The Infinite Dial

Over the last year, Edison president Larry Rosin and I have been in a number of client meetings with stations that are facing a similar scenario. The station has made improvements over the last year that haven't yet registered with potential listeners. And there is no money for outside marketing. At this point, Larry will explain that when major advertisers want to compel consumers to try a product again, they do some sort of free sampling. So why not go commercial free for a week? At that point, the PD nervously looks over at the GSM, at least five seconds of silence ensues, and the GM announces, "Well, that's not going to happen."

So it's worth noting that Clear Channel's WUBL (94.9 the Bull) Atlanta launched into a week of what it's billing as "3,000 songs in a row: no commercials, no talk," as first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Rodney Ho. That's a familiar stunt for the launch of a new radio station. It's less so, as the above stories demonstrate, for an existing property.

WUBL just parted ways with its morning man, so it would be look at a commercial free week and wonder if it portends a transition to further jocklessness -- particularly in this environment. But Ho reports that the rest of the staff is "apparently still there." (And besides, as we've all seen recently, you can lay off your jocks without going commercial free.) Ho speculates that the intent is to attract attention to a station that has evolved since its launch and had disappointing preliminary PPMs -- which would make this free trial week something happening for the right reasons.