Didn't John Carney offer this on Saturday afternoons just yesterday?

From Randall Bloomquist, the greatest radio talk show consultant idiot extant, via Radio-Info:

Is Laughter the Best Formatic Medicine?

Maybe it’s a testament to the power of laughter. Or a karmic joke. No matter how often all-comedy formats flop, radio just won’t give up on the concept. An outfit called The Donkey Comedy Network (DCN) this week unveiled a syndicated comedy format called, well, 24/7 Comedy Radio. It’s the brainchild of veteran radio execs Bill Bungeroth, Dan Keating and George Gimarc. The concept was shaped and vetted with the assistance of Harker Research, Bridge Ratings and Vallie-Richards-Donovan Consulting.

Pretty good pedigree. But will it hunt? And should it have a place in your programming strategy?

All-comedy has been a non-starter on terrestrial radio. Why try again? The timing is right for laughter on radio, according to DCN. Bungeroth and company were inspired by the success of Sirius/XM’s all-comedy channels. They believe Americans are hungry for laughs in these tough times; and that radio operators are desperate for options. Comedy content is wildly successful in most other media, including television, movies and live performances. Why not on radio?

DCN also suspects that earlier attempts at all-comedy radio were flawed. Among the miscues: airing overly long comedy routines.

Who should consider going comedy? DCN says its format is best suited for under-performing stations that are part of a cluster; outlets that are currently struggling as the third AC or Country in the market despite having a good signal. Comedy, according to DCN, provides such properties with a unique niche that will generate cume and revenue at low cost. They also see the format as an excellent flanker that will take audience from several other stations in the market.

DCN does not recommend the format for struggling stand-alones, unless the owner is willing to invest heavily in marketing the format.

What’s the target audience? Adults 18-34 is the bulls eye, but the format is broadly aimed at 18-44.

What’s the content? A stream of short, clean comedy bits from the biggest names in comedy from the past decade – Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Dane Cook, the Blue Collar Comedy crew, et al.

Interestingly, comedy legends Bob Newhart and Bill Cosby are sprinkled into the mix because their material is currently selling very well. The format is hosted by comedians who play a jock-like role, delivering comedy news tidbits and other content. You can hear a demo here.

What does it cost? It’s barter. DCN gets three minutes of commercial inventory per hour.

Total spot load? The DCN clock includes a total of 15 minutes of commercial time. According to DCN’s research, that load could go as high as 18 minutes per hour without jeopardizing the format’s appeal.

Can we localize it? Sort of. Affiliates get two slots per hour where they can air service elements or other local content. But as Gimarc freely acknowledges, “This station is not going to be the local content leader in the cluster.”

How do we sell it? DCN expects the format to generate decent cume and lots of listening occurrences. (They have no idea how it will fare in TSL.) But the stronger selling point will be the unique content and the engaged listening it requires. This is a lean-forward format,” says Director of Affiliate Relations Dave Van Dyke. “You are leaning towards the radio to hear what’s next, as opposed to the lean-back and relax nature of music formats.”

What if we went comedy at night or on weekends? DCN management is vehemently opposed to dayparting the format. Anything less than ‘round the clock comedy, they argue, will dilute the brand and cost a station the chance to become the “comedy button” on listener radios.

Do they have any affiliates? Yes. DCN says they will reveal their charter affiliates in the next week or so.

NTE Observation. DCN makes some interesting arguments. This format might work very well given the right circumstances, which must include reasonable expectations from cluster management. PPM has shown that listeners use radio as a utility – they go from station to station to meet their need of the moment – traffic info, relaxation, news, political debate.

Being the laughter stop in that rotation seems like a legitimate niche. It’s certainly a nice alternative to becoming an all-syndicated political talker in a market with locally connected talk stations. The DCN format seems like a low-risk/moderate reward proposition. We will keep you posted on its progress.