Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1941)

ade To Measure Coverage Wee Willie Keeler, baseball star of another generation, made himself famous for consistent base hits and his self-announced formula, "I hit 'em where they ain't." What is true in baseball is not true in advertising. Especially in radio advertising, money can be wasted by "hitting where they ain't." That's where the regional network comes in. With a key station equipped to produce shows, an advertiser can put on a networkquality program at a minimum expense. He can enjoy the economies of splitting costs over the markets where he has distribution. He can keep the program under close surveillance and can adapt the advertising message to each community in which the program is heard. Cost would be high if you were forced to build a program of network quality on a station in each individual market. The big expense is talent, and you'll find the average individual station cannot pay big talent fees. $1,200 put into talent each week on the key station of a regional network and divided over fifteen stations on a per program basis brings costs down to figures that make sense. Telephone line charges between each station also cease to be too great a factor when lines are ordered thriftily, and costs are spread over several shows. At present, two national advertisers are using the Quaker Network, each with a different type of show. Fels and Company's Golden Bars of Melody is a 15-minute song and chatter program built upon the personality of Rhonna Lloyd. The program was tried out for several months, only on WFIL, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. After the program had become established and its rating continued to mount, six more Quaker Network stations were added. The program rating has continued to climb, and the client has now extended the show to five days a week. Of a different type is the General Baking program for Bond Bread, a national advertiser with a regional sales problem. Through Ivey & Ellington Advertising Agency, they purchased 15 Quaker Network stations in four states and the District of Columbia. The General Baking Company in the Quaker Network area had been sponsoring a quarter-hour of the NBC Breakfast Club on several stations. When NBC decided to withdraw all sponsors from the Breakfast Club, it was suggested that the station build a Breakfast Club-type program for Bond Bread's exclusive use on the Quaker Network. WFIL built the show with network talent. The General Baking Company signed a 52-week contract with the Quaker Network for an expenditure in excess of $200,000. Though the talent receives a generous share of this sum, when the client divides the cost over the 15 Quaker Network stations, talent cost per station is extremely low. In handling of commercials, the program carries a definite flavor of Bond Bakers throughout, but the unique hook that appeals to branch plant managers is the local cutin announcement. On long musical numbers the program is faded down, and the local announcer comes in with a commercial announcement peculiarly adapted to the local sales problem. These announcements are prepared by the advertising agency, which has contacted the men in the field. In this manner, the Bond Bakers have a network calibre program, closely identified with the product they advertise, but flexible enough to be bent to the local sales problem. Another feature of the regional show is the promotion the advertiser is able to put behind it. Instead of enormous printing costs for a number of different local shows, he is able to bunch car card, poster, window card, folder, give-away, insert, packaging and other printing costs, simply imprinting local station call letters. The same is possible with newspaper ads and copy. In addition to covering the region desired by the advertiser, the key station furnishes the regional network stations with publicity stories and photographs of the members of the casts on network shows. This publicity is followed up by a special department, and the results are compiled for agency and client consideration. This special merchandising-publicity service is designed to make the network a better buy for the regional advertiser. An alert regional network has a very definite place in the radio industry, but the advertiser must be certain that network is constantly on its toes to give extra service, extra care, extra results. When a regional network becomes just a group of stations linked by telephone wire, it falls apart and fails to produce results.