Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1949)

SHOWMANSHIP IN ACTION Showmanship Stars in Anniversary Party Showmanship utilized to the nth degree paid off in the largest "studio" audience in the history of the Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio tri-state area for station WSAZ's Silver Anniversary radio broadcast. The special Anniversary Jubilee celebration was the program was already tuned to the station. All newspaper advertising was given the distinctive touch by the consistent use of large swash call letters with the line: "Most of the listeners most of the time" immediately beneath it and a cut of an American Broadcasting Company microphone and]the message "Dial 930" bracketing it. Taxi and car cards were also used, telling the message of "Twenty-five years on the air." The week preceding the show, WSAZ also used the following ways of telling its story: switchboard operators answered all calls with "WSAZ, your Silver Anniversary station . . ."; all station identifications were given with Anniversary tie-ins; chain break and minute announcements concerning the various contests, plus institutional announcements, were given daily. Anniversary party for station WSAZ marking silver anniversary radio broac'cast aired before the largest crowd in the thirtysix-year log of Huntington's City Auditorium. An idea of the buildup prior to the broadcast and of the station's pulling power is indicated by the fact that every person phoned during the give-away segment of The Huntington City Auditorium displayed a huge, thirty-foot "Jubilee" sign over its entrance which was floodlighted the evening of the show. The interior was decorated with "shield" placards finished in blue and silver with sparkling center lines. The backdrop of the stage was further 24 RADIO SHOWMANSHIP