Sponsor (Jan-June 1953)

AMERICAN CHICLE {Continued from page 31) • Spot TV backs this up with announcements, shows, and participations in a varying number of markets. According to Rorabaugh Report, the number of markets was 44 during the third quarter of 1952. 30 during the fourth quarter. 37 during the first quarter of 1953. • Spot radio spreads the word around in non-TV areas. Chicle is currently using announcements in 200 scattered markets. • During 1951-'52, Clorets was also on ABC Radio's Pyramid Plan along with other Chicle products. Chicle has also used NBC's Tandem and CBS' Power Plan for its established brands but is no longer in network radio. Chicle's withdrawal from network radio is explained by a Chicle executive as lollows: "Our feeling was that network radio couldn't give us what spot coverage could. We wanted to hit the markets where we didn't have TV and with network you usually have to take some markets you don't want. Since we already had network and spot TV, it meant that we were spend ing money — more than we could afford— to reach people in the same market with both radio and TV. We are not sorry we used the various radio network package plans. We felt they helped us reach a lot of people, but the circumstances called for a switch in our buying of time." Chicle's last radio network package — the CBS Power Plan — was bought during the last quarter of 1952. The money released went into spot radio and various TV purchases. In its network TV purchases for Clorets, Chicle has jumped around a bit. Rocky King, however, has been used ever since Clorets gum became nationally distributed, which was early in the fall of 1951. It was introduced the previous May. Rocky King is one of Du Mont's stable of low-cost crime thrillers. sponsor estimates it cost Chicle in the neighborhood of $475,000 last year. sponsor's 1952 estimate of production costs for the show was $6,500 weekly, of which Chicle pays half. Gross time charges for a quarter hour, during 52 weeks, came to nearly $387,000, according to P.I.B. That figure rates Chicle a 20% time discount at DTN. 1000 V/ATTS Charleston's most far reaching station "A young ^irl who already had her class ring was scheduled to graduate from high school this spring. Financial reverses in the family were about to cause this young lady to leave school at this crucial period, and obtain work. "Unknown to the girl, her aunt appealed to Miss Maude McClennan, human relations counselor on WPAL's *The Happiness Clinic'. Miss McClennan was able to obtain aid for the girl — enabling her to continue her studies, and graduate. ''That's just one of the many services performed, as Emmett Lampkin and Maude McClennan solve personal problems on — 'The Happiness Clinic*. "Incidentally, they're very adept at solving your sales problems, too! There are some availabilities left, but not many! Get in touch with Forjoe or Dora-Clayton. ". . . and make your business "The Happiness Clinic'." happier through Forjoe and Company S. E. Dora-Clayton Agency All this and Hoopers too! The show reaches a good audience, considering its competition. Nielsen figures show it reached 3,660,000 homes during the last week of February 1953. That represents a rating of 21.8. The show runs against Fred Waring on CBS TV and the alternate Philco and Goodyear TV Playhouse on NBC TV. Chicle started pushing Clorets on Date with Judy at the beginning of this year, but it is not the first time the firm has used the show. Last year Chicle bought it through July to early October on 43 to 48 stations as a commercial vehicle for nearly all its products. Like Rocky King, Date with Judy is a good bet to ride through this summer. Assuming an average of 50 stations, 52 weeks of Date with Judy will cost Chicle about $1.5 million, without taking into account any summer program contribution by ABC. For the two weeks during the end of February and the beginning of March this year, the show averaged an audience of 4,829,000 homes, according to Nielsen. The percentage rating was 25.2. The show is opposite Perry Como and Doug Edwards on CBS TV, Those Two and Camel News Caravan on NBC TV. Other TV network shows that have carried the ball for Clorets were (1) Jackie Gleason (a temporary exception from Chicle's policy of avoiding high-priced video entertainment ) on CBS TV during the last quarter of 1952. (2) Saturday Night Dance Party on NBC TV through July and August 1952 on 46 stations, and (3) Twenty Questions on a 25-station Du Mont hookup for the first 13-week cycle of this year. 1 1 < j — < ■ 1 1 1 fan is. ( !biclc s ad manager, told SPONSOR that Chicle had not originally intended to buy into Jackie Gleason. Plans to go into another participating show went awry when one of the existing sponsors balked, for product-conflict reasons, at having Chicle share the time. Since Harris wanted to keep a strong TV position for Clorets, he bought 13 weeks of Gleason. It was dropped at the end of the year because of its high cost and the fact that the coverage was not what Chicle wanted. (Gleason was on only 30 stations at the time, not being able to fight NBC TV's All Star Revue in many of the one-station markets.) With all this diversity of programs, Cbicle has used just one basic selling 68 SPONSOR