Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1944)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

22 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW November 25, 1944 Old ^Doc^ hByovki JisM^ 0^ Theatre Advertising Analysis of Advertising Media No. 4 Continuing the discussion of advertising media, Radio is assuming a more and more important role in the selling of motion picture entertainment. Looked upon for many years as an unwelcome intruder by theatres and newspapers, the radio has of recent years been throwing off the shackles and gaining new admiration and friends in our industry. Several of the major companies now use radio extensively on a national network scale to publicize their product on regularly scheduled broadcasts. The benefit of such advertising accrues to theatres large and small, just as does advertising in national magazines. Platter recordings of spot announcements are being made available for local use on many pictures. The ever-increasing number of pictures covered by this service testifies to the popularity of such a valuable advertising aid. Radio, like other advertising media, has developed its own yardstick for the measuring of its circulation or coverage. Many private engineering firms, as well as the engineers in the employ of the major networks, are constantly conducting listener surveys to determine the popularity of this or that program in the trading areas of the different stations. Almost any local station is in a position today to produce for your inspection certified audits of its listeners' habits, both as to times of the day or night, and as to entertainment likes or dislikes. These audits are prepared by measuring signal strength at many points to determine station power, by use of the audimeter, and by personal phone calls to widely scattered points by staffs of experts at certain hours over a period of days to establish a pattern of listener preference as to station or program. The Audimeter is a small instrument which, when installed in a home radio, accurately records the time a set is turned on and off, when switches are made from one station to another, and the exact time, preserving the information for study. Two hundred of these Audimeters, installed in a wide variety of homes, have made it possible to determine the listening habits and sales effect of radio program advertising. The research specialists, with records of all broadcasts and the surveys of the buying habits of the homes being used in the poll, are able over a period of time to report efficiently and in surprising detail on any area so surveyed. Must Cover the Area Buying time is much like buying space. Radio time is only as good as a station's volume of listeners and its effective coverage of the area in which you must create a desire to come to your theatre. Beyond that point it is only as valuable as the effectiveness of the manner in which you utilize the time to maintain your assured audience at the start of your program. Much study and toil has been expended by experts in the advertising world to develop effective programs and spot announcements. Money has been no object, and millions have been spent. It is a simple matter to observe the popularity of certain types of programs by the number of similar broadcasts over the various outlets, as well as by the hours and days on which they are offered. New program ideas frequently start on the off hours, and as their popularity grows, they move into the headline slots for peak listening RADIO audiences under sponsorship. This is no guesswork policy. It is a policy of proved merit. If you buy spot time try to get your licks in between the big shows or popular newscasts. Observe the listening habits of men, women and children. Place your radio advertising to reach specifically the element of listeners to whom your picture will appeal, and prepare your program or spot in a manner which will appeal to the element you seek to sell. If you have a production problem in creating audience appeal for a program consult with your local station's program director. His knowledge of the technique of radio, plus your knowledge of your product and prospects, should produce a solution. Radio is most flexible, for you can work out a program, rehearse it, record it, play it back to find and eliminate flaws, and then when it is just as it should be, it can be broadcast any number of times. Sound effects of all kinds are on tap in the average radio station's recording library and frequently prove valuable in the creation of dramatic, musical, or comedy spot announcements. They can be played and re-recorded to fit your needs. You can open an announcement on a mystery drama by using a creaking door, a woman's scream, or the noise of the wind — just as one example of sound-effect adaptation. The Old Ballyhoo Helps If you establish a regular radio program for your theatre do not expect the broadcast in itself to build into an immediately popular feature. Radio programs, like pictures, need selling for maximum listening results. You can hasten the success of your program by plugging it with screen trailers, ad slugs in your newspaper copy, spot announcements at other times of the day and lobby display. In approaching the problem of what kind of local program you might present or sponsor there are two major considerations. First is the question of the mass preference for one type of entertainment over another among the people in your trading area whom you desire to reach regularly, and second is the production facilities at your disposal for the preparation of a quality program that will be representative of your theatre. The danger in this second element is not to attempt some sort of program which will suffer in comparison with the network shows of the same type due to amateurish talent, script, or comedy material. Quiz programs, Man-in-the-Street broadcasts, Hollywood News Chats, Fashion Hint programs for the ladies, and straight Movie Chat broadcasts on current and coming shows are considered to be the most practical type air programs for local use. An occasional dramatization of a film play by a local little theatre group or radio drama club is to be encouraged, but only where the script is professionally prepared and thoroughly rehearsed, so as not to turn out so poorly done as to reflect badly upon a picture which you want to encourage people to see. Such playlets should not reveal the big punch of your film, but rather whet the appetite of the listeners to the point where they will want, to see the picture. * In some instances a program of national importance is sponsored on a limited number of network outlets and is available for local spon sorship over your station. Where a number of theatres are involved it may be possible to spread the cost of such sponsorship on an economical basis. Watch for an opportunity to plant spot announcements before and after national broadcasts of stars or premieres, plugging the fact that the picture can be seen at your theatre, thus cashing in on a big listening audience. In writing spot copy or announcements the same basic fundamentals apply to radio advertising as to newspaper ad copy, which we will discuss in detail in a forthcoming article. 63 Loew Houses In ^Wasseir Campalsn An extensive campaign covering the entire group of 63 Loew metropolitan theatres has been staged on "The Story of Dr. Wassell," with the fourteen deluxe houses playing the picture seven days instead of the customary five and the rest of the circuit bookings extending through Thanksgiving, the last dated for December 10. Presentation of framed meritorious service awards to Navy Mothers Clubs chapters in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, White Plains, Mt. Vernon, Yonkers and New Rochelle were made by ranking Navy officers. Commander Corydon M. Wassell, whose heroic exploits are portrayed in the film by Gary Cooper, came east for personal appearances and personally presented the awards on the stages of the Valencia and Paradise theatres. Others making the presentations included Lt. James M. Sidall, USN, of St. Alban's Naval Hospital, and Lt. Helen H. Jacobs of the Naval Training School at Hunter College. Stories and photos broke prominently in all borough and New York metropolitan newspapers. One good break resulted from the announcement that if Brooklyn's Dr. Al A. Wassell, DD.S., would call the manager of Loew's Pitkin or Kings theatres, and say when, he would receive free tickets. The campaign was executed by Edward Dowden of Loew's and his staff of exploiteers, including Jay Burton, Brooklyn ; Sam Coolick, the Bronx, and Sid Kain, Manhattan, in cooperation with Paramount's advertising, publicity and exploitation department. Radio Exploitation Set On 5 Paramount Films Radio exploitation has been set for five Paramount pictures during the next fortnight, according to R. M. Gillham, advertising and publicity director. First airwave plug occurred November 16 when Bing Crosby introduced Accentuate the Positive, one of the song hits from "Here Come the Waves," on his Kraft Music Hall program. The song will also be sung by Cass Daley on the Maxwell House program in the near future and by Joe Lilly's choral group on a forthcoming Dinah Shore program, both on NBC. Also on November 16 "Duffy's Tavern" was publicized with the appearance of Ann Thomas on the Bob Burns program over NBC. Paulette Goddard was scheduled to make a guest appearance on the Lady Esther-Screen Guild show Alonday night, November 20, on CBS, with publicity resulting for "And Now Tomorrow." "Frenchman's Creek" will benefit from the guest appearance of Victor Young on the "A Song Is Born" program on the NBC Pacific Coast network on November 27 when music for the picture composed by Young will be featured. Diana Lynn, who co-stars with Gail Russell in "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay," will be guest star on the Kenny Baker show on CBS on Saturday, December 2, and will appear on the Walter Winchell program the following night.