Motion Picture News (Apr-Jun 1918)

2664 Motion Picture N e zv s MILWAUKEE presents a rather strange situation in the way of co-operation between the newspapers and the motion picture theatres, but the one big thing that stands out is that the newspapers are not co-operating with the larger theatres which are showing a disposition to use big space regularly and that there is probably less co-operation on Sunday than during the week. This is an unusual state of affairs. In the first place the chief thing that is the matter with Milwaukee is that there are too many newspapers there. Counting the morning and afternoon editions of the Sentinel as two papers, there are seven English dailies there, in addition to a German daily, another German Sunday paper and a Polish daily. Milwaukee has a census population of 417,000. Therefore one expects that the circulation of the papers would be affected according to the number of them and necessarily split up. The fact that the Socialist party splits influence with the Democrats and Republicans and the racial elements is largely responsible for this number of papers. But we want to say that considering the number of papers that they have to use to reach the entire public that the leading Milwaukee theatres show a most unusual desire to spend money for publicity and at the same time that they lack a great deal of being met anything like half way. Of course, it must be taken into consideration that the number of papers makes it hard for the smaller houses to advertise, because they cannot use the whole list and therefore we are surprised that some one paper has not gone in to specialize on this. We are told that one of the newspapers does mean to do . this and if it will follow the " chart " system that we have often described and fix a rate that the neighborhood houses can pay we feel sure that it will make a big success from an advertising point of view and that it will add a circulation feature worth thousands of dollars a year. Information that this paper is about to take a step forward comes to us in a letter from the advertising manager and we do not feel at liberty to announce the name of the paper until its arrangements are completed. We have purposely heretofore avoided the discussion of circulation of newspapers, but in this case, where so much of the whole situation does depend on the circulation question that is necessary. We have taken the figures given in the current issue of the Lord and Thomas Newspaper Directory. Here are the English newspapers, with the circulation figures added : Free Press, morning, 37,235 ; Sunday, 21,627. Journal, evening, 103,918; Sunday, 88,677. Leader, evening, 36,575. News, evening, 29,317. Sentinel, morning and evening, 42,176, and Sunday, 52,242. Wisconsin, evening, 35,909. One unusual thing that appears from the examination of these figures is that two of the papers which publish daily and Sunday editions show a falling off in the Sunday issue, a very peculiar state of affairs. There are sixty-three motion picture houses in Milwaukee. The first run houses are the Alhambra, with a seating capacity of 2,700 ; the Merrill, 1,400; Butterfly, 1,100; Strand, 1,400; Princess, 1,100, and Whitehouse, 1,500. The Toy is also downtown and has a seating capacity of only 450, but it is a liberal advertiser. The Theatorium seats 350 ; it does no advertising. Now, even if we forget for the present about the daily papers there are only three English dailies that have Sunday issues, and these have a combined circulation over 150,000. Let's see what they are doing and what the theatres are doing for them. On the opposite page we show four pages of the Sunday Journal. On one of these pages we have indicated the ads of thirty-three neighborhood houses, each occupying an inch of space. Seven Milwaukee Papers "News-less" With the Exception of a Single Column in One Paper They Ignore All Happenings of the Field teen of these merely give the name and address of the house, not mentioning a single bill. This is a pure waste of money and we cannot see any occasion for it. No newspaper should ever permit a theatre to spend its money in this way. Its photoplay editor should make it a point to get the bills for these houses and to see that they appear correctly and that this advertising is grouped near the other motion picture display matter. The second page reproduced is practically a solid page of theatre advertising. Here the Butterfly uses Ay2 inches seven columns wide; the Toy 15 inches two columns wide, and theStrand 10 inches four columns. The remainder is vaudeville or legitimate. On the third page the Alhambra has 7 inches six columns wide, the Merrill 12 inches by two columns, the White House 5 inches by five columns, and the Downer 2 inches single column. Figuring at the rate of 21 inches to the column, this gives us a total of more than ten and a half columns of paid matter that the Journal carries. Then we want to see what the Sunday issue is doing for the motion picture houses and we look at the fourth page and find slightly less than a column of matter, and all of this pure reading notices about the current attractions. There is not a picture, not a news item, not a thing of any interest to the average reader. We don't blame any Milwaukee exhibitor from getting sore when any one talks to him about "newspaper co-operation." With the exception of most of the neighborhood houses the Sunday Sentinel carries practically the same advertising as the Journal, one page of advertising not being reproduced. Butterfly uses slightly less space, and it carries a 2-inch ad for the Lincoln and 1 inch each for the Jackson and Lyric. But turning to the next page the Sentinel does much more than the Journal in giving a layout to the principal theatres and a column at the left to news of the industry, and then reading notices to the larger theatres. But at that it is little enough. We haven't taken the trouble to print the page of the Free Press. Its only mention of motion pictures is a 1-inch reading notice for the Alhambra, and the one advertisement that it carries is 1 inch of display from that house. We don't blame the other theatres from staying out. The Alhambra also used 1 inch in the German Sunday paper, Sontagspost, which also practically ignores pictures. In fact, with the exception of one of the daily issues of the Evening Sentinel we have ignored reproduction of the pages from other papers because the motion picture representation is so small that it would not be visible. On Monday and during the week the Daily News carries 1-inch advertisements for the Princess and Alhambra, and gives each a brief reading notice. Other theatres advertise irregularly here. The Saturday issue that we have before us carries only the same two, 2 inches from the Alhambra and 4 from the Princess. It gives each a short reading notice, but no picture, practically the whole page going to the legitimate and vaudeville. The Leader starts the week off with 1-inch ads from the Princess and Alhambra and a 6-inch one from the Toy. No news is given. Its alleged amusement page on Saturday is headed " The Theatre and Woman's Page." Brief reading notices are given two theatres and one gets a small picture. The Wisconsin on Monday has 1 inch each from the Strand, Alhambra, Princess and Downer. Two get a brief notice, each under the heading, " For the Playgoer." Saturday afternoon it devotes five columns to the whole amusement field, prints reading notices for the Strand, Downer, Toy, Princess and Alhambra, and a cut for the Toy and the Strand. Both these theatres use 5 inches double column, the Princess 3 inches double and the Alhambra two single, the Downer two double, and the State, Regent, Murray and Astor 2 inches single each. Here is 40 inches of ad(Continued on page 2674)