Variety (Mar 1936)

Wednesday* March 25, 1936 PROGRAM SHOWMANSHIP TOPS STATION 'HABIT' THEORY IN NEW CROSSLEY TEST Listening During Peak Hours Zigzags Between Sta- tions According to Program Entertainment Values—Popular Shows Light Up Dead Sets, Swelling Circulation Markedly A strong vindication of. program appeal—which in the last analysis means showmanship—as the magnet that produces listeners for one web station as opposed to another is contained in a new piece of research Just completed by Crossley, Inc. Theory that listeners prefer one particular station out of habit mainly, is emphatically designated as a fallacy. Although web promo- tional departments are ardent exr ponents . of the 'habit* slant,. and have made much ado over it, Cross-, ley states that 'this (new piece of research) pretty clearly demon- strates that the program' is of greater importance than the net- work.*. Crossley's study was made with the financial aid of some of the 10 sponsors whose web shows hit- the ether between 8 and 10 pm.» EST, on January 15 and 22. Following pair of mornings 4,000 interviews - were conducted in 11 big 'station cities' and 42 smaller burgs like Pottstown; Pa.; Annapolis Md.; Sedalia, Mo., etc. Sponsored pro- grams about, which the interviewees were questioned included One Man's Family,- .Rendezvous, Cavalcade - of America, Lady.. Esther Serenade, Armco Iron Master, Burns and Al- lien, 1 Town Hall Tonight, Lily Pons, "Warden Lawes.. and Refreshment Time with Ray Noble. Chart drawn froin the, web sta- tion dialing on these two nights looks as zlgzaggy. as a piece of Chain lightning, and the factor of habit doesn't appear to have a great deal of leeway left for it. From .8 to 8:30 the Red web had a . big preponderance of listeners. as One Man's Family was in>progr6ss. Dur- ing .the next half hour v the audience shifted most' strongly to CBS where Burn* and Alien held forth, though the .Red also had a solid following for Lady Esther. Serenade. From 9 to 9:30 the Red again was tops with Town HaU Tonight as the at traction. From 9:30 to 10, the Red, featuring the second half of Town Hall continued to be the lure, but the Blue with Warden. Lawes took an appreciable nick out of it. Program strength, as the chief element in station selection, is further supported by the fact a potent stanza will cause dead sets to be lit up, For instance* when Burns and Allen come on, better than four-fifths of the evening's set users turn on the juice. During the prior half hour, only three-fifths of the. evening's users were listening. Dead Seta Light Up This expansion of the audience further indicates that arguments used in the past by newspapers against radio are erroneous. Pdpers' claim was that one good web pro- gram will steal the audience com- Percentages of Set Owners Using Sets Station Bemot© Time Cities Towns 8 — 8:30 82.3% SR.3% 8:80^9 43.3% 40.4% fl t- 0:30......38.9% 44.0% 9:30r-10 ......37,8% 42.6% viewed in station cities had their sets on some time between 8 and 10 p.m. on the two Wednesdays in question. In smaller towns the per- centage, was six points higher. Comparison of the figures, with a, breakdown for half hours, is listed in an accompanying table. There was some slight difference in pro- gram choice between big and little cities, but it was not radically great. Third chief point in ttie investiga- tion involved the reasons why listeners tuned in one program as opposed to its. web competitors; Plethora of answers came forth here, with the main ones being-tab- ulated oh an accompanying chart Study additionally contains sev- eral subsidiary .findings which are of specific Interest chiefly to the 10 sponsors whose program were in- volved. One of these is a measure- ment of product purchases between those- set owners who heard the radio programs and those who did not. Conclusion .here , is that radio advertising causes a marked-. stimu- lation lh sales, though Crossley does not vouchsafe absolute 'accuracy for his percentage figures. Tack is one of those problems needing further research' In the future, and its inclusion in this study is purely of a 'feeler' nature. pletely from all competitors. Cross-i ley's findings show that two good competitors side by side (as for in- stance, Burns and Allen and Lady Esther) expand , the listening audi- ence. One may outstrip the. other, but the lesser one still.' can- have a large audience. Room for both is occasioned by drawing dead, sets into the listening.'clrcle, Aside from this line of investiga- tion, the Crossley work contains two other main - findings not. fre- quently touched on. One of these is phrased as 'a measurement of the audience in remote cities and towns , in comparison with the audi- ence in station cities.' As expected, the ratio of listeners