U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1959)

RCA THESAURUS TURNED THE TOWN UPSIDE DOWN! KDBS (Alexandria, La.) and Sears and Roebuck are having the best time these days. And RCA Thesaurus Commercial Library brought them together! As Commercial Manager D. Ed Pebbles tells the happy tale : "Sold Dept. Store Campaign to Sears and Roebuck, 50 announcements iveekly, 52 weeks! Sponsor very satisfied! Just this one account pays for Thesaurus. The many other jingles that are sold are bringing us accounts we were unable to sell before." If you are flirting with a department store in your home town, why not let RCA Thesaurus Commercial Library act as cupid for you? Write now for details. THESAURUS 155 East 24th Street • New York 10, N. Y. Ghicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, Hollywood report from RAB What's the Best Time To Visit Agency Offices? Radio sLaiion executives who make the journey to New York to cage extra national business olten complain that much of their valuable, carefully scheduled time is eaten up reading Playboy in the waiting rooms of Madison Avenue. RAB's interviewing unearths the fact that February, which unfortunately includes some of the city's seediest weather, is the month radio station personnel stand the best chance of getting a fair and hospitable reception for their pitch. "Our budgets are set then," is a typical timebuyer explanation. "We can afford to sit back and give you some time." September, when the weather is a good deal better and New York is still gamely celebrating its "Summer Festival," is called the worst time of the year to see agency people, caught in the crush of preparing budgets. August and October are similarly brisk times for agencies. A radio station executive arriving during these hectic days might, because of the heavy agency workload, get less time than he'd like. RAB's research was a factor in its decision to re-schedule its annual radio station-agency meeting — the National Radio Advertising Clinic — usually held in the fall. RAB's President Kevin B. Sweeney recently announced that the NRAC will be held sometime in mid-February. "We have been holding our meet ings in the fall," said Mr. Sweeney. "Despite this, we've been drawing some 600 to 700 agency and advci lising executives. We think we can raise attendance to perhaps 1,00(1 key advertising executives if we fit our meeting time to the pattern of the advertising business. And this will be a better time for station executives to come to New York both to attend NRAC and call on agencies." RAB carried the survey another few steps, arrived at a precise timetable for the station manager. Calls on a Monday or a Friday are as far out as a maraschino in a Martini. A scant 2.8 percent of the agency personnel questioned considered Friday ihe best day for a station sales call. Nobody at all selected Monday. Wednesday, Thursday and Tuesday, in that order, were the days most media men thought the radio executives had the best chance to get a fair hearing. Appointments aren't vital. Only 9.2 percent of the media buyers declared a pre-arranged date was important, while 25.6 percent said, "come anytime." Mornings were called the best time of the day. But almost as many (25.6 percent) said to come between two and five. In any case, if many station men take RAB's findings to heart, come next February, Wednesday mornings should be a busy time for New York ad agencies. • • • SALES TREND OF THE MONTH I^AB's new radio listening habits studies are being given careful scrutiny by a number of manufacturers — including two of the nation's food giants. R^\B's national account executives are finding sharp interest in a considerable growth in radio listening over the past tw'o years. In 1958, for example, Sindlinger figures showed radio's daily audience was greater than tv's for only a single week of the year. This year, Sindlinger research had radio ahead of tv for eight straight summer weeks. R^^B's new concept— a tangible proposal at the tail end of every call on an agency or national manufacturer — has already produced several tests in major markets. More food manufacturers are employing radio's economy, range and selectivity, realizing that you don't really need a visual image. "All coffee looks the same," one national food processor admitted to an RAB executive. 52 U. S. RADIO • November 1959