Broadcasting (Jan - Mar 1950)

li ning and gives a commercial."! More sales are made because radio p-.akes your advertising hit harder . . . knd reaches so many people. Why, America lives with its radio on. ' FRANKLIN — What facts are there ■ ■.o support that? I suppose I can find chem at any of the large advertisers . n America. ' An office building in Cincinnati is showTi in a low angle shot, followed by a shot down a long row bf office doors. One door is labeled ['Procter & Gamble, Information." IFranklin walks in. He finds vast •arrays of charts and other material on radio. They show how much ipeople listen every day, by income ^evel and city size, along with the ■circulation of radio. The P&G icharts follow: [How Much Do They Listen Daily? S. RADIO FAMILY LISTENING BY INCOMES T-'pper Incomes 4 hrs., 13 min. .iMiddle Incomes 4 hrs., 37 min. Lower Incomes 4 hrs., 4.5 min. L*. S. Average 4 hrs., 32 min. (Source — A. C. Nielsen Co.) >; HOW BIG IS RADIO? Hr. S. Families 45,000,000 'Radio Families 42,800,000 f95'"f) ;Auto Families 27,000,000 ( 60<^'f ) f TV Families 7,500,000 (17<7f) Source — BAB Estimates for 1951) HOW MUCH DO THEY LISTEN DAILY ? U. S. FAMILIES LISTENING BY CITY SIZE Metropole Areas 4 hrs., 37 min. Medium Size Cities 4 hrs., 28 min. Small Cities & Rural. . . .4 hrs., 33 min. . U. S. Average 4 hrs., 32 min. (Source — A. C. Nielsen Co.) ' FRANKLIN (after scanning charts ■ carefully) — How much radio has be ■ come part of America — as big as the United States itself. I And now television too — broadcasting's latest development — is also coming to take its place among the great ' media of America. What a universal medium it is — everybody listens — they spend more time listening to radio than doing anything else, except working and sleeping. . But when do they listen? In what j part of the day? A choke close up of a pail of milk dissolves into a stream of milk i hissing into the pail, with a radio and alarm clock on the barn shelf. The clock shows 5:10, and of course its a. m. Other shots show the farmer nodding as an announcer gives the weather and the market reports of a fertilizer company. A rooster shakes his feathers and crows. I Another alarm clock appears, I next to a midget radio. A hand comes in to shut off the . alarm. There is silence in the bedroom of a mechanic and his wife. The voice of an announcer reading a morning, newscast is heard. Outside the window of the suburban home appears a bread truck, making door-to-door deliveries. The same broadcast continues from a radio in the truck. The mechanic's svife brings in a loaf of bread. A little later the whole family sits at breakfast, the mechanic kisses his wife goodbye and pauses briefly to catch the end of the announcer's sentence coming from the kitchen radio. A 7:45 a.m. time signal is heard, followed by a woman's program telling the prices of the day's commodities and suggesting an economical dinner. Moving to a farm house, the camera shows an elderly woman sweeping the porch. She steps back into the house and tunes in a hillbilly band on the radio. Next scene is a Riverside Drive apartment in New York, where a middle-aged woman is polishing glasses to the droll observations of Godfrey as he does a Glass Wax commercial. FRANKLIN — Ah . . . radio tells them about a product at the very time and right in the kitchen — where they use it. In a worker's apartment twin kiddies listen to a swing band broadcast. Mama, woi'king at the stove, listens to a health program about calories in a balanced diet. BOY — Oh, Ma, I don't want any carrots. MOTHER (applying what she's just heard ) — You'll hardly notice the taste in the stew — besides, carrots are good for your eyes, son. Good for your batting average. Mother nods in self-satisfaction. The camera turns to a bocci-ball court in the park, as an Italian leaves his portable radio and gets up to throw. The crowd is obviously foreign. His radio brings an announcement in Italian about a local pasticceria. DISSOLVING again, the screen presents a fleecy cloud scene as the camera pans down to a fishing schooner and then a small cabin cruiser. Close-up comes a luscious gal and her scant bathing suit shows her charms. FRANKLIN — My! Americans don't hide a thing now. A well-to-do young man and the girl enjoy the cruiser's portable radio. They wave as they pass the fishing schooner. Next scene shows the mechanic's wife hanging out the wash as a radio on the window sill gives out a segment of a daytime serial. In a big garage two men are working on an auto and listening to Clem McCarthy's description of a horse race. Seated in an old touring car, an elderly lady makes notes on a paper which turns out to be a racing form. In the parlor of a low-income house a woman is dusting a table and listening to a religious broadcast. A schoolroom scene is built around a historical radio drama. An elderly man, propped up in bed, listens to his radio: There's the pitch. It's a long, hard drive down to right field and it looks good for a . . . no, Blank scoops it up and wings it to second. Jones touches the bag and throws to first — it's a double play. Sore as blazes, the old man shouts at the radio. In the interior of a bus, the pas sengers listen to FM transit radio. One man speaks to the driver: FIRST MAN — Oh, we finally got radio on this bus. 