Working for the Weekend

March 20, 2026

Everybody loves the weekend. It’s when we get to run errands, hit the to-do list, schlep the kids around and, maybe, have some down time. And you know what’s even better? People spend a lot of time in their cars, where radio continues to excel.

Last week The RAB spotlighted a YouGov poll that, among other things, asked people which day of the week was their favorite. The Captain Obvious answers were Friday then Saturday and Sunday. (We needed a poll for that?)

Image by Adrien Olichon on Pexels.

But I digress.

We have known for years how important weekend listening is to radio. If you are a healthy music-based format you should see 50% of your weekly cume tune in at least once during the Sat-Sun 6A-12M day part. That is more cume than typically samples your morning show on a weekly basis. It can also be more than listen to you in mid-day. Yet, weekends are often treated as a lesser day part by both programming and sales.

For programming, this is an excellent opportunity for recycling. Since your TSL (AWTE) is affected by both occasions (how often they visit) and durations (how long they listen while visiting), one additional occasion can have a positive effect on your station’s share.

This is an excellent time to engage your audience. They are in motion and—at the very least—looking for a complementary soundtrack whilst they drive hither and yon. Are you providing them with quality entertainment value during that time frame? Are you giving them a reason to come back when they return to their regular schedule? I will remind you again—more people will tune in to your weekend fare than will tune in to your morning show.

(Side note: this generally does not apply to spoken word programming which sees the bulk of its tune-in Mon-Fri 6A-7P. The exceptions tend to be major weather/market events or sports play-by-play).

For Sales, weekends are often used as a packaging tool. Think about what your listeners are doing while they are tooling around. They are headed to a hardware store (Home Depot? Lowes? Or your local hometown store?). They are looking for a quick bite (McDonald’s or the local taco joint?). For those, and other categories, you are reaching listeners at the point of purchase. I once worked for an agency that only bought Thursday through Sunday schedules for their retail clients. Smart move.

To paraphrase an old beer campaign: weekends were made for radio. How much effort do you put into that day part?

If you want to read the poll you can find it here: https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/54257-americans-are-living-for-the-weekend-vast-majorities-like-saturday-and-sunday-while-mondays-are-divisive

If you’d like us to help you evaluate the daily listening habits of your audience, we stand ready to serve.

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