Broadcasting (July - Dec 1939)

Radio Found to Be Superior As a Medium for Cigarettes College Survey Shows Broadcasts Far Outstrip Competing Media in Return-Per-Dollar COMPLETE superiority of radio as an advertising medium for cigarettes is shown in a survey recently completed at Kansas State College. Surprising power of broadcast news programs is revealed in a second survey at the college, with radio ranking a shade below newspapers as the public's main source of news. A third survey analyzes the effectiveness of different types of commercial continuities. So far ahead of other media was radio, the survey indicated, that it offered advertisers twice as much return per dollar spent on cigarette advertising as magazines offer, and nearly six times the return per dollar spent for newspaper advertising. The individual research studies of the commercial and program side of broadcasting were completed recently by three Kansas State College students as part of their regular studies under H. B. Summers, instructor in radio broadcasting at the Manhattan, Kan., school. The surveys also were entered in competition for a $25 annual prize for the best piece of student research relating to broadcasting offered by WIBW, Topeka, and Senator Arthur Capper, its OAvner. First prize this year was won by Elton Pieplow for his study of consumer recall ability of advertising in various media. Radio Far Ahead Mr. Pieplow's survey indicated that with consumer recall ability for radio averaging far above other media, and with only 17.7% of the cigarette manufacturers' advertising expenditures going for radio advertising "the advertiser is getting, in consumer recall ability, nearly six times the return per dollar spent for radio advertising that he receives per dollar spent in newspapers". Based on interviews with 768 cigarette buyers in five Kansas towns, the study showed that of 577 men answering, 78% recalled a radio advertisement for their particular brand of cigarette during the preceding week, 49% recalled a magazine advertisement, 39%) a newspaper advertisement, and 33%) a billboard advertisement. Of 191 women buyers, 73% recalled a radio advertisement during the preceding week, 47% a magazine ad, 39% a newspaper ad, and 24% a billboard. Responses to another question, whether an advertisement previous to the month preceding could be recalled, showed a slight general percentage decline, although the ratio remained substantially the same between the various media. "While there was some variation in the results obtained in different towns, the figures were fairly consistent," Mr. Pieplow explained in his report. "Radio was in first place in every town in which interviews were made. Of course, the complete significance of the results hinges on the amounts spent for advertising in the various media. Twice as Much "It was impossible to discover how much had been spent in each media in the Kansas area; and agencies handling the tobacco accounts refused information as to total amounts being spent currently in different media over the nation. In 1937, however, total appropriations of the manufacturers of the four leading ciearette brands were about $5,000,000 for radio. $9,000.000 for magazines, and $14,000,000 for newspapers ; and it can be fairly assumed that the proportions have not varied greatly in 1938 or for the early months of 1939. "If the assumption is correct that the comparative amounts spent on radio, magazine, and newspaper ad Waring' S N. Y. Repeat LIGGETT & MYERS Tobacco Co., New York (Chesterfield), which sponsors Fred Waring five times weekly on NBC-Red from 7:15 to 7:30 p.m. (EDST), is giving the program a second hearing in the New York area for 13 weeks on WJZ, the NBC-Blue station in New York, 11:05-11:15 p.m., the time of the program's rebroadcast for the Midwest and Coast. This second broadcast in New York has been included in the Liggett & Myers contract wdth NBC and is not a test to determine listener interest in the area. Newell-Emmett Co., New York, handles the account. vertising in the spring of 1939 are in proportion to the amounts spent in 1937 — the percentages would be 17.7 for radio, 31.7 for magazines, and 50.6 for newspapers — the advertiser is getting, in consumer recall ability, roughly twice the return per dollar spent in magazines that he receives per dollar spent in newspapers, and nearly six times the return per dollar spent for radio advertising that he receives per dollar spent in newspapers. "Miscellaneous facts discovered Thriving Summer Business on Networks Brings June Total to All-Time Record NETWORK reports of advertisine revenue for June give continued evidence that national advertisers are staying on the air this summer in greater number than ever before and that the annual radio summer slump is ranidlv becoming a thinq of the past. Combined gross