Variety (Aug 1932)

Tuesday, August 23, 193t ■ A D ■• Still Too Mucli Family in Radio; ^ ^ Find Sponsor s likes, or No Sale Regardl«ies of the millions of dol- lars' worth of surveys, charts and ■ data, collected by networks and ad agencies iahowlner the public. prefer «nces ahdj:eactl6nB to various types of ether ejitertalnihent, sponsors more than i^ver are picking their 0h6ws according to their own per- sonal 'llke^ and dislikes. This has beeii broug]\t out forcibly and con- vincingly, say both network and agency $xecs, during the current open season for auditioning of pros- pective commercial progranis. Situation has developed a new iBales psychology : among the chain and agency men. Instead of trying to sell the fellow on what is coh- eldered best to ballyhoo his product, the revised ixiode Is to tlvBt And out what he persbnally likes in enter- tainment and fram^ a show embody- ing these preferences. If he ex- presses, fjtvpr for certain name at r traction, get him thalt name even though it Js obvious that tiie par- ticular attraction hasn't a chance of appealing to the clasd to whom he's trying, tp sell his product. Attitude ■ avoids a, lot of bickering and a good - possibility of losing the'account. The Wife and Kiddies .Sponsors more than ever make a habit of bringing along the wife, the daughter or a woman relative, or the entire retinue, to get the femnie reaction to the program. The Arm's advertising manager may be con- vinced that it's a great program for the product and cite what such and (buch accounts successfully did with similar Idea, but if the family or re- lations' opinion is unfavorable, that finishes it. That program idea is out. Whether the family or rela- tions would lbver have occasion to use the product personally, some- thing such as only the hardworking housewife ^ could onJy - know the value of, , makes no difference. Not so long ago a sponsor ap- -peared at a' network studio with a fiock of kids belonging to relatives and his office staff, on whom he .wanted to test ei JUve program that particularly appealed to him; The kid audlence^voted it a gr6at show and the network got the. contract. Two weeks later the program was 'off. A giveaway contest had proved conclusively that the program didn't anean a thing. ' Many are the occasions on record, of a program being pulled even after It clicked big, both-from the listen- ing percentage and sales increase angles.. Recent cancellation ..pf a Bcrlpt show, bankrolled, by a break- fast food distributor, makes ah In^ teresting case in point. ■ 'Sales Charts Ignored Head of the company had objected to the program from the start, but had flnally been prevailed upon by his advertising manager to give It a chance. Week or two after it was launched his branch offices wired in that the program was going big in their localities. Upward moving graphs on the sales chart in suc- ceeding weeks confilrmed these re- ports. But still the fooid products magnate didn't like It, and fre- quently fretted his advertising man- ager taking it off. .1 Agreeing witl> him was.the spon- sor's wife. Here they were, she pointed out to him, among the social leaders of the community, and there was her husband sponsoring . a broadcast whose serial story glorl- Jied the life and love of a lowly pug. If the product had to go on the. air, why couldn't his iirni pick on a symphony orchestra and soloists from the concert stage. Then she wouldn't have to have any qualms about turning on her husband's ether contribution while her guests were in the same room with the loudspeaker. Husband subsequently took advantage of the clause in the network contract that allowed him to cancel on four weeks' notice. WBAL, Off >VJZ Syncro., Back to Half Time Sept. 1 Baltimore, Aug. 22. Being unable to get a continua- tion of its synchronizing setup with WJZ, station WBAL here reverts to half-time on Sept. 1. This, despite the fact that the transmitter, at ip.OOO watts, is the power outlet of the state. ' WiU split time with WTIC, which .also has gone off a sync arrange- ment. Dialect Plugs Chicago, Aug. 22. : ' Pood products bearing, the College .Inn label will be plugged over WENR in a! new program, muisical in nature, for housewives. Instead of Hhe usual style of laudatory spiel by one .an- nouncer a series of voices will be interpolated throughout the program. Each ..voice will ut- ter only one sentence. There will be \ari6us and frequently varied