Sponsor (July-Dec 1953)

Are rate deals lessening? "The trouble w illi doing business w itli a station which offers you an off-therate-card deal is that you never know whether other advertisers aren't getting a still-lower rate." This quote from a timebuyer was one of the observations gathered by sponsor in researching the article on rate deals which appears in this issue on page 33. Apparentlv the distaste with which this buyer views rate deals is shared widely. For SPONSOR found that in general the tide of direct, ratecard cheating deals is abating in spot radio and TV. But there are still many buyers with big budgets and big campaigns shopping for a price that's not printed on the card: there are many stations who go out for a competitor's business with a pitch based onlj on undercutting. More realistic pricing of time in some markets has helped relieve the pressure lor deal-. \nd much of the credit for this belongs to industry leaders in and out of the trade associations who've stiffened the backbone of radio bioadcasters or T\ stations in highly < ompetitive markets. Sharply worded speeches by \ \RI II s Hal Fellows; meetings between clients and reps called by the Station Representatives Vssociation; the example set by broadcasters who don't pio for deals and say so publicly — all of these factors also have added up to a change in the radio atmosphere. This is good news for advertisers and agencies. We'll never be convinced that it's good business for a client to save dollars here and there through rate deals at the expense of media standards. The station that gives time awav has to cut corners somewhere. UHF problem in Belleville This happened in Belleville. 111., across the river from St. Louis, where UHF station WTVI is slated to go on the air soon. Someone stole into Gene Hotz's television shop and left with two LHF converters, value $68. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which owns VHF station KSD-TV, unselfishly published the story on page one of its Sundav edition. Dangerous when misused One of the most useful tools published by sponsor for agencies and adv ertisers is the TV list of 225 metropolitan markets which appeared in the Fall Facts Issue (13 Juh I. Within 24 hour: of the issue's appearance there were many requests for reprints i now available I . Together w ith Radio Basil and TV Basics, we predict that this collection of data will find its place among \ital desk-top tools of advertising buvers every where. The list of metropolitan count) markit was designed to do one thing: show the -tatus of I \ in metropolitan markets. Advantageous as it is to have these data grouped in terms of metropolitan counties, there "s a danger in use of the listing. Its not intended as an indication of which market will produce the most sales for you nor of the full <overage of the TV market of a specific station: it can be misleading il used that wa\ . 'I he markets were compiled bv Sullivan. Stauffer. Colwell & Ba\le in terms of Sales Management figures for number of household in metropolitan county areas. This was the most valuable rank order to take for this purpose. SSC&B felt. But the fact that a market ranks among the lower third of the list, for example, in number of households doesn't mean its proportionated ranked in sales. The market may not bulk large in resident population but may be a huge buying center for counties for many miles around. Or it may have extremely high income in ratio to population. Stations in small population centers are most likeh to be penalized bv this ranking. The moral here is that no listing which gives a ranking, whether it s a lop 10 ratings list or a marketing breakdown, should be used as the endall when picking a T\ or radio station. Applause Gratitude dept. Il couldn't happen twice — but it did. In Dallas eighl clients of Ted Workman Advertising, five from distant cities, gathered together late in June to throw a surprise party for the head of the agency. They produced a handsome eight-page brochure commemorating the event, staged a dinner at the Lakewood Country Club, presented Ted Workman with two gifts — a red \\ i« to cover his bald pate and a Bell and Howell recording movie projector. The brochure said: "This is vour day. Ted. For a job well done, for cooperation and work beyond the line of duty, for long hours for which \ ou received no pay. for vour patience, understanding, and sincere interest in our problems, we. your clients and friends, have gathered together todav to honor you." In Providence this July Albert Howard, president of Howard and Lewis. \ew England's largest Ford dealer, threw a steak dinner with orchestra and all the trimmin's for 50 managers, salesmen, and announcers representing four radio and one T\ station carrying H&L advertising. No pep talks, no merchandising appeals were included. Just a straight 35-second "thank you bv a new radio client who was completing his first -i\ months. Said Frank McCabe. head of the advertising agency handling the aci ount, "If Howard and Lewis hadn t accomplished what they did through the use of a so-called dead medium, (here would have been no party tonight. When a sponsor says "thank you' tangibly, he's had results!" 96 SPONSOR