Sponsor (Jan-June 1950)

timebuying yardstick defined by the agency and first applied to the Pinkham account in March of 1948. Based on rigid standards established l>\ the agency, total coverage of each station is estimated. Actual audience of each availability is established usin» listening surveys as a guide, and cost per 1.1)00 radio homes is then established. In order to weigh the relative merits of chainbreaks. one-minute participations, straight one-minute announcements and programs of varying length, the cost of each is examined in relation to a full minute of commercial time. For example, in a 5-minute program with one and one-half minutes of commercial time, the entire cost to use the five minutes is one and one-hall minutes of commercial time. If a chainbreak costs $.30 per 1,000, its actual Erwin-Wasey evaluation is $.60 etc., etc. In arriving at the total number of radio homes that listen to a station, the 1946 BMB audiences at the 50 percent and other levels translated into 1949 radio homes is used whenever possible. It is now felt that the total audience reported by BMB starting at the 10 percent level are areas not to be disregarded. Actual experience has shown that radio stations do an effective selling job in those counties that are far below the 50 percent BMB level. The new BMB study will of couse give an opportunity to the account for further insight into this aspect. For those stations which are not BMB subscribers, the agency plots the coverage based on a 0.5 millivolt contour measurement. In arriving at the specific radio audience for each availability, only reliable and generally accepted audience measurements are used. Both the client and agency realize their method for screening the availabilities submitted is not exact; it is not accurate. The agency's time buying department emphasizes that "It is not fair to us or to the stations. But it is the best yardstick that we have been able to devise with the statistical data available to us. In the past year, we have had availabilities submitted that figure as low as 30c per minute per 1,000 radio homes and others that figure as high as $20.00. "On the whole, this yardstick has worked, but careful judgment must be used along with it. Obviouslv. it is not lair to judge the popularity <<l a [arm program on a 50,000 watt station in a metropolitan ana hy a rating that is established by telephoning to homes located within the 5c telephone limits of that city. Nor can we assume that a radio station located in the suburbs of a large < it\ can include all the radio homes in that city as part of its total radio audience even though that < it\ comes within the 0.5 millivolt contour of the suburban station. Our yardstick is a guide only, and cannot be used as a complete substitute for good judgment." During the month of March a "trial sample" of the Pinkham Compound tablets has been offered on each participating station. The results, which are now being compiled, establish a new evalation for each station which either will confirm the "cost-per-minute-per1.000" technique or give the agency and Pinkham medicine company a reason for making a further study of the original figure. Early analysis of mail indicates the original cost per 1.000 figure is closely related to the mail response. The Pinkham company has developed an ingenious yet simple method of determining the impact of a specific advertising campaign — radio or another medium — on limited geographical areas. By numbering the carton tops and inserting a questionnaire in the individual Vegetable Compound packages, the Pinkhams are able to determine the name and address of the wholesaler and retailer who sold the carton and the consumer who bought each package, and often what part advertising has played in the purchase. As an incentive, a sewing kit is offered for each returned questionnaire. The questionnaires also yield additional material about the consumers of the Vegetable Compound, which is added to the huge store of such data collected by the company since 1875. Since there are definite and predictable variations in buying habits among Compound customers in different parts of the country and in different seasons, all this is grist for the timebuyer's mill. Insofar as frequency is concerned, the company's basic policy is 15 oneminute announcements per station per week, using one to four stations per market. However, Pinkham adds this comment: "It is still too early to report upon the comparative value of 5, 15. 45 and 70 spots per week, except To Cover the Greater Wheeling (W.Va.) Metropolitan Market Thoroughly YOU NEED WTRF AM-FM Proof . . . Consult the Hooper Area Coverage Index, 3-County Area 1949, and see how well WTRF covers the Wheeling Metropolitan Market of Northern West Virginia and Eastern Ohio. Studios and Transmitter: WOODMONT, BELLAIRE, OHIO Represented by THE WALKER CO. BMI SIMPLE ARITHMETIC IN MUSIC LICENSING BMI LICENSEES Networks 22 AM 2-080 FM 397 TV 93 Short-Wave 4 Canada 150 TOTAL BMI LICENSEES.. 2,746* You are assured of complete coverage when you program BMI-licensed music *As of March 20, 1950 BROADCAST MUSIC, INC. 580 FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK 19 NEW YORK • CHICAGO • MOUYWOOD 27 MARCH 1950 61