Broadcasting (July - Dec 1936)

Natural Programs Give Banks a Good Radio Opportunity Quickest Way to Dispel Fears And Sell Bank Services By CHARLES B. ROTH* Professor of Advertising University of Denver IN ALL THE history of advertising there has never been anything quite like radio in rapid development and the possibilities for earning a profit for advertisers. When you consider that its phenomenal growth — from practically nothing in 1926 to a gross volume for time alone of over $89,000,000 in 1935 — has taken place within ten years, it means only one thing : That radio advertising, properly conducted, pays the advertiser. I don't know of any one who has the opportunity to make it pay better than the banker. He seems to be occupying a strategic position with respect to radio advertising. If he uses radio in the right way, selecting the right program, specifying the right time, carrying out the right follow-up, I cannot see anything but profit in his use of this new medium. It is possible now to reach practically three-fourths of the families in the United States by means of radio broadcasting, for of the 31,030,300 families, 22,869,000 are radio families. New sets are being sold at the rate of over 4,000,000 a year, exclusive of the 1,000,000 new automobile radio sets that go on America's cars. In the Public Ear WHEN the banker decides to go on the air with a program, all that he is doing is astutely linking up with a form of advertising which is very much in public consciousness and attention. With the right program, any money he invests should be profitable for him in the form of increased prestige and in actually increased business. Many years ago those keen scientific minded advertisers who test every step in advertising before they take it, determined that radio was like any other medium in this, that the copy is the thing. Now, copy in radio means program. Advertisers who have found the right program have been making radio pay from the very first. To make it pay the banker must likewise search until he finds a program which is both philosophically and commercially correct. Radio advertising experts group programs in four classes. Types of Programs FIRST is the non-entertainment program. This is typified by the various home economics programs of utility companies, flour millers, and others, as well as by personal shoppers' talks of department stores, etc. Next is the straight entertainment program, embracing perhaps 80 per cent of all radio offerings. With a program of this type, the advertiser thinks first of entertaining his audience, and then of injecting his advertising message at the beginning of the program, or in the center, or at the end, or in all three places. Examples: Amos and Andy, all * Reprinted from Financial Advertisers Association Bulletin. The Big Broadcast Of 1936 Aerial Bombardment Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch dance orchestras, nearly all dramatic shows. The third class is known as the forced natural. It is the tyne of program in which the advertiser strives to build a natural relationship between his product or his service and the entertainment part of his program. You have listened to the dexterous way Jack Benny drags in the name of Jello and its famous flavors. That is an example of the forced natural. Elsie Janis did the same thing for her oil company sponsor. Phil Baker is still doing it for Gulf Oil Corporation. The fourth class, rarest of all, and, according to the scientists of radio advertising, the most valuable of all if properly handled, is the natural program. The natural program is one which by its very nature fits in so perfectly with the advertiser or his product or service that, when his program is broadcast, it suggests him or what he sells. Death Valley Days, a dramatic presentation for the Twenty Mule Team Borax Co., is a classic example of the natural. The March of Time, when sponsored by Time magazine, is another. Most program builders, if they know their business, are trying all the time to find a program which falls into the natural class. Occasionally some shrewd program man succeeds. It seems to me that the banker's problem here is comparatively simple, and that if he will do a little straight advertising thinking, it won't be hard for him to find a program of this desirable class — a natural. Found : A Natural IT IS COMMONLY accepted that the banker is the man to whom people go for financial advice. Therefore these people will listen readily to the advice from a banker having a bearing upon their financial welfare. Let the banker address himself to them over the air in terms of advice which will influence and improve their financial condition and they will not only listen; they will believe and act. A perfectly natural program for the banker, and one which would undoubtedly pay its way from the start, would consist of some interesting philosophical type of program having a bearing on the economic welfare of the listener. A program of this kind with a WJAY Post Resigned By Edythe Fern Melrose EDYTHE FERN MELROSE, for the last two years general manager of WJAY, Cleveland, has relinquished that post coincident with the consolidation on Oct. 24 of the studios of the station with those of WHK, Cleveland. Both stations are controlled by the Cleveland Plain-Dealer through a subsidiary