Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1957)

NORE audience \n lansing 20 to \ P0^er Feb -Wlar. '57 Hooper In Lansing Shows W10NDAV THRU FMDtf 7 .00 a.m.— \2 noon \2 noon— 6 .00 y^IVS Station B 32.7 More listeners than a\\ other stations heard in Lansing combined *jan. thru War. average c i Hooper, Inc. Represented Nationally by Venard, Rintoul & McConnell, Inc. OUR RESPECTS to Robert Edmund Eastman BACK in depression days at Ohio Wesleyan, Robert E. Eastman, president of ABC Radio Network, learned a valuable lesson in salesmanship. He had taken over a sandwich route from a fellow student who had run it on a cost basis — the lowest cost sandwich for the biggest profits. Mr. Eastman promptly revised this policy to offer the best possible sandwich, figuring that added sales would build a greater gross with a better net. He was right. The route flourished and netted Mr. Eastman $75 a week. And now as president of the newly-autonomous ABC Radio Network, a post he assumed May 1 , Mr. Eastman utilizes a broadcasting version of this selling philosophy by offering good programming, not facilities, to advertisers and their agencies. As he explains, "The salesman must make a product appealing. In network radio, we should be selling programming, not facilities, because from the advertiser's point of view, it is sales effectiveness that counts." He reminds us, though, that his approach is workable only if the product is first-rate. It was this type of basic thinking by a creative type of salesman that previously had propelled Mr. Eastman and John Blair & Co., radio station representative, to the fore in the broadcasting field. It followed that Leonard Goldenson, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres' president, turned a beckoning eye to the Blair executive in selecting the "heavy" to lead the ABC Radio subsidiary in its push for the No. 1 spot in network radio. A six-footer, Mr. Eastman is trim, spry and agile. He is cut on the Madison Ave. executive pattern. He leans to dark business suits, is masculine and shows some grey at the temples; keeps a few attache cases ready for use near his desk and can talk with sparkle and enthusiasm for better than an hour at a clip. Robert Edmund Eastman literally was born into the advertising family on April 29, 1913, the son of Roy O. Eastman, then advertising manager of the Kellogg Co. at Battle Creek, Mich. The elder Mr. Eastman took his family to Cleveland when Robert was two, establishing there one of the first independent market research firms in the advertising business. Young Robert went through Cleveland Heights and Scarsdale, N. Y., public schools (the Eastmans moved to New York in 1929). In characteristic good humor, Mr. Eastman recalls that in those depression years when "anybody could get into college," he left his Scarsdale home for Ohio Wesleyan, but not until he had made an automobile trip to California with another youngster and sung part time as a baritone on WFAS in White Plains, N. Y. At college, he did odd jobs while studying medicine, chemistry and business. After a year's stint as a gasoline station attendant, Mr. Eastman graduated from Wesleyan in 1937 and joined NBC in New York as a page boy. From then on, Mr. Eastman was on his way up in radio. He became eastern local programming manager of WEAF and WJZ New York and then NBC Spot Sales salesman in 1940, creating $100,000 in new business in one year. He was with the Blue Spot Sales (now ABC) for a year and in 1943 joined John Blair as a salesman. In May of 1950, Mr. Eastman was appointed sales manager and vice president of the Blair company and by December 1953 he was elected executive vice president. Along the way, Mr. Eastman has brought together some thoughts on radio selling. In this field, he says, one must have ideas; get an order on a clean, fair and ethical basis; sell positively by building up one's own product; have a degree of autonomy on the executive level with an incentive in remuneration; be able to visualize another person's problem. The concept he built at Blair: sell programming, not time. MR. EASTMAN sees a challenge in network radio as a medium ripe for a doctor in the house. He thinks the same creativity that was applied to spot radio and gained it "recognition" can be applied to network programming. There have been "too many false starts" in network radio, he says, emphasizing that ABC Radio's ultimate goal will be "the leading radio network with the most popular programs, and with the greatest appeal in programming and revenue to stations." Network radio, he feels, has been sold mainly on a price basis. But, he warns, a product sold on price alone cannot be successful. The sell must be on value and network radio is a "fabulous advertising bargain." Rates should be higher, Mr. Eastman reflects, but only as values are increased. As a commuter, Mr. Eastman spends 2 hours 40 minutes daily getting from and to his home in Waccabuc, N. Y. His wife is the former Ann Strom, whom he met and married during his NBC tenure. They have four children. Spencer, 17; Robert. 15; Victoria, 12 and Stephanie, 10. The Eastmans keep three horses; Mr. Eastman's outdoor pleasures include riding and golf. Page 24 • May 13, 1957 Broadcasting • Telecastinc