Sponsor (Nov 1946-Oct 1947)

DR. CHAPPELL {Continued from page 19) any other name you like, but throughout life we tend to react with anger when unj completed activity is interrupted. And the more intent we are on the activity, the more we tend to he irritated by interruption. If the interrupting event is cither meaningless to us or is in itself unpleasant, the tendency to anger is strengthened. If, now, we examine the structure of broadcasting in terms of this basic principle, we find cause for listener resentment rampant. Listening is an activity. The better the show, the more intense the activity is and the greater becomes the probability that anger will be evoked if it is interrupted with a commercial. If the commercial is of real interest to the listener, the effect of the interruption may be counteracted, in part. If it is of no real interest there is no counteraction. Frequently, commercials are introduced by design into that part of the program where listening is most intense. The result is maximum irritation. Some very good dramatic shows designed for women, and listened to intently by both men and women, interrupt the action with complete disregard for the men. Men are non-existent to them. True, the men are not going to buy the products or try the "lather cocktails" or "patch tests," but they are listeners, and their emotions, ungrateful and irrational as they may be, will toll the bell. It appears from these considerations that it might be possible to reduce listener aversion to commercials considerably if, in those programs where the commercial cannot be integrated or where the total listening audience is not given real interest in them, commercials were presented before the action starts and after it stops. But, you may object, that might be sacrificing advantages the advertiser now rightfully enjoys. Possibly. We rarely get something for nothing. But it must be noted that how real this advantage actually is, is one of the things nobody knows. Mere number of listeners is not the answer. The number in a receptive state of mind is. The real advantage may lie in an opening and a closing commercial with no interruptions. There is nothing new or revolutionary about any of these thoughts. The designers of Cavalcade of America, who in many ways have manifested in radio the pioneering spirit they exalt in their program, have presented for years a half JANUARY 1947 hour of drama uninterrupted by com mercials. And their pioneering in com mercial production has resulted in their holding their full audience through a long closing commercial. In view of the complexity of the commercial problem and the possible relation of interruptions of listening to listeners' emotion, it would he well to considci tin 1. 1 toi < . urlulh I i starting on a witch hunt for "disgusting" and "bad taste" commercials or jumping to conclusions that "spots" are the culprits, that all commercials should be "inside" programs, or that they arc too long. WOZ YOU BURNT when rat that, to se ieky U , .Uers thought ldio advertiser* Time ^as *»■»— y hamlet »» ft they bad to cover every ^ e stuff , »teJ „„a n« Joke, tna any _ and no WAVE alone ^ ^ 51.9*. " -* ulvertisers kno» 5000 ratts — ■ giveS that them Kenmc^ to tal, "1,a alb at a u_ aren't yo»r iw about it, P* uouisviu-e* Wave NBC WflUMt M1I0NM. KWHOHn"1* 39