U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1960)

soundings NBC Spot Measures Role Of Public Service Programming The results of the latest NBC Spot Sales survey — this one on public service programming — is set for April release. In its sixth opinion study, NBC Sjjot is asking 1,200 agency timebuycrs their attitudes towards public service fare. Through a questionnaire, the organization essentially is seeking to find out how agencies feel about the advertising potential of public service programming. Related issues deal with attitudes regarding controversial programming and the relative importance of the atmosphere surrounding a conunercial message. KMOX St. Louis Drops Afternoon Music for Talk Chevrolet Dealers Get Radio Mileage From Olympics Bright Summer Ahead Seen by RAB's Sweeney In a move that bears watching, KMOX St. Louis has dropped all weekday record programs from 3 to 7 p.m. The action, according to Robert Hyland, vice president and general manager, is to provide listeners with "programming that is provocative, informative and purposeful." The four-hour show, called At Your Service, is divided into three parts. The first hour will feature telephone questions from listeners posed directly to a different civic leader each day (Mayor Raymond Tucker was scheduled to be the first) . The second hour will include such things as celebrity interviews, comedy skits, news remotes and Hollywood news. The last two hours will be devoted to news in depth, featuring world, national and local news, sports and weather bureau reports and CBS Radio features. The Chevrolet Dealers of Southern California, in what must be one of the most intensive uses of local radio tied to a national event, bought time on 63 am and fm stations in Southern California to present up-tothe minute results of the winter Olympic games. The dealers' agency, Eisaman, Johns 8c Laws, Hollywood, provided the stations with opening and closing copy, with the latest wire results dropped in by station newscasters. The agency states that this buy encompassed "every am and fm station in Southern California." The games were held at Squaw Valley, Calif., February 18 through 28. An all-time radio listening peak this summer is forecast by Kevin B. Sweeney, president of Radio Advertising Bureau. He states that the average U. S. family will be "spending nearly an hour more per day with their radio sets than they spend during the average winter day." Mr. Sweeney predicts there will be at least 300 million hours additional weekly radio listening in July than in February. Pulse/Adam Young Continue 'Advertiser Area' Measurements Buoyed by evidence of increasing agency interest in the "advertiser area" concept, Adam Young Inc. and WPOP Hartford, Conn., have commissioned Pulse to take the measurement of radio listening in the Hartford area next month. Results will probably be released in May. This would make the third city to have a survey taken using the "advertiser area" technique (see Report from Representatives, January 1960). The first two cities were Tulsa and Pittsburgh, Pa. Nighttime Radio Power Lies In Selective Timebuying Can nighttime radio work for national advertisers? Long the domain of local clients, nighttime radio is starting to stir the attention of potential national users (see Nighttime Companion, p. 25). Those who have used it successfully have concentrated on reaching a specialized audience segment. Gillette places 60 percent of radio budget in nighttime to reach young males just beginning to shave; Hamilton Watch Co. uses nighttime to reach an audience that can afford a minimimi of |60 for a new watch (see Good Music Sells Better Watches, p. 36) . U. S. RADIO • March 19C0