Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1962)

Advertisement McGAVREN CO. IS TEN YEARS OLD ■ Radio representative company founded in San Francisco in 1952 ■ Company plans to devote itself virtually to major markets ■ List size is not McGavren in building criterion station roster The Daren F. McGavren Company celebrated ten years of service to the radio industry last month. It was founded in November, 1952, in San Francisco when McGavren bought out Western Radio Sales. Originally a regional radio representative, the McGavren company has grown in the past decade to one of the leading national sales companies in the industry. Significantly, the company's first station is still on the client roster. This is an example of the extremely low station turnover through the years — an overall satisfaction that is virtually unequalled in the representative field. Daren F. McGavren With a major station in 21 of the top markets, the McGavren company is becoming known as the major market representative in the radio field. This is part of Daren F. McGavren's plans to devote itself almost exclusively to major market stations. Plans for the next ten years include becoming the top billing national radio company — with an important station in every major market. "The objective," says company president Daren F. McGavren, "is not to build up our station roster in terms of numbers. The goal is to sell a lion's share of the business of select stations. National staffing leads to national sales In the four years since the Daren F. McGavren Company became a national representative, it had opened eight regional offices — manned 100 per cent by McGavren employees. Moreover, each office manager is a stockholder in the company. In order to maintain the same spirit and philosophy of management and sales in each McGavren office, all branches are staffed by salesmen with head office experience. Offices are located in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis, Atlanta and Dallas — making the company fully equipped and staffed in every area that produces national volume. Radio research provides essential services McGAVREN DEVELOPS REVOLUTIONARY SRO FOR REACH The Daren F. McGavren Company's research and promotion department, under the direction of Claire Horn, provides client stations with essential services and information to aid in selling national spot. One of the most recent McGavren innovations was SRO — Systematic Rotation— designed to take advantage of phenomenal reach that radio is capable of delivering. According to Mrs. Horn, SRO is a technique of taking advantage of a station's cumulative audience based on a full week's listening in relation to average quarter-hour ratings. Because SRO is completely mathematical, it is unrelated to personal listening habit patterns thus minimizing both horizontal and vertical audience duplication. The actual SRO pattern is based on a turnover rate, which determines the number of quarter hours that lapse between each spot. In this way stations are able to deliver maximum cumulative homes with a minimum number of announcements. Said Daren F. McGavren: "This is the way to buy circulation in radio. We think it may revolutionize the industry." It takes all kinds of stations to make a rep There is no stereotype Daren F. McGavren Company station. Each station is different — in programming, in ratings, in audience and in volume. The company represents "contemporary popular music," "better music," "middle of the road" operation along with prestige network outlets and the first all news station. By not being stereotyped, the Daren F. McGavren Company is able to take advantage of many campaigns that are missed by representatives identified with specialized programming. The advantage is that the company has client stations that reach almost every kind of audience — and the agencies know this. There is no "McGavren-type" station, only "McGavren-type" service. BROADCASTING, December 10, 1962 73