THE AUDIENCE PROMOTION OF TEN MAJOR MARKET TALK AND ALL-NEWS RADIO STATIONS : ' Thesis forthe Degree of M. A. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY STUART LOUIS BROWER 19.68 .......... I'HESI. k MSU LIBRARIES ”- RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop to remove this checkout from your record. FINES wIIT be charged if book Is returned after the date stamped beTow. ABSTRACT THE AUDIENCE PROMOTION OF TEN MAJOR MARKET TALK AND ALL-NEWS RADIO STATIONS By Stuart Louis Brower This thesis is a study of the audience promotion activities of ten radio stations in New York, Los Ange— les, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, and Cleveland. Four of the stations have all (or nearly all) telephone talk formats; the other six program all (or nearly all) news during the broadcast day. The sta- tions all are large and most are network or group—owned. Three are owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting, five by CBS, and one by Metromedia. Since the advent of telephone talk and all-news formats has been relatively recent, all of these sta— tions previously programmed other formats (ranging from rock—andwroll music to middle«of—the—road music to a more diverse mix of program elements). The study exam— ines the audience promotion for each station during these prior formats (where such information was availa- ble) and compares this promotion with that currently used to promote the talk formats. For those stations Stuart Louis Brower which changed their formats in one major move (rather than slowly evolving from one format to another with no major change), the promotion accompanying the respective format switches is presented and analyzed. Information from the various stations was obtained through personal interviews with the Promotion Managers of each station. The thesis includes samples of promotion from each station (fifty-five reproductions in all) to illustrate the various points discussed. Samples of such promotion devices as newspaper advertisements, billboards, posters, and bus cards are presented. One major problem encountered in gathering information was the fact that many of the Promotion Managers were not employed at their current stations during the periods when the previous formats were in effect. Thus, they were unable to give much detailed information in this regard. The analyses of the audience promotion methods and campaigns of these ten stations seem to suggest the following general conclusions: 1. For audience promotion to be fully effective, it must be coordinated with the station's programming. 2. Audience promotion can only attract an audience. It cannot hold the audience if the programming is not strong enough. Stuart Louis Brower A fully-integrated program format (such as all telephone talk or all—news) can be promoted more effectively to the audience than a fragmented format. The various types of music formats and the telephone talk format place a greater emphasis on station personalities than does the all-news format. The audience promotion of all-news stations centers more on the service provided by such stations than on individual personalities. Stunts are more prevalent on stations programming a music format. These are often extremely wild in nature (depending on the nature of the format and the station's personalities). Contests are run more frequently on music stations and telephone talk stations than on all—news stations. Random-drawing contests seem to draw the greatest listener response. Such drawings need to have some sort of unusual or inter— esting premise behind them to be fully effective in motivating listeners to enter. One of the major characteristics of telephone talk stations is the involvement of the 10. 11. Stuart Louis Brower audience with the station. This should be emphasized in the audience promotion of such stations. The audience promotion of these talk-oriented stations concentrates on each station's format, personalities (for telephone talk stations especially), and image. Any promotional device that the Promotion Manager feels can promote his station effec- tively should be used. These devices are different for each station; they vary with the market, competitive situation, format, objectives, budget, and station philosophy. THE AUDIENCE PROMOTION OF TEN MAJOR MARKET TALK AND ALL-NEWS RADIO STATIONS By Stuart Louis Brower A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Television and Radio 1968 Accepted by the faculty of the Department of Television and Radio, College of Communication Arts, Michigan Staterniversity, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree. ._ P ‘Birabtor of Thesis ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This paper would not have been possible without the assistance and generosity of the Promotion Managers of the stations analyzed. For their help, the author wishes to thank Robert Harris (KLAC), Mike Rogers (WERE), Chuck Williams (WEEI), Hugh Ferguson and Mary Eastburn (WCAU), Steve Bell.(WINS), Jim Munro (KYW), David Martin (WCBS), Richard Axtell (WBBM), Russ Smith (KCBS), Norman Ginsburg (CBS Radio Spot Sales), and Paul Gumbinner (Delehanty, Kurnit, and Geller Advertising Agency). Special thanks to Frank Kwan who expended extra time and effort in pro- viding the information relating to KFWB. Within the University, the author wishes to acknow- ledge the efforts of Dr. J. David Lewis for his aid in the preparation of the thesis. Gratitude is also expressed to Mr. Eldean Bennett for his assistance and inspiration. Finally, the author wishes to thank his fiance, Karen Smilowitz, for her patience during the writing of the thesis and her critical evaluation of it. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Chapter I. INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . 1 II. TALK STATIONS . . . . . . . . . . 8 KLAC-—Los Angeles, California . . . . 10 WERE--Cleve1and, Ohio. . . . . . . 3O WEEI--Boston, Massachusetts. . . . . A5 WCAU--Phi1ade1phia, Pennsylvania . . . 