When I started recording radio shows for my own fictitious station on tape, I used commercials I'd taped off the radio. Even though no one could hear the station I'd created, I took the commercial scheduling seriously.
"It's not fair to the advertisers to have two restaurant commercials back to back, so I'll run the McDonald's spot in this next break and the Ruma's Deli commercial in the break after that," I'd reason. "I haven't run an air conditioning ad in a while, and that's something listeners are thinking about at this time of year, so that should go in the next break. Several shows have passed since I last ran a shoe store commercial, so there should be one of those, as well."
Again, no one could hear this station I'd created. The advertisers weren't paying anything to have their commercials on my make-believe station. That didn't stop me, however. If you're going to be in radio, you might schedule commercials. The mindset of giving advertisers what they pay for and not scheduling their spots right next to those of their competitors is a considerate, profitable one to have.
