Variety (Sep 1935)

RADIO VARIETy 45 POINI TO COIN "Factors Favorable to Broad- casting — PWA, Stipula- tiont Breathing Spell All Helpful STABILITY Broadcasters right now are mak- ing plans for the merriest Christmas and the happiest New Year they've ever had. All indications point to an $86,000,000 gross for 1925 which means-12 sweet million more than in the highest previous annum. For that happy state of affairs: radio can address its orchids to such giants as General Foods, Procter & Gamble, Standard Brands, Ford, Pepsodent, Campbell Soup, et al. The big boys dug deep into their pockets this year, and hauled out enough dough tq enable them to grab off a monopoly of the night- time network circuits, thereby el- bowing the small advertising fry Into an overflow reservoir. When that spilled over, the local stations partially sponged it iip. Situation means caviar at most ev6ry table. NBC reports that the average per- sponsor expenditure this year is up $43,000 over last. Average station hours per .sponsor zoomed from 437 to 578 on the same yteb. CBS Is calculating Its sponsors for $20,000 more apiece than last year, and says there la a marked trend toward coast-to-cpast hookups. Success Stories Momentum derived from thqt sit- uation la now regarded as speedy enough to hold well Into next year. The networks (who do nearly 60% of the total radla business) have developed a knack for catering pri- marily to big advertisers who hold the strings to the richest purses. So long as the webs can keep up that intimacy, radio Is practically cer- tain of a reasonably good intake. Success stories about radio are be- ing circulated faster than ever right now, and success stories are one .of the best ways of making the bJg- timers write out checks for appro- priations. Another big boon to radio's fu- ture well-being is indirectly supplied by the U. S. government.* Washing- ton is bearing down on the relief handouts and farm subsidies, and that dough, of course, winds up in the big advertisers' cash registers eventually. There's some $4,880,- 000,000 ready to circulate in relief alone. The hayseeds are getting their share, too, via s-bsldies for not raising pigs, potatoes, cotton and wheat, and in some cases there are pegged prices on what tliey do raise. How the plow-jockeys benefit by. these tactics is illustrated in a Standard Statistics report .tlia.t j-aJ.e.1 of farm implements were up 75% early this year and that the mail- order houses are doing a walloping business. As tlie broadcasters see that sltua- tioii, it means more money for their pets-^the big - sponsors—and: "iHOi-fe" ra,djo time from each of them, since none wants his competitors to beat him to the draw. Breathing Spell Concurrently Washington Is stroking the fur the right way via still another declaration—the highly touted 'breathing spell.! Angle on that is that next year Is election yearj which me-Tins that the Roose- velt regime is calling off some of its investigations, reform talk, and reg- ulatory bills so that the big boys will rally to the Democratic stand- ard. Meantime thei giants feel re- Ilevied, and Immediately start mak- ing- hay while, the sun shines, At, least, that's what everybody hopes will happen. Further factors bolstering the broadcasting situation are to be found immediately within the ranks of radio, or close to them. SUch ftictbrs are viewed as making cur- rent sponsors happier people, and their future import -is that they may assist In re-snaring old adver- tisers or attracting a batch of new ones. The following list is pointed out as most important by the radio boys; 1. The 'stipulation and wilver' agreements how being cooked up by the Fedel-al Trade Commission to supplant the FCC's earlier and tougher handling of stations on the score of accepting questionable acr counts. Under the pending new ar- I'angements a station needn't ever fear loss of license so long aa it consents to kick offending advertis- ers off the air after proper notifica- tion. Broadcasters think this will cure their case of the jitters In the matter of questionable accounts. 