Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1946)

Dairies CONCERT MUSIC For the Philadelphia Certified Milk Products Ass'x., a quality product rated a quality radio series. The answer was a Saturday afternoon quarter-hour of concert music aired over WTIL, Philadelphia, Pa. Series has been aired over AVFIL on a once-a-week schedule for almost three years. Concert piano selections by pianist Emmanuelina Pizzuto are introduced simply and briefly by an announcer. Two concise commercials are used on each broadcast. One commercial follows the first mtisical selection and the second precedes the last number. General pattern for each show: three musical selections. AIRFAX: First Broadcast: 1943. Broadcast Schedule: Saturday, 1:45-2:00 P.M. Preceded By: Ftont Page Drama. Followed By: Metropolitan Opera. Sponsor: Philadelphia Certified Milk Products Ass'n. Station: WFIL. Philadelphia, Pa. Power: 1,000 watts. Population: 2,081,602. COMMENT: Listening audiences aren't built by the clock. The over-all program structure of a station is a tremendously important factor in audience selection. Here is a splendid example of the way in which an advertiser may capitalize on the program which follows his own offering to his own advantage. From the standpoint of the station, it's a type of programming which keeps itching fingers off the dials. Department Stares CONFIDENTIALLY YOURS With the expected post-war return of scarce merchandise, Sears Roebuck wanted a radio program with which to break the news to the public as quickly as possible. Confidentially Yours was the answer. However, the slow-down in consumer goods forced the client to alter his initial idea and use the piogram lor straight merchandising of run-of-thestore articles. Lou Hartman, program host, maintains daily contact with tinstore and items are either j^romoted in conjinu lion with other media or ;iloiic on such things as those which arrive too late to meet newspaper deadlines. The program was designed to be easy to listen to. A noontime program, its appeal is broad enough to include all types of listeners just as Sears Roebuck attracts all types of purchasers. The program is used for straight merchandising of any article in the store. Only one item, or a group of related items, is used a day. Credit advantages, institutional copy, telephone service, etc., are inserted whenever needed. To reach as large an audience as possible with minimum production cost, and at a noontime spot, the program is built on mtisic, using popular \ocalists from transcription. There is no build up for the talent, who are introduced onlv at the beginning and end of the program as neighbors. The basic idea is to make no o\'ert play for listener attention or to high-pressure Sears. Every day at 1 1:45, people can be certain of a relaxed (jtiarter hour. Commercials are as ad-lib as possible without losing commercial appeal. Singers are chosen to blend with the commercial appeal: Sons of the Pioneers for chicks and farm equipment or Dirk Brown for fur coats. The manner of delivery is to stress sincerity and truthfulness at all costs. No one is to be sold on Sears via air alone. Sears is known as the place where "satisfaction is guaranteed or your money back." Confidentially Yours assiduously avoids the more obviotis and common faults of merchandising, hoping to gain its listeners by being as much like a real friend as possible. The program is opened with a quip and closed with a proverb. In the middle spot there is either a poem or, if the merchandise is not overly dramatic, an unusual bit of news from the United Press wires. AIRFAX: Commercial slant ranges from the poetic to the practical. What starts out with a note about the morning frost which was lovely to look at may remind listeners that it was hard on the roof. It's an easy transition to facts on SEARS roof service. First Broadcast: November 12, 1945. Broadcast Schedule: Monday through Saturday, 11:45-12:00 Noon. Preceded By: Korn Kobblers. Followed By: News. Sponsor: Sears Roebuck & Co. 94 RADIO SHOWMANSHIP