Broadcasting (July - Dec 1940)

How the War Affects Radio Listening Surveys ShoM^ Set Use Keeps Qose Pace With News By C. E. HOOPER C. E. Hooper Inc. THE WAR in Europe has cast its shadow over the American scene. It has affected the thoughts, the emotions, the hopes and the fears of America's millions. It has also affected their activities, and radio listening habits have not been exempt from change. For radio is more than a medium for entertainment or for advertising. It is a medium for the dissemination of news. We have seen the radio audience increase during national elections as America held its breath for the latest returns. We have seen the radio audience increase during presidential speeches when America is wondering what stand the President will take on an important issue. Lately we have seen increased audiences as America was roused by the lightning moves of a former Bavarian paperhanger. The degree of increase in radio listening coincident to the development of any given "news situation" is one guide to the general interest in, of emotional response to, that situation. Consider the following table of radio listening percentages showing "set use" for the "normal" years 1937-39 (averaged) compared with 1940. The percentages are averages by months covering the evening periods from 7:00-10:30 p.m. They are the result of calling more than a million homes in the Hooper Control Area.* "SERENADE" to a sunrise "slugfest" might well be the title of this picture which shows Vic Rugh, sports and special events director of KFBI, Wichita, as he reported the first 5 a.m. ball game in the annuals of the sport at the Kansas State semi-pro tournament in Wichita. Having broadcast the night game the day before, Rugh slept in the press box of tbe ballpark in order to be on hand for the milkman's matinee. lines for the days represented in each period: January, 1940 : Increase Above Normal (1937-39) 10.2%. Headline Summary : Red Divisions Wiped Out in Finland ! Chamberlain Pledges Support for Finns ! Aerial Warfare Between England and Germany ! February, 1940 : Increase Above Normal (1937-39) 12.6%. Headline Summary : Finland Repulses New Advances ! Terroristic Bombing Raids Average "Sets-in-Use" Comparisons, 1937-39 and 1940 January February March April May June 1937-39 Averaged 34.4% 34.8 33.3 31.5 26.9 22.8 19 UO 37.9% 39.2 37.7 39.6 31.6 25.6 Point Increase 3.5 4.4 4.4 8.1 4.7 2.8 Percent Increase 10.2% 12.6 13.2 25.7 17.5 12.3 The minimum difference between 22.8% and 25.6% for June or even the maximum difference in the April findings of 31.5% and 39.6% may not seem, at first glance, to be particularly significant. It is well to remember, however, that each percentage point, if projected literally to total radio homes, represents something over a quarter of a million families. It follows that three-fotirths of a million homes were involved in the June comparison, and that two and a quarter million homes were represented by the increase in April, 1940 over the average for the three preceding Aprils. Headlines and Listening Now let us dramatize the timetable of increases in listening by adding a summation of news head *The Hooper Control Area includes a group of 17 cities within the "Basic Network Area" where programming, time of reception, and competitive broadcasting conditions, are relatively uniform. on Finland ! Welles Sent on Peace Tour ! March, 1940 : Increase Above Normal (1937-39) 13.2%. Headline Summary : Finns Peace Emissary in Berlin ! Italy Protests Blockade ! Allies May Send Army to Finland ! British Fly Over Poland! April, 1940 : Increase Above Normal (1937-39) 25.7%. Headline Summary: War Raging in Norway ! Germans Capture Oslo ! Big Battle in Skaggerak ! Nazi Transports Sunk ! Nazi Warships Bottled up in Oslo Harbor ! May, 1940 : Increase Above Normal (1937-39) 17.5%. Headline Summary : Hitler Orders March on Narvik ! Ouster of Chamberlain Demanded ! German Driven Back in Rotterdam ! Dutch Open Dikes ! Germans Bomb Brussels and Amsterdam ! June, 1940 : Increase Above Normal (1937-39) 12.3%. Headline Summary : 335,000 Allied Troops Rescued in Flanders ! Nazis in Drive to Seize Paris ! Hundreds of Nazi Tanks Destroyed ! Air Raid on Berlin ! Italy Declares War and Invades France ! Then, Too Much War! The listening crescendo reached a climax in April, although the headlines have become increasingly dramatic right up to the present. Why the comparative decline in May listening and again in June? Two probable reasons undoubtedly contribute to the explanation of the phenomenon. The first is that American nerves have probably rebelled at hearing too much war news. The emotional peak has passed; and may not again be reached unless events in some future time strike "nearer home". The second possible reason is quite different in character. Listening to, just like broadcasting