2. Better mechanical equipment. Most of the bigger stations are in- vesting in some kind of new an- tennas, tubes, studios, etc.,* and im- mediately thereafter clai ing big- ger coverage and steeper rates. Pos- sibility now exists that the FCC may goad the 100-watters Into some kind of mechanical clean-up, too. Should make sponsors happier to know that an east wind from the ociean or a high ofllce building across the street won't send their precious coniinercials into limbo.' ANPA Sniping .plops 3. Failure of other media to de- flate radio is noted. Opinion is that the magazines' attack of a year ago and the current AWPA warfare are flops. Too many faulty statistics, or bad Interpretai-IonB of good ones. In some caSes the whole attack crer ated agency bad will, because the agencies felt the attackers Indirect- ly made them out to be nitwits and saps for putting so much dough Into radio. Anyhow the agencies are cordially .sick and tired of hear- ing one medium brag about how It Current Program Division TRRmCHItTIOAtS £0.8 % WARNING TO SHOWMEN Statl^WShould Be CavefiiTof Phone Use for Rentbtes Radio stations pulling .remote broadcast stiint programs should be careful how they employ itlephone w.ir^..wlthout authority.-- -Some star- tlons have already gotten in jams through using ordinary telephone wires for hbok-ups. Commendable enterprise may be cancelled by troubles with the phone company. As a rule the gamble isn't .worth the grief that may follow. A. T. & T. subsidiaries in general.have an absolute rule that wires used for broadciasting must be used only on special leased arrangement. There may be ex.-^ ceptibns in various areas but these are unreported. Will Gross See Upward Curve Through 1 DEMAND STILL FOR CONCERT STARS ven though General Motors has not decided on a policy of popular or concert music for its Sunday evening, spot on NBC, the bookers of concert names anticipate as great a turnover this season as they had during the 1934-35 period, liike the situation that prevailed last season, a majority of the Class A names; In the concert and operatic: field will find themselves gravitating among three programs. Last season the threerway swing took In Ford, Atwater Kent and General Motors. This season Squlbbs will substitute for the mo tor combine. Already Lucrczia Borl has been booked for the route. She opens the Squibbs series Thursday (19) and is slated to play the Ford show Oct. 6 and the At- water-Kent stand Oct. 17. Other accounts that will this sea- son cull ■ their entertainment, eitiier In whole or In part, from the concert ranks are Firestone (Nel- son Eddy and Richard Crooks), Packard (Lawrencfe Tibbetts), Vick's (iSrace Mobre), Chesterfield (Lily Pons and Nino Martini), Palmolive (guest) and Kraft-Phe- nlx (guests, until Nov. 25). can sock another in the neck. Agen- cies think it's more spite than truth. 4. Increases in the strength of advertising agencies' radio depart- ments. Broadcasters figure that if-the agencies build big radio de- partments they must certainly in- tend to make future use of them. Latest agency to lay some new foundation stones is Marschalk & Pratt. Already two decent sized programs have resulted from that move—the Guy Lombard© splurge oh CBSi and the forthcoming Ga- briel Heatter newcaSts over NBC. Other agencies doing similar build- ing and doctoring. 5. Consolidations in the ranks of the stations. New hookups are springing up everywhere, sometimes among only two or fhree stations, soihetimes among as mia,ny as eiglit or nine. Sales spiel to the spon- sor on this point _lg that such a hookup enables hCn to sa.ve moiiey. He only has to buy one set of tal- ent to suffice for broadcasts lii a number of cities. Also means that each station in the huddle helps the others to dispose of commercial time. 6^ Easing up of attempts at re- forming radio. Since CBS issued a batch of edicts about its wonder- ful new behiavlor and NBC has been sending out press relcades on its ^,hlgh-mindcd attitude, the reform movement has slowed dnwn. Pre- dir.tinn.<5 are that It will «(!<y slowed down In most instances, v'.th only minor rumpus in isolated spots. Anyhow .spon.sors are-getting used to being less blatant over the air than they once were, and that may temporarily help some. Radio I.S feeling its, oats right liow. It's still a supplementary ad- vcirtlfcing medium. But the casli Ip rolling in just the same, Washington, Sept. 17. Best secondThalt business in in- dustry history is . confidently ex- pected by trade observers here in surveying fall and winter business prospects on the basis of actual performance during the first six months of 1935. General forecast of National Association of Broadcast- ers is that the current year's time sales will exceed 1934 by approxi- mately 25% and that total volume will be considerably ahead