Radio daily (Feb-Mar 1937)

8 RADIO DAILY Friday, February 19, 1937 AGENCIES SCHWIMMER-SCOTT AGENCY, Chicago, here has been appointed to handle radio spot campaign for the Silex Coffee Percolator company of New York. Walter Schwimmer, firm head, was in New York personally to set deal. Silex will use spot announcements from coastto-coast. LES WEINROTT, producer of radio shows for Blackett, Sample & Hummert, Chicago, has quit his post with the agency. GEORGE SHERR of the Lennen & Mitchell advertising agency is making a serialization of the scripts of agency's "Follow the Moon" show. Stories will appear in organ distributed by American stores. ANN WINSTON of the Alvin Austin Agency is back on the job after a two-month sick leave. Buddy Rogers Coming East West Coast Bureau of THE RADIO DAH.Y Hollywood — En route to London, Buddy Rogers will visit the New York office of National Broadcasting today in an effort to straighten out contract tangle on Columbia's twinstar show. He may be forced to cancel his European trip if complications prove too great. JELLING THE JTATICN . . . Merchandising * Showmanship * Exploitation KMBC Uses Salesmanship KMBC, which this year again won first place at Kansas City in a national community showmanship rating, is a station that adds salesmanship to showmanship. Its promotional material, which has made quite an impression on agencies, indicates how KMBC makes an exciting adventure out of the business of broadcasting and thus obtains large audiences for advertisers. KMBC is currently doing a swell job for more than 50 advertisers who manufacture products sold through grocery stores. These advertisers buy 39V4 hours of KMBC's broadcast time weekly — 31.15 per cent of the station's total time on the air. SUoaI Wave* SHORT waves from W3XAL, Bound Brook. N. J., W8XK, Pittsburgh, and W1XK, Boston, will relay the program from Sprague Hall, Yale University, on Sunday, when Old Eli will greet its sons throughout the world. Program goes over the NBC Blue network at 10: 15 p.m. Date is the eve of the 24th nnual observance of Alumni University Day. Representatives of the Federal Communications Council and officers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation yesterday questioned Yoshiro Yuai and Satoshi Tado, Japanese, in connection with the two powerful short wave stations found in an abandoned shack in Compton, Calif. Both stations were unlicensed, though one had been licensed until last April. The shack is located only a short distance from the Naval base at San Pedro. A portion of the tragic opera "Czar Kalojan," written by the Bulgarian composer, Pantcho Wladigeroff, will be heard in the United States for the first time on Feb. 25 during a half-hour broadcast over the NBCBlue network at 1:30 p. m., EST, from the Municipal Theatre in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. Manual for Salesmen WBT, Charlotte, N. C, has issued a comprehensive sales manual for its salesmen and representatives throughout the United States. The new book contains complete information about the station, facts about the city of Charlotte, breakdown of radio ownership by counties, statistical data of the primary and secondary areas of the station, together with nearly a hundred pages listing talent and programs ready for sponsorship. Radio sales representatives heralded the book as the most complete ever written by any station. Trailers Effective Trailer programs of five minutes duration are being used around noon on WBT, Charlotte, N. C, by Olson Rug Co. of Chicago to call attention to their 15-minute 8:45 a.m. thrice weekly "Sing, It's Good For You" feature, are reported having results. The short teasers run on alternate days and offer a miniature of the larger program, together with a reminder of the latter and what will be heard thereon. for table decorations and entertainment for a banquet of 80 teachers. Suggestions for subjects for talks before a club are requested, and one woman, whose husband has not worked for three months, wants to know where she can sell hand-made or hand-embroidered towels, linens, etc., so she can help support the family. Then there is a club woman who wants information that will help her work out program ideas. She asks where suitable travel films can be obtained, what they cost and whether they are sound films or require lecturers. She also asks where to find a good speaker on family relations whether any Pittsburgh stores furnish demonstrations and lecturers on modern kitchen management and whether there is a local speaker qualified to discuss textiles. Such questions furnish a variety of material for reply and discussion between Miss Gardiner and the studio audiences immediately following the daily KDKA Home Forum programs. Question Box Response When Evelyn Gardiner established a question box feature in connection with her KDKA (Pittsburgh) Home Forum program some days ago, she started a routine which is revealing the extreme diversity of women's interests. Since she does not require that names be signed to the questions mailed or those handed in, numerous inquiries have taken on quite a personal character. One listener suggests the formation of a club among listeners to the KDKA Home Forum program, a benefit of which would be the means of obtaining names of other listeners for correspondence purposes. A girl who is about to be married wants help with menus, another wants suggestions for an "Arabian Nights" party, and still another wants suggestion WLS Achievements Interesting, informative and impressive bulletins are issued by WLS (the Prairie Farmer Station) , Chicago, to inform its clientele of the station's achievements. In addition to an attractive colored map showing coverage and a county count of mail, recent promotion data included a circular on "Things You Should Know About WLS." The things included the fact that 1936 broke all records in the 12year history of the station. Total number of letters received in 1936 was given as 1,515,901, compared with 1,300,000 the year before, and 50.2 per cent of the mail received in 1936 contained proof of purchase, compared with 33.5 per cent in 1935, the bulletin states. High spots of the station's activities for each month of 1936 are tabulated in the center spread of the bulletin. All in all, it makes a convincing sales talk. FOREIGN A SURVEY just completed in Tokio announces that for the past year, 2.475,000 sets were accounted for in homes, and there is an increase of 40,000 sets monthly now being noted. Twenty-five broadcasting stations are now in operation, mostly on short waves. There is one 1 kilowatt, one 3 kilowatt, seven 10 kilowatt stations and the balance all operate on power ranging from 300 to 500 watts. Al and Lee Reiser Switch Al and Lee Reiser, piano duo, have dropped their Friday night Ford programs effective immediately. They are currently heard on the Lipton Tea shows. Milton Krause and Walter Gross will form the new piano team to be heard on the Ford show in the future. Gross and Krause appeared last week on the Al Pearce broadcast for the same sponsor. N. W. Ayer & Son is the agency. Announcers Join KFJZ Fort Worth — Larry Dupont of New York and Dick Jay have been added to announcing staff of KFJZ. The German government, in an effort to stimulate interest in radio, has undertaken the task of manufacturing popular priced sets. During the past month 550,000 of these sets have been sold, bringing in an estimated 32,000,000 marks. Government realizes power of radio as a medium for their propaganda, and is attempting to make it possible for every German home to have a radio set. Dodge Transcriptions Start Mar. 1 West Coast Bureau of THE RADIO DAILV Hollywood — Fifteen-minute transcription series for Dodge automobiles was begun yesterday, to be released on 300 stations starting March 1. A regular feature of these programs will be Frank Morgan and the Victor Young orchestra, with Carlton Kadell announcing. Frances Langford, Ruby Keeler and Judy Garland have already been signed as guest stars. Eddie Dunham of Ruthrauf & Ryan is in charge of production. Transcriptions are being made by RCA Victor. Lyman Succeeds Haring Abe Lyman and his orchestra will succeed Bob Haring on the NBC Hit Parade broadcasts, Wednesday night, 10-10:30 p.m. American Tobacco sponsors, with Lord & Thomas is the agency. Coming Events Feb. 17-25: National Education Association Convention, Civic Auditorium, New Orleans. Feb. 25: Associated Radio Technicians of Connecticut annual banquet, Hotel Bond, Hartford, Conn. Feb. 28-March 8: Spring Fair of radio and television, Leipzig. April 9: Press Photographers' Ass'n of New York Eighth Annual Dance and Entertainment, Hotel Commodore, New York. June 1-10: Radio-television exposition, Moscow.