Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan - Mar 1951)

I/O RADIO DOOM See" gt Ad Club Meet CRITES HEADS AJJIO and television will move rward side by side, offering high due per advertising dollar, in I Me opinion of two agency officials A #|ho took part in the annual Radio1'V Seminar of the Washington ' d Club, held Tuesday at the Statr Hotel, Washington. Linnea J. Nelson, who retires :;xt month as chief timebuyer of Walter Thompson Co., New York, id George Castleman, vice presi■nt and radio director of Bermingira, Castleman & Pierce, criticized loose remarks and printed ■mments that assign radio to an jirly doom. 5i Miss Nelson, described as Miss -limebuyer, was presented a scroll tribute to her 24 years in timetrying (see photo page 19). ij: The day-long ad club seminar (•ought together a group of adverser, agency and media leaders ho wound up by debating the ;lative merits of media and nally dissecting the whole radioV research structure (see re?arch story page 19). Mr. Castleman took the premise ""pat radio and TV are companion. Pittfhe "death struggle" concept is itirely wrong, he contended. Aclally, he explained, it can be demistrated that both are good buys, : icluding daytime and late-evening 1S$I Revision. Vep He advised timebuyers to acuire a good knowledge of stations nd found too much buying by ue SPOT KIT how NRDGA Winners' Plans AB last week began distributing 40-page "Spot Saturation Sales lit" outlining plans, copy tech: iques and results of radio camaigns of four department stores .hich won awards in the spot ■Saturation division of the 1950 etail radio contest sponsored by ; he National Retail Dry Goods s.~sn. and tho BAB. ; The stores are Joske's of Texas, >an Antonio, which won the grand irize with a six-day campaign for oske Days Sale; George Wyman mi Co., South Bend, first prize with xie 0-day campaign for its 90th Anliversary sale; Pomeroy's Inc., 'ottsville, Pa., second prize with a :daily, year-around campaign for ■ . ?irst Floor Flurries; and Wolf & ;: )essauer, Fort Wayne, third prize vith eight-day campaigns for hree events. _U The kit, distributed to BAB -n embers and available at BAB •ji leadquarters in New York at $1 • ler copy, reports on four features ftjj d' the prize-winning campaigns : 1 ) "How the winning four get I nore from radio spot saturation I campaigns"; (2) "How we sell i vith radio," by Advertising Manner Paul C. Robinson of Wyman's; 3) "How Wyman's radio copy is j . oduced," by Retail Sales Manner Mitchell Morris of WSBT South Bend, and (4) "Radio sales ■ ent advertising techniques." formula. Good stations develop strong trade relations and other qualities that do not show up in ratings, he said. Commercials should be related to product and audience, he reminded. Miss Nelson said she had "no fears whatsoever for the future of broadcasting — either radio or television." She argued, though, that "a great deal can be done to improve radio's overall programming to make it less vulnerable," referring to long and aggressive commercials. Phases Neglected Miss Nelson deplored the fact that the quality and public-service value of the program is completely overlooked by those who fight radio commercialism. Frank E. Pellegrin, Transit Radio sales vice president, recalled a prediction at the NAB Atlantic City convention in 1947 by Charles R. Denny, then FCC chairman, that AM radio would be dead in three years. He reviewed the progress of transit radio and said 90% of its tests had been successful. Among success stories he cited were Whitehall Pharmacal and Kent Jewelers. The joint radio-TV problem was discussed by Edward D. Madden, NAB vice president in charge of television operations and sales. Comparing media costs in Boston, he said radio is the lowest-cost purchase, followed by TV, Life and This Week and then local papers. "Obviously the TV costs per 1,000 will decline, widening the gap between TV and the printed media, and radio costs will rise," he said. "I am convinced that today and for some time to come in the future, there is no other way for the advertiser to achieve, over a period of time, the maximum of 100% family coverage except by the companion use of radio and TV. And at the lower cost." Duinng many of the panel dis cussions, independent and network station participants engaged in a lively duel on relative merits of the two. Ben Strouse, co-chairman of the seminar and manager of WWDC Washington, wrapped up the running debate this way, "All spot radio is local except chain breaks. You buy a good station, not a network or independent." Frequent reference was made to the