voices, each with a dif- ferent comment. German, Irish, Swedish; Wop, Tiddish, as well as .Oxford.';English accents, will be mixed up. Novelty advertising tech- nique is credited to Ben "Mc- Kenna of the Stack-Goble ad- vertising agency. CHAINS'WORRY ON SPOT TIME CONTRACTS New form of contract for spot commercial programs now being signatured by the indie stations throughout the country promises to give the two major networks something of big import to worry about when the fall business rush starts. Thede revised contracts carry a 'non-movable' clause, which guarantees the spot advertiser that his program will have a fl^^ed spot on the schedule and that under no circumstances will , the session be shifted from that particular niphe. With one of these contracts on his hands, a station operator is pre- vented from switching the disc show to make room for. a network com- mercial. Pleas or threats from the network's traffic department can be of no avail. Affiliated outlet's re- joindei^ from now on must be de- cisive in its regrets that the! time required for the network is filled by a hon-moyable contract. Pellmell shifting of the spot pro- grams at the call of network traffic men had becomp a general practice among stations;. The station reprer sentative or time-placing end of the business began to find Itself in' a precarious position. Clients were squawking in chorus at the frequent pushing around their waxed spasms were getting. They were paying the stations the full locdl card rate, ran the common complaint, and they saw no Justification for the orphan treatment their programs were get- ting. One bum-up, often recalled among station reps, came from a breakfast food dlstrib, when he found that a kjd show of his, origi- nally scheduled for late afternoon,- had been gradually nudged up to around the li p. m. sign-off hour- Then came the idea of the non- movable clause, with clients taking to it readily. In return for the guarantee that program stays as put, the advertisers agree to a non- cancelable clause, assuring the sta- tion that the disc show will run the ihaximum amount of. time stated in the contract. To get in on the choice hours, spot advertisers,' who plan to go on this fall, have been placing their time contracts with the stations many weeks in advance, or even before they've had their shows recorded. Effect of the spread of the non- movablie clause contract in the spot broadcasting field has already been felt by the networks' sales depart- ments. In recent weeks many a deal has been Jammed up by failure of the chain to produce the spots and time required because, as it devel- oped, a spot advertiser had got there first with one of those non- movable contracts., 'Serious* Harmonica Stuff By Mineyiteh on NBC Borrah Mlnevitch and his har- monica band commence a series of 'serious' ..mouth-organ programs Sept. 4 on WJZ on a coast-to-coast NBC hookup for a half hour in the evening. Mlnevitch also has a commercial for Eastman KodaJc Sept. 6. The Sunday night harmonica con- certs on NBC are probably in line with , Minevitch's premlering at Radio City. Harmonica actv current at Lbew's State, Nev York, goes to the Met, Brooklyn, then Boston, Baltimore and Washington, but will be picked up by remote control en route. WAXING TENROD'FOR GRATIS TEST SERIES Before hooking it up with one of the accounts It represents, the Blackett-Sample-Hummert agency is placing a recorded version of the Booth Tarkington *Pehrod and Sam' stories on around 16 stations as a test. If after several of the series- have been broadcast the show discloses click possibilities, the ad agency figures on getting one of its commercials to take over the permanent bankrolling of the platter. Meanwhile the B-S-H out- fit will pay for the station time in each instance out of its own funds. Agency tried out a similar stunt with live talent on WMAQ,, Chi- cago, last season; It was a script show called 'Bill, the Barber,' with the agency itself footing the bill on both "time and. cast for nine weeks before bringing In a merchandiser, to sarry the load from then on* Test of the program's popularity was a sample giveaway of the Jocur Hair Wave product. Mail re- turns were suifficient to induce Jo- cur, & member' of the- Affiliated Products group, to subsequently record the serial for spot distribu- tion In varlous parts^of the coun- try. Account the agenpy has in mind for the 'Penrod and Sam' series is the distributor