Another way of looking at Calgary's AMP FM's new 'format"

When discussing the recent adaptation of cutting Top 40 songs in half as a new format for Calgary’s AMP Radio, VP Of Programming for Newcap Radio, Steve Jones said “As we look to people’s changing habits and changing attention spans and watch people on their iPod listening to half a song and forwarding on to the next one we sort of came to the conclusion that maybe it was time to rethink why songs are the way they were.”

Research shows that the majority of younger listeners (the target audience for Top 40) are most likely to change radio stations during a commercial, rather than a song. Older listeners being accustom to commercials will tolerate them longer than young listeners.

Another study showed that listeners no longer jump from one stations to the next. On average they have two stations they listen to and are more likely to turn off the radio during commercials rather than jump to a different station.

http://www.radioiloveit.com/radio-programming-radio-formats/commercial-breaks-keep-audience-but-swap-listeners/

If we compare the facts found in the research to Steve Jones’s quote about people’s changing habits, would logic not dictate that if you are going to cut you songs in half should you also cut your commercials in half too? Based on the above logic, a radio station could probably even justify charging the same rates for the cut in half spots as a full spot. Listeners are more likely to hear the ad if it’s shorter.

 If you are not aware of what I'm talking about...here's a link to the article from The Calgary Herald. 

http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/calgary-radio-station-cuts-songs-in-half-to-appeal-to-short-attention-spans-1.1951198

As an additional side note, Jann Arden has been fairly vocal since this article has been released speaking out against this station's move. I had a feeling some artists would speak out against this. I'm curious to see who else might speak out against it.