Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1944)

home about and these letters to the home markets are an important part of a coordinated advertising effort. Advertisers have come to realize that the purchase of radio time is only the first step. To guarantee success in double-step time, it is important to back up a radio offering with plenty of merchandising and promotion. Drug Stares TARGET FOR TONIGHT Big question for the Hamilton Rexall Drug Store, Great Falls, Mont.: do quiz shows pull audiences, sell merchandise? The answer comes up to a thousand strong when Hamilton Rexall lines up the sights on its Target for Tonight over KFBB. Between 500 and 1,000 people jam-pack the local USO for a chance to participate in an informal pre-broadcast quiz, and a first hand gander at the 30-miniUe show in action. Military quiz from the USO stage features a quiz fight-to-the-finish between two picked teams of soldiers. Each fourman team represents individual Air Force installations. Teams alternately ward off the barrage of questions. Contest between the two rival fields carries on from week to WTek. As the contestant approaches the microphone, he draws a number from a sack. AVith numbers ranging from one to 300, the size of the numeral determines the relative difficulty of the question to be popped. A correctly answered Incendiary question is worth 100 points. A team that successfully handles a Demolition question is 200 points to the good. A Block-buster question is worth 300 points. Examples: Incendiary Question: "In what country is Mandalay famed in song?" A.— Burma. Demolition Qiiestion: "What war President was by profession a college president?" A.— Woodrow Wilson. B lock-busier Qii estion : "What was the first indication Robinson Crusoe found that his island was inhabited?" A.— Footprint on the sand. Team that drops the greatest weight of bombs, ie, successfully answers the greatest number of questions, piles up the most points, gets the honors. It isn't only a great big hand from buddies in the audience that the winners rate in Target for Tonight. Winners take their pick of sponsor furnished prizes. \Vhat the losers put in their pipes, smoke: free movie passes (also given to winners) and packages of cigarettes. Catch as catch can, the show is unrehearsed. To establish identity of contestants, quiz-master Le Roy Stahl directs questions in the first round to each master brain on his work in the Air Forces, his previous civilian experiences, and about his home town. AV^hen an answer connects with target, there's a loud boom. An equally loud razzberry follows a miss. Commercial copy is cut from the institutional cloth, and while no direct merchandising appeals are made, sponsor has noticed a marked increase in soldier trade since Target for Tonight became the AVednesday night rendevous for the men in uniform. AIR FAX: Announcer George Chance aims the commercials and program announcements, makes certain each hits the listener target. First Broadcast: August 4, 1943. Broadcast Schedule: Wednesday, 8:30-9:00 P.M. Preceded By: Great Moments in Music. Followed By: News. Sponsor: Hamilton Rexall Drug Store. Station: KFBB, Great Falls, Mont. Power: 5,000 watts. Population: 29,928. COMMENT: Proof of the radio iorniula that a good local show embodying a good idea well carried out will gain listener acceptance and sell merchandise are programs of this kind. Series here builds soldier morale. (For pic, see Shoxomanscoops, p. 20.) JANUARY, 1944 29