Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

I* Radio Advertising: A Fair Appraisal "Fortune" Holds Results Have Supplanted Sensations; Broadcasting Getting Hard-Boiled; Serials Popular By J. D. SECREST AN ENTIRELY fair appraisal of radio as an advertising medium — one that concludes that it is tried and true — is carried in a comprehensive article in the September Fortune. Splendidly illustrated but unsigned, as are most articles in that magazine, the article points out "what three profitable years of depression have done to the Little Lord Fauntleroy of an industry." Among the illustrations are photographs of Messrs. Aylesworth, Paley, McCosker and Crosley as leading executives and of such [ stars as Morton Downey, Ed Wynn, Kate Smith and Charles J. Correll. The business executive, reading this article, must inevitably ponder the probable value of radio to him, if he has not already done so. Specific examples of successes on the radio, from an advertising and merchandising point of view, are recounted, and the partial reasons for the successes are analyzed. Finally, some pertinent criticisms are made of program types, networks and transcriptions. Apologetic Sponsor Passe THE ARTICLE, which confines its survey to the development of radio advertising since 1930, when Fortune published its first appraisal, is divided into three parts: (1) Results, (2) Programs and (3) Aerial Economics. During the last three years the apologetic sponsor has largely disappeared, the article states. Hard pressed by the depression, the advertiser "has become tired of thinking about goodwill or publicity and insists upon thinking about sales." As a result, the tendency has been more and more toward actual sales talks until now "it is only a matter of time until some evening sponsor with a price appeal is going to come out with a flat price quotation. At which time the networks may wring their hands, but they will eventually sign the contract. In so doing, they will also write the epitaph of the apologetic sponsor." Analyzing the amount of time devoted to commercial programs, to sustaining features and to sales talks, Fortune estimates that only about 7 per cent of broadcasting time is consumed in selling efforts. "So even if this 7 per cent were an unmitigated nuisance, the audience would probably stand for it," the article states. "But most of the audience seems actually to like it. Curious is the fact that the sponsor is likely to lose morelisteners by adding a symphony than by adding a sales talk." Hard-Boiled Fauntleroy BROADCASTING, consequently, has become "a Hard-Boiled Fauntleroy," which "will not swear." . . nor "does it like to sing songs of double meaning or doubtful repute. But it is getting tougher, nevertheless." A REMARKABLY unprejudiced and comprehensive review of the development of radio advertising during the depression, or since 1930, is summarized in this article. The original appeared in FORTUNE, the unique industrial periodical. Keen analyses of the reasons for the success of radio advertising, the most effective programs and the costs to sponsors are presented. The magazine also offers a basis for estimating audiences and suggests that transcription chains are threatening the line networks partly because of the low rates paid by the latter to local stations. Declaring that the radio sponsor of 1932 is "infinitely more confident" than that of 1930, Fortune states that radio has already established itself as an advertising medium and that the only question remaining is "how effective is a radio advertisement — with its corollary queries as to what kind of radio program makes the best ad and how programs should be joined together into a campaign and at what cost and the like." The following successful commercial accounts are offered as exhibits of radio's effectiveness in promoting sales: Bourgois, Inc., which was obliged to create an "Evening in Paris" line of cosmetics because of the demand aroused by an "Evening in Paris" radio program; La Gerardine, Inc.; D'Orsay Perfumeries Corp. and Affiliated Products Co. (Edna Wallace Hopper, Kissproof, Neet, et al.) Ideal for Cosmetics "THE COSMETIC industry has been one of the most whole-hearted of broadcasters," the article states, "because cosmetics demand a heavy advertising impetus and partly because radio gives the cosmetician a chance to get something approaching a national campaign (particularly in large cities) for a good deal less than urban newspaper advertising would cost him." The Wander Co. (Ovaltine) the Malted Cereals Co. (Maltex) the G. Washington Coffee Co. (Sherlock Holmes) and Eno Fruit Salts are other advertisers whose gains in sales are attributed to broadcasting. The latter sponsor, whose 1931 sales were by far the greatest in its history and whose sales this year have set a new record each month, has advertised by air alone since inaugurating the Eno Crime Club programs on CBS