Sponsor (Nov 1948-June 1949)

PUBLIC SERVICE (Continued from page 31 i over \\ FDF. This program, sponsored l>\ The Hamad) Bros., was recentl) selected a one of the winners of the outstanding service to highwa) safety. \\ i 1 1 ui in Legree, The Singing Cop, is a member of the Flint Police Department assigned to special duty in connection with the safet) program throughout the Flint school system. He makes <lail\ appearances at schools and before other groups of children to sing safet) songs and tell them stories about safety. Hamad) Bros, feel their institutional commercials have more than paid oil. though the) have made no attempt (feeling it inconsistent with the nature of the program I to trace business directl) to the show. For the same reason Johnson \ Johnson have retrained from using an) of the proved devices for testing the impact of their commercials on It's Your Life. Thev use a dignified, re WE DON'T DRIFT INTO SNOW (Ky.)! Area that ltw« W» .. BMB Audience wnjmP cally every corner 01 and important area! •„ or shine, our great Sleet, ram or*"/ar moreim27-conn.y.narkcl.Hj on °f l r.ffeclive bnsinesB as . CIS*1 State, eombined! With WAVE around, you don j strained selling message instead of the strictl) institutional cop\ used h\ Hamady Bros., a grocery chain. This program is produced in the form so often adopted by the sponsor interested more in prestige than in direi i commercial impact — the documental \. This form of presentation is probably the champion rating-depressor. That is mainly because its attempt to be realistic and "hard-hitting" usuallv loses — as commonl) produced — just the program values that attract audiences. This has been true of e\en such elaborately-produced documentaries as CBS' The Eagle's Brood, whose rating plunged to a 6.4 from the previous 11.1 earned 1>\ Information Please and depressed ratings on both sides of the period for several broadcasts following. So producer Ben Park of the Chicago Industrial Health Association had two strikes against him when he walked into the advertising sanctum of Johnson \ Johnson with audition records of It's ) our Life. How would a documentarv -tvpe program designed to promote bettei living through belter health fit into the advertising program of Johnson & Johnson? Especially when the advertising program for 1949 had alread) been formulated without plans for radio? I he show was presented as a 15minute program designed to be aired in the daytime five times a week. This meant a predominant woman's audience, which seemed right for surgical dressings and baby products (the division ol the companv to which Ben Park made his presentation I . It had one qualit) that set it apart from competing daytime programs: it promised to tell the people of Chicago (or an) community) about the resources and the people who were working day and night to protect their health, the future of their children, the whole pattern of their daily lives. But with all this, would people listen? Could such a humanitarian program build an audience in competition with the powerful appeal of serials and other successful daytime radio? The fact that Ben Park was producer meant something. He had *el Chicago aflame la*l war with Report I ncensored, the series that won hum awards, including the <lu Pont and Peabody. He started specializing in educational and public *ei \ ice bi oad i i-l on \\ ISCOnsin S state-owned \\ II \ while attending the uniwr*itv at Madison. Edward G. Gerbic, Johnson & Johnson advertising director, was well aware that some of the most attractive appeals in daytime radio include both people and problem* with which women can identifv themselves; suspense: and happy solutions. He put // s ) our Life under a microscope to find out how main of these qualities it promised to develop. The woman listener would get situations and stories that could be her own or her family's. Park proposed that the first L3 weeks should unfold problems from The Birth of a Baby right on up to old age. The tapeiceording technique could capture colorful, gripping stories of situationpart and parcel of daily life — with the ring of honesty and truth. I nder the expert writing and direction of Park the gradual development of a delinquent boy's life story, for example, could create the necessary excitement and interest from one broadcast to another. The moral of the series was that the happy solution is the intelligent, logical one — that in nearly every case hope and help are close at hand. The show would carrv as a daily message the news that assistance was there if listeners would only ask for it. It was all there — and more. It offered that rare union, the "just right' combination of program content and ad\ ei i ising v ehii le. Johnson Si Johnson, on the recommendation of their agenev. Vmng \ Kubicam. New \ ork. and Gerbic. decided to expand the budget for the baby products and surgical dressings division to include the show. It's Your Life started L8 October on Chicago's WMAQ in the Ll:15-ll:30 a.m. spot Morula) through Friday. This pitted it against three popularnetwork shows. Welcome Travelers, kale Smith Sings, and Aunt Jenny. From an initial llooperating of 0.6 it climbed steadilv to 1.4 then 3,1. This represented a l:">..'i share ol audience. oi an increase ol 517'. in a little over half-a-year. I!\ thi* time there was a swelling clamor from listeners for the program to be moved to an hour when bushand* and other members of the fainilv could hear it. \\ omen fell thai stories of how other Families met and solved the various problems associated with illness and disability through the aid of Chicago's main service* were of profound interest to main not able to listen on weekd.iv*. There wa* evidence, also. I hat listeners were inler 4 3 SPONSOR