Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1947)

scripts, newspapers and letters, and the deeper in the files we went, the more interested we became. Every student of history knew of the land of Hiawatha and that it was literally btiilt on salt; but very few knew the human interest stories that went into the building of this communit)'. ^\^e learned of a man who saw Syracuse for the first time from the driver's seat of a stage coach and who stayed to be mayor. Wc learned of the famous visitors to our town: Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, Jenny Lind and many others. All stories were teaming with human interest. There were Indian legends, and stories of adventure and of courage in the early building of this community. The material was literally endless. The first Historical Showcase was straight narrati\'e with background music, genuine recordings of Onondaga Indian music and folk songs of early America, supplying the mood. Merchandising tests listener interest lo merchandise this program, stories were made a\ ailable for all who wrote in, and prior to each broadcast letters were sent to institutions or individuals that in any way had a connection with the program to follow\ Historical Showcase was on the air for about a year. Letters of approval came from many of the city's leading personalities, and there were many requests from the history teachers in the local schools for copies of each broadcast. However, at the end of that year, in order to absorb former employees returning from ser^•ice and at the same time retain those who had been hired during the war years, the bank decided to curtail its advertising budget. \\'hen it was made known that this program was available, new sponsors were ready to immediately pick up the reins. But first we decided to determine the results, by following the second question: To rebuild the program and then fit the sponsor to it. Rebuilt without benefit of sponsor Hadio station A\TBL was selected as the outlet. With the station's assistance all MAY, 1947 programs were draiiiaii/cd and we incorporated into each show a lie-up by a locil dignitary to add topical interest to the theme of the particular story. Among these personalities were the mayor, the superintendent of schools, the chancellor of Syracuse university, the chief of police, the editor of a newspaper, a well-known lawyer, a doctor and many others. Their appearance helped tremendously in building public interest. Transcriptions of these broadcasts were made available to the public school system and re-run each week at auditorium assemblies. Again stories were made available on request. And as before, letters were sent out to persons or institutions to be mentioned on the next broadcast. The show was an outstanding success from the beginning. Several radio stations in the state asked permission to follow the same style of program and our agency developed a similar show through station WIBX in Utica. New sponsor finds series valuable Ihe sponsor chosen in Syracuse was the Kaylan Cutlery Company, a national concern. It was riding the crest of a "sellers market" and it was our idea to capitalize for it on the dignity and public service that Historical Showcase would gi\Q it, and to establish its product as "quality" merchandise. The many unsolicited letters in praise of the program and its value to the community, has proven its merits as a good will mediiun. And so, on the basis of the experience we have gained during these more than 20 months of Historical Shoivcase (we have approached the question from both sides) we have decided that the best way to satisfy both sponsor and radio audience, is to prepare the program in ad\ance and then find the sponsor who will fit that program. • 159 •