Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

Big Grocery Firm Gains in Good Will, Trade With Radio Store Officials do Announcing For Sponsors on WILM By H. P. BRIDGE, Jr. RADIO advertising of a unique sort has helped Hearn Brothers, well-known independent grocers of Wilmington, Delaware, kill two birds with one stone. In the first place, the programs have played an important part in the general merchandising campaign which has helped them forge steadily ahead, depression or no depression. Secondly, by having the various department managers do the announcing, it has given them a greater pride and personal interest in the business. And, incidentally, the latter feature has lent an unusual slant to the broadcasts as well as increased the number of regular listeners by the addition of friends and relatives of the various employes who are always eager to hear what the latter say and how they say it when their turn "on the air" rolls around. Newsy Chats BETWEEN vocal and instrumental numbers of a popular nature, for instance, the head butcher gave a brief, newsy chat on his association with the business, putting emphasis on the quality of meats selected and the sanitary methods under which they are handled. Other members of the store force, which consists of forty-five men and women, dealt with their activities and the close connection between these and the housewife's work of managing her home economically and efficiently. Announcements were kept short and to the point, each one being carefully prepared by the management in collaboration with the employe who was to deliver it. Broadcasts are carried weekly over WILM on a 13-week basis. They are of 15 minutes duration. Business Spurts THIRTEEN years ago when Stanley and his brother, Luther Hearn, started their grocery store, business for the first year totalled $50,000. Today, the average monthly volume almost reaches this figure— about $40,000 to be more exact— and this despite the fact that, for the past seven years, a large chain store unit has been fighting for business just two doors away. Aggressive merchandising and particular attention to the personal equation that is so important in an independent business such as Hearns' have played no small part in their success, despite the fact that the store's trade is largely confined to a single neighborhood and the suggestion of radio advertising might have been cast aside because of reluctance to pay for "waste circulation." As in the case of any growing business, there has been no real waste. It was merely a case of some "circulation" being more valuable than the rest — but all of it very much worth while to a business that is constantly expanding its services and looking to still further progress in the future. UP-TO-MINUTE RADIO SURVEY John Shepard, III, Initiates Idea of Checking Program Tuned-in When Phone Inquiry Is Made A NEW TYPE of radio survey, designed to check listening habits more accurately than has been possible by methods heretofore used, has been introduced through the initiative of John Shepard, III, head of Shepard Broadcasting Service. Radio surveys to tabulate listener preference invariably have been based on opinions of the past rather than facts of the present. It was felt that any method involving memory, or attempting to generalize on a particular fact, was only comparatively accurate. Walter Mann & Staff, who conducted the survey for Mr. Shepard, devised a method to overcome this obvious defect. Basic Question IT WAS decided that all interviews should be by telephone and that the basic question asked should be the name of the station or program (if any) that was actually turned on at the time the telephone bell rang. The interviews were carried on continuously from nine in the morning until 10 o'clock at night for a period of seven consecutive days. The interviewers were specially trained, and they had written instructions as to what to say and do. They worked under a supervisor who saw that calls were properly made and checked the replies to see that stations and programs as given by the responders corresponded. To insure an unbiased survey the interviewers were not told for whom the survey was being made, but were instructed to get the absolute facts regardless of what they might be. Sample of Question GREAT CARE was exercised in questioning the responders. If an interviewer gives an inkling that he or she hopes to develop certain facts, the responders are apt to try to please the interviewer, and in so doing bias the survey. The actual questions asked therefore avoided any hint that this was a station popularity check. Here is a sample of the questions asked: "Good morning (afternoon, or evening). This is the Radio Research Association. We are trying to find out what people are listening to on their radios at this time of day. Would you mind telling me — Have you a radio?" (If the responder answers in the affirmative, the girl confines) — "Was it turned on when you answered the telephone?" (If the responder still answers in the affirmative, the girl then continues) "Would you mind telling me to what you were listening?" (If the responder mentions the name of the program, the girl then asks) — -"Do you know what station that program is on?" (If the responder on the other hand mentions the name of the station, the girl asks) — "Do you know what the program is?" (In this way, we are able to assure ourselves that the responder is really giving the accurate response.) 