U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1960)

Slyle Guide NOW,.. Reprints of selected articles and features in U.S. RADIO are available in the above form. Other articles and features in U.S. Radio can be reprinted for your use at nominal cost. For complete details write — Reprint's U.S. RADIO 50 West 57th Street, New York 19, N. Y. report on Fm: Market for 'Class' And New Products Evidence coniiniies to mount indicating that Ini radio is putting on enough "weight and speed" to make a serious bid tor "first-team" status. Ideniilying Im as the "Finest Market," Dave Kimble, senior account executive at Grey Advertising Agency Inc., New York, presents some interesting huts to support this contention. "Fm radio," Mr. Kimble says, "presents two distinct opportunities h)r advertisers: (1) For the seller of the 'Cadillac' type of product, the luxury, 'class' product. (2) For the seller of any new or renewed product in any field ... in order to get to the 'highly mobile' trend-setters who are so influential on the tastes of the rest of the populace." Having discussed the size of the fm market in an address last month at the Association of Advertising Men & Women, Mr. Kimble says that there are now 15 million sets in use, "bigger than the circulation of the biggest class or mass consumer magazine — with nearly a million more sets produced and imported here last year alone. And fm equip pcd-automobiles are coming up last." He also states that fm has a national penetration of "more than 25 percent — heavily concentrated in the valuable major markets, with New York at 57.1 percent, Boston at 50 percent, Los Angeles at 48 percent, San Francisco at 47 percent." Turning to fm station growth, Mr. Kimble points out that the total has risen from 530 outlets in 1956 to an authorized total of nearly 800 by the end of 1959 (see Airwaves, p. 3). Another indication of fm station strength, he notes, is that the number of grants in 1959 broke a 10-year record, and that the number of fm station fall-offs (22) established a 10-year low. Turning to the question of audience loyalty, Mr. Kimble illustrates his point with a Pulse study done lor the QXR Network. The results show that "G8.5 percent of (its) listeners tune in (am) radio less than an hour a day, and 57.4 percent watch tv less than an hour a day . . . while spending an average of five and one-half hours a day with fm weekdays, and four and two-third hours a day during the weekend." Admitting that qualitative research in the fm market is still primarily restricted to local and regional findings, Mr. Kimble believes that what is known is highly indicative of the medium's potential. "Figures from the Good Music Broadcasters, the QXR Network, the Fm Association of Southern California and a number of individual stations, all tend to portray a similar profile of this listener to specialized fm programming: • Most family income ranges upwards of $7,500, many over $15,000. • Most are between 30 and 55 years of age — averaging about 40. • Most attended college — many also look post-graduate courses. • Their occupations tend to be professional and managerial in nature. • Their favorite magazines seem to be of the Saturday Review, New Yorker, Atlantic breed. • Their musical preferences start with symphony music and continue through chamber music, opera and classic, and jazz. "Most important," Mr. Kimble continues, "the loyal listener to specialized fm radio tends to be wliat the Opinion Research Corp. terms the 'high mobiles'— the tastemakers and trend-innovators of American society." • • • 54 U. S. RADIO January 1960