66 Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . 83 III. ALL-NEWS STATIONS . . . . . . . . . 97 Westinghouse Stations. . . . . . . 100 WINS--New York, New York. . . . 101 KYW--Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . . 119 KFWB--Los Angeles, California . . . 126 CBS Stations. . . . . . 152 WCBS--New York, New York. . . . . 153 WBBM-—Chicago, Illinois . . . . 173 KCBS--San Francisco, California . . 188 Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . 211 IV. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . 225 LIST OF REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 iv Figure .2' \OCDNONKJ‘I 10. ll. l2. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. KLAC KLAC KLAC WERE WERE WEEI WEEI WEEI WEEI WEEI WEEI WCAU WCAU WCAU WCAU WCAU WCAU WCAU WCAU WCAU WINS WINS LIST OF FIGURES Billboard Newspaper Billboard Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Poster Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Display Board. Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Page 1A 17 21 36 38 A8 52 54 55 57 57 67 71 72 72 72 76 76 76 76 105 106 Figure Page 23. WINS Newspaper Advertisement . . . . . 110 24. WINS Newspaper Advertisement . . . . . 111 25. WINS Newspaper Advertisement 114 26. WINS Newspaper Advertisement 116 27. KYW Newspaper Advertisement. 120 28. KYW Poster . . 122 29. KFWB Special Promotion Poster 132 30. KFWB Special Promotion Letter 133 31. KFWB Billboard 138 32. KFWB Billboard 139 33. KFWB Newspaper Advertisement 143 34. KFWB Newspaper Advertisement 147 35. KFWB Bus Card . 148 36. KFWB Newspaper Advertisement 150 37. KFWB Newspaper Advertisement 151 38. WCBS Newspaper Advertisement 157 39. WCBS Newspaper Advertisement 165 40. WCBS Newspaper Advertisement 168 41. WCBS Newspaper Advertisement 169 42. WCBS Newspaper Advertisement 171 43. WCBS Newspaper Advertisement 172 44. WBBM Newspaper Advertisement 175 45. WBBM Newspaper Advertisement 177 46. WBBM Billboard 180 47. WBBM Billboard 180 48. WBBM Billboard 180 vi Figure 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 3o. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. WINS WINS WINS WINS Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement KYW Newspaper Advertisement. KYW Poster KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB WCBS WCBS WCBS WCBS WCBS WCBS WBBM WBBM WBBM WBBM WBBM Special Promotion Poster Special Promotion Letter Billboard Billboard Newspaper Newspaper Bus Card Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Billboard Billboard Billboard Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement vi Page 110 111 114 116 120 122 132 133 138 139 143 147 148 150 151 157 165 168 169 171 172 175 177 180 180 180 Figure 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 3o. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. WINS Newspaper Advertisement WINS Newspaper Advertisement WINS Newspaper Advertisement WINS Newspaper Advertisement KYW Newspaper Advertisement. KYW Poster KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB KFWB WCBS WCBS WCBS WCBS WCBS WCBS WBBM WBBM WBBM WBBM WBBM Special Promotion Poster Special Promotion Letter Billboard Billboard Newspaper Newspaper Bus Card Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper Billboard Billboard Billboard Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement vi Page 110 111 114 116 120 122 132 133 138 139 143 147 148 150 151 157 165 168 169 171 172 175 177 l80 180 180 Figure Page 49. WBBM Newspaper Advertisement . . . . . 183 50. KCBS Newspaper Advertisement . . . . . 189 51. KCBS Newspaper Advertisement . . . . . 192 52. KCBS Newspaper Advertisement . . . . . 194 53. KCBS Newspaper Advertisement . . . . . 198 54. KCBS Billboard . . . . . . . . . . 206 55. KCBS Newspaper Advertisement . . . . . 208 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Douglas Duff Connah, former Radio and Publicity Director of James A. Greene and Company, has stated this simple broadcasting truth: . expert and painstaking audience building can materially increase the success an expertly built program is sure to have. The force of audience building, directed to the considerable margin between the program's natural audience and its vast potential audience, can pile up plus audience values to assure the fulfillment of the program's most brilliant possibilities. It is the lever that can lift the program from solid success to superb success (1938, p. 234). This, in 1938,was a guiding principle that Pro- motion Managers (most of whom were employed by national networks at this time) followed in securing audiences for the radio shows of the era. Today, in a period which largely deemphasizes individual programs in favor of specialized-program formats, the same principle still applies. With the enormous increase in outlets for enter— tainment--AM and FM radio stations, television stations, home music systems, motion pictures, sporting events to mention but a few--it no longer is sufficient for a broadcasting station to develop a unique, well-produced program or format and expect listeners to seek it out on their own. A broadcaster must inform the audience about his station's programming and create a desire to tune in. Each individual station must compete with competitive stations in its market for listeners. Solid programming and solid promotion must work together to attract an audience. It is startling to note that, with the increased need for promotion to secure audiences, there has been a scarcity of literature in this field. Most of the books and articles that have appeared have concerned themselves with broadcast sales promotion--ways in which a station encourages agencies and advertisers to purchase broadcast time on the station's air. This is undeniably important-- without revenue, a commercial station is doomed to fail- ure. However, without a respectable number of listeners (whatever is "respectable" depends on the station and its particular situation), the station will find it dif- ficult