corporation. H. K. Carpenter, general manager of WHK, has taken over management of WJAY, a daylight station. While her plans have not been definitely announced, it is understood that Mrs. Melrose shortly will become general manager of a group of stations in the Midwest, which will align for cooperative sale of time. One of the few woman radio executives, Mrs. Melrose is well known in the industry. It was indicated there would be other changes on the WJAY staff. Rates also will be revised. C. A. McLaughlin, sales manager of WHK, has taken over similar functions for WJAY. Harry H. Stair of the WHK sales staff, has resigned to join the New York State Network, keyed from WINS, New York, as Detroit manager. He has been with WHK for the last seven years and prior to that was on the sales staff of the Plain-Dealer. New Swift Spot Drive SWIFT & Co., Chicago (All Sweet margerine), starts an announcement campaign in the South and Southwest on Nov. 9 on 22 stations. Schedule calls for six announcements weekly from Nov. 9 to Dec. 4; three weekly from Dec. 7 to 18; six weekly from Jan. 11 to Feb. 5, and three weekly from Feb. 8 to March 19. Jingle contests, listeners to complete jingles printed on forms obtainable from dealers, will be conducted in connection with the broadcasts during the six-a-week sessions. Stations are WAPI, WALA, WJAX, WQAM, WDAE, WSB, WGST, WTOC, KWKH, WWL, WJDX, WWMC, WPTF, WIS, WFAA, KTRH, WOAI, KTHS, WIBW, KFH, WSFA, KARK. J. Walter Thompson, Chicago, is agency. SOCONY-VACUUM OIL Co., New York, on Oct. 26 began a new series of UP five-minute news reports on WOKO, Albany, three times a day, seven days a week, for an indefinite period. J. Sterling Getchell Inc., New York, placed the account. few words of financial horse sense at the beginning and at the end to constitute the advertising or commercial part of the offering, would be easy and inexpensive to produce and would almost certainly dispose the listeners favorably toward the banker and his institution. I said in beginning this article that I did not know of anyone who has the opportunity of accomplishing so much with the use of radio as the banker. Quicker than in any other way he can use it to dispel many of the financial doubts that assail his patrons now; surer than in almost any other way he can use it to sell the services of his institution. But these benefits will only come, as I have indicated, after the program has been carefully selected to carry out the idea of the banker's business and his part in the welfare of his community. Committee Shifts Likely in Congress Complexion of Committees in Charge of Radio Impending CHANGES in the makeup of the Senate and House Interstate Commerce Committees, which have control over radio legislation, are due to result from the Nov. 3 election. On the Senate committee the death of Senator Couzens of Michigan removed the ranking Republican from that body. This places Senator Metcalf of Rhode Island, if he is reelected, in the position of ranking minority member. Another change will be that of Senator Benson (Farmer-Labor — Minn.) who withdrew from the Senate to run for governor. Senator Benson during the last session of Congress had aligned himself on the Democratic side of the committee. To succeed Senator Couzens, it is believed that Senator Vandenberg (R.Mich.) is a good possibility. The Michigan Republican because of the recent "recorded" campaign broadcast controversy would probably be an interested observer of broadcasting regulation if he should seek this committee post. Senator White of Maine, another Republican, who is ranked as the ablest radio student in Congress, was reelected in September. On the Democratic side Senator Neely of West Virginia, is the only member to face the voters. The House Interstate Commerce Committee may have a new chairman if Rep. Sam Rayburn of Texas becomes an aspirant for the House Speakership or majority leader and is successful in such a race. The next in line for chairman is Representative Lea (D-Cal.) up for reelection and the next ranking Democrat is Rep. Crosser of Ohio. Three Democratic members of the House committee already have been eliminated from that body — Rep. Huddleston of Alabama was defeated in the primary; Rep. Corning of New York did not seek reelection and Rep. Monaghan of Montana was an unsuccessful contender for the Senate. Rep. Monaghan has been an advocate of partial government control or ownership of broadcasting in several bills which he sponsored. WTCN Gets Full Time COINCIDENT with the granting of the 760 kc. frequency for daytime operation to WLB, of the University of Minnesota, and WCAL, of St. Olaf College, the FCC Broadcast Division on Oct. 20 awarded full time on 1250 kc. to WTCN Minneapolis, which is owned jointly by the St. Paul Dispatch-Pioneer Pi-ess and the Minneapolis Tribune. WLB at Minneapolis and WCAL at Northfield, Minn., were shifted from the 1250 kc. frequency, the former to operate with 5,000 watts two-thirds daytime and the latter with the same power the remaining onethird daytime. WTCN, with 5,000 watts day and 1,000 watts night, formerly operated six-sevenths time on 1250 kc, the remaining time being divided between the two universities. The 760 kc. channel is the clear channel at night of WJZ, New York. BROADCASTING • Broadcast Advertising November 1, 1936 • Page 37