Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1957)

NEW RADIO RATE CARD PROPOSED • Flat rates feature new John Blair & Co. plan A NEW FORM of radio rate card, employing flat rates with none of the customary complicated discount structures, was announced last week by Arthur H. McCoy, vice president and sales manager of John Blair & Co.. radio station representation firm. He said the Blair company is recommending the new form for use by all the stations it represents. Several already have adopted it and others are switching over gradually, he reported. Mr. McCoy expected the new cards to find special popularity among timebuyers, because the use of flat rates makes it possible to tell quickly what a given campaign will cost and eliminates the complicated figuring of rates and discounts. Timebuyers who have seen it have been enthusiastic, he said. He said the objective was to make rate cards simpler, asserting that such simplification was "one of the essentials for more efficient use of spot radio." Like conventional rate cards, the new Blair form sets up different charges for different times of the day, with lower rates to encourage advertisers to use periods which are now less popular with buyers. It also provides somewhat lower rates for "rotation" announcements bought in groups of six or more per week, a device used to get advertisers to include Saturdays along with Mondays through Fridays. As distinguished from announcements which the station may rotate, or schedule at staggered time periods, fixed-position participations come higher. Rotation. Mr. McCoy explained, gives assurance that all advertisers in these time periods get an equal break. On the other hand, the advertiser who wants premium position must pay extra for it, through the higher fixed-position rate. The new card applies only to announcements, which form the bulk of spot radio purchases, but the principle can be extended to include programs, Mr. McCoy said. He emphasized that the flat rates do not represent a rate cut. Actually, he explained, in translating a station's rate card from the old to the new, the old discount structure is corporated into the new rates, so that the new charge for a given number of announcements in a given time period is no less than the net charge under the old plan. As an exampie he cited the actual card of one of the Blair stations that already have converted to the new form: Between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. and from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday — six one-minute participations per week (one a day) cost a flat $25 each if presented on a rotation basis, while fewer than six cost $28 apiece. If the advertiser specifies the time of broadcast the cost is a flat $35 each. Between 6 and 6:30 a.m. and from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturdaysix one-minute participations per week cost $21 each; fewer than six cost $23 each. After 7 p.m. and all day Sunday — six oneminute participations per week cost $16 each; less than six, $18 each. The new card also set up "impact" or saturation plans with progressively lower rates for the use of 12, 24, 36, and 48 oneminute participations per week. In the 66:30 a.m. and 9:30 to 3 p.m. periods, 12 per week cost $20 each; 24 cost $19 each; 36 cost $18 each, and 48 cost $17 each. After 7 p.m. daily and for all day Sunday, the comparable costs are $14, $13, $12. and $11 per minute announcement. Day and night impact plans may be combined or portions of the impact plan announcements may be ordered in the heavily sold 6:30-9:30 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. periods at the applicable costs for those time periods, so long as a total of at least 12 per week is used. ID rates are one-half those for one-minule announcements. WRCV Issues New Rate Card WRCV Philadelphia has issued a new rate card, effective May 1, listing changes in both announcement and program classifications. One hour of Class A time (6:30 p.m.10:30 p.m.) now costs $450, and Class I announcement (10 a.m.11 p.m.) $45 gross for 1 minute or 20 seconds, with volume taken into consideration and its effect is in discounts. The better equipped stations are dominating the field with more listeners and more advertisers SMOULDERING STUDIO BUD WENDELL, WDOK Cleveland, night owl commentator, came home one night early this month for his usual nightly remote broadcast only to find the place virtually gutted by fire — all but his soundproofed broadcasting room. From 11:15 p. m. to 1:00 a. m.. with a mattress still smouldering in the snow outside, and his children farmed out to neighbors. Mr. Wendell carried on. He played records, furnished the usual weather information, told of the fire, and otherwise met his commitments to the radio public. MR. JUDGE GATES RADIO COMPANY MANUFACTURING ENGINEERS SINCE 1922 QUINCY, ILL., U. S. A. Westinghouse Names Judge National Tv Sales Manager APPOINTMENT of Tom W. Judge, vice president in charge of sales for Closedcircuit Telecasting System Inc., New York, to the newly-created post of national television sales manager of the Westinghouse Broadcasting Co. was announced last week by Alexander W. Dannenbaum Jr., WBC sales vice president. The appointment is effective today (Monday). "The Westinghouse stations' continuing growth in television sales has made this new post necessary," Mr. Dannenbaum said. "Recently, we created a similar one for radio because of the swelling volume of business to our stations. At that time we promoted Perry B. Bascom to the important post. Now is the time to do the same for television." Before poining Closedcircuit Telecasting System, Mr. Judge was with CBS-TV Spot Sales, initially as an account executive for four years and subsequently as midwestern sales manager and eastern sales manager. Earlier he had been on the sales staff of WBZ-TV Boston, a Westinghouse station. WGN Stations Buy New Gear PURCHASE of a new RCA 50-kw radio transmitter, plus 16 mm film projector and supplementary equipment has been announced for WGN and WGN-TV Chicago by Ward L. Quaal, vice president and general manager of WGN Inc. Installation of the am transmitter is planned within the next four months and represents part of a $110,000 expenditure for new equipment, according to Carl J. Meyers, WGN-AM-TV engineering manager. The transmitter will be used at Roselle. 111. It replaces a composite model in use since 1937. Page 116 • May 13, 1957 Broadcasting • Telecasting