Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1946)

SHOWMANTIPS New program ideas briefly noted. Beverages SOMETHING FOR THE FAMILY A joke for dad, a dance tune for brother, a song for sister and a poem for mother adds up to Something for the Family. New fast-moving quarter-hour show made its debut March 14 over KFI, Los Angeles, Calif., for SPARKEETA-UP. Aired at 3:30 P.M., the series features Georgie Jessel. Also starred on the show is songstress Joan Barton. Bill Bunt conducts the 24-piece orchestra in old and new >ongs. GARFIELD 8C GUILD ADV. AGCY. handles the account from its Los Angeles office. Druggists L_ Sfor his songs, and news on the half-hour. Gene Emerald ■reigns supreme each afternoon from 3:15 to 4:30 P.M. M<n the KRNT, Des Moines, la., listening area. Gene -Emerald sings, plays his own accompaniment, handles recordings with the light touch and sells with the intimate, close-to-the-heart approach. Current sponsors who share the fun and music on a participating basis include KINGS PHARMACY. B. C. REMEDY, SUPERSUDS, EXLAX. NUTRENA. CUTICURA and PEPSI COLA. Tie •• up with civic groups: frequent appearances at luncheons, other meetings, in which globe-trotter Emerald recounts (lis experiences while entertaining veterans for the USO in China, Burma, India, North Africa, Italy and Sicily. Theme song of the series first broadcast January 8, 1945: Linger Awhile. Promotion for the program includes space in newspaper radio columns; newspaper ads; street car :ards: billboards; spot announcements; movie trailers md high-light mention in KRNT's Dial Tones. Farm Products CARGILL CALLING When it's Cargill Calling on KMA, Shenandoah, la., both dealer and consumer stand oy. A dealer-customer request musical, the program goes jn the air at 12:30 P.M., Monday through Friday, to up •ales for CARGILL feeds. A wire-recorder farm interview •>y KMA Farm Service Director is a highlight of the quarter-hour show. Commercials directed to the farmer ic-in with CARGILL dealers in the KMA listening area, "^adio, newspaper and direct mail introduced the show to he public preceding the first broadcast, January 26. Each jroadcast includes a salute to a CARGILL dealer, and nention by name of customers whose musical requests are ransmitted via the dealers. Participating CHOPPERS SPECIAL There's a trainload of enterainment when WDRC, Hartford, Conn., listeners board he Shoppers Special at 7:00 A.M. One of the oldest >rograms on the air, the show has run on schedule 52 veeks a year since 1930 as a participating program for oca! and national advertisers. Weather reports, time, news and music are the bulk of the freight carried on the Shoppers Special. Otto's Orchestra is a feature attraiiiun, making the Shoppers Special the only early morning show in Hartford with a live band. New merchandising feature of the program: the Market Basket. Two custodians of the Market BaikrI, Jim (iarrett and Jean Chesley, pay surprise visits to homes in the WDRC listening area. When the lady of the house comes to the door, she is on the air, thanks to the WDRC mobile unit. Interview continues inside the house, with a Market Basket presentation a high spot of the stunt. In the Market Basket is a sample of every product advertised on the Shoppers Special. Roy Hansen, as conductor of the Shoppers Special. tnakes numerous public appearances before women's clubs, civic groups, et al. Large and frequent newspaper ads and numerous spot announcements are part of the promotion behind the show. Program is a two-hour feature. Participating MARKET BASKET When the Market Basket is unpacked, what's spread on the table convinces the housewife of one thing, namely, the advantages of shopping in Vancouver, Wash. Eight non-competitive sponsors give the sales pitch to KVAN listeners six times weekly, on a 30-minute schedule. An indication that the Market Basket does its job well is the fact that in the four years the show has been on the air, it has lost only one sponsor. Current mistress of the Market Basket is Joy Vinton, Sustaining KORN'S-A-KRACKIN' What started out as a new and different hillbilly series for local consumption over KWTO, Springfield, Mo., ended up as a nation-wide release over the Mutual network. The all-star revue with Bill Ring as emcee originates in the heart of the Ozarks, and is the first regularly scheduled nation-wide radio release to come direct from southwest Missouri. 180 Mutual stations carry this Saturday night hour of rural rhythm and hilarity. Korn' s-A-Krackin' indeed when a cast of 40 interpret the songs and music of the hill country. Series goes on the air at 9:00 P.M. CST. Sustaining MORNING DEVOTIONS For very early risers, Monday through Friday, in Texas, radio station WOAI, San Antonio, broadcasts Morning Devotions. Format includes a prayer and benediction by a San Antonio minister, sacred music and a brief devotional thought. Dr. Arthur U. Boand, president of the San Antonio Council of Churches, inaugurated the series the last week in December. Sustaining CONGRESS REPORTS When Congress Reports to the people of Washington, D. C, via WWDC, it reduces the barriers of state boundaries and sectional differences. On each broadcast a congressman speaks on a topic of his own choice, and through that, interprets the thinking of his section of the country to listeners in the nation's capitol. Listener interest in the new series, according to WWDC general manager, Ben Strouse, points up the fact that public interest in their government representatives is at an all-time high. The program is in the hands of Mark Austad, WWDC news commentator and moderator of the D.C. Forum of the Air. The public service feature which interprets the thinking of various parts of the country on topics of national interest, as expressed by their elected representatives, is broadcast three times weekly. Series is aired M-W-F, 10:45-11:00 P.M. U N E. 1946 213