a few months later they ad them in little by little.
This way a station that would otherwise have a hard time competing against an established station can get a foot in the door.
Was this in the Chicago market? A couple years ago, a station was undergoing a format change and so flipped to Christmas music to fill time. This was in late Sept or early October. Then the usual “Lite Music” radio station that plays Christmas stuff 24/7 around the holidays (and usually switches to this format in mid November) felt that their schtick was threatened so* they* started playing all Christmas music. So we had two stations playing Christmas music 24/7 for* three months*. Oy…
Back to the OP, I agree with the “keeping the lights on” response. Back in the early-mid 90s I worked for a small TV station and remember (although I couldn’t cite chapter and verse) that we were required to be broadcasting something during our hours of operation or else we’d be in trouble with the FCC.
I still fondly recall when Q106 started up in the Lansing area just over 30 years ago. About a week of commercial free pop/rock when I was in high school. This was a new station, not just a new format, IIRC.
When I was on spring break in Florida, there was a station with nothing but hammering and sawing noises. Must have been changing format, but you’d think they’d have played something that might have brought in listeners.
Might have been a college station. I know that KTRU, the station at Rice University in Houston, will sometimes play experimental music and other weird random noise during the day.