On May 4 at noon EST, Arbitron's Bill Rose and Edison Media Research's Joe Lenski will discuss the results of a new spot load study via a Webcast. The study, Spot Load 2005: Managing Commercial Inventories for Your Advertisers and Your Listeners, has determined that more radio listeners than TV viewers stay tuned during commercial breaks. In fact, 49 percent of Americans say that they never change radio stations when commercials come on while listening at home, whereas only six percent say they never change TV channels when commercials come on.

Other findings from the study say that listeners prefer spot loads that get them back to content faster. For instance, 57 percent prefer three commercial breaks of four spots rather than 34 percent who would rather hear two commercial breaks of six spots. Also, nearly 25 percent of all listeners are aware of stations with fewer commercial breaks and shorter commercials.

During the Webcast, which will be available at arbitron.com and edisonresearch.com, Rose and Lenski will discuss whether listeners perceive spot loads to be increasing or decreasing, how spot loads affect radio listening, where and when listeners tune out radio commercials and the relative importance of quality versus quantity of commercials, as well as other topics.