Radio annual (1938)

The series ends its eight-week contracts on Jan. 22. Local accounts never before "on the air" have come in on the promotion, and the program is creating wide-spread enthusiasm both among listeners and clients. Junior Fire Fighters -^ "Junior Fire Fighters." new Cleveland safety organization, held its first meeting over the airwaves of WHK. Studio facilities will be made regularly hereafter under schedule soon to be worked out. Idea is to promote fire prevention and cut down number of false alarms. Boys and girls from settlement and communiiy houses throughout city have been recruited; their principal duties will be to watch fire boxes in neighborhoods of settlements and report violations. Stunt was developed by Marshall Stalley, director of boy's activity at Goodrich Social Settlement, as result of City Treasurer Leonard S. Levy's "Safety First" broadcasts over the Cleveland station. Sell Time for Greetings ■^ Approximately 200 customers in St. Louis paid WEW $5 each on Christmas morning to garble their own 50-word Christmas Greetings over the air. The customers broadcast from the executive offices of the St. Louis University station from a special mike. An engineer was s'ationed there to cut off the mike at the conclusion of each spiel, to keep the "Hello Mom, I'm coming home to dinner" addicts from tripping up the station with the direct communications laws. KSTP Institutional Campaign ■fa The radio industry, although it . is constantly extolling the virtues of radio advertising, seldom makes use of it itself. But KSTP, St. Paul-Minneapclis station, did just this, and used available daytime station breaks to> plug its own programs. The announcements, which run about 30 words, are used to publicize forthcoming shows, special features, talent, and even the regular air shows of the day. The plan has met with good response, not only from listeners, but from advertisers, too, who view the plugs as an extra service to them. However, the plugs are planned exclusively for the listener's benefit. The system was evolved because it was felt that the ord nary resume got insufficient attention, except from ardent dialers. Result of plugs is that intermittent dialers' attention is grabbed so they come back for more. Short, punchy copy marks the plugs. Xmas Mail Promotion ^ A new way to promote mail was introduced on WTMJ. Milwaukee, by Eddie Thompson and George Comte. who conduct "Behind the Mike" for Nelson Brothers. They offered to "exchange" Christmas cards with listeners. To every listener sending them a Christmas card they send their own. Theirs consists of a government postal with a mike in the middle and their respective pictures on each side, and appropriate verses underneath each half-tone. Thompson and Comte have been drawing the most mail of any daily feature on WTMJ during December. They hoped to continue the "exchange" after the holidays, and will simply have new verses as captions for their pictures. The verses are by George Comte, regarded as poet laureate of the station. KSTP's Seal-Selling Stunt ic KSTP, St. Paul, took over a job for itself — selling Christmas seals — with an unusual program called "Sealed Request." Station threw its entire staff into a nighttime production, and, through advance station announcements and plugs in the KSTP publicity affiliate, the Minneapolis Journal, told listeners that anything would be offered on the air that was requested, provided the request was mailed and that the envelope contained a Christmas seal. Upwards of 3,000 requests were received, with the result that the show, planned for one hour, ran two hours and a half. Duplication of requests saved the station's and s'.aff's necks; otherwise they'd be at it still. Jumbled Geography j% Folder from KSFO, San Francisco, features two geographically jumbled maps, with equivalent distance, rather than direction, used to drive home story of staiion's primary and secondary coverage. Confusing by selfadmission, job is provocative enough to read further. Distant-reception testimonials from Philco dealers at various California points polish off the story. Theater Party Draws it Matinee theater party, arranged with St. Louis Fox Theater, served double use recently of testing program response over Station KWK and plugging local movie attraction. Idea was to learn drawing power of station's domestic dramatic strip "Mrs. O'Brien's Boarding House." Two thousand theater tickets, one to each listener, were offered dialers who wrote in for them. Supply was exhausted after mention on a few programs. Give Schools Radio Sets A Radio is now in daily use in Montgomery, Ala., public schools, a result of the combined efforts of WSFA and the Montgomery Rotary Club. With Montgomery merchants cooperating, the two organizations presented radio receiving sets to the city's twenty-six schools, both white and negro, as a Rotary community service project. Much of the credit for success of the venture goes to John B. DeMotte and Joe Petranka of the station's staff. 536