Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1946)

(arry conservatism to an extreme by sjMnning platters all day long. They have lailed to see that big and small stations (an have at least one thing in conmion, that indefinable something called shoxomanship. And the first step toward showmanship is originality. ORIGINALITY A FACTOR That was the idea VVKMO had in mind when it started out on its promotion effort for CBS. If the amount of money spent was to determine the winner, WKMO didn't have a chance in competing with the larger stations. But if results were desired, results born of orginality, then WKMO definitely did have a chance. One of the first brainstorms, which became the focal point of the campaign, was sending a representative to Hollywood and New York to interview CBS stars. We chose no fashion model, no millionaire's daughter, but merely an Indiana girl who could talk and write and who seemed to understand what we meant by showmanship. Even her name was a radio natural; Doris King Porter. If WKMO had been a larger station, we might have wired those interviews back to Kokomo as remotes from Hollywood and New York. But we had to balance that brainstorm with a bit of conservatism; the interviews were transcribed. As Doris herself, testified, the personalities in both radio centers were eager to cooperate. It is reasonable to say that this same cooperation would have been shown to any radio station representative sent to these cities with similar objectives. Size of the station meant nothing; the original idea rang the bell. The interviews ran approximately five minutes each and were programmed separately. Of course they were slanted toward the Hoosier angle making for nmch more listenerability back in Kokomo, where WKMO's audience was surprised and delighted to hear its favorite CBS stars speak like plain, ordinary folks, which, of course, they are. The stars, themselves, probably appreciated the opportunity to let down their hair and talk to the people who help to make them stars. Incidentally, the interview with Parks Johnson and Warren Hidl of Vox Pop fame eveiUually led that program to Kokomo lor a (oast-to-coast broadcast February 18. Doris King Porter's trip to Hollywood and New York was theoretically, though not chronologically, the beginning oi the (ampaign. 1 he hour-long program, Star Performance, was theoretically, though not chronologically, the end of the campaign. Star Performance, subtitled The Adxientures of Doris in the Magic Land of CBS, summed up the entire promotional effort for WKMO's audience. It was following the old maxim of telling them what we did after we did it. In subtle fantasy form it explained what all these goings-on in the last four months had meant. While the audience was listening to the charming story of a little girl in a strange, magic land, it was also unconsciously absorbing the many promotional points that had been previously emphasized throughout the campaign. Woven through the program were seven of the original transcribed interviews, edited (as much as a transcription can be edited) to fit imperceptibly into the story. Adequate explanations at the beginning and end of the show cleared up all doubt as to what was live and what was transcribed, thus making the procedure legal. Recorded music of Andre Kostelanetz was used as bridge and background material partly because Mr. K. is a regular Thursday night feature on CBS and partly because his arrangements are of a nature that lends itself nicely to dramatic interpretation. The success of this one program alone shows what a small station can do with transcriptions and recordings and still not be accused of spinning platters all day long. As we said before, the five-minlUe interviews w^ere originally cut as complete programs in themselves. Yet by careful editing and close cueing they were made to fit into a complex dramatic pattern without spoiling the mood. We should have liked Andre Kostelanetz to compose special mtisic for Star Performance; but because that was impossible, MAY, 1946 • 157 •