Sponsor (July-Dec 1952)

^ TOP RATED * NEGRO / DISC JOCKEYS ON W#£ These two Negro disc jockeys, each with a style of his own, have captured the listeners in New Orleans. They are the most listened to according to Hooper, according to personal survey and according to results. HIGHEST RATED For 16 consecutive quarter hours these Negro disc jockeys lead the field in New Orleans over all other disc jockeys. Consistently for 18 months "Okey Dokey" has wowed the radio listeners with his jazz, jive and knocked out race music. "Honeyboy" has done likewise with his spiritual programs. ON HIGHEST RATED STATION WBOK is the leader. It carries more national advertising than all other six independents combined. It carries more local advertising than any two other independent stations. For results, WBOK is first in New Orleans among all independents. Write for information and proof. Represented by Forjoe and Company 29 West 57th Street, New York y**ok 80 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA they represent 42.2% of the total population in the WDIA area, they account for some 39% of the department store sales and over 50% of the food and drug purchases. The relationship between the high listening and extreme loyalty of Negro families to Negro-appeal stations, and the excellent sales results of advertisers who have used this growing medium is far from accidental. And, with the amount of Negro-appeal programing on the increase advertisers can no longer overlook it in their air advertising plans. Q. From the standpoint of the spot advertiser who may be thinking of building a series of Negro-appeal programs, either live or customtranscribed, what are the main Negro talent and program preferences? A. Learning what Negro listeners want has largely been a matter of trial and error for most stations. However, based on the findings of sponsor's study of Negro-appeal stations, the following pattern has emerged: 1. Negro listeners tune to a particular station primarily for entertainment they feel is slanted at them. For the most part, this will consist of a disk jockey with a strong sense of showmanship, and a loyal Negro following, who spins platters that feature Negro artists most of the time, and white artists some of the time. This may be 50% or more of the total Negro-appeal programing. 2. A deeply religious race, Negroes look to radio stations for broadcasts of a spiritual nature. Most often these consist of live pickups from churches (often, 70% of the Negroes in a city will be church-goers) or special programs (live or transcribed) of religious music. 3. Since few stations with a "general" program formula go out of their way to air news of special interest to Negroes, much of the success of Negro-appeal stations is based on their coverage of news, special events, community events, sports events, charity drives and so forth that concern the Negro community. Such programing is nearly always local in origin, although there is room for a certain amount of such programing that tries to be "national" in scope. 4. In general, Negro listeners seem to prefer local personalities and record ed artists of their own race, although there are notable exceptions here and there. As Norman Stewart, commercial manager of Nashville's WSOK, stated recently to sponsor: "The only difference in the operation of WSOK and a predominantly white station is in the programing and the personalities. The Nashville Negro audience is aware of the fact that every voice they hear on this station is that of a Negro. This makes them have confidence in the commercials they hear, and is a tremendous influencing factor in the sale of products and services advertised on this station." Q. Are there any specific studies of local Negro programing preferences? A. As mentioned above, most stations have discovered their own program formula largely by "feel." However, a few stations have made their own special studies of local Negro programing preferences. One of the more interesting reports in this field came to SPONSOR from Chattanooga's WMFS, a Negro-appeal station that has done a top job of integrating itself with the local Negro community. WMFS commissioned Howard High School, a Negro school, to make a listening study in January of this year. A total of 1,369 personal interviews were made among the 70,000 Negroes in Chattanooga. This was how they listed their program preferences: Of the total, 36% indicated as their first choice "Negro artists," which covered both music and news; 24% chose "religious music"; 22% voted for "popular music regardless of the race of the artists"; 10% chose "religious programs"; 6% indicated "classical music"; 1% voted for "hillbilly music"; and the remaining 1% for "other programs." Although this study represents program preferences in only one Southern area, sponsor believes, on the basis of what both Northern and Southern Negro-appeal stations have found successful, that this is a rough index of overall preferences. Q. What can an advertiser using Negro-appeal radio expect in the way of radio research? A. Since Negro-appeal radio exists side-by-side with the older forms of spot radio, an advertiser aiming some SPONSOR