Sponsor (Jan-June 1950)

1— itfy new broom won't sell product plugged on the program. He was so sold on the project himself that he offered to get the hall rolling via a half-hour daily program — for free. Uogers agreed. The commentator went to work. \\ hen he found a food market consistently shortweighting customers, Wiley named the store, warned listeners. As a result, there were several convictions by the Los Angeles Bureau of Weights and Measures. Fan mail for HPL was plentiful, sponsors nil. The idea was too new and radical. Several proprietary advertisers offered to underwrite it, but Wiley turned them down. At the end Program directors are listeners' trusted friends of six months, the commentator was still chatting about household problems, philosophizing about life. (He had to be philosophical; he was still salaryless.) Wiley's first sponsor was a dairy concern, the Golden State Company, of San Francisco, which signed for a two weeks' participation to develop leads for its drivers via a pamphlet offer. The account remained on HPL for 20 months. The program drew 8,000 leads in the first month. During the subsequent 19 months, requests averaged about 5,000 a month. When CBS purchased KNX late in 1936, Wiley continued under the new setup. With his afternoon HPL program a local sellout, he went to Donald W. Thornburgh. then CBS Pacific Coast vice-president (now president of WCAU, Philadelphia), and asked for the Sunrise Express: this recordings show was to serve as an early morning replica of HPL. The program was renamed Sunrise Salute. Its initial success involved a test campaign by the National Livestock \ Meal Hoard. This organization offered a free booklet containing information on the purchase and preparation of fresh meat. It bought participations on programs over 14 stations. Salute came out best among the 14 on a cost-per-inquiry basis, pulling 19,469 requests. Publication of these results gave other advertisers confidence in the program. Wiley likes to tell about the time when the Fanners Public Market. stuck with a carload of ripe peaches which had to be. sold within 48 hours, called for help. One announcement sold the whole carload. There were other such examples. National advertisers and advertising agencies were quick to catch on. Campbell Soup Co., first national advertiser to sponsor the morning-afternoon combination, is still an enthusiastic participant. By 1940. Procter & Gamble, Pillsbury Flour Mills, Manhattan Soap Co. (Sweetheart Soap), La Mont Corliss & Co. (Nestle's Semi-Sweet Chocolate) , Cudahy Packing Co., Scott Paper Co. (paper towels), and 19 regional and local advertisers were on the schedule, with 71 percent renewal contracts. Then CBS stepped into the picture and bought the Housewives' Protective League for a cool million. Currently, the program is carried on stations KCBS, San Francisco; KNX, Los Angeles; WCBS, New York City; WCCO, Minneapolis-St. Paul; WRVA, Richmond: KIRO. Seattle; WBBM, Chicago; WTOP. Washington, D. C; KMOX, St. Louis; and WCAU, Philadelphia. There is a different commentator and housewives' board in each area. \\ ile\ no longer appears on the program. But he trains the "director" (commentator) at each station. And the original concept and standards remain unchanged. In each of the markets, a panel of 750 to 5.000 housewives is maintained. These panels, representing an age, economic and social cross section of the area, are the final judges as to whether or not a product is accepted by HPL. The advertising "candidate" supplies the volunteer testers with samples of his product, together with a list of claims used about them in printed media. The housewives ilecide whether the claims are fair, misleading, or downright lies. If !!() percent of the judges decide in favor of the candii Please turn to page 52) 20 SPONSOR