Radio Drops #11 - Where Did Long Spot Break Come From?

It Wasn't Always This Way

In the beginning, you played a song, you played some commercials.  You played another song, you played some more commercials. In the late 60's, FM Album Rock stations appeared. They were the anti-Top 40 and their positioning and formatting tactic was to cluster the commercials in one or two Spot breaks an hour. Worked for them.  And it soon cut itself a huge chunk of the Top 40 audience away. But, lordy, that didn't mean that everybody's gotta do it this way!