fact that WWDC, heretofore an independent, will join MBS in March. Among those arguing on behalf of independents were R. C. (Jake) Embrey, WITH Baltimore; Billy Banks, WINX Washington and WHAT Philadelphia; Frank U. Fletcher, WARL Arlington, Va.; Howard Stanley, WEAM Arlington; M. Robert Rogers, WGMS Washington; Joe Brechner, WGAY Silver Spring, Md. Mr. Embrey said his station, following a sports-news-music formula, had strict rules limiting number of commercial words per time segment. Under no circumstances are these rules relaxed, he said, and added that an independent outlet needs better announcers than other stations. William Shaw, CBS Radio Sales eastern sales manager, led a panel on the case for the network station, with George Hartford, WTOP Washington, as chairman. Joining the discussion were Ben Baylor, WMAL Washington; Mahlon Glascock, WRC Washington, and Mr. Strouse. Walter Compton, WTTG (TV) Washington, co-chairman of the seminar with Mr. Strouse, led the TV panel at which Mr. Madden was speaker. On the panel were Kenneth Berkeley, WMAL TV; John S. Hayes, WTOP-TV, and William R. McAndrew, WNBW (TV), all Washington. The radio-TV timebuying panel, with Mr. Castleman as speaker, was led by Mr. Baylor. Panel mem Mr. Crites General Mills Radio-TV LOWRY H. CRITES has been named director of radio and television programming for General Mills, Minneapolis, S. C. Gale, vice president in charge of advertising, announced last week. Mr. Crites continues a s advertising comptroller and media director. Mr. Crites has hired Henry Cox, former program manager at ABC New York, as his assistant, with the title of manager of radio and television programming [Broadcasting • Telecasting, Feb. 19]. Mr. Crites has been associated with General Mills since 1929, when he joined the statistical department in Wichita Falls, Tex. He was transferred to Minneapolis headquarters in 1940 as advertising comptroller, and in 1942 was given additional responsibility as media director. His former supervision of the advertising production and premium department, coupon service and advertising warehouse is now handled by George S. Barnes. Mr. Barnes is also advertising manager of general flour and feeds, farm service and special commodities activities. Among other changes announced by Mr. Gale is the appointment of A. Wells Wilbor, former market analyst director, as coordinator of Betty Crocker activities for the firm. Gordon A. Hughes, former manager of market analysis, takes Mr. Wilbor's former position. bers were Harwood Martin, Harwood Martin Adv. Agency; Jeff Abel, Henry J. Kaufman & Assoc.; Alvin Miller, Cohen & Miller; Henry Kronstadt, Kronstadt Adv. Agency. An FM panel was led by Mr. (Continued on page SU) RATE ISSUE May Be Revived by ANA 5ROADCASTING • Telecasting ASSN. of National Advertisers, whose campaign against radio rates last summer stirred up widespread opposition and was finally abandoned, may revive the issue next month, when it holds its 42d spring meeting March 28-30 at the Homestead, Hot Springs, Va. A new radio rate study within the ANA organization, now in progress, is expected to be completed in time for the Hot Springs sessions. New Factors Considered The new survey, covering radio rates in TV markets, also is understood to take account of changes in radio tune-in resulting from the Korean war and the national emergency [Closed Circuit, Jan. 1]. Last summer's campaign, based on a report prepared by ANA's Radio-TV Committee, held rate cuts ranging as high as 50 and 55% for some individual stations in TV markets might be "reasonable," based on mathematical calculations [Broadcasting • Telecasting, July 31, 25, 1950]. The networks at that time rejected an ANA invitation to a meeting, and the campaign subsequently appeared to have been suspended. It was passed over lightly at the ANA convention in September, reportedly with a decision that the studies should continue but that each advertiser should handle his own rate negotiations, as he saw fit. The ANA Radio-TV Committee is now headed by George Duram, Lever Bros, media director. Scheduling of the March meeting at Hot Springs was announced by ANA President Paul B. West last week. Accent on Defense "Advertising in a defense economy" will provide the theme of the sessions, according to Ben Donaldson, director of advertising and sales promotion of Ford Motor Co., who was named program committee chairman. Mr. Donaldson said present plans "call for a careful review of advertising so that it can continue to meet the many new problems in our constantly shifting economy." February 26, 1951 • Page 23