U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1961)

Fm: evolution from 'class' to 'mass' Henri, Hurst & McDonald's Lee Randon traces the excitement and change of fm in its era of 'revolution' to becoming a mass medium Among the important contributions to the fm medium is the agency presentation to its clients: a summary of the force and facts of fm which inform and then persuade advertisers to use this kind of radio. One of the newest and most detailed such presentations comes from Henri, Hurst and McDonald, Chicago, and represents the thinking and the work of its audio-video director, Lee Randon. The basic fm presentation shown by HH&M to its clients and to its prospective accounts is reprinted by U. S. FM in its entirety. But Mr. Randon has corollary thoughts to his written statements which background even further some of his thinking. This presentation, he says, "marks the closing of one era and the beginning of a new one. It presents the standard picture of the medium to the present. But I have felt for some time that a tremendous change is in the making, one which will almost obliterate the differences between am and fm programing." Few of the fm stations which have gone on the air in recent years, he adds, have adhered to the classic fine music program pattern. "A surprisingly large number are programing jazz, folk music, special features— all the basic elements of a good am station. "At least one Chicago station is primarily foreign language, another has adopted the d.j. format, a third is completely am piped out of an fm transmitter. The network affiliates do nothing but simulcasting, yet get ratings. Follow this trend through and you'll find that the differences between am and fm programing are becoming more and more minute. "In time, the only advantages fm will retain (always excluding the fine music stations) are the small number of commercials per hour, the better quality of fm transmission and new stereo multiplexing. "Now add one new element: the FCC's announced policy of fostering new high-powered fm stations and downgrading am. The net result could be a complete reversal of the present picture, with fm the dominant radio medium, am becoming the secondary one." Mr. Randon hesitates to make predictions about the future of stereo, thinking that • too much depends on the amount of advertising and promotion the set manufacturers will put behind it. If the manufacturers really push, the stations will join in and fm set ownership could skyrocket. "It the manufacturers follow the line they did with color tv, the increase in set sales will be steady but slow. The picture is confused, won't begin to clear until fall when the first sets are on the market. What he terms the "revolution" in programing indicates, in his view, that all present fm research will "soon become obsolete. As the number of fm set owners goes up, the social status of fm listeners, wage brackets, professional standing — all these will have to adjust downward toward am standards, always with the audiences of fine music stations remaining an exception. "The only statistical support I can offer to substantiate this trend is a set count. There has been a large increase in the purchase of fm and am-fm combinations. Is this the result of a sudden crusade for classical music? Of course not. Basically, it's caused by the realization that you can get am-type programing better on an fm channel." U. S. FM • August 1961