of the previous peak yeari With the industry still carried forward on the strength of late winter, and spring momentum, N.A.B.. statisticians look for defi- nite improvement in the regional network and national pon-network fields this fall and winter, due essentially to the almost complete sellout of network lime, which will carry these branches of the broad- casting business to new peak -levels. Sinallies and locals should beneflt cpnsiderabliy from the general brightening of the picture. With vii*tually all government In- dices, as well as most Independent forecasts, giving foundation for-an optimistic outlook. Industry leaders flgure broadcasters will sharis prof- itably In the apparently-widespread Improvement of business conditions. Expect $85,000,000 Expecting total 1935 time sales will reach the unprecedented flgure of $85,000,000, N.A.B. trend-calcula- tors look for" $40,000,000 volue of business diirlrig the second half- year. This'means all radio advei:tls- ing should run substantially ahead of the comparable period of 1934, when total business approximated $34,600,000. Broadcast advertising has sur- survived the seasonal summer slump this year Jiietter than during the two preceding years when' N.A.B, was collecting figures, and the industry accordingly seems poised to go for- ward steadily to new heights in all branches. Summer drop was much smaller than last yaar, with indi- cations that August will show a better relative condition than did July, and momentum gained during the first six months appears certain to start the fall season off consider- ably above any previous year. With networks reflecting record volume of business and reporting expansion of most desirable peri- ods, leaders particularly look f*r continued steady advances in the regional field. "Variety of factors causes this outlook, notably the In- dication that distributors now have greater appreciation of sectional webs, regional networks are more alert and aggressive, and manufac- turers and distributors iyhose busi- ness is confined pretty much to cer- tain localities are making wider use of ether facilities. Definite Improvement In spot ac- countig likewise is looked for,. pri- marily because of the exhaustion of preferred hours on national net- works. All classes of stations should share in this sort of business, ob- servers believe^ and locals espe- cially should be in a position to profit. What win happen In the live talent and transcription fields Is anybody's guess, Washington watch- ers agree; For the first half of 193B, there was evidence of growing use of station-produced prbgrams in the national non-network field, accom- panied by a decline in transcription volume, while the pick-up in talent business in the local field, outdis- tanced disc improvement. Whether this condition will con- tinue into the fall, N.A.B. analysts dislike to" say, but it id believed sig- nificant that during July the volume of advertising by national adver- tisers using station talent presenta- tions zoomed 176.1% above July, 1933, and talent business ran 60.6% above s^July, 1934. Transcrlptioh volume,' on the other hand, was 87.6% above 1934 and approximately the same degree better than 1933. Bright Outlook for '36 Looking around the corner into .1936, Industry observers think that* the wild scramble for time this fall will have the ultimate effect of chiecking a summer decline next year and will lead to establishment of accounts comparable to preferred position advertising In printed media, If fall and winter btlstnesa reaches the levels, expected, watch- ers believe that large-scale Sponsors will take steps to insure they will be able to get 4esired time next fall. While sell-out of best chain periods may have the effect of di- verting business to reglonals and of boosting rion-netwprk business on high-power stations, these types of advertising are expected to gain because of the general buislness pick-up which seems well estab- lished. All ill all, 'W'ashington looks for a healthy fall and. .wint6r busi- ness. Walter Campbell Very 111 Denver, Sept. 17. Walter N. Campbell, production manager of KOA, was operated on at St. Luke's hospital Saturday and is in a serious condition. Camp- bell has been on leave of absence due to ill health for several weeks. Campbell was manager of WLAC for two years, and opene^d WAPI, Birmingham,, which he rnanaged for some time before coming to Denver four years ago. Current Money Division