NAB reports (Jan-Dec 1935)

The non-network business of the smaller transmitters has in¬ creased more rapidly than has that of the larger stations. Gross time sales of 100 watt stations rose 20.1%, as measured by a comparison of the last half of 1933 and 1934 respectively, while those of stations in the 250-1,000 w’att class increased 17.1%. Non-network revenues of stations over 1,000 watts in power, on the other hand, decreased 9.0%. The marked rise of national net¬ work business, in turn concentrated on the larger stations, is partly responsible for this trend. The most marked gain of the year was made by broadcast advertising in the New England-Middle .Atlantic area, other dis¬ tricts either gaining slightly or holding their own as compared with the preceding year. Non-Network Advertising by Type of Rendition Non-network advertising represented by electrical transcriptions, live talent programs, announcements and records, respectively, is found in Table V. Several trends of importance have occurred wdth regard to the type of rendition used by broadcast advertisers. There has been a rather marked decline in both record and announcement busi¬ ness. Record programs have decreased approximately SO.0% as compared with the latter half of 1933. National announcement volume has declined 34.0%, while local announcement volume ex¬ perienced a drop of 28.3%. National electrical transcription volume, on the other hand, increased 12.2% as compared w’ith the latter half of 1933, while local transcription volume dropped 24.4% for the same period. Undoubtedly the outstanding trend in this field has been the remarkable rise in national live talent programs during the year. Business of this type increased 62.7% during the last six months of 1934 as compared to the same period of 1933. The national live talent rise has been a comparatively steady trend since the early months of 1934. Sponsorship of Broadcast Advertising Dollar expenditures for time on stations and networks by various classes of business and the proportion of total advertising volume represented by each class during 1934 are found in Table VI. In the national network field convenience goods still constitute the preponderant majority of advertising volume. In 1934 the pro¬ portion of total network advertising represented by these small, low-priced articles of mass consumption was 86.0%. The rise in importance of goods of this type has been steady since the begin¬ ning of network advertising in 1927, when they constituted ap¬ proximately 30.0% of the network total. The cosmetic industry was the largest network advertiser in 1934, accounting for 24.4% of gross time sales. Foodstuffs ranked second, drugs third, gasoline and accessories fourth and beverages fifth. The rise of cosmetics from third to first and the drop of tobacco advertising from second to sixth constitute the principal trends of importance in the field of network sponsorship since 1932. In the regional network field convenience goods represented 72.0% of total advertising volume. Gasoline and accessory adver¬ tising ranked first, largely due to Pacific Coast volume, and ac¬ counted for 31.0% of the regional total. Food advertising ranked second with 25.1% of the entire regional volume. TABLE V NON-NETWORK BROADCAST ADVERTISING BY TYPE OF SPONSORING (1934) Gross Time Sales Electrical transcriptions . Live talent programs . Records . Spot announcements . . $5,090,925 . 5,798,723 . 55.847 . 2,596,275 37.6% 42.8% 4.1% 15.5% $1,308,265 8,356,675 407,280 5,908,980 8.1% 52.3% 2.5% 37.1% $6,399,190 14,155,399 463,127 8,505,255 21.7% 47.9% 1.6% 28.8% Total . . $13,541,770 100.0% $15,981,201 100.0% $29,522,971 100.0% TABLE VI BROADCAST ADVERTISING BY TYPE OF SPONSORING BUSINESS (1934) Gross Time Sales la. Amusements . National Networks Regional Networks National Spot $35,742 .3% Local $514,986 3.2% Total $550,728 .8% 1-2. Automobiles and Ac¬ cessories; 1. Automobiles . $2,785,685 6.2% $5,853 .9% 721,743 5.3% 644,545 4.1% 4,157,826 5.7% 2. Accessories, gas and oils . 3,827,158 8.6% 222,266 31.0% 1,287,053 9.5% 901,302 5.6% 6,237,779 8.6% 3. Clothing and apparel. . 372,776 .8% 15,723 2.2% 301,563 2.2% 1,690,076 10.6% 2,380,138 3.2% 4-5. Drugs and toilet goods: 4. Drugs and phar¬ maceuticals . . . 4,804,381 11.1% 23,922 3.2% 3,134,909 23.1% 1,012,440 6.3% 8,975,652 12.3% 5. Toilet goods . 9,400,764 24.2% 7,883 1.1% 795,945 5.8% 305,868 1.9% 10,510,460 14.4% 6-8. Food products: 6. Foodstuffs . 8,450,701 20.1% 178,726 25.1% 2,778,730 20.5% 2,404,898 15.1% 13,813,055 19.0% 7. Beverages . 3,358,805 7.5% 71,319 10.0% 517,721 3.8% 774,948 4.8% 4,722,793 6.4% 8. Confections . 1,081,363 2.4% 9,210 1.3% 335,975 2.4% 46,514 .3% 1,473,062 2.0% 9-10. Household goods: 9. Household equip¬ ment and furn¬ ishings . 417,168 .9% 20,502 2.8% 535,848 3.9% 1,345,497 8.4% 2,319,015 3.2% 10. Soaps and kitchen supplies . 2,210,178 5.1% 796 .1% 515,415 3.7% 94,403 .6% 2,820,791 3.8% 11. Insurance and financial 611,822 1.3% 21,904 3.0% 201,369 1.5% 497,758 3.1% 1,332,853 1.8% 12. Radios . 656,090 1.4% — 50,382 .4% 138,938 .9% 845,410 1.0% 13. Retail establishments. — — — ■ 56,256 .5% 1,295,026 8.1% 1,351,282 1.9% 14. Tobacco products . 3,181,988 7.1% 3,835 .5% 125,544 .9% 35,853 .2% 3,347,220 4.6% 15. Miscellaneous . 1,488,202 3.3% 135,178 18.8% 2,147,575 16.2% 4,278,149 26.8% 8,049,105 11.3% Total . $42,647,081 100.0% $717,117 100.0% $13,541,770 100.0% $15,981,201 100.0% $72,887,169 100.0% • Page 718"