of a breakfast food. Radio Dramatic Stock In Person for Rep Date Chlciago, Aug. 22> Howard Keegan-of WCFIi 'will take 10 of his regular. Monday night Thespians to the Garfield theatre, Milwaukee^ to present 'Uncle Tom's CablnV Aug. 28. Booking is In the nature of an experiment. PlQce will be played before a black drop with the: aid of a microphone and a public address system. Idea is to test if this method of presenta- tion is feasible. ' Another old-time piece Just added to the WCFIi mummers repertory is 'Stranglers of Paris,' the David Belaacp thriller of 46 years ago. MORSE ON KKO AIB STAEF Hollywood, Aug. 22. Wilbur Morse, Radio p. a., moved to Studio's ether department. Will write continuity for weekly 'Hollywood on the Air' program and act as contact man between home lot and other studios figuring In weekly NBC broadcastSi 2 in Tex. Merge Houston, August 22. KTLC, fomvrly owned by the Houston 'Fost,^ has been consol- idated with KXTZ, local station of the Jesse Jones interests, which operates in the Texa:S State hotel. Tilford Jones, manager of KXTZ, announced the consolidation' move from Washingtonl fallowing author- ization by the Pederal Radio Com- mission. The 'Post' formerly op-, erated KTLC as an auxiliary sta- tion for local programs, to give time on Its big station, KPRC, for NBC programs. The Jones interests own the local CBS outlet, KTRH, which operates in the Rice hotel, with KXTZ as an auxiliary station. Power of KXTZ is to be Increased from 100 watts to 250 watts. Station per- sonnel remains the same; Keys May Settle Three Keys' contract with WCAU, Philadelphia, which, that station h61ds, will probably be settled by Harry Lenetska, who has the col-; ored trio under theatre contract, having discovered .them on a dial- hunt for new ether talent suitable for stage work. The Keys are in for a build-up at NBC, with Lenetska managing them for- btage work. WCAU contract is said to be without consideration and the agent will effect a settlement rather than complicate matters when jind if the trio clicks later on. Chains Careless Scramble For New Biz as Accounts More Cautioiis Hitdi Your Wagon Hitch ypuir wagon to a radio star, or a prospective ether satellite. That's the. hope and amblsh of every chiseler around Broadway these days. Wherever there's a radio personality there's a manager in the background collecting nicely for himself, up to 26. and 33% In many Instances, in ex- change for 'developing' and 'grooming' the talent during Its novitiate. The agents and managers are accordfngly . all on the qui vive for some personality to take under their wing as a pros- pective meal ticket. C B S REPEATING GHO^UNEUP FOR CHRYSLER The mysterious 'ghost* audition of the Blackett, Saniple & Hummert-s elaboratiB radio program, w^lch w^s designed sis a 39-week, contract, dis- closes thctt the mystierlous sponsor was to be Chrysler. The automotive firm is now reported stalling on any ethereal commitment, although a second trial period of the program Is due over the CBS chain> with Walter P. tJhrysler, Sr., to person- ally listen In. He Is said not to have caught the first test. program^ Chrysler meantimei Is off the air, bowing, out of a revival of the Zleg^ feld Idea with the impresario's widow, Blllie Burke, mentioned ais the' m.c. and with the same Eddie Dowllng-Al Goodman orchestra- Jack Pearl alignment. This is cold as Chrysler figures there would be £oo nilich of a sympathy aiigle, be- cause of the late showman and, If the automotive firm re-enjgages in coihmercial radio. It wants to pro- ceed strictly oh straight entertain- ment appeal. <' Watchful Waiting The Blackiett - Sample - Hummert agency does not represent Chrysler. The firin has Its own 'house' ad- vertising representatives. , . .. Chrysler was interested In the 'ghost' audition, but In yiew of the $7,600 to ll^.Obd cost for the enter- tainment lined ul>, plus a $000,000 to $800,000 bill for network facilities, dependent on whether It's 89 or 62 weeks, the automobile manufacturer has expressed himself In favor of waiting to see market trends, eitc, and that not until the end of Sep- tember, or early October, would he be interested in a radio ballyhoo. CBS will rebroadcast Its 'ghost' progtam, which has Warner Broth- ers on a tie-in,. Sept. 4. Layout will be the same as before with Abe Lyman's band, Gus Van, Lillian Roth, Aunt Jemima, Gene Rodemicb's orchestra, Aileen Stan- ley, and Jack Osterman to do