U. S. Radio (Oct 1957-Dec 1958)

POWER to 1 penetrate! report from POWER . . . 50,000 watts of it . . . PROGRAMMING . . . news and music a day long. That's tlie secret that's made CKLW such a powerful penetrating force for advertisers selling this region. Best buy for you, too. ADAM YOUNG, INC., J. E. Campeau, Naf'ional Rep. President GENERAL OFFICES GUARDIAN BLDG., DETROIT Triple-Spotting ! Is Generally Avoided, H-R's Paul Weeks Argues Radio has no tiipplc-spotting problem," declares Paul R. Weeks, vice president and a partner of H-R Representatives Inc., New ^'ork. "Even during peak coniincrcial loads," he states, "a knowledgeable radio announcer finds it easy to break up a commercial sequence with a bit of straight entertainment. A time check, station ID jingle, a diverting ad lib or topical joke and a potential triple spot is nipped in the bud." -As a retort to recent charges made by agencies, Mr. Weeks says, "It's a rare station that will place three spots back to back after a newscast or record without breaking the pace with the latest weather forecast, a traffic report or an 'on the way to the studio' anecdote. "One of the highest rated independents in the country, which is frequently in a sold-out condition, can point with pride to its record of only one double spot each broadcast day. This double occurs immediately preceding the eight o'clock news. In spite of this station's formidable commercial load, it almost never needs a double, let alone a triple," Mr. Weeks declares. "There are those who may say," he continues, "that this is semantic quibbling; that while there is not a literal triple-spotting problem in radio, there is a serious 'over-commercialism,' especially during peak listening hours. "But I stand pat. Radio has no overcommercialization problem, either," Mr. Weeks avers. "Good radio has one common denominator: good sound. To be entertaining, to be an effective sales medium, radio must have good sound. And good sound is by no means destroyed by a heavy commercial load professionally handled — on the contrary, it is enhanced by the commercial content. "Commercials, well handled, provide balance to radio programming," Mr. Weeks declares. "The 'formula' stations know this well," he states. "One such group owns a station which is now under-commer cialized. This station constantly simulates commercials with salutes to this and that, promotions and the like to provide balaiuc. Tiny very logically want their station to sound heavily commercialized. "\Vc nuist not lose sigiu of the fact," Mr. Weeks continues, "that the majority of radio listeners consider sales messages highly entertaining and look forward to hearing their favorites. "Each season," he states, "has its own catist' relebre. This year it is triple-spotting and its companion in arms, 'overcommercialization.' These phrases have become emotional triggers, capable of raising the hackles of nearly everyone in broadcast advertising. (And it seems that the very advertisers who insist on 'driving times only' are making the most vociferous objections.)" Mr. Weeks asks, "Why is it so generally supposed that two commercials running back to back will have memorability, whereas one more added to the sccjucnce will lull the listener into oblivion? "The reason," he states, "is that nobody really knows exactly what affects human retentiveness. Psychologists tell us that retention is influenced by a great many factors other than the number of different impressions received uitliin a given period of time. "Memorability is strongly influenced," Mr. Weeks says, "by such considerations as the degrees of motivation inherent in the advertising appeal, the pleasantness of the subject matter, the emotional impact of the message, the context of the program vehicle, the personality of the announcer and his emotional associations. "The most successful radio programming in each market carries the heaviest commercial load, aired by the stations often accused of 'over-commercialism,' " Mr. W^ecks declares. "But such programming attracts large audiences because its sound is good despite, or more likely because of, the entertaining commercials they carry." • • • 48 U. S. RADIO September 1958