NAB reports (Jan-Dec 1942)

October 1-2, Omaha; October 3, Des Moines (luncheon — Edu¬ cational Conference); October 4, to Kansas City; October S, Kansas City; October 6, Wichita; October 7, Denver; October 8, Boulder (Educational Conference); October 9, Salt Lake City; October 10, Provo (Educational (Conference); October 11, Salt Lake City; October 12, Salt Lake City— Ogden; October 13. Poca¬ tello; October 14, to Missoula; October IS, Missoula; October 16. Spokane; October 17, Seattle (Educational Conference); October 18, to Vancouver, B. C.; October 19. Vancouver, B. C.; October 20, Seattle; October 21-22, Portland (Educational Conference); October 23, Sacramento (dinner conference) ; October 24, Oak¬ land and Berkeley (Mills College Conference) ; October 25-26, San Francisco; October 27, Fresno; October 28-29 Los Angeles; October 30, Los Angeles (conference New England Women — West Coast) ; October 31, Los Angeles. November 1-5, Los Angeles; November 6, Los Angeles (Edu¬ cational Conference) ; November 7, Los Angeles (Tea) ; Novem¬ ber 8, to Phoenix; November 9, Phoenix; November 10-11, to Chicago; November 12-13, Chicago (Chicago Educational Con¬ ference); November 14, Davenport, Iowa; November 15-17, Iowa City, Iowa; November 18, Rockford, Illinois; November 19, Peoria, Illinois; November 20, Nashville (Educational Confer¬ ence) ; November 21, Louisville; November 22, Washington, D. C,; November 23, New York, Listener Activities RADIO SERVES NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS The use of radio by national organizations has presented many problems both to network officials and to local station managers. Most of these organizations are staffed by voluntary workers, and, in many cases, without previous radio experience. The result has been a severe problem to radio executives, and unsatisfactory per¬ formances to the laymen concerned. It is encouraging to know that a number of such national bodies are streamlining their radio activities in an attempt to do a more effective job. The National Girl Scouts, Incorporated, have done an extraordinary thing in securing from the DuPont Company and its advertising agency. Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborne, the permission to use the “Cavalcade of America” recordings with the advertising deleted and the Girl Scout propaganda inserted. To date, 130 Councils have rented the series which means that 16% of all the radio stations in the country have signed up. A recent check by letter through the Coordinator of Listener Activities resulted in re¬ sponses from over 50% of the stations using this program. Be¬ low are quotes from some of the letters received. “I have found that the program series was well received. We naturally tied in with local leaders — mayor, etc. — so that there was a personal, homey touch. Our dramatic director coached the Scouts and local people before making the weekly transcriptions. The girls felt they would prefer transcriptions to a live appearance so that they could hear themselves.” (Ed. This is the only case that has come to our attention where the local "live” script was transcribed.) “We received numerous telephone calls the week following the last broadcast from listeners wanting to know why the show wasn’t on. We regret that the series was so limited.” “We found the transcribed series excellent and the local Girl Scout council serviced the program in a commendable fashion. To the best of our knowledge the program was well received by the public — one listener sending in an unsolicited ,'jl25 contribution to the local council.” “Even though we didn’t set any new world’s records for attract¬ ing listeners to these broadcasts, we feel that the whole field of public service broadcasting will benefit if more shows of this type are made available. Too much public service broadcasting is amateurish, and this project looks like a long step toward the solution of that particular program.” “We did not have, nor did we expect, much cooperation from the local Girl Scout organization. Our relations with them are extremely friendly, but, through no fault of their own, the local organization does not have the least idea of how to make avail¬ able use of the free service at their disposal through broadcast¬ ing. . . . They seem to be afraid to ask us for any cooperation and most of the time do not know what they want. . . . This lack of appreciation of how to use radio is something that needs immediate correction. Our local group is so accustomed to being turned down by our own newspaper that they are verv timid about approaching us and we practically have to force our atten¬ tions on them.” “I cannot conceive of a more fundamentally sound method to inculcate the finest traditions of American manhood and womenhood into these fine young folks. It is my frank opinion that the very fine, intelligent cooperation given by the Girl Scout organi¬ zation here to this series, as outlined above, does warrant the time and expense of carrying this program.” “Since you ask for a frank comment concerning the question of the use of radio as a medium for your program, I would certainly suggest that you utilize such shows as the ‘Cavalcade of America’ and not depend upon local talent. We have done three ‘Live’ shows for your organizations recently, and with all due respect to the girls, it is only natural that the result is an amateur effort and is undoubtedly listened to only by the proud parents of the participants.” At Davenport. Iowa, WOC accepted the program and the follow¬ ing arrangements were made: Each of the three councils was responsible for two programs — for incorporating local interest into the live scripts furnished b\ National, for selecting an important civic person and a Girl Scout representative to deliver these two talks, and for rehearsing and taking charge of the program. “The following publicity campaign took place preceding and during the broadcasts: Essay Contest: “Which Broadcast I Like Best and Why.” This was announced at the leaders’ meeting. Leaders not present were contacted personally by a member of the Cavalcade Committee. A Judging Committee was announced, and the contest divided into three classifications — lor Brownies, Intermediates and Seniors. Nine prizes were donated by the department store, all articles from the Girl Scout department, and they were prominently displayed with a sign calling attention to the ‘Cavalcade’ programs and the contest. Newspaper Stories and Pictures: Before and during the series. Also a story in the Girl Scout Regional Journal. Churches'. Each church was contacted and the following an¬ nouncement inserted in their bulletins: ‘Girl Scouts, Parents and Friends: Tune in to WOC every Sunday night at eight o’clock from February 15 to March 22 and listen to “Cavalcade of America” broadcasts, an interesting and historical program,’ Spot Announcements : Every sponsor of programs over WOC was contacted relative to granting permission for a little free time for spot announcements, both prior to and during the broadcasts. Each responded graciously and eleven sponsors gave space on his programs, which covered morning, afternoon and evening hours. Each time a differently w'orded ‘boost’ was given our ‘Cavalcade’ program.” Other national organizations will learn much from the experience of the Girl Scouts in this unusual project and should find the com¬ ments of radio station managers enlightening. ORDER 4 MILLION MORE COPIES OF “WHAT CAN I DO” The speed and aggressiveness with w'hich the broadcasters put into execution of the suggested plan for distributing “What Can I Do” booklets for OCD, increased the original print order by four million. This happened in less than a week’s time after the mail¬ ing of the folio on August 29. Entirely new to OCD operation is the speed with w'hich this national campaign was launched and gotten under way by the broadcast industry. Because of the personal attention which broadcasters gave to the matter all delay was eliminated. Several cities were reported whose local OCD did not know about the campaign. Naturally they got busy the minute the news was brought to them by the stations. For all this “extra” help, OCD is greatly appreciative. September 11, 1942 — 54^^