to sell advertising to obtain revenue. No matter how well-coordinated and well—planned a station's sales promotion activities are, they will be weakened (perhaps to the point of ineffectiveness) if they are not backed by a corresponding audience promotion effort. If the purpose of sales promotion is to generate sales, it is obvious that the function of audience pro- motion is to generate audience. What methods are available for the station to use in promoting itself to prospective listeners? . it may use its own facilities to present "promotion announcements" that call attention to forthcoming programs. It may also use newspaper advertisements, streetcar cards, billboards, win- dow displays, et cetera. Often a station sends letters or postcards to selected lists of listeners pointing out programs in which they will be inter- ested. Occasionally a station will stage city—wide promotional stunts such as style shows, home- building exhibits, food shows, et cetera, to cap- ture the public interest (Midgley, 1948, p. 289). Generally, a station chooses from among the above devices (and other promotional methods such as contests) those that best fit its format, objectives, budget, market situation, and promotional philosophy. How are these decisions reached? How are they implemented? How effective are the promotional cam- paigns used? This paper will attempt to shed some light on these questions--questions which, although vital to successful audience building, have been largely ignored in the literature of broadcasting. The problems involved in audience promotion--and their solutions--will be illustrated by reviewing the audience promotion of ten radio stations in major U.S. markets. The markets range in size from the country's largest (New York) to the eleventh (Cleveland).l These markets were selected to encompass different lMarket size is based on the population of Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas as reported in Broadcasting, January 15, 1968, p. 54. geographical areas of the country--three stations in two markets on the west coast (Los Angeles and San Francisco), two stations in the midwest (in Cleveland and Chicago), and five stations in three eastern markets (New York, Philadelphia, and Boston). The stations selected to be analyzed within these markets were chosen because of their specialized formats-- four are telephone talk operations and the other six pro- gram all-(or nearly all-) news for the entire broadcast day. Both of these formats fall under the general clas- sification of talk programming, and perhaps no broadcasting phenomenon in recent years has influenced radio program- ming as much as talk. The four formats into which talk programming has generally been classified are: 1) Stations relying heavily or exclusively on telephone conversations between listeners and personalities. 2) Stations that combine telephone conversations with programs featuring interviews, discussion, advice, and other informational material in which the audience does not participate. Stations with virtually no telephone programs. All-news stations (Broadcasting, June 27, 1966, pp. 75-78). Jl'w VV As noted above, the stations analyzed in this paper fall into categories 1, 2, and 4, and they seem to be repre— sentative of the new talk formats. Telephone talk and all-news formats not only are specialized in nature but also are relatively new-—both products of the 1960's. This presents the opportunity of not only studying the current audience promotion of these ten stations, but also the promotion used in their prior formats. In addition, the promotional tactics used to introduce the new formats can be examined. The selection of stations in large markets was made for two main reasons: 1) the author reasoned that stations in these markets would be more inclined to engage heavily in audience promotion and would have more funds available for such promotion. 2) the majority of telephone talk and all-news stations (which offer the special oppor- tunities for analysis mentioned above) are located in the major markets. The information relating to the promotional acti- vities of these stations was obtained through personal interviews with the individual Promotion Managers. It was hoped at the outset of the research that the General Managers and/or Program Directors of the stations could take part in the interviews, but this did not occur in any case. All the promotional samples reproduced in this paper were offered by the Promotion Managers of the individual stations and are used with their permission. The opportunity for studying the promotional acti- vities of these stations over a period of time encom- passing format changes could not be fully utilized. This was a result of the fact that many of the Promotion Mana— gers interviewed had not been in their present positions long enough to have much knowledge of what their stations had done to promote a previous format. This rapid turn— over in Promotion Managers (and supplementary personnel) was a major factor working against the collection of information about audience promotion for even a few years back in some cases. In addition, most of these stations do not maintain very extensive files of prior audience promotion material. In contrast, sales pro- motion files are more complete and information is retained for a longer period of time. This reflects the same orientation seen earlier-~audience promotion seems to be regarded as less important than sales promotion. Before beginning the analysis of the audience pro- motion done by the ten stations selected, one more important point needs to be established. Jacob Evans, in his book Selling And Promoting Radio and Television, states it this way: There is a vast difference between attracting an audience and holding it. Promotion and publicity can attract people to a program. Only the pro- gram itself can hold the audience. . . . Promotion won't win back a lost listener or viewer unless the show itself improves its