Sponsor (Nov 1946-Oct 1947)

i urn pi 1:1 ii m nil i PUBLIC service on local stations is worth while commercially in two v.. In one case the pay-off is direct igh theadv actually Bpons a community gestun In the other case public service is profitable because it develops a bond between the station and the ana ii serves. The greater the bond. reater the audience oPthe station and the better job it docs for the man who paj s the bills. Recentlj The Katz Agency, station reps \vh<> are noted for going beyond straight time selling, decided to publish a dictionary ol public si rvice programing. The idea was to present a book that would enable stations to have at (heir finger tips all the known variations on "service in the public interest" theme. Each station was asked to list its outstanding public service program with full details on what it was, what it had accomplished, and all details that contributed to making it a topper. The book, it now develops, may never be published because the programs submitted fell into too few classifications. However, despite the limitations of the survey, it uncovered the fact that there is plenty of public service being broadcast via commercial programs, and in many cases the commercial local public service program is the one that has done the finest community service. Thirty-seven stations reported that their number one public service program was a farm show. Eleven of these were commercial. Of those that were sustaining, only 3 were available for sponsorship, the balance being "withheld from sale" because of a number of factors which ranged from the tact that the presentation revolved around the "county agent" who was unavailable for sponsorship to the station's wanting a sustaining record of service. While feed and milling companies logically predominate among sponsors of farm programs, they are by no means alone as sponsors of this type of air service. At KFRE, Fresno, California, for instance, the Saturday program is jointly sponsored by a bank, a milk co-op. and a cottonseed oil company. At WRY. Oklahoma City. Oklahoma, it's the local gas and electric company that pays the bills foi the Save the Soil Proving that the non-sponsorship of a count i a local problem. Your : is underwritten on KDLR, Devi l \ I)., bj a clothing sb machine supply house, and a drug firm. In Buffalo, N. Y . it's the Buffalo Housewrecking Company that pays the bills lor hall oi the WGR Farmers' Musical :iiac. Veteran job and (|uestu>n programs have been top commercial programs wherever they have been offered tor sale. Among the 23 job programs selected by their originating station^ as top-flight public scrvi, . fo] vi I < rails, 'i were underwritten. Over KIEM, Eureka. California, a wholesale fish firm found it profitable to pay for Jobs For Veterans. Twelve Vancouver. Washington, merchants conbined to pay for a 3-timea-weeker, Yets Unlimited. At WQAM, Miami, Florida, an appliance company paid tin bills for Veterans Available, and thus reduced availability. There was plenty of imagination used by tin stations m these ex-service man broadcasts. A public service company on KYOR. Colorado Springs, was behind The Veteran Starts a Business. The mayor of Rock Island bought a G. I. job show on WHBF, after he heard the first broadcast. KNOW, Austin. Texas; WTAG, Worcester, Mas-: KALE, Portland. Oregon: WCSC, Charleston, S. C: KFRO, Longview, Texas; and WBAB, Atlantic City, N. J.; all producing top-notch job-getting shows and made them better by having them promoted by firms who had a personal interest in the shows because they sponsored them. The same was true with the Vet Question programs, where the stations submitted as top-drawer material 25 programs of which 10 were underwritten and 15 were withheld from sponsorship. Of the 15 there were bids from sponsors for 7. In many i as in the case of the Free State Brewery of Baltimore, the advertiser accepted sponsorghip credits as satisfactory and sold no products. The results in this case, as reported by the station. WITH, were more than okay. The check list of sponsored programs that answered veteran questions includes: S I VI ION SI'()\S()K Men's clothing store Anderson Jewelry San Diego (.as tfc Electric KLPN Minot. V I). KDYL Salt l.ake Qt3 KCI5 San DiegO, Calif WK.NE keen. V H. WCED DuBoia, Pa. WRNL Richmond. Va. KFJZ Ft. Worth. Tex. \\IN(, Dayton, Ohio K.THT Houston. Tex. [Please (urn to page 58) Participating DuBois Auto Sales National Biscuit T. E. Mercer Coca Cola Bottler Banks and Insurance Co's. "QUOTES" "If you don't hear from that big delicious dinner you ate, everything's fine." (tums) Pot of Gold, ABC, October 9, Roche, Williams & Cleaty " The size and shape of your pocketbook have nothing to do with the size and shape of your feet." (thom mcan) Harry Clark (News), CBS, September 25, Neff-Rogow "Don't work on your way to work." (AMERICAN TRANSIT association) Spotlight on America, MBS, October 4, Owen & Chappell "Bumper to bumper service." (PURE oil) H. V. Kaltenborn, NBC, October 7, Leo Burnett Co., Inc. "You can be a woman that men notice — or — you can be just a woman." (ivory soap) Mystety of the Week, CBS, Septembet 25, Compton Advertising "I'm here to groom hairs, not split them." (vitalis) Alan Young Show, NBC, Octobet 4, Young & Rubicam 56 SPONSOR