in February, 1931. Advising advertisers not to expect radio to turn "depression into prosperity," Fortune points out that NBC's revenue in 1931 was only $25,000,000 from advertising as against the Saturday Evening Post's $35,000,000 and that CBS's $11,600,000 was less than the Ladies Home Journal's $12,800,000. Moreover, the gross revenue of all radio stations in the country last year was only $78,000,000, whereas "the ten leading magazines alone sold more than $100,000,000 worth of advertising linage." Efficient • Sales Maker "RADIO appropriations constitute approximately eight cents of the U. S. advertising dollar," the article states, and "can hardly function as a panacea to restore prosperity." On the other hand, "there is evidence to show that radio is an efficient sales maker even when its surrounding circumstances make impossible a precise report isolating its activities." And then the magazine proceeds to quote the results of a questionnaire investigation conducted by Prof. Robert F. Elder, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for CBS. [This report was digested in an article by Prof. Elder in the Nov. 1, 1931, issue of Broadcasting.] Among other things, the Elder survey proved that in every instance except one "every product which had the benefit, of broadcasting was more popular in the radio than in the non-radio homes." It also showed that other nationally known products suffered by the competition in that their sales were less in radio than in non-radio homes. ''With these figures, case histories, and these considerations at hand, the skeptical prospect must at last be convinced that radio's sound and fury may, after all, mean sales definitely attributable to radio's selling power," the appraisal concludes. But "it is immediately obvious in any discussion of aerial results that it is not so much a question of how much air, you as an advertiser buy, but of what vou do with it when you get it. The play is still the thing, on the air as at Avon." Serials Preferred PROGRAM types are discussed under three classifications: studio, name and serial programs. Networks want the studio program, the advertiser wants the name program, while the public may be said to prefer the serial program, the magazine asserts. After discussing the popularity of Amos 'n' Andy, the Sherlock Holmes sketches, the Rise of the Goldbergs and other serials, Fortune says: "The possibility of a mass movement toward serial programs is perhaps the most serious menace to their future. At present, however, the best advice to the potential radio advertiser is to go out and get himself a popular serial. Inasmuch as popular serials do not grow on bushes, he will still have plenty of interest and excitement in his program search." Under the heading of "Aerial Economics" the appraisal takes up the questions of potential audiences, network rates, comparative expenditures for radio and newspaper advertising, talent cost, transcriptions and local stations. Stating that there are about 17,000,000 radio sets in the United States and estimating that each set has an average audience of three and a small fraction adults, Fortune figures that the "broadcaster can theoretically reach about 52,000,000 people." Estimating Audiences AN ADVERTISER that takes time on stations with a 10,000,000 set radius, the article surmises, may estimate his audience thus: Only about 70 per cent of the set owners are using their sets, and how many are tuned in on the program in question depends upon the quality of the broadcast. Figuring three listeners to a set, an average program may have 2,500,000 listeners, an exceptional program may have 4,000,000, and an extraordinary feature may have 6,000,000 in its audience. "Comparisons between the advertiser's radio public and his newspaper and magazine public have often been made, but are so misleading that they are almost entirely worthless," Fortune holds, "and arguments as to the comparative sales value of pages vs. hours reflect only the arguers' prejudices." Quoting from a survey by Media Records, Inc., the article savs that "it illustrates clearly the point that the big air advertisers are also the big publication advertisers and that the two mediums are regarded (Continued on page 26) Tarzan On The Air "TARZAN OF THE APES," the Edgar Rice Burroughs' fiction and cartoon serial, makes its radio bow on various stations this .month. Gotham Advertising Co., New York, announces that Foulds Milling Co., New York (Macaroni products) sponsors the transcription series five times weekly, Monday to Friday, beginning Sept. 12, over WBBM, Chicago, and CKOK, Windsor, Ont. The Logan & Stebbins agency, Los Angeles, is placing it over KPO, San Francisco, for the Signal Oil Co., Los Angeles. WDAF, Kansas City, reports the account starts on that station Sept. 26, coming from the American Radio Features Syndicate, Hollywood. September 15, 1932 • BROADCASTING* Page 15