Atlanta Radio: Who Plays The Most Commercials On Radio?

Question: who on Atlanta morning music radio plays the most ads?

Using data from radio tracker Mediabase 24/7, Media Writer Rodney Ho at The Atlanta Constitution studied ad loads on two sample days: Friday November 19, 2015, and Wednesday, February 3, 2016. Mediabase said these ad breaks include station promos as well as paid ads. Ho included November because it’s reportedly a more representative time of the year than early February.

Mediabase does not measure news/talk or sports talk stations so data is unavailable for News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB, 92.9/The Game, 680/The Fan or NewsRadio 106.7.

On both days, the four shows that aired the most ads are all syndicated:

• On Nov. 19, Rickey Smiley‘s morning shot on Hot 107.9 aired the most ads, averaging more than 20 minutes an hour. On Feb. 3, Steve Harvey’s morning show on Majic 107.5 also hit the 20 minute mark.

Rodney Ho

Radio consultant Alex Demers, who does not have any clients in Atlanta, notes that many syndicated shows tend to offer more talk content. Listeners, he said, usually have higher tolerance for ads in a news/talk environment. Plus, he said the “strength of personality” may keep listeners around in the case of celebrities such as Harvey or Smiley.

According to Ho, Cadillac Jack & Dallas McCade on country station Kicks 101.5 offered the lightest load on both days, with 8 minutes 38 seconds in November and 6 minutes 38 seconds in February.

Most radio stations played about 10 to 14 minutes or ads per hour. The longest single ad break was more than 9 minutes long.

Here are the average hour totals on Wednesday, February 3, 2016 for the morning shows:

• Majic’s Steve Harvey Morning Show: 20 minutes, 41 seconds per hour
• Hot 107.9’s Rickey Smiley Morning Show: 17 minutes, 45 seconds per hour
• Praise 97.5’s Yolands Adams: 15 minutes 56 seconds per hour
• Q100’s Bert Show: 15 minutes 49 seconds per hour
• B98’s Melissa Carter and Tad Lemire: 12 minutes 53 seconds per hour

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