Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

The Missouri Pacific Finds Radio Pays By E. H. McREYNOLDS Director of Publicity-Advertising Missouri Pacific Lines Program Portrays Railroad Building Up the Southwest; Fan Letters Prove Feature is Creating GoodWill j WHEN the Missouri Pacific Lines decided to go on the ah", a carej ful survey was made as to the ! potential listeners in relation to j the story we had to convey. We ' knew that the millions of private | vehicles in the United States had ' put a definite crimp in local, shorthaul passenger traffic, and for that reason our hopes for busii ness must be based on de luxe long-distance travel and freight, i Therefore, our field was the po' tential travelers on a railroad. KMOX, St. Louis, with its cov, erage all through the southwest where the Missouri Pacific Lines extend is an ideal medium to carry the message that the Missouri Pa: cific is more than a service institution. That, by the way, is our opening slogan for the program that was finally selected. We wanted to convey the idea that j our railroad not only serves the various communities but it is an important factor in their upbuilding. Selecting the Program I KEEPING this point in mind, we . chose a serial type of program I which would make the regions and l! sections as well as the cities : realize that we were doing soraei thing for them. We were strivj ing for continued interest. Work(I ing with the staff of KMOX and through courtesies extended us by the Columbia Broadcasting System, we are enabled to get just the .type of program we wanted. „ The program, titled "A Citizen of the Southwest", with accompaning lilting and harmonious music, suited our purpose. "The Citizen", who is heard every night, speaks with authority of the cities li to which he takes his imaginary passengers. He maintains a ro, mantic and mysterious identity | and thus appeals to the fanciful imaginations of his listeners. He recounts historic backgrounds, economic possibilities, untold beauties of each section, and in so doing cleverly interweaves the thought of the part that the Missouri Pacific has played in making the region occupy the position that it does. Brief Announcements OUR COMMERCIAL talks are brief ;^Jhe announcer's voice is contrasted with the low musical tones of "The Citizen", and the music is as fine as any that can be heard on the air. We realize that showmanship is the essential part of any successful program and base the talks and related events upon that idea. We have had few criticisms of any kind of the program, and the praise has been generous. A single program to impress a OUR ISSUE of Nov. 15 carried the success story of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway's use of radio advertising. This article relates a similar experience and equal enthusiasm on the part of a great midwestern railway. Again it is a case of building goodwill as well as attracting passenger and freight traffic. This program is based upon the lure of travel that stirs in the breast of almost all listeners, and commercial announcements are minimized. If this and the preceding testimonial can't sell railway radio advertising, the prospects are well nigh hopeless. region of our part in its development won't accomplish the purpose, and so we must keep revisiting the more important points and retelling the story from a new angle. Some cities are visited as many as 15 or 20 times with the ever-present purpose of making each listener realize what an interesting section the southwest is and to make each one think automatically of the Missouri Pacific in connection with those points. We want to make far-away places seem within reach and desirable. That we are succeeding is evidenced by the letters of applause we get from the regions that we visit. Enthusiastic approval comes from the communities, from local chambers of commerce and from heads of leading institutions. Building Good-Will WHAT we have to sell, obviously, cannot be transmitted immediately into sales, for we have an intangible, de luxe commodity — service— to merchandise. We cannot estimate our success in volume of business as can the advertisers of toothpaste, but we can build up confidence. We can humanize our railroad via the air to the extent that our listeners and potential customers realize that the Missouri Pacific is an institution with a heart and a soul. We want them to know that we are doing something for them, that we are in reality 60,000 persons welded together with the aim of making friends with each person. A railroad can be personal and we feel that we are making our listeners realize that. We had the germ of this idea several years ago and had a trial program for 30 days on KMOX. The time was not yet right for our type of program and so we bided our time. We have refused to take this de A BOOSTER for radio— L. W. Baldwin, president, Missouri Pacific Lines. pression sitting down and the very period of stress seemed to be a good one in which to establish our program. We have continued our programs of national advertising and were the only major railroad to carry on such a campaign last year. Now we believe in radio advertising and we believe in advertising over KMOX. A single letter of the type that we receive is sufficient to convince us that we are accomplishing our purpose. In each of the 15-minute programs we include a poem written by Sidney Warren Mase about the different phases of railroading. They glorify the different posts of a railroad man's life and humanize it to the 'nth degree. These are attractively reproduced and are sent out after each broadcast upon request. These requests have nearly swamped us, but the number of the letters that accompany them are gratifying and a further indication that we are succeeding. We are getting over our message that we are "a service institution" and a human corporation. We are making the listeners realize that we are personally interested in our communities and the welfare and happiness of our patrons. Succeeding in that, the returns in volume of business will be forthcoming, we earnestly believe. Standard Oil Program Divided Between Nets, Features Stellar Talent THE FIVE STAR theater, jointly sponsored by Standard Oil of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Louisiana and the Colonial Beacon Oil Co., made its air debut Nov. 28, beginning one of the most elaborate and comprehensive radio accounts ever signed. Both NBC and CBS figure in the series, scheduled for five nights a week for 13 weeks. Five separate programs are to be broadcast on successive nights. They will be heard over an NBC-WJZ network on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., EST, and over a CBS network each Tuesday and Thursday at 10 p.m., EST. Groucho and Chico Marx, of the celebrated Marx Brothers, made their radio debut in the series of Monday night comedy sketches over NBC Nov. 28. Josef Bonime, directing a specially assembled symphony, presents the Tuesday night broadcasts over CBS, the first program featuring John Charles Thomas as guest soloist. Other guests will appear on succeeding Tuesdays. The Wednesday night series, over NBC, will feature dramatized short stories, including the works of such authors as Rex Beach, Fannie Hurst, Ben Ames Williams and Ursula Parrott. On Thursdays, the Aborn Opera Company will present light operas, including a number of the popular favorites. The Friday p r o gram, over NBC, features the Charlie Chan (Chinese detective) stories of Earl Derr Biggers. The McCann-Erickson agency, handling the account, held a party at the Waldorf-Astoria, Nov. 22, for the radio press to introduce to the newspapermen Groucho and Chico Marx. December 1, 1932 • BROADCASTING "Radio Center" "RADIO CENTER" is the name of a railroad station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Line. It was so named after the transmitter site of KSTP, about 17 miles from St. Paul, which is just opposite the station. Page 15