What times do a talk radio show need to break at?

Question

Hi. I'm a new talk radio show host. Im trying to plan out my shows. At what times does a host need to break at for a half-hour long talk radio show? How bout for a 1-hour show? And how long do each breaks need to be? thanks!

Answer 1

If the show is half an hour or even an hour.... no breaks or if you must break...not at a crucial moment in the discussion!

Answer 2

Once again RadioBoy has it. Just to add my 2 cents: you won't have to worry about it unless you are paying for brokered time (which is a whole other subject).

The Program Director will present you with a clock which you will follow. Easy as that.

YA respondents don't decide when a station breaks - the boss does ;<)

-a guy named duh

Answer 3

You need to break at the 15 minute mark for 2 minutes. This is time to run the commercials. There has to be at least 3 breaks per hour for the ads to run - the advertisers are technically signing your paycheck so they need the time. People saying you only need a break every 30 minutes are nuts. A station can't stay in business only running 4 minutes of commercials per hour.

Answer 4

Ok, I am in radio.....what you need is a producer to tell you when to break. Most commercial stations will take a break after every 30 mins or so, and by law the FCC makes them take breaks for station identification and a legal ID ( that includes the station's call letters, time, and listening area like Dallas/FT Worth. If it is a short 30 min show you should not need a break. If it is an hour or longer I say do one about ever 30 mins and do not stop an important conversation to take a break stretch it out a little if need be. But get a producer so you do not have to take time to keep track of when to break.  

Answer 5

Radio boy and Duh seem to have touched on everything... but there is one thing I have noticed that I disagree with.  It was mentioned NOT to break at a crucial point in the conversation.  To me, it seems this would be the prime time to break... to give the sponsor of your show maximum exposure.  TV programs do it all the time... they go to a break when you're hanging on.  Make sure to tease subject matter that is coming up.  Say for instance you or a caller asks your guest a controversial question... well, that would be a good time for a break.  The listeners will surely sit through your break to hear the answer to the question.  As far as when to schedule the breaks... my suggestion is either you or your producer listen to your competition and break and judge by that.  

Answer 6

Your producer, or the station's operations manager, should be able to provide you with a "program clock."

If the program has commercials and such running in it, the clock will tell you when the breaks are.

I produced a morning show some time back that had a clock like this:

:59:45  LEGAL ID

:00:00  News

:05:00  :50 SPOT

:06 - :15:00 Program

:15 - :18  3 minute spot break

:18 - :29:45 Program

29:45-30:00 LEGAL ID

:30 -:33 Newsbreak

:33-:45:00 Program

45:00-48:00 3 minute spot break

:48-:55:00 Program

:55 - :57:00 2 minute spot break

:57-59:45 Program/wrap-up

This clock may vary from station to station.

The producer should be able to provide this information for you.