NAB reports (Mar-Dec 1933)

The National Association of Broadcasters NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING * * * * * WASHINGTON, D. C. PHILIP G. LOUCKS, Managing Director NAB REPORTS ★ NRA * W' * ★ Vol. 1 No. 42 NOV. 9, 1933 Copyright. 1933, The National Association of Broadcasters wl DO ©V« mt BROADCAST ADVERTISING IN SEPTEMBER A total of $3,949,341.00 was spent by American business organ¬ izations for radio broadcast advertising during September of the current year. This represents a 6.9% increase in advertising vol¬ ume over the previous month. Broadcast advertising volume for September was approximately 1% higher than for July of this year. Advertising Trends in September The total volume of broadcast advertising over national and regional networks and individual stations for the month of Septem¬ ber is found in Table I: TABLE I TOTAL RADIO BROADCAST ADVERTISING VOLUME 1933 Gross Receipts Cumulative Class of Business August September July-Sept. National networks. . $1,907,481.00 $2,102,809.00 $5,819,763.00 Regional networks.. 32,262.00 14,281.00 1 62,612.00 Individual stations.. 1,753,504.00 1,832,251.00 5,678,654.00 Total . $3,693,247.00 $3,949,341.00 $11,561,029.00 Dollar volume of national magazine advertising gained 4.5% as against August. Newspaper volume increased 1.6%, and that of national farm paper advertising 19.0%. The gains made by radio advertising during the month therefore compare favorably with those experienced by other media, and it seems as though radio is beginning to make up for its relative sluggishness at the outset of the second half of the current year. The volume of October rev¬ enue will be particularly interesting in giving an indication of what the trend will be during the 1933-1934 broadcasting season. The volume of non-network advertising placed over stations of different classes of power and situated in different sections of the country is found in Tables III and IV: TABLE III NON-NETWORK BROADCAST ADVERTISING BY POWER OF STATION 1933 Gross Receipts Cumulative Power of Station August September July-Sept. Over 5,000 watts _ $772,736.00 $768,480.00 $2,502,011.00 2,500-5,000 watts _ 224,241.00 183,245.00 696,466.00 250-1,000 watts . 560,790.00 666,267.00 1,895,592.00 100 watts and under. . 195,737.00 214,259.00 584,585.00 1 Part of the discrepancy between August and September is due to a reclassification of regional network accounts. Corrections will be made for August in next month’s report. National network advertising in September showed a gain of 12.4% over the previous month, while individual station revenues experienced a 5% gain over August. Individual station business is still lower than in July which can probably be explained on the basis of a somewhat slower seasonal upswing than is experienced by national network advertising volume. Regional networks have tended to follow the individual station experience. The seemingly marked decline in regional network revenue in September as against August is due primarily to a misunderstanding as to classification of regional network accounts in August. Corrections will be made for this discrepancy in the October report. September national network revenues are still 16% behind those of the same month of 1932, while network revenues for the first nine months of the year are 30% behind the previous season. A marked gain has been experienced by networks in recent months since the foregoing figure compares very favorably with a lag of 38.5% which was experienced during the first quarter of the current year. Comparison with Other Media A comparison of September expenditures for radio broadcast advertising as against those for other leading advertising media is found in Table II: TABLE II ADVERTISING VOLUME MAJOR MEDIA 1933 Gross Receipts , Cumulative Advertising Medium August September July-Sept. Radio broadcasting $3,693,247.00 $3,949,341.00 $11,561,029.00 National magazines 6,644,831.00 7,942,886.00 20,684,257.00 National farm papers . 236,505.00 373,134.00 846,144.00 Newspapers . 37,790,096.00 38,371,622.00 108,611,718.00 Total . $48,364,679.00 1 $50,636,983.00 $141,703,148.00 1 Changes in classification of magazine data have required a slight readjustment in the August total. Total . $1,753,504.00 $1,832,251.00 .$5,678,654.00 TABLE IV NON-NETWORK BROADCAST ADVERTISING BY GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRICTS 1933 Gross Receipts Cumulative Geographical District August September Jidy-Sept. New England Middle Atlantic Area $410,002.00 $462,448.00 $1,462,105.00 South Atlantic South Central Area . 268,376.00 288,802.00 829,209.00 North Central Area . . 640,115.00 676,341.00 2,028,985.00 Pacific and Mountain Area _ 435,011.00 404,660.00 1,358,355.00 Total . $1,753,504.00 $1,832,251.00 $5,678,654.00 It will be noted from the tables in question that there has been a slight decrease in business placed over the larger stations, while regional stations and local broadcasters have accounted for the major increases in September radio advertising volume. The up¬ ward trend in broadcast advertising volume in the South seems to be continuing, while Middle Western business is making up for the losses experienced in August. There have also been slight gains in advertising volume in the eastern part of the country. The trends with regard to national spot and local broadcast advertising as well as with regard to electrical transcription business and other types of broadcasting rendition are found in Tables V and VI: TABLE V NON-NETWORK BROADCAST ADVERTISING BY TYPE OF RENDITION 1933 Gross Receipts Cumulative Type of Rendition August September July-Sept. Elec, transcriptions.. $262,601.00 $303,605.00 $889,102.00 Live talent programs 818,607.00 916,041.00 2,668,228.00 Records . 50,258.00 51,906.00 183,487.00 Spot announcements. 622,038.00 560,699.00 1,937,837.00 Total . $1,753,038.00 $1,832,251.00 $5,678,654.00 Page 215