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PARTICIPANTS IN "TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES" MAY WIN LARGE LOOT, BUT THE ENTERTAINMENT FACTOR PREDOMINATES
Are giveaways good programin
yes ... when entertainment out weighs the soinethingfor-nothing faetor
Apart from legal and moral considerations of what is — and what is not — a lottery, what exactly are giveaway shows? And, are they good forms of radio and visual programing?
A lot depends on whose yardstick is being used to do the measuring. In the eyes of the networks and producers who have multi-million-dollar investments in giveaway programing, such shows "have high entertainment value and are listened to with enjoyment by millions of people daily." In the eyes of the FCC and the nation's press, as well as a vocal minority of the air audience, giveaways are lotteries, and
12 SEPTEMBER 1949
ought to be thrown off the air.
There is another yardstick to measure the programs that go on the air bearing gifts. Its basis is not found in the labyrinth of legal terminology. It's not found in rating reports, either. It is apart from merit and social considerations. What it does result from is an analysis of the various factors involved in a!l giveaway shows — the size and amount of prizes, the "gimmick'' by which they are awarded or won, the format ciul structure of the show, and the psychological appeal of the show to an audience. For lack of a better term, this factor might be called "strength of giveaway."
Research findings have shown that such a factor has a definite existence. Network findings, agency research findings, and the work done by independent research firms show that it is an important factor as well. It was found, also, as the result of a SPONSOR study, that the "strength of giveaway" divided the total number of known giveaway shows into four distinct classes, with only a very few borderline cases.
What, then, is the factor of strength of giveaway, and how does it affect the entertainment portion of a given program? The answer lies in how big a part the giveaway gimmick plays in
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