Study: AC P1s more ad tolerant.

The female P1 listeners of adult contemporary radio are twice as likely to listen to a stop set than a CHR station’s P1s.  That’s one of the findings of Alan Burns and Associates study into the habits of female AC and CHR listeners.  With an upper demo female audience, AC listeners are among the most sought-after by advertisers.

The study found 52% of AC P1s stick with the station when the commercials come on, compared to 41% for hot AC P1s and just 26% for CHR format P1s.  Among those AC listeners, Burns asked what would make them more likely to reach for the off switch.  Two-thirds (66%) said a stop set that went on too long.  Burns says, “I’m not endorsing stopping more times per hour, because your competition will definitely attack you for interrupting the music more times.”  He notes an Australian chain has found success in PPM with the promise that they’ll never play more than two spots in a row.

Commercials can be more than just dangerous for an individual station’s ratings — they could be taking a toll on women’s use of radio overall.   Two-thirds (66%) said they’d listen to more radio is there were fewer commercials, 54% said they’d listen if the ads were “less obnoxious.”