the. m.c.'Ing on the eastern end, pfus Jack Warner introducing various stars of his studio at the Coast nilkei The affiliation would cost WB noth- ing, the film company co-operation being for a weekly plug of Its pic- tures. Plan is a different film each week with the . principal players thereof chattering into the ether. Common tendency among pros-' pectlvo «ther advertisers now Is to make sure they've got a prograna all set to go on before scribblingon the proverbial dotted Une for net- work facilities. Provides a marked contrast with the practice. prevail- ing a year ago when commercials first contracted for time and then started to give thought to what It. would do for entertainment. Accounts that signed last suram^ for fall entry on the networks with-, but having a show all framed fig- ured over 60%. Today that situa- tion i^ a rarity. Many was thd case last year of commercials that didn't have a program picked out and and ready for launching until a few; days before the opening, date. On the New York end both net^ works are seething be^ds of audi- tions. For the post month or . bo Columbia has been averaging 2S auditions for commercials, while the tally at tho oppositioh studios has been hitting around twice that number.. Continuity writers havei been and still. are: plodding until midnite tjirnlhg oiit program IdeaS for the sales deportm.ehts but the actual number of contracts netted, so far are considerably under the total cf fall initiates lined up tblQ time a year ago. : Loose. Credit* In the Anal ledger analysis thc» networks' anxiety to show its goods, to prospects this year, will be way over that of a year ago. Simply due to the fact that the sales depart-^ ment of neither chain is taking thet old precautions of inquiring Into the prospective client's financial stand-. Ing end .whether he can. afford to° bankroll the elaborate sho^a audl'^ tloned: for him.. Salesmen^ Jh 'theii$ reports, at least, can make'an im- pressive showlngi of the nlihibelr ot customers they Inveigled Into theli; studios. , Failure of the sales departm^ntir to first size up the (Recount's speh^^ ing dbility Is estimated to b6 cost-< ing the network^ thousands of dol^ lars a week In musiiilanis ^nd mis-, c^llanbous salaries. Case recently; Of a medicinal product manufa,ctur-it er who after auditioned for him two name dance bands, and a studio symphonic' combo. of ^0 with sev- eral, vocalista thrbwnr In,- allowed that ^ all he fiigured he could afford was a Btrlbg trio and a islngle warblier. FAKE COMBO IKADES ON iM BAND'S MitEK Ryan's 5 Mim. Chicago, Aug. 22. Atlas Brew has ticketed Quin Ryan for 62 weeks to continue his program 'Headline Of Other Days' over WGN. Unique time arrangement calls for five minutes a day seven days a week. Satisfies, Renewed Ruth Ettlng has been re-engaged by Chesterfield until the first of the year, getting a nfew deal for 14 weeks from Sept. 28, when she re- sumes on her new arrangement. The songstress Is currently with the 'satisfies' account and will con- tinue until Sept. 10, when she takes a fortnight's, vacation. ; , Milwaukee, Aug. 22^. WTMJ, the 'JourttaV station, W having cohsidemble difficulty - with a, fake German band aggregation, playing throughout the state claim-, ing to be Heinle and his. Grenadiers, now the outstanding favorite of the station, *. . Many complaints have been re^ celved from theatre and resort man- agers who have booked the Imi- tators under the Impression that they were getting the 'Journal' band, only to hear later that Heinle. and' his' boys were playing sQihe-, where else on the date. , Put on as a late evening feature during, the first weeks without any great hopes for the future, the little German band has ,become a real hit and leads'in fan mall. Virgin Queen Series Starting Over KFWB Holljrwood, Aug. 22. . KFWB; which has teen broad- casting a weekly progr^im, based on the life of Henry the Eighth of England, will continue series under title 'Virgin Queen.' Starting Sept. 4 will deal with Queen Elizabeth. Wtltten by Kay Van Riper, dra-. matic sketches are enacted by group of local picture and legit players. Cleve.-Chi Move 1 Chicago, Aug, 22. Gene and Glcnh who have been broadcasting from WTAM, Cleve- land may do their Quaker Oating this season in Chicago. Program resumes in couple of weeks. It all hinges upon their local Cleveland, account, Spang iSaking Co., which was the reason for tbeii^ sticking in the Ohio town.