audience-appeal. The job of promotion is to win an audience for the first few minutes of the program. If the audience doesn't like what it hears or sees, a million dol- lars' worth of promotion won't bring it back. . . . Promotion can simply get the audience to set its dial on the preferred spot. The rest is up to the show (1954, pp. 278-79). It is with this awareness that promotion and programming must work together to increase audience size that the promotion analyses in this paper are presented. The paper is organized into two major sections. The first of these deals with the audience promotion of the four telephone talk stations; the second is concerned with the audience promotion of the six all-news stations selected for analysis. Following these two major divisions, some general conclusions will be offered regarding the information presented. CHAPTER II TALK STATIONS Talk programming on radio is not a new phenomenon. Radio, of course, has been "talking" since its inception. In fact, between 1930 and 1940, virtually all local AM radio stations depended heavily on "talk" programming (Summers and Summers, 1966, p. 61). But there has been an increased emphasis in recent years toward a new form of talk show. Frank Riggs, writing in the Journal of Broadcasting, has said that "The talk trend, [which is] an outgrowth of the 'Monitor' concept, began around the end of the last decade" (Journal of Broadcasting, Fall, 1964, p. 336). Paul Kagan, in charge of talk program- ming for all the CBS-owned—and—operated radio stations, has noted that these shows began even earlier: The earliest origins of the telephone response program are lost in antiquity somewhere in the early 'fifties. Radio stations in California, Florida, and Colorado claim the prototype but such boasts are difficult to document because records are often sketchy and the men who created the programs have usually moved on (cited in Jessica Mitford, "Hello, There! You're on the Air," Harper's, May, 1966, p. 48). Sponsor magazine (September 19, 1966, p. 60) has said that the current nation-wide trend to talk program- ming (and especially telephone talk) probably began in August, 1960, when KABC's General Manager Ben Hoberman switched the Los Angeles station's format from middle—of- the-road music to all talk. Wherever or however the trend to talk began, it has continued to grow. General Manager Jack Thayer of KLAC in Los Angeles explains why: "Radio stations today are becoming so specific in their broadcasting formats that not to have an individual identity in a market would be disaster" (Broadcasting, June 27, 1966, p. 94). This section examines the promotional activities of four telephone talk stations with individual identities in their respective markets. The stations are KLAC (Los Angeles), WERE (Cleve- land), WEEI (Boston), and WCAU (Philadelphia). All are CBS network affiliates with the exception of KLAC, which is an independent. Both WCAU and WEEI are owned-and- operated by CBS; KLAC is a Metromedia station. The four stations seem to have differing philosophies of talk programming; these differences are reflected in their respective promotional efforts. Each of these stations will be analyzed individually, and, at the conclusion of this section, some general statements and conclusions about the promotion of tele- phone talk will be offered. lO KLAC--Los Angeles, California KLAC, Metromedia's AM operation in Los Angeles, had a long history as a middle-of-the-road music station. When Metromedia purchased the station in the early 1960's, it was running about twelfth to fifteenth in audience ratings--nowhere near the bottom in the competitive Los Angeles market, but not really a spectacular success either. In an attempt to enlarge KLAC's audience and bolster ratings, the station embarked on a large, well-coordinated promotional campaign. The campaign, probably the biggest that Metromedia conducted during the time the station was playing music, was called the "Grump campaign" because it was built around the idea that KLAC had a bright, happy, alive sound that would even change the person— ality of a grump. The "Grump campaign" centered around two character actresses who looked and sounded particularly grumpy. They were featured in on—air spots, on billboards, but- tons, bus cards, and in newspaper ads bombarding the audience with such messages as: GRUMPS UNITE! Don't Listen to KLAC/570 down with KLAC Radio 570 join the Grumpy League Against Fun ll The two elderly "grumps" even organized some Grumpy Mothers Marches against KLAC. The reverse-psychology campaign lasted several months and was enormously successful. Ratings increased during the campaign, but then declined when the promotion was over. This illustrates the promotional axiom that a good campaign can persuade listeners to tune to a station but if, after listening for awhile, they find that the programming does not meet their needs, they will tune out again. Apparently, KLAC's programming was not suffi- ciently entertaining to hold the audience that the "Grump campaign" delivered. Other campaigns used mythe station to promote itself also did not increase the audience substantially. Such stunts as flying the Goodyear blimp over Los Angeles with "KLAC/570" emblazened on the side did not work. Neither did the large number of billboards and bus cards that were used. Even when the station secured the broadcast rights to the Los Angeles Lakers basketball games and promoted the broadcasts heavily in all media, the only ratings increase came during the time periods when the games were on--the remainder of the broadcast day remained weak. When Jack Thayer took over as General Manager of KLAC, he assessed the situation. Joe Pyne was the only really "hot" personality on the station. Pyne was con- ducting a telephone talk show from 9:00 p.m. to Midnight. l2 At this time, Pyne was running the only talk show on KLAC; the remainder of the schedule was still devoted to music. In a rather daring move, Thayer moved Pyne and his telephone talk to the early-morning drive-time slot-— 7:00 to 10:00 a.m.