U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1960)

ignore the fact that our passengers are women! Now, I know that will require some readjustments in thinking, but I want every man on this submarine to understand that our objective is Cebu, and then Darwin ! If any man has any other objective in mind-he'd better forget it! ANNCR: Now you'll admit that Gary Grant had the right approach to the problem. The only trouble was that the crew of the submarine wanted to try another approach to the five beautiful women. The hilarious result is OPERATION PETTICOAT... starring Gary Grant and Tony Curtis... a colorful adventure filled with 20,000 laughs you will certainly want to enjoy at the theatre. It's fun for all. Saturation Campaigns A pattern of distribution of films which appears to be growing in popularity is the saturation booking. Instead of opening a picture in one key first-run theatre in the major markets, the film is simultaneously booked into 50, 60 or more theatres in one area. Wlien employing this type of release, the film company usually uses a heavy saturation radio campaign. Joe Friedman, national exploitation manager of Paramount Pictures, explains that the company has recently started using "umbrella radio saturation. For example, when we reissued Samson and Delilah in the Chicago territory the picture opened in 40 theatres in Chicago, and in theatres in 30 towns in the surrounding area. We used the power stations and spot announcements on at least one station in every single community that played the film to blanket the area." Enthusiastic in his opinion of radio's efTectiveness, Mr. Friedman says that one of the medium's strongest assets is the fact that "radio is with you every day. People listen to the radio when they get ready to go to work or school, they listen to it going to and from work, the housewife usually has a set on during the day and the kids have radios with them all the time." He also mentions that radio permits Paramount to prepare special material aimed at specific audience groups by buying time on news shows, sports programs, deejay shows and others. As most of the other major companies, Paramoxuit prefers transcriptions as opposed to live spots. Also following industry policy, the firm supplies these ETs to stations and theatre owners free of charge. Mr. Friedman points out that for a major film, such as Samson and Delilah, Paramoiuit will prepare and distribute over 1,000 radio transcriptions. Radio Used Regularly "Radio was used, ^vith almost no exception, on every pictiue released in 1959 by United Artists," states Robert R. Weston, assistant advertising manager for the company. "We use radio for saturation campaigns, to pre-sell a picture and during the picture's run." The opening of UA's release On Tlie Beach demonstrates how heavily saturation radio is used. According to Mr. Weston, when the film opened in New York on December 17, seven stations in the city carried 206 spot announcements in the period from 6 a.m. to midnight. Using 10, 20 and 60-second ETs, the messages were broadcast every hour and half-hour. The same procedure ivas used in Los Angeles where 253 spots were used on 1 1 stations. "Theatre operators are extremely enthusiastic about radio," Al Fisher, United Artists' assistant exploitation manager, says. "As a matter of fact, we usually get direct requests from exhibitors for co-op money for local radio use. Our usual procedure is to saturate an area from five to seven days prior to the opening of the picture. For the release of The Fireman, we were on every station in 25 markets at least once every hour for five days before the opening of the film." All the film companies prepare a "press book" for most of their releases. Distributed to important exhibitors and to all distributors, the press book contains publicity, promotion material and mats of the ads available for the film. Radio gels prominent attention in these press liooks. In United Artists' book for Solomon and Shcba, exhibitors were informed: "Here is a double-faced record comprising everything you need to bring home the spectacle, romance, drama and rousing action of Solomon and Sheba. Side One contains the regular 10-second, 20-second and one-minute spots with soundtrack and music. Side Two contains special spots relating to the biblical aspects of the pictxire, and other spots that feature the distinguished voice of Alexander Scourby. Be sure to listen to these hard-sell commercials before planning your campaign." Martin Michel, director of radio and tv for 20th Century-Fox, says that although the company has always used radio, there has been a considerable increase in the last six to nine months. Most of the radio time is bought on the regular local co-op basis, he says. However, the firm has also made some national buys. A recent example is a spot campaign on NBC's weekend offering. Monitor, for the picture Journey To The Center Of The Earth. Use Local Personalities Unlike many of the other film companies, Mr. Michel says that 20th Century-Fox will make use of popular local personalities to deliver live announcements when the picture lends itself to such treatment. Radio's powerful appeal to teenagers is also underlined by Mr. Michel. "We find that radio is the best way to reach this (teenage) market. Except for a few exceptions, there is very little tv programming offered for this important group." Radio spots are used on 75 to 80 percent of the pictures released by 20th Century-Fox, it is stated. And it is expected that this policy will continue or increase during 1960. In addition to the efforts of the film companies, the Radio Advertising Bureau regularly makes presentations to the industry at the company level, distributor level and to major theatre circuits. R.A.B's field force w-orks closely with the film industry to explore ways of using radio to help sell pictures. • • • U. S. RADIO March 1960 35