NAB reports (Mar-Dec 1933)

The National Association of Broadcasters NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING ***** WASHINGTON, D. C. PHILIP G. LOUCKS, Managing Director NAB REPORTS ★ ★ ★ ★ Copyright, 1933, The National Association of Broadcasters Vo/. I No. 31 Sep/ It, ms PROCEEDINGS SECOND ANNUAL MEETING Commercial Section NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS June 27, 1933, Grand Rapids Michigan TUESDAY MORNING SESSION June 27, 1933 The Second Annual Meeting of the Commercial Section of the National Association of Broadcasters convened in Com¬ mittee room D of the Civic Auditorium, Grand Rapids, Michi¬ gan, at ten o’clock, the Chairman, Mr. H. K. Carpenter, of WPTF, Raleigh, North Carolina, presiding. CHAIRMAN CARPENTER: We are just two minutes late, let’s get started. I think for the benefit of some of you who do not under¬ stand quite fully the purpose of our meeting, I had better say that the Commercial Section is an outgrowth of the old Commercial Committee of the National Association of Broad¬ casters. Our Association, belongs to the Advertising Federa¬ tion of America and because our connection with it is the result of our commercial activities, the Commercial Section meetings are held in connection with the annual conventions of the Advertising Federation of America. I should say also that the action taken by this Section can only be in the form of recommendations or resolutions to the Board of Directors or to the Association as a whole at their convention in the fall. No action can be taken here which is binding upon the members of the Association. If you feel any definite action is necessary, let us have it in the form of recommendations or resolutions which we can pass on to the Board of Directors or to the Association. We have told the men who are to speak that they are to present possibly a formal paper up to a certain point, but the main object of this meeting is to discuss all the things you want to discuss. We have outlined as far as we knew the things that you -would like to discuss, but if there are some, things that are not on that outline, please feel free to bring up the matter at the proper time. I would like to warn the speakers that it is perfectly all right with me if they are asked embarrassing questions. You go ahead and ask as many questions as you want, embarrassing or otherwise. With those preliminary remarks, I would like to get right down into the work without wasting any time. Our first sub¬ ject is “Station Promotion — The Key to Successful Operation in Broadcasting,” discussion led by John Patt, of WGAR, Cleveland, Ohio. (Applause) * * * Mr. Patt presented his prepared paper (Paper No. 1), with the following interpolation, page 6 : At this point, I want to call attention to one of the pieces of station promotion that I have seen during the past year, a series of talks given by my colleague, Leo Fitzpatrick, over WJR, during the past season on Sunday nights. Mr. Fitz¬ patrick in that series of talks, in a layman’s language, takes up all of the various phases of the broadcasting industry and discusses them with the public and invites their questions each week. For any broadcaster or any advertising agency men or advertisers who would like a copy, we will be very glad to have one sent. (Applause) “STATION PROMOTION— THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL OPERATION IN BROADCASTING” By JOHN PATT Last Fall the committee on station promotion of the N.A.B., of which I had been made chairman, sponsored a most compre¬ hensive report dealing with the many elements of promotion in relation to the broadcasting industry. In that report we came to the conclusion that the broadcaster who does not con¬ tribute to the grow’th and development of his station will meet with eventual extinction and that, conversely, it is true that promotional efforts have brought progressive stations financial success, better assignments of power and frequency, increasing listener attention and higher standards of public service. There is perhaps little that I can add to the report sub¬ mitted at that time and, which was later reprinted in several trade journals. Nevertheless, the job of promotion is not one which stops at any particular point, but like evolution itself is constantly changing and developing. Promotion literally means to move forward. It is in the degree or rapidity with which we move forward, and in the methods by which we advance the popularity and prestige of our stations, that we achieve an ascending level of individual station prominence. Then, too, as we elevate our own com¬ panies in listener attention and advertiser recognition, we contribute immeasurably to the power and general recognition of broadcasting as an industry, a profession and an art. The National Association of Broadcasters can assume an ex¬ tremely important part in the elevation of the broadcasting industry as a whole, through an interchange of ideas employed successfully by individual stations and which may be profitably utilized in other sections of the country by other individual broadcasters. Last Fall our report dealt mostly with the major divisions of station promotion, including display advertising, publicity activities and broadcast forms of promotion. Under display advertising we estimated that between two and three millions of dollars were invested annually in advertising by radio sta¬ tions in direct mail, trade papers, newspapers, magazines, billboards, car cards and novelties. The greatest expenditure was found to be direct mail, since a survey showed that there was scarcely a commercial broadcaster who did not send out mailings to selected lists of loeal and national accounts and their agencies. Nevertheless, an ever-increasing amount of money was beinj: devoted to advertising in our own trade papers, daily newspapers, national magazines, billboards and street ear cards. Examples of activity in all of these lines throughout the country were included in that report. It is hardly necessary to note that such promotion has not only continued, but increased during the past few months. With most of these media we have had considerable experience and some success in promoting the interests of our own stations, WGAR in Cleveland and WJR in Detroit, and we hope that our promotional efforts have reflected credit on the broadcast¬ ing business as a whole. We know that WGAR, less than three years old, which is known to its listeners as the “Friendly Station,” has made rapid strides in number of listeners, in audience attention and interest, in advertiser acceptance and in volume of business, largely through the partial, if not com . Page 139 .