--a time when it was undetermined whether listeners would have the time or inclination to call and participate in a talk program. To replace Pyne in the evening, Thayer inaugurated the "Private Line," a telephone talk show devoted mainly to personal problems and featuring Gil Henry as host. KLAC at this time was programming six hours of talk daily--Pyne in the morning and the "Private Line" at night. Ratings data showed that these were the only two successful shows on the station--the music shows were still floundering. This was all the evidence that Thayer needed. In February of 1966, KLAC adOpted its all-talk format, or as Promotion Manager Robert Harris termed it "Two—Way Radio." It was also the birth of the telephone talk format on a twenty-four hour basis in the United States. The "Two-Way" programming allowed Harris to pro— mote KLAC as a station with a unified format--he could concentrate on building a definite, Specific image for the station. The first large promotion task was to let the aud— ience know that KLAC had made the switch from a music 13 station with a smattering of talk to an around—the—clock talk operation. This was more critical for KLAC than for the station that switches from one music format to another-- without an audience KLAC not only had low ratings, it had no programming. Listeners--and vocal ones at that—-are vital to the success of the all telephone talk format. Promotion Manager Harris was fortunate in that Gen- eral Manager Jack Thayer decided not to replace his disc jockeys. They just stopped playing records and started talking on the phone. Thus Harris did not have to pro— mote new personalities and could concentrate on promoting the new format. He was already promoting the air person— alities--especially Joe Pyne--in all media, and he con— tinued to do so. KLAC was using billboards, bus cards, newspapers, and its own air to attract listeners. Harris conducted a pre-campaign in these media to inform lis— teners that KLAC was changing formats and urging the audience to "Get Involved." The creation of the phrase "Two-Way Radio" to describe the new format was a major step. Now KLAC and "Two-Way Radio" could be promoted together for maximum listener identification of the new programming concept. Soon after the total talk programming began, KLAC ran a contest to come up with a pictorial logo to comple- ment its "Two—Way Radio" slogan. The winning entry, featuring a telephone and a microphone, was utilized in l4 much station promotion such as the billboard (shown as Figure l) which also included photographs of the KLAC talk personalities. Two hundred of these boards were placed in Los Angeles and Orange Counties to attract new listeners. The board was designed in several colors-- red and black for "KLAC Radio," black on white for the "57" inside the "0" of radio, black for the "Two Way" slogan, and various shades for the inserts of the personalities. Another contest was devised to allow listeners to choose a name for the talk personalities--who now are called "communicasters." Contests such as these allowed listeners to increase their involvement with KLAC, and this is one of the main objectives of a talk station. " ro‘snR Wmnssn Figure l.--KLAC Billboard (General Format) 15 Robert Harris feels that there are three main enti- ties for a radio station to promote to its audience: 1) the format of the station, 2) its personalities, and 3) its image. The format, obviously, is important to promote so that the audience knows what the station is programming. Harris believes in promoting the advantage of listening to a specific station——in KLAC's case, a chance to "get involved." He still promotes the station's personalities, just as he did when the station was a music station. The image of KLAC that Harris is promoting is one showing the station as a responsible member of the community and a solid corporate citizen. He also attempts to diSpel any irresponsible public image that may be attributed to KLAC. The audience promotion, then, couples the attempt to attract a large audience with the desire to upgrade the station's image and lessen criticism. Promotion Manager Harris has aggressively promoted KLAC's format, personalities, and image to its audience since the station converted to a "Two—Way” operation. He has continued to utilize all media--newspapers, bus cards, billboards, regional editions of magazines, tele- vision, direct mail, specialized promotions, and spots on KLAC--to promote the station. In order to promote the format—-the first of his objectives--Harris uses these media to point out the individual components that make "Two-Way Radio" what it is. For example, the station has a unique news innovation 16 called "free-form news" to complement its talk programming. KLAC's newsmen break into the regular programming anytime they have something worth reporting. There are five- minute newscasts on the hour during morning and evening drive-times, but the remainder of the broadcast day fea- tures these "free-form" reports and brief hourly head- lines. This "free-form news" concept is promoted heavily in on—air spots and newspaper advertisements like the one shown as Figure 2. The emphasis in the ad is on immediacy and the nature of KLAC's worldwide coverage. The effect of the "What in the world is going on?" head as well as the body copy and the "Get involved with KLAC" in the logo is one of making the reader want to listen so that he will be instantly informed of important news develop- ments. The unusual photography serves to capture the reader's attention. Another aspect of the "Two Way" format is "Girl Power.” On Saturdays and Sundays, women communicasters handle KLAC's telephone talk. This unusual bit of pro- gramming is promoted on the air by the girls themselves as well as in other media. A typical newspaper adver- tisement for "Girl Power” features an intent—looking young lady who is shown getting ready to detonate an explosion. The copy reads: l7 What in the world is going on? Take the pulse of the people. It throbs 24 hours a day over KLAC Two-Way Radio. Phone conversation crackles around the clock...punctuated and abetted by the most unique and instantaneous information concept, anywhere . . . FREE-FORM NEWS. ' When news breaks out... KLAC Free-Form News breaks in. Immediately! From Southern California to Sacramento to Saigon. Stay with it. Get involved 57 On Your Dial / Metromedia in Los Angeles Figure 2.