U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1960)

Earl Sargent, farmers during SHOADCASTS HEdE M KWFT 12 NOON ,«./ |;OS.N DAILY, farm director, KWFT Wichita Falls, Tex., chats his noon-time show, which runs from 12 to 1:05 with p.m. During the annual observance of National Farm and City Week, WCCO Minneapolis has its employees spend time down on the farm. Here, Joyce Lamont, home service director, meets a whiteface Hereford steer. WCCO reports from farm. ward curve for farm radio sales and service." And Noel Rhys, executive vice president, Keystone Broadcasting System Inc., a network of 1,090 stations chiefly in riual areas, declares, "Farm radio programs enjoy consistently high listenership for the very sound reason that no other medium furnishes the local farmer with the daily vital statistics he requires in the conducting of his business, just as the investment broker is dependent upon stock listings. "The farmer has to rely on the local radio station for this needed information and as a result, farm programming is listened to regularly and loyally." More than 900 stations of the Keystone system program to the farmer. Indicative of its faith in farm economics, Keystone estimates that in "the 14 leading agricultural states with the largest number of farms, each state having 150,000 farms or more, it covers 90 percent of the aggregate. The farms in these 14 states constitute 57.1 percent of the total farms in ihe country." The increase in farm business is predicated on the generally healthy state of farming itself, although farm income was slightly down last year. According to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, gross farm income for 1959 was running at the rate of S37 billion for the year, based on figures for the first three quarters; net income for the year was running at the rate of $11.2 billion for the year. This compares with the 1958 figures of 138.3 billion in gross farm income and |13.1 billion in net farm income. It is necessary to point out, however, that the 1958 farm income figgures themselves represented a big jump over 1957 gross income of $34.3 billion and net income of $10.9 billion. At the economic core of farm radio are three component parts: (1) Evidence of consistent radio listening; (2) need and ability of farmers to purchase farm products, and (3) their desire and ability to purchase consinner products. Radio listening by farmers is well (l(Kuiiicmc(l. One example is a study by the Research Division, Nebraska Rural Radio Association Inc., conducted for KRVN Lexington, Nebr. With interviews in 160 households in a 100-milc radius, the study shows that all farm households had at least one radio in working order, with an average of 2.4 sets per home. (The number of households is projected to 66,829.) All farm, households, according to the study, turn their sets on every day; 83.2 jiercent tune in before 8 a.m. During the early morning and noon period, more than 80 percent of the households are listening. The average farm household listens to radio 4.1 hours per day, the study reports. This closely approximates the research by Radio Advertising Bureau which shows that the average farm family spends three hours and 51 minutes listening to radio every day (see Change Down on the Farm, June 1959) . The dollar value of farm expenditures is staggering. Some of the dimensions are illustrated in the special farm radio spot presentation, "Make the Big Reach Even Bigger," which was developed last year by an industry-sponsoring committee. The presentation quotes USDA figures which show that farm operators in 1956 spent $22.1 billion on farm equipment and supplies. The presentation states that farm operators buy more rubber than the big three auto manufacturers put on all the cars they produce in a year. Farm operators are the oil industry's biggest customers. And they also use as much steel as the auto industry puts in four and a quarter million cars. The presentation further points out that farm family living expenditures, according to USDA, came to $15.7 billion in 1955. This includes food, clothing, cars, appliances, cigarettes, among others. It is important to remember that these figures are four and five years old, respectively. There is every reason to believe these totals have risen substantially since then. In fact, sometime later this year, these data will be altered to accommodate the new Census report. One of the key issues that faced farm radio last year — and will undoubtedly kick up a lot of talk this \ear — is the use of shorter sesjments V. S. RADIO February 1960 25