U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1960)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

11 Spot" On Radio With attendance figures climbing, picture industry looks to prosperous 1960. Estimated $7 million will be spent selling films on sound medium. It is estimated that the film industry will spend $7 to 10 million for radio time in 1960. There Avas a time not so long ago Tvhen the prospects weren't so bright. Remember Avhen the beam from the usher's flashlight could take a lonely journey down aisle upon aisle of empty seats, while on the screen, a pair of celluloid lovers could carry on a "private affair?" The cashier in the box office found that there was little to interfere with her reading of the latest best-selling novel. This could be any Tuesday night 10 or 11 years ago. The place was almost any of the nation's 18,000 motion picture theatres. Millions of people who normally would have flocked to the movies were now home, visiting with a neighbor or standing in front of a store window. They ^\ere Avatching Milton Berle on television. As time passed, it appeared that every night \\-as becoming "Tuesday" night in the film business. Critics, both in and out of the industry, predicted the end of motion pictures as a major entertainment medium. The television set became the focal point of interest in millions of living rooms. And huddled in a corner, the radio became a convenient place on which to set a dish of popcorn. In the past decade, tv has developed into a giant industry. However, in that same span of time the film industry has not only survived, but expects 1960 to be one of the best it has enjoyed in many years. It is interesting to note that radio is expected to play an increasingly important role in Hollywood's advertising and promotional efforts. Heavy Ad Budget The advertising committee of the Motion Picture Advertisers Association estimates that the major domestic film companies will spend some $70 million advertising the 225 to 250 pictures that will be produced and released this year. A large portion of these advertising dollars will be spent on a co-op basis with the operators of the nation's 10,000 roofed theatres and 5,000 drive-ins. Most film executives are convinced that the upward trend in attendance Avill continue. According to the Sindlinger Co., Ridley Park, Pa., the average attendance in 1959 was 41,954,000, and 2,333,000 more tickets were sold per week compared to 1958. This will mean heavier expenditures for selling efforts. Reasons given for the use of radio as an integral part of the advertising and promotion of almost every film U. S. RADIO March 1960 that is released today usually center around the medium's flexibility, and its ability to deliver a specific audience. "Radio, at the price, can pinpoint the movie audience better than any other medium," says Jonas Rosenfeld Jr., excciuive in charge of advertising, publicity and exploitation at Columbia Pictures. He points out that the largest group of moviegoers is still made up of the teenagers, and that they "are strong radio listeners. This is the reason why we buy heavily into disc jockey shows. In addition to the teenagers, we kno^v that we can use radio to reach other special groups, such as houseā– ivives, men driving to and from \\ork and others." As an example of radio's flexibility, Mr. Rosenfeld describes the campaign for the picture Our Man From Haxmna. "There is usuallv a considerable amount of time devoted to pre-selling a film. This includes publicity about the film and its stars in national pid^lications, stories carried by news services, columnists and others. The early advertising follows the same pattern. Naturally, the objective is to make as many people as possible a^\are of the film so that oiu" local campaigns prior to the opening of the picture \\\\\ have more impact." 33