--KLAC Newspaper Advertisement (News Service) 18 It's a Blast! GIRL POWER Every Weekend on KLAC TWO WAY RADIO 57 on your dial Metromedia in Los Angeles Harris also uses mailers to attract listeners. These are promotional pieces mailed to a list of 1,700,000 homes in KLAC's coverage area. One such mailer exhorted the recipients to "Get Involved with KLAC Two-Way Radio and find out what in the world is going on." Note that this carries through the same theme used in the "Free- form news" newspaper ad. The body copy on the mailer promoted the concepts of communicasters, free-form news, newsmaker calls to prominent people in the news, and newstip. This last device is an interesting programming-promotion idea. If a listener sees news happening, he is urged to dial the letters N-E-W—S—T—I-P on his telephone. This is a direct line to the KLAC newsroom where the listener can report the story. If it is judged the best tip of the week, the listener wins $25. Thus the listener gets involved and feels important and the station receives leads on many news stories. In addition to all this information regarding KLAC'S‘ programming, the mailer notes that "You Can Get Involved By Dialing The Toll-Free On-The—Air Number In Your Area" and the numbers are listed. A mailer like this can reach 19 potential listeners who may not see or hear any of the station's other promotion--and give them a great deal of information about KLAC. Notice also that the emphasis in the mailer is on the listener and how he can partici- pate in the "Two-Way" exchange. Another mailer used by Harris served a dual pur- pose. lt told the household residents about a vinyl beach bag and float--the KLAC Tote 'N Flote-—which could be obtained for only one dollar by sending in the mailer. As the copy said: As a bag, it carries sandwiches, wet bathing- suits, and your transistor radio tuned into KLAC, 57 on the dial. As a pillow, it opens out and blows up so you can rest your head while sunbathing and listening to KLAC, 57 on your dial. Note how the connection is made between fun and leisure and listening to KLAC--Harris makes the most of every opportunity. In addition to being a good buy for those who purchased it, the Tote 'N Flote itself served as a promotional device for the station. Imprinted on the bag was the slogan: "Join the talk-in: Turn on your telephone. KLAC/57.” So wherever the bag was taken--to the beach or to a friend's swimming pool-- KLAC's call letters and dial position were on display. On all the promotion that Harris does now for KLAC, the new "Two—Way Radio" logo--with the two arrows pointing 20 toward each other as shown in Figure 3——is used. This is an additional promotion of the format as well as an easily- identifiable logo. It serves to remind the audience that it is part of the concept of KLAC. The second objective of the KLAC promotional effort is the promotion of the communicasters. This is done by the personalities themselves in radio and television spots and in other media as well. Such promotion often takes the form of a billboard or newspaper ad showing the pic- ture of a personality and advising the reader to "Get Involved with Bob Grant--KLAC Two-Way Radio," or another featured personality. Many new communicasters have been introduced since KLAC has been offering its "Two-Way" format to listeners. Satirist Mort Sahl was a communicaster for awhile, and Harris promoted him heavily on billboards. Since Sahl was already well—known, Harris merely concentrated on establishing the fact that now he was featured on KLAC. The billboard introducing Sahl (Figure 3) showed a drawing of him against a bold red background with the word "Anti— disestablishmentarianism" in white across the top. In large black letters next to the drawing were the words "THAT'S SAHL!——7 to 10 PM" and the KLAC logo. The effect was an easy-to-read board which captured the essence of Sahl's personality. For awhile, Gil Henry's "Private Line" was pro- moted with a weekly "column" (actually a paid advertisement) 2l Aazmm ppozv ppmonfiafim o. v. . y . l”. M334 «...? m. .M . .. p a .. r .... its» .. . . .... 9.... t . . .. . ..Anxl 7V. .. ...... .. igure 8.--WEEI Newspaper Advertisement (General Format) F 55 7‘. 41 l _ E 5 E :57". . 54 ‘fidumunmmJ”ffuuuewHwnuumflmm: L; Wmm'nmmummmmm fl news wherever you go. you; NET mm snnpu Figure 9.--WEEI Newspaper Advertisement (News Service) There is a dual purpose in this. First, WEEI does pro- gram more news than any other station in Boston. Sec- ondly, it has been rumored that WBZ (The Group W station in Boston) may switch to an all news format. WEEI wanted to establish a solid news image in the market and have the phrase "Newsradio" mean WEEI to the Boston audience. 