time sales of the nationwide networks for the month, best June in network historv. total $6,470,770, a rise of 17.1% above the $5,524,476 total for June, 1938. Cumulative billings for the first six months of the year, $41,141,990, show a gain of 8.4% over the same period last year, when the billings totaled $37,948,408. Individually, as collectively, each network reports the best June in its history. CBS, with $2,860,180 for the month, as compared with $2,121,495 for the same month a year ago, shows an increase of 34.8%. For the year to date CBS has a total gross billing of $16,918,818, a gain of 8.6% from th° $15,.582,555 billed in the first half of 1938. Mutual billings for June were $228,186, up 12.7% over the $202,412 billed in June, 1938. For the half-year period MBS cumulative billings total $1,624,235, beating last year's figure of $1,342,179 by 21 9r. NBC's June total was $3,382,404, which may be broken down into $2,624,657 for advertisers using the Red network and $757,747 for the Blue. The June 1939 figure beats that of $3,200,569 billed by NBC in the same month a vear ago bv 5.7%. For the half-year, NBC shows cumulative billings of $22,.598,937 in 1939, against $21,023,674 in 1938, an increase of 7.5%. Cumulative Red billings for 1939 to date are $17,234,147; Blue billings total $5,364,790. Gross Monthly Time Sales NBC % Gain 1939 over 1938 1933 Jan. $4,033,900 6.3% $3,793,516 Feb. 3.748.695 7.2 3.498,053 March 4.170.852 9.6 3.806.831 April 3.560.984 7.6 3,310,505 Mav 3.702.102 8.4 3.414.200 June 3.382,404 5.7 3.200,-569 CBS Jan. 2.674.057 —7.1 2.879.945 Feb. 2.541,542 —5 2 2.680.335 March 2.925,684 —3.6 3,034.317 Anril 2.854.026 17.7 2,424,180 Mav 3.063.329 25.4 2.442.283 June 2,860,180 34.8 2.121.495 MBS Jan. 315,078 16.7 269,894 Feb. 276.605 9.2 253,250 March 306.976 31.8 232,877 .A.pril 262,626 38.6 189.545 May 234.764 20.9 194.201 June 228,186 12.7 202,412 'We keep them out there to fill in just in case the phonograph From CLICK hreaks down in tabulating replies include: A number of buyers who could not recall advertisements seen or heard during the previous week could recall advertisements seen or heard more than a month previously. Women showed lower ability to recall advertisements of cigarettes than did men; this was especially true in the case of billboard advertisements. Little variation is discoverable between brand preferences of men and of women. And finally, there was little or no variation in either brand preferences or in ability to recall advertising in various media, between buyers in large or small tov^ms." Reaction to News The study of listener reactions to news broadcasts, conducted by Frank E. Woolf and based on personal interviews with 415 persons living in and near Topeka, indicated that 50% of those interviewed get their news chiefly from daily newspapers, 47% from radio newscasts, 2% from news magazines, and the remaining 1% from their neighbors. Of this number only 8% said they did not listen to an average of one news broadcast a day, while 36% averaged one newscast per day, 34% two, and 22% three or more. With peak news listening during the 12-1 p. m. period, followed by 6-7 p. m., 9-11 p. m. and 7-8 a. m., 71% said they get their radio news from a single station, while the remaining 29% listened to newscasts over various stations. A preference for a particular news announcer was registered by 23% of those interviewed, with reasons for preference ranging from liking the announcer's voice to approving the manner in which he handled his news items. Polled on their favorite type of news broadcast, 17% preferred the short, five-minute "headline" type, with few details; 38% preferred a quarter-hour broadcast, with important items presented in detail; 29% preferred a dramatized news form in the March of Time style, and 16% preferred a combination of different types, in most cases the quarter-hour program with some items dramatized. Preferences in Commercials The third survey, conducted by Donnasue Loymeyer showed a distinct preference for informal dialog plugs. It was based on the expressed reactions of 500 adult radio listeners to five different types of spot commercial announcements, and was designed to discover whether there is a significant relationship between the type or form of the commercial and listener attention. Most popular of the five continuity types was a dramatic dialogue, presenting a husband-andwife scene, with a percentage rating of 69.5; second, formal announcement, preceded by an attention-getter in which a second voice is used, 65.8; third, informal announcement, with one speaker using the first person, 57.3; fourth, conventional "formal" announcement using a single voice, 45.9, and fifth, formal style, with two speakers presenting alternate sections, 44.1%. BROADCASTING • Broadcast Advertising July 15, 1939 • Page 27