Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1944)

radio personality whose voice, manner and personality establish her as a triendin-need with her listening audience. Hardware Dealers HUBBY'S HOBBY While gagwriters make copy about lonely golf widows, the awful truth is that to the little lady, a man about the house with time on his hands, nothing to do, is something of a pain in the neck. If the truth were known, the lady of the house with cooking, bak'ing and mending to do, thinks of Hubby's Hobby as a blessing in disguise. In Los Angeles, Cal., housewives who can't work with a ni:!i: underfoot owe a vote of thanks to die Entz & RucKER Hardware Co. tor its weekly quarter-hour feature aired over KHJ. Facts for Hubby's Hobby come straight from one who knows whereof he speaks, Entz & Rucker co-owner, Charles Rucker. Stooge to hobby atuhority Rticker is KHJ's Johnny Courcier. His role: the hubby who attempts the always-find-theeasy-way-oiu approach only to bungle every effort. Happy ending to the quarter-hour of fun and facts: Courcier accepts Rucker's advice to find enjoyment in hobbies. Each week a different hobby gets the spotlight. Discussions range from fishing, gardening, painting and hunting to wood and metal work, other topics of that ilk. Straight connuercials that are an integral part of the program is the Entz & Rucker method of getting its sales message across to the ptiblic. To back iq) this campaign scheduled for a 26-week run, Eniz 8c Rucker purchased 50 spot announcements to promote the program. AIR FAX: First Broadcast: April 1, 1944. Broadcast Schedule: Saturday, 7:30-7:45 P.M. Sponsor: Entz & Rucker Hardware Co. Station: KHJ, Los Angeles, Cal. Power: 5,000 watts. Population: 1,497,074. Agency: Henry W. Welch Adv. Agency. COMMENT: Program here follows the ])attern established by most hardware dealers who have used radio successfully. The campaign stresses a specific department, and through the dealer's own j)articipation in the scries, the firm establishes an effective identification between itself and its radio offering. Home Furnishings BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS With the Stork Express operating at maximum capacity these days, friends and relatives have a hard time keeping up with its stops at way stations. Btit in Jamestown, N. v., the Haglund Furniture Co. keeps WJTN listeners posted with a schedule of twominute programs heard thrice weekly. Sound of a baby crying introduces the series. Brief opening and closing credit lines, and one 50-word center commercial carry the Haglund commercial message. Radio, direct mail and window displays sell the program to the public, build an ever-increasing audience for the series. To each parent whose child's birth is announced on the program goes a card of congratulation from the Haglund Furniture Co. Both on the broadcasts and on the cards, Haglund extends a hearty welcome to each new citizen. AIR FAX: First Broadcast: January 1, 1944. Broadcast Schedule: M-W-F, 12:20-12:22 P.M. Sponsor: Haglund Furniture Co. Station: WJTN, Jamestown, N. Y. Power: 250 watts. Population: 51,336. COMMENT: Vital statistics are properly so named. While programs of this kind may have more widespread interest in medium sized communities where people tend to know each other more intimately, the high newspaper readership of such columns in the metropolitan press indicate that material of this kind is generally interesting. All to the good are merchandising tie-ins which provide the advertiser with additional contacts with customers. JU LY, 1 944 241