Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

What Housewives Like Most (Continued from page 7) merely a guess, and considerably more information is necessary before a final conclusion can be reached. In the morning, housework is the outstanding reason for inability to listen. This holds true for every morning except Sunday when church is the primary reason for non-listening. Miscellaneous causes hold second place during every morning. These miscellaneous items are such conditions as children sleeping, programs uninteresting, etc. Business activities on the part of housewives are the third outstanding cause of inability to listen in the morning. Conditions which keep the housewife from listening in the afternoon are in order of their importance: miscellaneous, housework, and business pursuits. The conditions which make it impossible for the housewife to listen during the evening are mainly of a social nature, such as the theatre and bridge parties. In the tabulation of results, these were classed under the heading, "miscellaneous." Pleasing the Housewife AFTER the program sponsor has determined the time at which to broadcast, he will find it profitable to ascertain the conditions which govern the housewives' attention during the time of his broadcast. Those conditions of listening which allow the housewife to give the most attention to programs will permit a more lasting and favorably impression to be made upon her memory. During the morning the majority of housewives listen while they are working about the house. In the afternoon sewing and reading seem to compete with the radio programs, while in the evening complete attention to programs is in order. Seventy-nine and one-tenth per cent of the housewives interviewed stated that they gave complete attention during the evening, but it is well to remember that other members of the family often choose the evening programs and this may decrease the effectiveness of an appeal made especially to housewives during the evening hours In general the trend of listening throughout the day is from a great number of interruptions in the morning to almost complete attention in the evening. The question may arise as to whether the housewife can be receptive to advertising while she is working about the house. Probably she is, for she listens to talks to the housewife and she is interested in musical programs, which usually carry brief advertising messages. When the program sponsor knows the type of program which the housewife prefers during the morning, afternoon and evening, his chances of making a strong appeal are greatly increased. In general, housewives prefer morning programs which feature music or which are devoted to menus and recipes. In the afternoon and evening their preferences are music and entertainment. In the cities the greater diversity of interests and the complexities of urban life influence the housewives in the acceptance of a variety of programs. In small communities the scarcity of outside entertainment adds to the desire for more entertainment in radio programs. Business women in the city are interested in many subjects; therefore they request educational talks and talks of general interest. Little Fault-Finding OBJECTIONS which housewives may have to programs should be eliminated, for they leave an unfavorable impression and increase the effort necessary to build up good will for the program. In general, the housewives seem to be satisfied with the present methods of broadcasting as 74 per cent failed to answer that part of the questionnaire which deals with objections to programs. However, this may mean that the housewives are educated to the acceptance of programs in their present form and do not recognize that the elimination of certain parts and customs might greatly improve the present programs. The chief objections stated are: women talking and entertaining and too much advertising. Seven and five-tenths per cent agreed on the first, while two and seventenths made the second objection. Too much jazz and too much talking were the only other objections of importance. In general, the percentage of women voicing objections was too low NORTH CAROLINA LEADS THE SOUTH (IN TOTAL NET SALES, 1930) $744,136,243.00 Broadcasters who use WPTF blanket the rich tobacco belt of North Carolina — where business is always good. You can cultivate the empire state of the South with promise of profits. WESTERN ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT Radio LuresAutoists THE LOST art of buttonholing customers is being revived in radio age style with the advent of radioequipped automobiles, according to Edward K. Cargill, WMAZ, Macon, Ga. The station, he reports, has been making announcements for an automobile repair shop as to service on checking brake alignment and correcting front wheel "shimmy." A tourist on the open road picked up the program while 30-miles away and on reaching Macon drove up to the Georgia Auto Co., told of his announcement and had his car checked up. Power 1000 Watts Frequency 680 kc. Double Western Electric 78's and 33 1/3's WPTF — RALEIGH, N. C. H. K. CARPENTER, Manager R. L. BRIDGER, Commercial Manager New York Office: Lincoln Bldg., 60 E. 42nd Street to warrant any major conclusions as to changes which should be made in programs. The housewives were asked what programs they would like to hear which are not broadcast at the present time. In this respect, they again seem to indicate that they are satisfied or in a state of apathy toward program possibilities. Some requests were made for a change in the time at which certain types of programs are now broadcast. Request for more good music at all times, drama during the afternoon and evening, and more jazz in the morning were the principle desires which were stated. There were a number of requests for sports events during the afternoon. This seems to indicate a rising interest on the part of women in programs of this nature and should be of value to program sponsors at some time in the future. By planning programs along lines suggested by the housewives, some improvement may be made in the technique of making a definite appeal to them. Merchandise credits are the aim of every business man, but no business will succeed which does not render service to its patrons. So too, in broadcasting, service must be given or interest in programs will decrease to a minimum or be limited entirely to entertainment features. The housewives were asked if they had received aid and what type of programs had been of greatest service to them. Rating of Services IT WAS FOUND that 67.4 per cent of the housewives stated that they had been benefitted by programs. The services which they appreciated most were: (1) menus and recipes, (2) child care, (3) health and (4) educational help. The preparation of meals takes up a large portion of every day. Therefore, housewives appreciate any material which will assist them in their culinary duties. Mothers are very interested in the welfare of their children, and urbanization is making child care more and more difficult, so aid which is given in the care of children is readily acceptable by housewives. Health is of vital interest to everyone, especially to the housewives upon whom the duties of caring for the family have been placed. Women in business and women in general have a much broader outlook on life than was formerly the case. Therefore, they are interested in talks of an informative nature, and an appeal based upon them should be acceptable. Benefits which program sponsors can render should be of vital interest to them, for service is an excellent foundation for good will. As to products which housewives have consciously bought because of the influence of radio programs, the results obtained in this survey seem to indicate that a fair majority, 61.8 per cent, have purchased because of the influence exerted through broadcasting channels. Since food and its preparation is an ever present problem to the housewives, their purchases have been made to a great extent in the grocery field. Household supplies, medicine, clothing and cigars and cigarettes have also been extensively purchased. The purchases seem to reflect the aspects of life in which housewives are primarily interested, but there is a possibility that the producers of these products have programs which make a strong appeal to this group. Scientific surveys have solved several important problems in the field of radio advertising. The data obtained from the studies has been of practical value to the program sponsor. He has been able to reduce much of his former inefficiency and thereby increases his return and at the same time render greater service to the listening public. However, there are vital problems left unsolved, the answers to which will aid in the formulation of a scientific procedure for future activities in radio advertising. In the future radio may be replaced by television and with it there will be new problems to be solved. Thus the evolution of human progress continues. Press Promotion by Radio (Continued from page 9) yet of interest to all radio listeners. All announcements are made in English as well as in the native tongues. While these programs have no direct newspaper tie-up, they do create an exceptional amount of goodwill for the owners of the station. Very seldom has the station been called upon to publicize features appearing in the columns of the Journal, and when such efforts are made it is recognized that the program must be of general appeal. An illustration is the program used in connection with a contest in the columns of the Journal in which cartoons depicted various song titles. The logical tie-up was for the station to present a program in which the songs were played. Rather, however, than merely presenting these songs and calling attention to cartoons in which had appeared, the program was evolved with the entertainment idea foremost. That the promotional returns secured from the ownership and operation of WTMJ have justified the management's viewpoint, is indicated by the fact that prior to the ownership of WTMJ the Journal spent considerable sums of money on street car cards, highway signs, illuminated signs, program advertising, movie trailers, and so forth. With the growing popularity of WTMJ, use of these mediums has been lessened or eliminated. Page 30 BROADCASTING • April 15, 1932