56 By using "Newsradio," WEEI usurps WBZ's chance to create an image with it should WBZ decide to convert to an all news format. WEEI seems to integrate the "Newsradio" slogan into its promotion more successfully than WERE does. Williams does not suggest in his ads that WEEI is all news, but rather that the station programs a great deal of news and is "news-oriented" in its talk programming. The "Newsradio" ads feature headlines that almost force the reader to continue reading (Figures l0 and ll). The body copy contains information on WEEI's news operation-- but does not divorce it from the talk programming. This idea of promoting "news/talk" together seems to be a good one. It creates a unified-—more easily promotable-- format. Promotion Manager Williams has some specialized problems to overcome in promoting WEEI. The station has a tendency to attract a larger number of elderly listen— ers (over age sixty) than management would desire. Such listeners talk about relatively mundane topics and slow up the pace of the talk programming. In addition, many advertisers are not particularly interested in reaching ‘this age group. This tendency to attract the "sixty plus" group is compounded by the fact that WEEI is not doing as well in the 18-25 group as it would like. In an attempt to attract more young adults to the station, 57 shouldn’t you be the first to know '2 Sure you should. And you will be if you stay tuned to WEEI Newsradio 59. WEEI broadcasts well over forty hours oi hard news every single week. And that doesn't include WEEI/CBS Public Affairs, News Specials or our news-oriented "talk" programs. WEEI is the only Boston radio station that brings you thrcc-and-a-hali hours oi solid news and features every morning on “AM REPORT." Or an hour-and-a-halt oi straight news every evening on "Nightiine News." And in between there's ten minutes of WEEL'CBS News hourly plus news headlines on the half hour. Shouldn't you be the first to know? Sure you should. And that's our lob. WEEI. Newsradio 59 Figure lO.—fWEEI Newspaper Advertisement (News Service) ;, This may L come as news toyou! < ButWEEl broadcasts more news than any other Boston radio station. We start every morning at 5:30 AM with our three- and-a-hali hour ”AM REPORT" — all the news you need to start the day. At noontime, it's WEEI's "Midday Report" and in the evening — "Nightline News" — an hour-and-a-hali of solid news and features. In between there's ten minutes of -WE£l/CBS News hourly plus news headlines on the half hour. This figures out to well over forty hours oi hard news every week on WEEI and that doesn't even include WEEI/CBS Public Aflairs, News Specials or our news-oriented "talk" programs. .. > This may come as news to you . . . but WEEI broadcasts more ' ... “*5" news . . . more oiten . . . than any other Boston radio station. Wm Newsradio 59 Figure ll.--WEEI Newspaper Advertisement (News Service) 58 Williams has promoted WEEI to the vast college audience in the Boston area. This has been done through ads in the major campus papers and also with a small box ad on the blotters given to Boston University freshmen. The copy for these ads has been devised to appeal to the collegiate audience. Such headlines as "Up tight? Got a gripe?" attract the student's attention and then the body copy advises him that he can air his views to the "talkmasters" of WEEI. This approach should work to secure a larger number of younger, vocal listeners for the station. Of all the stations analyzed in this study, WEEI is probably more contest-oriented than any other. The station has some type of contest running virtually all the time. Most of these are simple random drawings; they seem to get the best response from listeners. Chuck Williams has designed his contests so that they are easy to enter, but still worthwhile for the lis- teners. There are usually a number of small prizes awarded, as well as one major prize. This gives the lis— teners many chances to win. Apparently this method of designing contests is attractive to WEEI's audience. Over 67,000 entries were received in three weeks for WEEI's "I'm Going Steady" contest--which merely required entrants to send in post cards. Each day during the contest, four cards were drawn at random at different times (one during "AM Report" 59 in the morning, one during "At Your Service" around the noon hour, one during the afternoon "Paul Benzaquin Show," and one during Jim Westover's "Nightline"). Each of these winners received a small prize. On Valentine's Day—-to tie in with the "I'm Going Steady" theme--the grand prize winner was selected on "AM Report." He won a $600 pocket billiard table and accessories. WEEI's "no contest" contest was even more success- ful. The aim of this contest was to promote WEEI's news and information format-—especially the early morning "AM Report" news service. The idea behind the contest was that in Boston, when it comes to news, there is "no con— test"--WEEI is the leader. Also, it was "no contest" for listeners to enter. All that was necessary to become eligible for the prizes was a post card sent to WEEI with the listener's name, address, and phone number. This contest, like most of those on WEEI, was pro- moted on the station only-—no outside media were used. Spot announcements giving contest details were scattered throughout WEEI's schedule. These spots suggested that listeners tune to "AM Report" for more complete details and for the names of the daily winners. Daily winners received transistor radios, the seven weekly winners received eight millimeter movie cameras, and the grand prize was a $2,000 vacation lot on Sebago Lake in Maine. 60 Nearly 95,000 entries to this contest were received at WEEI. The winners were notified by telephone and, to keep listener interest in the contest up, tapes of the phone conversations with the winners were replayed on "AM Report." The news program was promoted well—-by inviting listeners to tune to "AM Report" to hear more contest details and the phone calls to winners--and the "no con- test" idea was apparently an appealing one to listeners. Through a relatively simple promotion like this, listener involvement was created to a high degree. WEEI has run many contests of this random-drawing type——but all were tied to some unusual premise in order to spark listener interest. One recent contest offered as top prize one-sixth of a share in a forthcoming musical. If the show succeeds in getting to Broadway, the winner will be flown to New York to attend the Open- ing night performance and the cast party. If the show is a hit, the winner, of course, will share in the profits. But the station also runs other contests that require the listener to do more than mail in a post card. "The WEEI Fishing