Sponsor (Nov 1946-Oct 1947)

Only AVERAGE PROGRAMS PROFIT from Rebroadcasts do, thus duplicating the performance of the shows in the top third. There is an indication in this that listeners who want specific shows will listen at any time. The lowest third apparently is composed for the most part of shows that appeal to specific audiences, audiences that will listen — regardless. Typical of these programs is Policewoman with its 6. 1 . Typical of the programs that repeat, but which theoretically wouldn't lose anything if they didn't, is Twenty Questions, with a 4.7. The "repeat or not repeat" question cannot be determined on one survey. However, the amazingly higher ratings of the shows in the average group that rebroadcast for the Pacific Coast is proof positive that repeats are justified for these programs. The fact that the shows that go coast-to-coast with one miking in the top and bottom groups do better than the shows that repeat also means something— that repeat performances aimed to hit both coasts at prime listening hours are expensive luxuries for them. This fact is made even more apparent ill the case of the Walter Winchell and Jack Benny airings, which not only do a repeat for the West Coast but also an heard on the Pacific with the first broadcast, in the November 30 report from which the current "repeal study" was made, Winchell without the second broadcast rated 21.8 and with the dual airing he hit just 22.7. That means that the second airing added only 0.9 to his listening index . . . and there's no proof that he wouldn't have had that 0.9 on his first broadcast if listeners knew that the only time they could hear him was at that hour . . . certainly he'd have had some of it. In the case of Jack Benny, the program gained 2.2 points from its dual presentation, being upped from 25.7 to 27.9. (Please turn to page 37) REPEAT broadcasts,* long a fetish with sponsors, who feel they deliver bigger audiences, actually do deliver more listeners if the program is "average." If the program is a topranking commercial or falls within the lowest one-third in rating, repeat broadcasts mean less than nothing ... in size of audience. Actually, top programs without repeat airings rank 13.4 per cent higher than programs which spend money for late transmissions on the Pacific Coast. Typical of the programs without repeats is Kraft Music Hall which had a 14.3 November 30 Hooperating. Just as typical of the programs with repeats is Blondie which had a 13.7 during the same rating period. Top programs ("top third) ranged from 29.4 to 1 1.4. The "average" show, hanging in rating from 11.1 to 7.8, requires a repeat for the West Coast. Sponsor's check-up revealed that during the period covered the middle group of repeated shows ran 63.2 per cent higher than the programs that tried to reach their maximum audience with one coast-to-coast airing. Crime Doctor, heard in the East at 8:30 p. m. est and in the West at 8 p. m. pst, rates 10.6, while Saturday Night Serenade, which is heard sans a repeat, rates an 8.2. In the lowest one-third, the shows that do not repeat for the West run 10.6 per cent higher than the segments that *A "repeat broadcast" is a rebroadcast, for West Coast audiences, of a program heard earlier in the East and Middle West. The Ten Commandments tor domed)' by Ernest Walker Audience Response A nalyst 1. Thou shalt not wait until quality and quantity weaknesses develop into habits. (A radio program does not fail in one broadcast. Its death is heralded long before its rating reaches zero.) 2. Thou shalt not mix characterization, situation, and gags in undue proportion. (The successful program producer predetermines the extent to which each of these three ingredients shall be used.) 3. Thou shalt not expect funny lines to be written. (Lines only become funny when they arc delivered by an actor whose characterization has been so set that for him to deliver them makes them funny. 4. Thou shalt not rush new characters into a program and expect belly laughs. (Ample time must be allowed in each program to establish in the listener's mind the characters who weren't there before.) 5. Thou shalt not expect situation comedy without suspense. (// suspense is strong then the gag requirement is low (two to three laughs a minute). If a situation is weak (no suspense! then it's gag comedy and from three to five laughs a minute are required . 6. Thou shalt not permit situation laughs to fall below 60 — 70* per cent of maximum volume. 7. Thou shalt not permit gag comedians to sell their material at less than 70 — 80* per cent of maximum response. 8. Thou shalt not permit more than 12 seconds to lapse between gags, nor more than 22 seconds between situation laughs. 9. Thou shalt not tread the dangerous ground of mixing situation and gag comedy. (Situation building requires time and alien gags are scattered in a situation, thus delaying suspense build-up, both situation and gags are frequently .' 10. Thou shalt not forget to keep a running check on the auantity of comedy in a program, the quality of the comedy, the performers' comedy ability, and the comedy timing. (No one thing constitutes the success in broadcasting. Especially is this true in comedy.) *100 per cent is the maximum volume that can be recorded on the Walker or any other sound meter. JANUARY 1947 29