NAB reports (Mar-Dec 1933)

The National Association of Broadcasters NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING * * * * * WASHINGTON, D. C. PHILIP G. LOUCKS, Managing Director NAB REPORTS * Copyright. 1933. The National Association of Broadcasters XRA ★ ★ Vol. 1 No. 49 DEC. 12, 1933 BROADCAST ADVERTISING IN OCTOBER Broadcast advertising in October showed the most encouraging trend to be exhibited since the establishment of the statistical serv¬ ice in July. Gross receipts from the sale of advertising time amounted to $5,741,850.00 and marked a 45.3% increase over September revenues. National network advertising volume in¬ creased 54.2% over the previous month. Regional network adver¬ tising rose 82.0%, while individual station receipts showed a gain of 34.9% as against September. The total volume of broadcast advertising over national networks, regional networks and indi¬ vidual stations for the month of October is found in Table I: TABLE I TOTAL RADIO BROADCAST ADVERTISING VOLUME 1933 Gross Receipts Cumulative Class of Business September October July-October National networks. . $2,102,809.00 $3,244,153.00 $9,063,916.00 Regional networks . 14,281.00 26,091.00 88,703.00 Individual stations. . 1,832,251.00 2,471,606.00 8,150,260.00 Total . $3,949,341.00 $5,741,850.00 $17,302,879.00 The trend in national network advertising during October has been especially encouraging. In addition to showing a marked gain over September volume these revenues were 7.0% higher than those for the same month of 1932. Furthermore, receipts for the month in question were the highest since May, 1932, and were within $9,000 of equalling October, 1931, volume. It will be remembered that this was the month which marked the beginning of the most successful period thus far to have been experienced by network radio advertising. It is impossible to say what is the position of individual station revenues as compared with previous years since no data exists on this subject. However, if individual station business has followed network trends to any degree at all it would seem that radio ad¬ vertising volume is definitely on the upswing. To what extent broadcast advertising will approximate 1931-1932 levels should become evident within the next several months. 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 September October July-October Radio broadcasting $3,949,341.00 $5,739,850.00 $17,300,879.00 National magazines1 7,942,886.00 9,574,829.00 30,259,086.00 National farm papers . 373,134.00 455,018.00 1,301,162.00 Newspapers . 38,371,622.00 43,903,450.00 152,515,168.00 Total . $50,636,983.00 $59,673,147.00 $201,376,295.00 1 National magazine totals are for 108 periodicals, prepared by Publishers’ Information Bureau, Inc., from which source national farm papers and networks are also taken. National magazine volume showed an increase of 20.5% as against September; farm papers a rise of 19.2% and newspapers a gain of 12.6% as compared with the previous month. October national magazine volume is approximately 6.0% ahead of that of the same month of 1932. Newspaper volume finds it¬ self in about the same position as national magazine advertising, while advertising in farm papers shows an increase of 48.0% over October, 1932. Total volume of advertising for the first ten months of 1933 is, in the case of most media, materially behind that of the previous year. National magazines are approximately 20.0% behind last year. National farm papers are 22.0% and national network ad¬ vertising is 27.0% less than in 1932. Newspaper advertising for the period is approximately 11.0% less than in 1932. Since 1932 represented the most prosperous year thus far ex¬ perienced by national networks, the decline in revenue during the current year tends to represent the maximum shrinkage in ad¬ vertising volume to be experienced by the medium during the depression. On the other hand, by the beginning of 1932 national magazine advertising had already declined about 44.0% from its previous peak, while the volume of national advertising placed in newspapers was estimated to have dropped approximately 38.0% from its previous high level. It seems, therefore, that on the whole radio advertising has tended to feel the depression less seriously that other major media. Advertising Over Various Classes of Stations The volume of non-network advertising placed over stations of different classes of power is found in Table III: TABLE III NON-NETWORK BROADCAST ADERTISING BY POWER OF STATION 1933 Gross Receipts Cumulative Power of Station September October July-October Over 5,000 watts $768,480.00 $894,860.00 $3,396,871.00 2,500-5,000 watts 183,245.00 311,192.00 1,007,658.00 250-1,000 watts 666,267.00 935,850.00 2,831,442.00 100 watts and under 214,259.00 329,704.00 914,289.00 Total $1,832,251.00 $2,471,606.00 $8,150,260.00 Stations of 5,000 watts and more in power tended to make up the losses in non-network revenue experienced during the past two months and to approximate their July position. The growth in non-network revenue of stations of this class has tended to be less than that of smaller transmitters. This is due probably to the fact that stations of this class are usually affiliated with networks and that these networks are in a position to command the best station time. Stations of from 2,500 to 5,000 watts tended to show the same trend as experienced by the larger transmitters. The greatest increase in non-network revenue has been on the part of the smaller broadcasting units. Stations in the 2 501,000-watt class showed an increase of 40.0% in non-network revenue as compared with September, while stations in the 100-watt group enjoyed an increase of 54.0%. How much of these various trends are due to cyclical conditions and to what extent they are normal seasonal trends it is impossible to say at this time. The amount of non-network advertising placed over stations in different sections of the country is found in Table IV: • Page 25 1 »