Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

The Local Station and National Advertising By S. H. BLISS General Manager, WCLO Janesville, Wis. 100-Watters Are in Strategic Positions Because of Hold On Audiences; Seen as Supplementary to Chains WHAT WOULD any city or town be without a publicity outlet today ? Just suppose there were but two national newspapers to provide our communities with education, entertainment, news and emergency relief. Now suppose some great catastrophe, for instance a cyclone, struck a certain concentrated area. Hundreds of people were left homeless, farm produce and stock were left unsheltered, congested traffic threatened every human being on the highways of the devastated area. Could and would these two national publicity mediums offer the immediate assistance necessary? This may seem like a far cry to carry a point, but let's get down to cases: On the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 22, 1931, at 7:30 o'clock, just such a cyclone unmercifully struck a strip of land a mile wide and 20 miles long just north of Janesville, Wis. Houses and barns were flattened to the ground, others were lifted from their foundations and carried hundred of yards, trees were uprooted and tossed into the air like tooth picks, people and livestock were killed and injured. Ultra-Modern Reporting AN INCOHERENT report was phoned to the WCLO studios; staff members speeded the word on to the staff reporters of the Janesville Wisconsin Gazette, with which WCLO is affiliated. Within a half hour all the departments of both organizations were a bee hive of activity. Authentic reports were now pouring in — they were flashed through the ether momentarily. Like a bullet, they pierced the homes of thousands of people throughout southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Thousands, tense DO NATIONAL advertisers depend solely on magazines or national newspapers to reach readers of the printed page? Of course not! Then why should they confine their radio advertising to chains or so-called national stations? Thus the case of the 100-watt or local station is presented by this successful manager. The local station, if it is worthy of its license, has a hold on its audiences that networks cannot hope to attain, Mr. Bliss contends, chiefly because it presents local news, local talent, caters to local tastes. with excitement, appalled by the horror of it all, strained their ears to catch every word as the professionally distinct, authentic and unerring voice of the WCLO announcer unfolded the story of the tragedy. A call for help went out. Doctors, nurses and the Red Cross responded; people offered their homes and the American Legion sent a hundred men to patrol the highways rapidly filling with traffic. Another call went out for tarpaulins to cover the unsheltered produce. These were brought from miles around. Value of a Local WCLO chartered an airplane. Aerial photographs were taken of the entire course of the cyclone and appeared along with the only complete and authentic stories in a Janesville Gazette extra the next moi-ning. A 15-minute broadcast by the aerial photographer told the detailed story of the tragedy to a waiting audience that knew it would hear everything from its local station. Just so, this audience, which is typical of all audiences in all communities throughout the United States, tunes regularly to its local station for local news. And thereby hangs the tale of the value of a local station. Managers of 100-watt stations all over the country could recite stories equally interesting. Heretofore looked upon as a babe in swaddling clothes without strength to move the "on the fence" buying habits of even the radio audience in its own territory, the 100-watt station is gradually emerging into the strategic position of a necessary adjunct to any national advertising program in which the manufacturer requires close contact between his retail outlets and the consumer. The missing link in the average national campaign is the "where to get it." The chains no more than the national newspapers, did they exist, nor the magazines can identify the local retail outlet where the product must be purchased. This is where the local station plays a most important part. Those that are capable of building good programs, and you will find many are, participate as local representatives for what might be described as the "National Entertainment Committee" and introduce their guests to the local dealers merchandising the product these guests have become curious about. If the "National Entertainment Commitee" (chain advertiser) fails to appoint "Local Entertainment committees" (local stations), he may find his prospective customers going into the wrong stores for his product. It is said that 80 per cent of a sale is made when the customer walks into the store voluntarily. Competition is keen and today the wrong store is usually the right store before the customer leaves. Now if we can reconcile ourselves to the fact that a local audience wants local news and that the local station and newspaper are the only mediums able to disseminate this information, doesn't it stand to reason that these mediums must have that audience at least part of the time ? If that point is not proved, take the question of entertainment. Reaching the Audience IT IS SAID that the average intelligence of our radio audience represents the mental development of a fourteen-and-a-half -year-old. What portion of the fourteen-and-a-half year-olds in this country can appreciate and evaluate musical technique, shading, and harmony? What portion of them can appreciate sophisticated wit? And it is not inappropos to reflect here on the fact that these people not only represent 90 per cent of today's radio audience but 90 per cent of the purchasing power of these United States. Here again lies the power of the local station. Catering as only it can to the particular likes and dislikes of the concentrated audience, it serves by building good original programs with the best local talent available. No one man nor any group of men has a mortgage on the brains in this country. Any man, thoroughly familiar with his business, can build a radio program that will hold an audience against the toughest kind of competition. Any man, thoroughly familiar with his business, can develop local amateur talent to a point where it is in actual demand by all types of audiences. The Value of Surveys AUTHORITY for the first statement is a survey conducted for WCLO by 60 women during five months in 60 cities and towns in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. More than 6,000 telephone contacts were made in as many radio-equipped homes, and the people interviewed did not know for whom the survey was made. Of the 65 most popular programs on the air WCLO produced 13, and the rest were chain. Authority for the above statement about talent is based on the fact that WCLO has provided the initial radio training for one harmony team now heard weekly over a network, another team which has signed a contract with an internationally known orchestra, a soloist who last winter drew more fan mail than any other vocalist on a large southern station, and others. One of the chief weaknesses of the good 100-watt station is that it has not taken the pains nor made the effort to assemble authentic information about its market and audience and present this to the national advertiser and agency. This information may be likened to the merchandise on the dealer's shelf. No matter how good it is, it will not be in demand unless it is advertised. The writer suggests complete and authentic surveys, advisedly, after four months contact with many of the largest agencies in the city of Chicago. When this information has been compiled, make sure that it gets into the hands of the radio department executives of recognized agencies. One of the most direct and least expensive methods used to reach those who control and direct the appropriations for national spot advertising is the nationally recognized radio publication. Newspaper Buys WHBF WHBF, Rock Island, 111., has been purchased by the Rock Island Argus, daily newspaper, which will operate it under a subsidiary corporation. November 1, 1932 • BROADCASTING Page 11