How did Microsoft measure a goldfish’s attention span to be 9 seconds and a human’s to be 8? Well, they didn’t. It turns out the goldfish attention span research is a myth you’ve probably read about – but it still illustrates a great point.
People are increasingly impatient with technology today, including radio. When talents start talking, non-P1/cume listeners with people meters give talent approximately 8-10 seconds to engage them before switching stations in the morning.
Attention span and patience vary depending on the platform. For example:
- Waiting for a website to load: 8 seconds.
- Short-form content (TikTok, Reels, Shorts): 3–15 seconds before users scroll.
- YouTube videos: High-content creators note that once a video starts, viewers decide whether to watch it in the first 10-30 seconds, but people stay longer for engaging content set up with a strong hook.
- Reading articles/blogs: 3–5 minutes unless highly engaging.
- Shorter songs: Today’s songs average 3 minutes and 7 seconds, marking a 20-second decrease from 2019.
- Shorter parody songs: Most parody songs are under a minute, and most are around 50 seconds.
- Book summaries save time. Many buy book summaries that can be read or listened to in as little as fifteen minutes.
The audience’s content filter is higher than ever, and their attention span is lower than ever. Radio is among multiple entertainment choices, including the automobile dashboard.
What about patience and attention span regarding content segment length?
The 5-Minute Rule
To effectively hold the audience’s attention, we advise long-form shows to switch topics or take the topic in a new direction approximately every five minutes, whether on a music or talk station. Shows incorporating dialogue breakers like audio and callers more effectively maintain audience attention through those five minutes.
Personality shows on music format stations maintain listener attention by keeping content segments to a maximum of five minutes.
The 3-Minute Rule
Because of listener expectations on more music stations, content length works best if it is much shorter, a maximum of approximately 3 minutes (90 seconds max in some circumstances).
Interactive Topics
Air callers first before texts and posts. Callers add more dynamics, emotion, and potential entertainment value than reading texts and posts. Additionally, calls sound different and get or maintain the audience’s attention.
Go long on stories, short on information.
In his blog, “Does Your Show Need a Fast-Forward Button?” Jeff McHugh advised talent to go short on information and long on captivating stories to command the attention of distracted, short-attention-span listeners. Information illustrated with a story or delivered in the form of one connects and sticks with listeners.
The Wrap
As a talent, your mission is to grab the audience’s attention with a hook headline and maintain it through a segment with captivating content, including strategically placed stories, audio, and callers.
Content Length: Adhere to the 5-Minute Rule on long-form shows and the 3-Minute Rule on short-form shows.
