"I've started a conversation with our Development Director about reducing the underwriting load during ME. That would involve reworking the grid so that there are no more than two avails per break (there can as many as four now). Naturally, I don't want to lose any revenue. So the process will involve removing avails and creating a higher rate tier for ME. That's going to take a while, but the process has started."
Some problems with underwriting are formatic and can be adjusted relatively simply, while others are systemic and will require more time and effort to correct. Common problems include:
- Number of credits. We heard an average of 17 credits in the 7am hour of Morning Edition, including national and local spots. If these were spaced equally throughout the hour, listeners would hear one credit about every 3:35.
- Length of credits. At one station, underwriting credits occupied nearly six minutes, or almost 10% of the content in the 7am hour.
- Placement in breaks. On some stations, underwriting credits were the first content listeners heard in local breaks - even though underwriting is not the most important content in the break, nor the primary reason listeners tune to the program.
- The number of different voices reading credits. On some stations, three or more voices read credits in the same hour, making the program sound choppy, confusing, and commercial.
The MEGS team feels that appropriate overall goals for underwriting should be:
- To increase underwriting revenue - not necessarily to sell more underwriting credits. This can be accomplished through careful management of inventory and appropriate pricing.
- To develop a plan that sounds good to the listener and is effective for the underwriter.
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