Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1947)

wreetings Via Mime Shots One-time holiday programs persorialize greetmgs to customers, create good will for local and regional adoertisers As A PERSONALIZED way of extending i Christmas greetings to the community, many local and regional advertisers have found that one-time Christmas radio promotions represent first-rate public relations. In Atlantic City, N. J., seven sponsors in combination presented WFPG listeners with a complete schedule of programs for Christmas Eve listening, and because the entire station log was programmed with that type of entertainment the combination built up an unusually large audience that might not otherwise have been attracted by any one program. The first program on the schedule, organ Christmas music by Lew White, was sponsored by the Seashore Shoe Shining Parlor, 7:15-7:30 p.m. At 8:15 Schoppy, Jeweler, presented Bing Crosby in Christmas carols, which was followed by Santa Clans Rides Again, sponsored by the Phillips Company, Insurance, 8:309:00 p.m. At 9:30 the Goorland Furniture Company presented The Littlest Angel, a 30-minute production. At 10:00 p.m., immediately following the live network show, there was the Fibber McGee & Molly Christmas show, sponsored by Risley Laundry. Landsmen's Department Store sponsored the Waring Pennsylvanians in a Visit from St. Nick at 10:30. What the Fischer Florist Company presented at 11:30 was a half-hour program, Midnight Ave Maria Hour. Christmas Day also presents itself as an opportunity for radio greetings to customers, and two such programs were on the WFPG schedule: Hackney's Restaurant presented a quarter-hour for children at 8:00 a.m., and at 1:15, the Atlantic City Electric Company presented a half-hour transcribed production of Dicken's Christmas Carol. In Los Angeles, Calif, the Barker Brothers Department Store traditionally airs Dicken's Christmas Carol. In 1946, the one-time production was heard Sunday, December 22 at 3:00 p.m., over KMPC. The same series was effectively used as a Christmas Eve greeting to WDSU, New Orleans, La., listeners by the Gulf Furniture Company. There were other one-time shots on the \VDSU schedule, including The Night Before Christmas, sponsored by MarksIsaacs Department Store, in w^hich Santa and a story-teller told the famous Night Before Christmas. A quarter-hour production, it was an original dramatization prepared by the WDSU continuity staff. In addition, the Bradford Furniture Company sponsored a 30-minute program during the Christmas week, which featured an original dramatization of Silent Night. In Missoula, Mont, the Bon Ton Bakery presented a half-hour of Christmas music over KGVO. No commercials were used, and institutional copy conveyed Christmas greetings to the public at the opening and close of the broadcast. OCTOBER, 1947 343