'Bout time. SECOND MAN— It's awful clear. DRIVER— Oh, sure, it's FM and . . . SECOND MAN— FM! Our radio at home has FM in it Traffic jam appears. It's terrific. From car radios come sportscasts, music, serious music, news, the Lone Ranger (it's evening). FRANKLIN — A. man can listen to a radio everywhere he goes — and he does. No one need be lonely anymore. There is entertainment and company all the time and everywhere — something for every mood. The mechanic's children, in their bedroom, listen to the Lone Ranger. Father comes in. The kids kiss him and return to their listening. Other twilight scenes find families listening to their radios. The mechanic's son tunes in his radio homework, a political discussion. In the medium-income home of a large family group (grandma, parents and a bunch of children, all eating ice cream), Bob Hope is wise-cracking via the radio. FRANKLIN — People listen together as well as alone. That must be another reason for radio's great strength. For as any good speaker knows, people respond more when they are together. A well-to-do family listens in a large library to Jack Benny's quips. An elevator operator in a swanky apartment house listens intently to the introduction to The Fat Man program, jumping as the indicator board buzzer shows a penthouse call. On the penthouse terrace overlooking New York City the folks are sitting around in formal garb, talking quite informally. One couple leaves, winding up in a coff"ee shop where they listen to a disc jockey introducing "Good Night Sweetheart." The camera dollies out into the dark night. The finale finds Franklin appearing in a heavenly scene. He's headed upward with a portable radio. After an auditory end title: FRANKLIN — Radio reaches everywhere. It's the only medium that gets into heaven too. Shot of globe turning; voices. JAMES C. PETRILLO (I) president of the American Federation of Musicians, receives a certificate of appreciation from A. W. Woolford, special assistant to the Veterans Administrator, for the AFM's aid in making possible the transcribed radio series Here's to Veterans. The show, according to AFM, is now being heard over 2,200 radio stations, giving it the widest coverage ever achieved by a transcribed program in the U. S. AFRA ELECTION Reel May Be Secretary FRANK REEL, assistant national executive secretary of American Federation of Radio Artists, is expected to be elected AFRA national executive secretary by a referendum of national board members, results of which were to have been tabulated over the past weekend. If chosen, he will fill vacancy caused by resignation of George Heller who took leave of absence from AFRA to head Television Authority. Mr. Heller's job as executive secretary of AFRA's New York local, from which he also took leave, is expected to be filled by his assistant. Ken Groot, by action this week of the local's executive council. FIRST 15 PROGRAM HOOPERATINGS— Jan. 15 Report No of Sta Progrom tions Jack Benny (CBS) 180 Orig. best. 21.8 Added by 2d 2.9* Radio Theafre (CBS) 172 Godfrey's Talent 155 Scouts (CBS) Walter Winchell (ABC) 270 Orig. best. 19.7 Added by 2d 1.5* McGee & Molly (NBC) 165 My Friend Irma (CBS) 150 Bing Crosby (CBS) 179 Bob Hope (NBC) 151 Groucho Marx (CBS) 172 People Are Funny 164 (NBC) Big Town (NBC) 132 Bob Hawk (CBS) 163 Mr. Keen (CBS) 151 Amos 'n' Andy (CBS) 149 Charlie McCarthy 180 (CBS) Orig. best. 14.0 Added by 2d 2.3* * Second broadcast on the tunity to hear program. ** N. W. Ayer producer for Sponsor & Agency Hooper American Tobacco (BBDO) 24.7 Lever Bros. (JWT) 24.3 T. J. Lipton Div.-Lever (Y&R) 22.2 21.2 William R. Warner (K&E) S. C. Johnson & Son (NL&B) 21.0 Pepsodent Div.-Lever (FC&B) 19.3 Liggett & Myers (N-E) 18.7 Lever Bros (BBDO)** 18.0 DeSoto-Plymouth (BBDO) 17.7 B. & W. Tobacco (Seeds) 17.6 Lever Bros. (SSC&B) 17.5 R. J. Reynolds (Esly) 17.0 Whitehall Pharmacol (Murray) J6.4 Lever Bros. (R&R) 16.3 Coca-Cola Co. (D'Arcy) 16.3 some day in some cities provides Surf; JWT for lux toilet soap. YEAR AGO Hooper +or — Pos. 27.6 —2.9 2 27.2 18.8 29.7 25.1 22.7 16.0 22.5 12.0 18.3 15.0 16.1 14.0 19.1 —2.9 3 -1-3.4 10 —8.5 1 — 4.1 —3.4 -1-2.7 — 4.5 -1-5.7 —0.7 -1-2.5 16 +0.9 13 -1-2.4 22 —2.8 9 more than one oppor BROADCASTING • Telecasting January 23, 1950 • Page 21