Broadcasting (Apr - Jun 1949)

MRS. BENJAMIN R. RIGGS (center), personnel director of Porteous, Mitchell & Braun, Portland, describes store's successful use of radio to Fay Clark (r), AWB District 1 chairman, at fourth annual meeting of New England women broadcasters in Boston. At left is Dorothy Campbell who conducts Porteous' Betty Mitchell show on WGAN Portland. AWB DIST. 1 MEET INCREASING importance of women broadcasters in a buyer's market and the need to sell radio as a medium was stressed by speakers at all sessions of the fourth annual convention of District 1, Assn. of Women Broadcasters, in Boston May 13-14 [Broadcasting, May 9]. It was the first AWB meeting to be held since * the group became a full-fledged department of NAB. Addressing delegates from all sections of New England, Craig Lawrence, general manager of WCOP Boston, told the women they must direct their actions to promoting broadcasting as a medium and to selling the merchandise and services radio advertises. Although today's changing economy is taking us away from the \U4 BOOMERANG! I'm sorry I ever heard of KXOK. My life is miserable. You see, I bragged to the boss about our program's low-cost-per-Hooper point on KXOK, like you suggested, and he just grinned like a Cheshire and said: "That proves what you can do when you really try. Now go into all our markets and get as good a buy as you did on KXOK." You and I know that's tough to do . . . but how can I convince the Boss? On-The-Spot Dear On-The-Spot: Your Boss situation is going to be much worse. Wait till he finds out KXOK's high Hooper position during March, 1949. When KXOK's rates are balanced with its share of audience, the combination is terrific. You and I know, the base hourly rate on Station "A" is 57% higher than KXOK's, and Station "B" has a base rate 32% higher . . . yet they delivered only 15% and 2.4% more audience during March. Better not mention KXOK's powerful signal at 630 on the dial, reaches 115 counties in six states, daytime, in midAmerica. KXOK, St. Louis 630 on the dial A "John Blair" station Basic ABC 5,000 Watts GOING-AWAY gift is presented to retiring AWB District 1 Chairman Fay Clark of WBIS Bristol by Mildred Bailey (foreground), WCOP Boston, at convention breakfast given for New England women delegates by WEEI Boston. L to r: Pat Griffith, NAB director of women's activities; Miss ClarkJulie Chase, WTAG Worcester; Miss Bailey; Wynne Casey, WJOY Burlington; Julie Blake, WMUR Manchester; and Marguerite Staples, WTVL Waterville. Lawrence, Riggs, Fellows Spepk lush days of the war years, "we don't have to be afraid in radio," he declared. "Radio had its most fruitful days during the depression when it went through its adolescence and adulthood, and we're better prepared now than we were then." He offered a three-point plan for selling women's programs: 1. Devote constant effort and imagination to program technique so that more women will want to listen. 60 to 80% of the women are home during the day, but only 20 to 30% of the radio sets are on in the Boston area, he said. 2. Those who prepare copy as well as those who are on the air should do a more aggressive selling job of advertised products on the air. Make people think and act the way you want them to and there won't be any need to worry about increased competition from other media, he advised. 3. Cultivate and develop new business from those who haven't been using broadcast advertising or who only use it sporadically. There's a great reservoir of advertisers who don't know the results radio can get and it's the job of women broadcasters as well as sales departments to explain the broadcast medium to them. Mrs. Benjamin A. Riggs, personnel director of Porteous, Mitchell & Braun, department store in Portland, Me., described the store's experiences with the Betty Mitchell program, a daily 10-minute morning show on WGAN Portland. Although the store's radio advertising is usually tied up with newspaper and other promotion so that it is difficult to separate the results of each, she said that items which arrived too late for printed ads gave the store a definite picture of the show's success. Mrs. Riggs admonished radio salesmen who merely try to sell time to retailers without understanding their problems or offering time segments and programs that best meet their particular needs. Harold E. Fellows, general manager of WEEI Boston and District 1 director of NAB, told the group the new AWB position within NAB brought them closer to management and that this was important because the industry "must get down to brass tacks and the closer you are the better idea you'll have of the realism of the situation." Pat Griffith, NAB director of women's activities and AWB executive secretary, also placed emphasis on the advertising angle in the Saturday morning session. She told of the sales and advertising manual, called "The Feminine Touch," which NAB is preparing for women's programs. Wilder Addresses Discussing "Social Research and Radio," Frances Farmer Wilder, vice president and director of Social Research Inc., told the delegates that if they know what American women are striving for, their impact on their audience will be stronger. During a panel discussion of "Women on Both Sides of the Microphone," Sally Larkin, vice president of H. B. Humphrey Agency, Boston, declared the rea son some commercials don't go to women's programs is because agen cies aren't given enough presenta tions on the shows. Also on the panel were Herbert m WIDE BLANKET COVERAGE, CONCENTRATED AUDIENCE, BEST PROGRAM FACILITIES, AND NOW 5000 WATT OUTPUT ! JOS. WEED & CO. 350 Madison Ave., New York, Can Tell You More About C H N S HALIFAX NOVA SCOTIA Page 58 • May 23, 1949 BROADCASTING • Telecasting