Sponsor (Nov 1946-Oct 1947)

use of broadcasting. "Unfortunately, the operation hasn't begun to make itself felt." That's the way the new head of one of the biggest billers of broadcast advertising in the agency field said it. Quotes : "Broadcast advertising can be sold as a field by the NAB and it should be. Only an association can forget the individual sale and approach the problem as an industry one." — New businessman for a small agency in Baltimore. "Without broadcast advertising, American radio as we know it just wouldn't be. Therefore it seems to me that the NAB's first job is to sell broadcasting as an advertising medium." — Timebuyer for an agency with headquarters in St. Louis. "It is impossible to get too far away from the fact that no division of a trade association can get very far beyond its budget. NAB hasn't given its bureau of broadcast advertising any real money to spend. Actually it has squeezed the maximum results out of every nickel it has spent in this direction." — Radio director of an important New Orleans agency. "It takes money to get business. NAB isn't spending it in that direction." — Advertising manager of a radio set manufacturer. BMB EVALUATIONS (Continued from pige 35) have forced us into other mediums, despite the fact that broadcasting was doing a job for us. Without a BMB or its equivalent we would never have had the answers to spot coverage that our sales department was consistently requesting. Without definite information on where the stations we were using could be heard, it would have been impossible for the sales promotion department to place point-of-sale material properly or to arrange for distribution that would parallel our air advertising. "Before BMB, we placed a great deal of broadcast advertising with a hope and a prayer. If things started to get tough a hope and a prayer wouldn't be sufficient and we'd spend our advertising dollar where we could see its results." This advertising man pointed out that figures which, like BMB's, are a year old (it takes about eight months to process the BMB ballot-type of survey), aren't ideal. At the same time he agreed that any coverage figures that were comparative were good. He noted that even the Audit Bureau of Circulation figures cover periods that are more than six months old. As to the type of figures and information delivered by BMB, there is plenty of hedging on the part of both agencies and sponsors. Both groups want figures that will tell them at a glance the average audience expectancy that their programs would have on each station or network. Several agency research men report that they have developed formulas enabling them to ascertain listener-expectancy figures from BMB data. These men admit that their formulas need more testing and question whether or not it is within the scope of the BMB to project figures. Other research men stress the fact that few agencies or sponsors have radio research departments large or capable enough to handle the "higher mathematics" required to convert the "raw figures" of BMB into audienceexpectsncy figures for a program. These latter men were of the opinion that the Broadcast Measurement Bureau must devise research methods so simple that the "figure haters" will understand and use them. . . . . . . and that the sooner the NAB becomes just one of the associations operating BMB the better. Quotes: "BMB has to live and grow. It must be made financially strong enough to be tough and independent." — Advertising manager of sponsor spending next to the top money for spot radio. "BMB must not permit itself to be a football of either Hooper or Nielsen. Publicity linking the organization with (Please turn to p.ige 85) SEPTEMBER 1947 81