12,400 Replies Recorded TWELVE thousand four hundred and four interviews were actually recorded in gathering data sufficient for figuring the popularity percentages of the Boston stations. Naturally several thousand additional calls were made in order to obtain this number of responses. Lines were busy, or there was no answer, or the person did not wish to respond, there was no radio in the house, or it was out of order. Throughout the survey, the one line of questioning was adhered to — not what station do you think you listen to most, but what station were you actually listening to when the telephone bell rang? Special Early Morning Rate Dropped by NBC SPECIAL rate offerings to sponsors taking the early morning periods before 9 a. m. on NBC have been withdrawn, and all daytime rates are now on the same basis, Roy C. Witmer, sales vice president, has informed all advertisers and agencies. Effective Aug. 1, all daytime rates (12 midnight to 6 p. m.) are half the evening rate, which is in force from 6 p. m. to 12 midnight. A new rate card showing the adjustment has been mailed. "Conclusive evidence in the form of a vast amount of response to programs broadcast prior to 9 a. m., and in turn confirmed by numerous surveys, indicates the existence of a regular and attentive audience of proportions at least equal to that of other daytime periods," Mr. Witmer's letter said. "In consequence the special network rate heretofore quoted for such service is no longer justified." Double Announcers KOIL, Council Bluffs and Omaha, has found its two-announcer system so satisfactory it will be continued. This station, like so many others who found programs hard to sell the past six months, has solicited and received a great many announcements. To get the maximum attention for these, in addition to backing them with excellent sustaining entertainment, KOIL put on two announcers, so the change in voices would demand attention, eliminating "unconscious listening." RCA Income THE RADIO Corporation of America and its subsidiaries earned gross income of $36,542,163 and net income of $219,405 during the first six months of this year, according to announcement by David Sarnoff, president. For the same period last year gross income totalled $47,973,727 and net income amounted to $2,638,703. St. Louis Post Office Sponsors Educational Programs Over KM OX KMOX, St. Louis, boasts the most unusual advertiser in the country, viz., the United States Post Office. For the first time in the history of broadcasting, a radio station has been chosen to educate the public regarding the service of the mail handling branch of the Federal government. The first program of the educational series was broadcast over KMOX, Aug. 2, by the parcel post division of the St. Louis post office, and subsequent broadcasts follow each Tuesday night at 8:30 o'clock. The series is offered on a sustaining basis. A. J. Michener, St. Louis postmaster, widely known as "the airminded postmaster" for his work in building up the air mail systems and for his seven-hour flight from St. Louis to Havana with Major James Doolittle, is principal speaker on the programs. The Letter Carriers' Band of 35 pieces, under the direction of John H. McClure; the 30 members of the Post Office Mandolin Club, under the direction of Gerhard Kelsch, and Emerson Brown, popular baritone soloist, furnish the musical portions. The chief purpose of the broadcasts over KMOX is to bring widespread knowledge of the little known facts regarding the interesting phases of the U. S. mail and parcel post division service. The St. Louis post office has printed 32 by 24 inch placards to advertise the programs by means of displays on all delivery trucks and at all branch postal stations. The signs read: "Tune in on KMOX Tuesdays, 8:30 to 9 p. m., for the Educational Programs Sponsored by the Post Office." Ben Pratt Elevated BEN K. PRATT, in charge of special publicity work with the Chicago division of NBC, was given the title of director of public relations, effective Aug. 1. A. R. Williamson, for the last five years manager of the network's Chicago press department, will continue in that capacity, but under the supervision of Pratt. Pratt has been associated with NBC in Chicago for the last two years. KFPY Appeals THE PETITION for a stay order filed by KFPY, Spokane, seeking to have stayed the Radio Commission decision granting KSEI, Pocatello, Idaho, authority to change frequency from 900 to 890 kc. was denied Aug. 2 by the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia. The Spokane station also was an applicant for 890 kc, one of the Canadian-shared regionals relinquished by Canada under the agreement reached last May. Simultaneously, KFPY filed an appeal with the Court from the Commission's decision, now pending. WRBL, Columbus, Ga., was authorized by the Radio Commission on Aug. 5 to increase its power from 50 to 100 watts on 1200 kc. Page 12 BROADCASTING • August 15, 1932 1