in. smaller towns is ..higher than In the big station cities. Reason is obviously that. the. smalltowners have less out side diversion and don't spend so much' time commuting, etc. In toto, 52.2% of Set 'owners inter Agencies—Sponsors Ai Pearee and gang, slide off the Pepsodent show on April 3. Lasted 26 weeks. Neva-Wet Bottling Corp* (Neva- Wet Liquid for-textile products) planning a campaign through Len- nen. & Mitchells New Tork, with radio contemplated. Natural Bloom Cigars, through the Montrose agency, again is sked- ding re-:enacted. baseball over WMCA, New York, starting March 28, r tanzaL hit the air four times a week at 7 p. m. and give a : quar- ter hour dramatization of the day's best game, with Irwin Cooper, WMCA production exec, in charge, Harold F. Ritchie & Co. (Eno) Injecting a novel guester angle into its 'Eno. Crime Clues' stanza over the Blue. Through N. W. Ayer, the sponsor has lined up a bunch of ex convicts who will spiel on their ex plolts after the tegular mysterjr yarn is unfolded. Names of the boys not to be, given, and they will appear masked in the studios. Another" guester (this one the victim of crime) whom Ayer is eyeing is Mary McElroy, daughter of the city manager- of Kansas City, Who some time ago was kidnapped and held for a large ransom. Peal was. not set yet, WHY THEY TUNE IN (Some Individual Reasons for Selection of Each Program^s Be- ported to Crossley) ONE MAN'S FAMILY: Newspaper listing, human interest, women prefer, like serials, children enjoy, true to life, likes characters, likes drama, men prefer, likes station. RENDEZVOUS:. Newspaper listing, good music, likes station, chil- dreh enjoy, radio guide, family prefers, likes drama. CAVALCADE: Educational, newspaper listing, men prefer, good' music, radio guide, children enjoy, women prefer, likes station, likes history, „ , LADY ESTHER: Good music, likes Wayne King, newspaper list- ing, likes products; women prefer, family prefers, likes advertising, children enjoy, men prefer, likes station, radio guide. ARMCO; Newspaper listing, good music, men prefer, lilccs'StfttiOH- BURNS AND ALUENi Amusing and entertaining, newspaper list- ing, likes characters, children enjoy, family prefers, likes Grade, meu prefer, saw in movies, likes type, radio ^gulde, l^es advertising,, women prefer, good music, likes station, llkeB products; original. TOWN HALL: Likes Fred Allen, newspaper listing, likes ama- teurs, children enjoy, men prefer, family prefers, likes type, women prefer*. radio guide, amusing and entertaining, likes Portland, likes advertising, likes characters, good music, Baw in movies, original,, likes products. LILY PONS: Newspaper listing, voice, good music, women prefer, radio guide, educational, likes advertising. WARDEN. LAWE8! Likes drama* newspaper listing, educational children enjoy, likes advertising, men prefer, family prefers, radio guide, enjoyed his book. \ REFRESHMENT TIME: Good music, newspaper listing, women prefer, likes characters, likes advertising,. like Ray Noble, children enjoy, family prefers. (Note: By 'newspaper listing' .is meant the station log carried in a paper's editorial columns, and not 'spotlight 1 radio advertising. 'Radio guide' means a similar log for fan mags, etc.J Not a Crusading Station, Says ■■ :——— •>:'>-•. .-1 Denies Air to Attack on Telephone Com-: pany—Consumers Group Peeved day eves to. the 7:30 niche as of April 4. Program has been hitting three Mutual stations^ but with the time change will hit another three for a total count of six. Are WOE, New York: WLW, Cincinnati; WGN, Chicago; CKLW, Detroit; WKBW,. Buffalo, and WBAL, Balti- more. Boat T o ot h p asta , Kreml and Musterole have renewed for. the Jacob Tarshlsh 'Lamplighter; show on Mutual network for an addi- tional nine weeks. Palmolive soap's 'Zlegfeld Follies of the Ah" program is now hitting KGMB, Honolulu, in addition to its regular CBS schedule in the XT. S. Contract calls for 13 weeks. Key Adverti infl Agency, Cincin- nati; has elected" B. C. Herrlck, radio- director since he came over from Schwimmer and Scott last fall; into a vice-presidency. Midwest Radio Corp., through the Key Advertising agency, making radio tests in cities where retail stores are located. Programs to be local musicals running 15 minutes thrice-weekly. Object of the test is described as. 