of, war news has probably assumed a more regular pattern since April than in the preceding months. Moreover, many mnst be virtually repetitions of the previous news broadcasts. This has resulted in tuning in and out of scheduled news programs rather than continuous tuning to catch news flashes, plus concentration on those programs considered the best. There follows a list showing comparatively the number of weekly scheduled-in-advance news periods, or programs, covering late afternoon and evening hours for New York stations as listed by one of the consumer publications. Keep in mind that in April, 1938 the total was 97. No. of Scheduled Month News Periods January, 1940 181 February, 1940 199 March, 1940 205 April, 1940 209 May, 1940 238 June, 1940 253 News Becomes Routine A comparison of the listening percentages with the number of scheduled news programs seems primarily to indicate that news broadcasts are on a more orderly basis, and that listening to late news is merely a matter of consulting the radio log in a newspaper. There are relatively few periods during which news cannot be found listed for some stations. During the earlier months of the year there almost certainly were as many or perhaps even more news periods than in June, but at that time fewer were scheduled in advance. News flashes tended rather to interrupt or to cut short other programs. Now, when we want news, we know where to find it. It is probably that our interest in the European war news has not waned a great deal. Audiences to individual long established news programs have not shown decreases in spite of the overall increase in news broadcasting. As an example (for Raymond Gram Swing) the ratings, based on total homes called, have been by months : January, 1940 8.4 February, 1940 8.1 March, 1940 8.8 April, 1940 12.7 May, 1940 13.6 June, 1940 14.5 Whatever may be the cause, we predict that average "set use" will continue at a higher level as long as events in Europe are front page news. Defense Program Meeting Delays But Progress Is Made Despite Shortage in Some Lines THOUGH the FCC is making "excellent progress" in the establishment of its national defense field organization, financed by a $1,600,000 budget procured from the national defense fund, delays are being caused by shortage of certain types of monitoring equipment and lack of qualified personnel. The goal is to establish a 24hour communications watch, with monitoring equipment capable of keeping under constant surveillance all radio operations. The defense program is being carried out under the direction of FCC Chief Engineer Ewell K. Jett and George Sterling, assistant chief of the field section. Chairman James Lawrence Fly, at his July 22 press conference, praised Lieut. Jett's organization of the field operations. Foreign Tongue Check A number of foreign language broadcast programs have been recorded by field stations and the FCC plans to increase this phase of its operations, to discover possible improper activities. It also is surveying all international programs to this country to determine their content, the freqtiencies used and the relative signal strength of such stations in various parts of the country. Activities of monitoring stations are being accelerated as new equipment and personnel are procured. When the organization is completed there will be a complete network of monitoring stations, flanked by mobile units, spanning the radio communications and broadcasting spectrums. Applications for positions as radio operators are now beginning to flow into the FCC, as a result of the arrangement made with the Civil Service Commission permitting employment of such personnel temporarily pending examination. Moreover, brief training courses of the regular FCC field personnel have been completed at the school established in Baltimore, and these inspectors are now back on their regular assignments. The FCC already has purchased about $150,000 in radio equipment, including receiving apparatus, dual-type recorders, direction finders and accessory devices, now being delivered to designated field offices. The program contemplates expenditure of several hundred thousand dollars in additional monitoring and related apparatus. WCBS, WAKR to Blue TWO additions to the Blue Network—WCBS, Springfield, 111., and the projected new WAKR, Akron — have been announced by NBC, bringing the total number of NBC affiliates to 195. WCBS, operating with 250 watts on 1420 kc, becomes a Bltie supplementary station Aug. 1. WAKR, with 1,000 watts on 1530 kc, will join the basic Blue about Oct. 1. WCBS will be offered at a base network rate of $80 per evening hour, WAKR at $140. JEROME SCHWARTZ, CBS HoUywood continuity writer, has sold radio rights to his first book, "Oscar the Ostrich", to Arch Oboler. Page 76 • August 1, 1940 BROADCASTING • Broadcast Advertising