Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1941)

initialed to boost Barker Brothers' Small Home Department, the show has increased general traffic, upped sales throughout the entire store. Thrice weekly, home decoration expert Edgar Harrison Wileman, Barker Brothers' consultant in charge of their Home Advisory Bureau, schools California women in tasteful home decoration within a given income. Results: 1) Traffic through the Small Home Department has doubled; personnel increased. 2) Following an announcement made at the end of just three 15-minute programs, 1,500 requests were received for booklets on interior decoration. 3) A two-day questioning of cash customers showed a 58% listening patronage. 4) Sales were conclusively traced directly to the program through the Home Advisory Bureau manager's conversasations with customers. But mass enthusiasm for a program just doesn't sprout overnight. // must be mustered. Barker Brothers promotion is persistent, consistent: 1) For the first five or six weeks of Backgrounds for Living, every bit of regular newspaper advertising plugged the program. 2) Every elevator in the store has its own sign repeating the story. 3) Store windows illustrate ideas discussed on the program. 4) Department heads are advised of subjects currently discussed. 5) Audience shows are staged from the Barker Brothers' auditorium at eight-week intervals. 6) Mr. Wileman, his reputation ever expanding as an authority with furniture facts at his fingertips, accepts engagements to address club groups, doesn't overlook the opportunity to boost the program. AIR FAX: Broadcasting right frotn the BARKER BROTHERS stronghold, specialist Wileman organizes his program broadly to include Home Planning (selection of building lot, architectural forms, floor plan, points on convenience of layout, etc.); Home Decoration (interior wall treatment, etc.); Home Furnishings (furniture placement and grouping, selection of draperies and upholstery fabrics, accessories, styles of furniture, i.e., Eighteenth Century, Early American, Maple, etc.). First Broadcast: August 14, 1939. Broadcast Schedule: M-W-F, 2:15-2:30 P.M. (Summer months one weekly broadcast, Wednesday). Followed By: Scattergood Baines (CBS Dramatic Serial ) . Competition: Lone Journey (NBC Dramatic Serial); News. Sponsor: Barker Brothers. Station: KNX, Los Angeles, Calif. Power: 50,000 watts. Population: 1,496,177 (1940). Agency: Marion Kyle Advertising Agency. COMMENT: Emphasis and strength of this program lies in its service to women: Valuable ideas, money-saving suggestions, aid in tasteful home decoration within individual incomes. A functional program (i.e., one whose entertainment features are closely integrated with the product it is selling) has a much more restricted audience, usually falls down on most general surveys. But what the survey figures don't show is the more intensive selling job it accomplishes with the steady audience it does pull. Gasoline D-X SPECIAL 45-MINUTE NEWS BROADCAST On January 24, 1941, Mid-Continent Petroleum Corp. stretched its 15minute news program to 45 minutes, congregated company notables from sections of the country, commemorated its 1,200 broadcast of the regular late evening news on Des Moines (la.) station WHO. Dramatic dedication was punctuated by music from the WHO 20-piece studio orchestra. This special program consisted of 1 ) a resurrection of the headline (headache) world events since inception date of MidContinent's broadcasts (October 10, 1937) ; 2) transcribed excerpts of momentous speeches by world leaders; 3) brief remarks by Harry Flory, European manager for United Press, just returned to these shores; 4) other addresses by J. O. Maland, vice-president and manager of WHO, Henry Wurster, manager of Northern Division for MidContinent; R. W. McDowell, vice-president of Mid-Continent Petroleum Corp. Officiating were announcer Jack Kerrigan and Diamond D-X news reporter Bob Burlingame. AIR FAX: Broadcast Schedule: Regular program: Daily, 10:15-10:30 P.M. Special broadcast: 10:0010:45 P.M. Preceded By: Fred Waring in Pleasure Time (NBC). Followed By: Woody Herman's Orchestra (NBC). Sponsor: Mid-Continent Petroleum Corp., Tulsa, Okla. Station: WHO, Des Moines, la. Power: 50,000 watts. Population: 142,559. ' COMMENT: Special commemorations not only add prestige to a program and its product, but also stimulate interest for more loyal listening. ARCH-APRIL, 1941 105