I spoke with a Clear Chanel guy (yes, I do seem to know everybody) and
he told me that the Format Lab is a test designed to discover listener
acceptance of new format ideas. He told me that they gauge number of
listeners, time spent listening, time of day, and listener location
(to a certain extent). I asked about registration, and he said that
the idea is to bring in the most listeners possible and that
registration reduces response by as much as 80%, so they don't do
it.

I don't know of any CCU stations that have used a Format Lab format in
changing station formats, so I don't know the mechanism for doing
that.

I find myself listening to Format Lab often as I sit in cafes. Among
my favorites at the moment are Undies (underground indies), and Vegas
Gold, which is mostly lounge singers of yesterday and today.