Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1946)

Station: WWVA, Wheeling. W. Va. Power: 50,000 watts. Population: 73,974. Producer: Kasper-Gordon, Inc. COMMENT: Scries here appeals to a wide age group range. From the standpoint ot good programming, the fact that it draws on the imagination and carries interest from day to day is all to the good. Department Stares CHIMNEY CHATS WITH MRS. SANTA CLAUS Unless Santa Clans looks to his laurels, Mrs. Santa Claus may give him a run for his money. When she put in her first appearance back in 1942 for The Emporium, St. Paul, Minn, department store, the WMIN series drew 1,400 letters in the five weeks Mrs. Santa was on the air. In 1943 she looked in on Presque Isle, Me. youngsters. With Mrs. Santa Claus as the mouth-piece, the children followed a series of adventures which took place in the North Pole toy factory, combined with North Pole telephone calls, via WAGM. In 1945, Chimney Chats With Mrs. Santa Claus played a return engagement over \\^\GM. Her success in Presque Isle was dittoed in Colorado Springs, Colo. Daily, for four weeks. Sears Roebuck & Co. presented quarter-hour Chimney Chats With Mrs. Santa Clans over KVOR. Commercial highlights of that 1944 appearance: (1) 1,000 letters to Santa Claus and over 10,000 children to Sears to see Santa Claus; (2) two announcements on the program sold all but 23 of a thousand five-pound fruit cakes at $1.60 each. Sears signed at once to carry the show again in 1945. What KVOR's Everett Shupe had to report on the 1945 engagement: "Same policy, trend and results as a year ago, only more so." AIRFAX: Adventures of North Pole characters range from an almost fire to preparations for the annual Gnomes Winter Carnival. In addition to ori^nal stories, about five minutes of each program is devoted to shortwave telephone calls from the North Pole between Mrs. Santa Claus and the writers of the best letters to Santa Claus. Series is available in script form. Needed for production: a woman's voice, an announcer and a standard set of sound effects. Merchandising hooks: letters from Santa Claus, store prizes and telephone calls. Twentyfive scripts are available, on a five-a-week schedule. First Broadcast: November 26, 1945. Broadcast Schedule: Monday through Friday, 4:J0 4:45 p.m., for four weeks. Preceded By: Varied. Followed By: World Today. Sponsor: Sears Roebuck 8C Co. Station: KVOR, Colorado Springs. Colo. Power: 1,000 watts. Population: 36,789. Producer: Showmanscripts. COMMENT: (Children's j:)rograms of this nature are always good for a return engagement. Twice-told tales have a strong attraction for the younger generation, loo, the audience turn-o\er from one year to the next means that the program adds a large number of new listeners each year. (For sample script, write Showmanscripts, Room 218, 1004 Marquette, Minneapolis 2, Minn.) Department Stares CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD For dayin, day-out contact with its customers. Nelson's focuses on Lije in Our Town for listeners to WJTN, Jamestown, N. Y. But for the holiday season, it took its listeners on a Christmas Around the World tour. Each program was built around the celebration of Christmas in the various countries throughout the world. In addition to descriptions of Christmas customs, a Yuletide recipe from each country was featured on the program. Response to a free offer of copies of the recipes: excellent. Gift ideas from general store merchandise were highlighted on minute and a half commercials. Extensive use of newspaper space and inter-store publicity promoted the holiday feature which took the place of the regular radio broadcast. AIRFAX: Series was prepared and presented by Elizabeth Ogren and Linnea Carlson, with both appearing on the show. First Broadcast: Thanksgiving Day, 1945. Broadcast Schedule: Monday through Friday, 1:452:00 p.m. Preceded By: Music. Followed By: News. Sponsor: Nelson's. Station: WJTN, Jamestown, N. Y. Power: 250 watts. Population: 45,15 5. COMMENT: Without question, listener interest is increased when a sponsor adapts his regular broadcast offering to meet OCTOBER, 1 946 • 351 •