'to determine the re- spective .pulling power of news- papers and. radio , in. attracting the retail buyer.' Gay Products Co. (Gay White shoe cleaner) releasing a campaign through the Lake-Splro-Cohen agency, Memphis, with radio among the media. * KPO serves not only northern California but leaps the mountains to Nevada, Idaho and Oregon, giving spot and local adver- tisers a plus that spells^dAed sales impetus. KPO 50,000 WATTS NBC Pacific Coast R«d Nolwork SAN FRANCISCO One of NBC's Managed and Operated Stations Lady Esther stanza for the Mutual web, now running Sundays from 4:30 to 6 p. m., will shift, on April 2.6 to the 6: 30 to. 7 p. m. spot. This will put if directly behind Feena- mlnt's amateur program. Cosmetic sponsor ' is buying five stations: WGN, Chicago; CKLW, . Detroit; WPIL, Philadelphia; WCAE, Pitts- burgh, and WBAL, Baltimore. B. B. D. & Oi has received ap- proval from Electrolux for a spot campaign that will before the end of the summer take hi some 70 sta- tions in farm areas. Slated for plugging is the refrigerator's kero- sene version. In addition to A' re- corded series with Carson Robinson the account will use news bulletins and market and weather report?. Starting dates'for the programs will be determined by each station's geographical position. Campaign will first, be put under way in the south and gradually work north; with the stations in North and South Dakota getting their start- ing Orders in late May or early June. Goldman chain stores signing up for 13 weeks of amateurs (half hours) over WISN, Milwaukee. Account placed direct for Friday eves with Hearst Pvadio. Andrews Pharmacal Co. (Pear- lotion) planning a campaign through the McCord Co., Mlnneapolls7 and has an appropriation of about $20,000. Good percentage of it to be allotted to radio. L. Melamed is account exec. Household Finance, through the Charles Daniel Frey agency in Chi- cago, will shift its ^Sherlock Holmes' stanza from 10:30 p. m. EST Satur- Tydol gasoline has taken the 'In- quiring reporter' program on WFBR, Baltimore, on twice-weekly basis; started last week. National brewery had sponsored, but failed to renew. After two broadcasts un- der its guidon, Tydol made arrange- ments with WFBR to have Henry Hickman, who does the 'reporter' stuff, released for a two-a-week similar broadcasts over WFIL, Philly, starting next week under Tydol sponsorship. Hickman will do his 'inquiring' in Balto on Tues- day and Thursday evenings, and in Philly on Wednesdays and Fridays; Rather than let the impression get around that it was developing into a crusading station. WNEW, Newark, last week postponed indefi- nitely a talk blasting the telephone company for its . high rates and'-, severed itf.elf from the service of \ Jay Lewis, the outlet's special events booker, John A. Trinchere, chairman of the Utility Consumers League, whose scheduled spiel on telephone rate: reduction had been put off, declared Monday (23) that the lawyers for the league were preparing charges against the sta- tion for submission to the Federal. Communications Commission. Trinchere was slated to speak last Saturday (21) but when .he got to the station he was told that the airing would have to be'put-off for three weeks or longer. WNEW'a management took the view that it didn't think that the FCC would like the idea of haying the A. T. & T.. attacked while the commission's inquiry Of the latter was on. The UCL had planned the WNEW talk ~ as the opening shot in a statewide campaign for phone rat* reductions. Trinchere averred Monday that- it was possible that the station was influenced by the fact that it had an advertising contract with the New Jersey Telephone Co. WNEW *ald that there was such a contract but that it amounts to merely two an- nouncements each weekend, plug* glng the reduction in Sunday long distance rates, WNEW charged that Lewis had also got it jammed up with Repre- sentative Edward A. Bergen, of New Jersey, when he invited the rep to deliver a talk demanding that the toll for the Holland Tunnel be reduced. Kenny was permitted to go through with his mike appear- ance. Wheeler Sues KMTR Hollywood, March 24; Breach of contract charged in $5,000 damage suit filed in Superior court by Bruce Wheeler against KMTR, Wheeleiv diet and health lecturer, alleges in complaint that after pay- ing studio $52.60 for six 15-mih talks, and submitting script four days in. advance, he was halted in middle of first broadcast, causing him loss of $2,600 from sponsor. WJAY's New Address Cleveland, March 2.4. Finding its present piano-store location too cramped. WJAY, 500- watt indie, has taken a lease! said, to be for. five years, on the. entire second floor of Carnegie Hall. WW also build a new transmitter with special directional antenna. Prospective setup, covering near- ly "10,000 ft; ' of' floor :spa"ce, to- be ready within a month. Regular broadcasts will continue in the In* terlm. WKBZ's Quick Recovery Muskegon, Mich., March 24. Although WKBZ's studios In the Occidental Hotel were gutted by a recent fire, the station was back on tho air 30 minutes after the ^ arne Z were- out. An auxilliary studio ana the transmitter were saved by » re ' proof construction. Station now angling for a (studio site. he*