Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1942)

follow such shows as Jack Benjiy, Take It or Leave It, Kaltenborn, Elmer Davis, Information Please and the Ford Sunday Ej'ening Hour. Here in Birmingham we have three radio stations, and we use all three almost equally. \\ hen we have a radio intention, we decide on the type of progiam ^\e want and the time we need. Then we go shopping. The station that pro\ides us with the best time gets the business. A sponsor, to be successful on the air, must give considerable thought to what is the right time for him. The best radio time for us is Sundav afternoon, or on weekdays before 10:00 A.M. ^Ve practice what we preach. On Sunday, for example, listeners over AVBRC hear our House of Dreams at 12:30 P.M. At l:oO P.M. they hear our Guess What Program, used to promote the Mens Clothing department. (And I might point oiu that sales here are up 45 percent.) At 2:00 P.M. we put on The Family Doctor in the interests of our Prescription department. (Sales are up 40 percent.) These are our Sundav progiams on only one station. We have others, too. including a solid hour of classical music. Of coinse there is no sure-fire guide to the successful use of radio. A\'e ourselves have tried all types of programs. Some of them have lasted: others we ha\ e had to abandon. Once we used a Parade of Talent, a Siuiday 45-minute show, in v.'hich we tried to uncover and give opportunity to Alabama talent. It started off like a house afire. AVithin a month we received 13.500 letters a week solicited on a *'\'ote for the Best" basis. It was gland while it lasted, and we broke all records for mail received by any BiiTQingham station on any radio program in their history. But sad to relate, we ran out of talent. That show is now in temporary retirement. A radio program need not be pretentious to be an effective sales booster. In fact, most of ours have been rather simple in their plan. But in e\erv case, we slant our programs to boost some one particular department. So, for that rea Xo recent convert to the use of radio is Edward Henry Hunvald. Back in 1927, when he was publicity director for Lowensteiifs in Memphis, Tenn., he was such a pioneer in the field of radio advertising that on one occasion he claims to have had more peijormers in the studio than there were families with radio sets. Because he plays golf, pool, billiards, bridge, chess and rolls a mean ball at bowling, he sometimes wonders how he g-ets the time and energy for his work. Avocation: listening to the radio, and all five radios in his home are on constantly. During the programs themselves, his two children, Edward, Jr., 13, and Irene, 16, may raise all the racket they want without arousing the parental wrath. But they have to be quiet as mice for the station breaks: adman Hunvald is on the alert for his commercials, and doesn't want to miss a word of them, come what may. son. we have separate progiams for mail order, mens clothing, basement apparel, prescriptions, the optical department, and the major appliance depaitment, to mention only a few. Tliiee years ago, our major appliance department did S25.000 worth of business a year. It will hit 5300,000 this yearl Of course not all of this is due to radio, but a great deal of it can be attributed to this one medium. Two progiams push this department. In Hit Parade, the department manager tells about major appliances between recordings. In the second program, John Tuggle. the Singing Salesman, sings hymns over ^VBRC. Do ^\ e believe in radio? At the present time we have 15 different programs. That should answer the question. And we hope to have more in the future. It pays I JANUARY, 1942