Sponsor (Jan-June 1954)

Saturday and Sunday afternoons and evenings, as compared with weekday afternoons and evenings. Average New York out-of-home gain, weekends vs. weekdays: about 15// . This, remember, was during February when the New York climate is hardly balmy. The same pattern holds up in other Pulse-checked markets, like Miami, San Francisco, New Orleans and St. Louis. In some cases (as in St. Louis I the weekend gain in out-of-home listening over a comparable weekday period ran as high as 30' { . It seldom drops below a 10% gain, and rarely falls behind the weekday level. At the time of the study (January-February, 1954) climatic conditions in these markets ranged from bitter cold to subtropical warmth, and the socio-economic picture from busy metropolitan areas to vacation areas. Auto radio listening: Why the big spurt in out-of-home listening on weekends? The chief reason — apart from the fact that people often spend weekends at the beach or country where they are in reach of radio, but not tv — is that a large part of the radio audience takes to the roads on weekends. In the \CS ^tinU mentioned above, some 23% of the weekend out-of-home listening wa> done in aulos. In sonic market studies, Pulse has found thai as much as 50', lor morel of the outof-home listening is done in autos. Although the \CS stud\ is now two years old, there's no reason to feel that the figures have dropped off. Reason: There are more autos equipped with radios now on the highways than ever before, and the number grows daily. By BAB's latest estimate (an informal projection of (heir earlier figures, based on installation figures) there are now some 28,500.000 radio-equipped cars in the nation today. Last year, that figure was estimated by the Joint Network Committee (the research departments of the four big radio networks) to be 26,200,000. Back in 1946, by way of contrast, the NAB (now NARTB) estimated the number of cars with radios to be only 7,500,000. In fact, auto radios are one of the biggest single factors in the whole radio retailing business. Last year, according to the Radio, Electronics & Television Manufacturers Association a total of 12.409.000 radios were sold. Of this figure, according to Hugh \1. Beville, chief of NBC's Research and Planning Department, some 5.165,900 sets were car radios. That means that neaiK 12' , of the total I .S. business in radio receivers is in auto radios. These radio sales, l>\ the way, are b) nn mean confined to areas with partial or no t\ coverage. Again according to NBC Radio, which prepared a special analysis of the annual HI! IMA figures last month, in areas where the tv saturation was over the 75', level, some 29.2^? of the total homes in the area purchased new radios. In areas where the tv saturation was 50% or less, only 22.'/, of the homes purchased new radios. In both cases, the ratio of auto radio purchases to total receiver purchases was essentially the same (see P.S. page 24) . Further evidence of this boom in radio set sales in general, and in auto receivers in particular, can be found in a recent study, Keeping Tabs on 14 Major Markets, published by CBS Radio Spot Sales. All of the 14 markets — which range from Birmingham to Washington, D. C. — are big tv markets. In each of them, CBS Radio Spot A READYMADE AUDIENCE OF MILLIONS Few programs come to the TV screen with the ready-made audiences provided by Ellery Queen. Consider this: In print, Ellery Queen is the outstanding best seller of our time . . . one of the all-time best sellers in publishing history. Over 30,000,000 copies of Ellery Queen books have been sold ... 12 titles are well over the million-mark in sales. In addition, Ellery Queen magazines, comic books, and anthologies have also developed sales reaching into the multi-millions These book-buyers and readers are the substantial audience core which awaits the sponsors of THE ADVENTURES OF ELLERY QUEEN starring HUGH MARLOWE This is a new first-run series of half-hour programs specially filmed for television. It's a series that will write a brilliant new chapter in the success story Ellery Queen has established in its rich 25-year existence— in print ... in the movies ... on the radio and in TV. This is a show that can't miss . . . it's a show you don't want to miss. For full details, call, write, or wire. T I*0" *^«»>s of „,nei.cfL 477 MAD/SON 846 N AVENUE cahu^a bLV;ne" r°RK 22 N. Y. H°UYVVOOD 38^ CALIF. 14 JUNE 1954 97