Derby" was aimed at fishermen and required participants to catch a fish to win. In coop- eration with the Massachusetts Fish and Game Department, dozens of fish tagged with special WEEI metal tags were dumped into local ponds and rivers during the normal stocking of these fishing areas. Anyone catching one 61 of these "WEEI Prize Fish" could win an aluminum tackle box by bringing the tag to the WEEI studios. The pro- motion had a public service tie-in; it coincided with the opening date of the fresh water fishing season in Massachusetts and listeners were reminded about observing the fish and game laws. The station also runs contests that call for lis- teners to be informed about the news of the day. Such a contest—-"Names In The News"--was recently conducted on Jim Westover's "Nightline" program. Each weekday evening, Westover asked a different question concerning a current newsmaking figure. Listeners were asked to identify the newsmaker in question and send the answer on a post card to WEEI. There was a new contest nightly and the winning entry in each contest was drawn from all cards received with the correct answer. Daily prizes included clocks, radios, wallets, watches, and cosmetic gift sets. A con- test like "Names In The News" is particularly suited to a station such as WEEI--tieing in perfectly with the "news/ talk" format. WEEI is also a very spirited station in regard to public service and Chuck Williams has devised several promotions that relate to the station's public service function. During the summer of 1968, WEEI promoted its "Beach Bottle Bonanza." Dozens of plastic bottles, marked with WEEI labels, were distributed at Metropolitan 62 District Commission beaches to the north and south of Boston. Each bottle contained a note with the following message: Congratulations: Because you were sharp enough to spot a WEEI Beach Bottle, you have won a . To receive your prize bring or mail this note to WEEI Radio, 4450 Prudential Tower, Boston, Mass. 02119, any time up to and including September 30, 1968. Please indicate on the note at which MDC Beach you found the WEEI Beach Bottle. And remember, when you're visiting an MDC beach, please pick up all bottles, cans, papers and other litter. Help keep your MDC beach clean and safe. Thank you, WEEI Radio 590 The notes were printed on CBS water-marked paper so that they could not be easily duplicated by listeners. This "Beach Bottle Bonanza" promoted WEEI and also per- formed a public service for the MDC. This again was a relatively inexpensive promotion, but an effective one in terms of the station's image. WEEI has found other unique ways to involve its audience. Since early June, 1968, listeners have been sending in "WEEIdeas" to Len Lawrence on his daily talk program. These "WEEIdeas" are tips on child care, car care, household work, etc. Lawrence reads five "WEEIdeas" on the air each day and the one Judged to be the best receives a small prize. 63 The station has received so many "WEEIdeas" that the best of these tips may be compiled into a booklet which would be available to listeners. A promotion such as this-—on a morning show aimed primarily at the house- wife audience-—is an effective way of making the audience feel more like a part of the station. WEEI also involves its audience in public service activities on a large scale. Each December, the station conducts its "Penny-A-Month" campaign to raise money for Richard Cardinal Cushing's charities in the Boston area. WEEI asks listeners to send in a penny a month for the charities (most listeners, of course, contribute much more). The station has raised over $55,000 for the Cardinal's charities. In 1967, WEEI participated in the USO's "Voice of Christmas" project in which more than ”,500 people recorded taped messages which were sent to friends and relatives serving in Vietnam. Promotions such as the "Penny-A-Month" campaign and the "Voice of Christmas" are basically designed to demon- strate the station's involvement with the Boston community and to create a favorable image for WEEI. They are simi- lar to the FBI Coloring Contest run by KLAC, although these WEEI promotions get the listeners even more in- volved in the local community. Such public-spirited promotions can do a great deal in building a strong image as a community—minded station. 6A Looking at the promotional activities of WEEI in summary, it appears that the station has carefully con- sidered what format and image it wants, and has set about promoting that format and image to its audience. Promotion Manager Williams uses only print media and his own air to any great extent in promoting WEEI, but the lack of exposure in other media apparently has not kept the audience from finding the station.” The same problem that plagues WERE--the lack of one definite image—-could hurt WEEI, but it does not seem to. Both stations are CBS affiliates and carry many of the same programs (including the "Arthur Godfrey Show” which is not consistent with either stations' format). WEEI also carries the all-night "Music 'Til Dawn" which could be detrimental to the station in trying to establish its format. However, where WERE promotes its various format components separately, WEEI integrates its news blocks and talk shows into a single "news/talk" package and promotes this single entity. How does the station handle "Music 'Til Dawn"? In ads such as the one in Figure 8, it can be seen that the emphasis is on the “The July/August, 1968, Hooper Ratings show WEEI is number one in total listeners M—F, 7a.m.-6p.m., with a 23.7 audience share. This is the sixteenth time in the last eighteen ratings periods that WEEI has placed first. The Pulse Ratings for July/August, 1968, show WEEI first in total listeners M-F, 3-7p.m. No rating service shows WEEI lower than second during any time period. 65 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. segment of the broadcast day-—the "news/talk" portion. "Music 'Til Dawn" (from 11:30 p.m.- 5:30 a.m.) is not promoted at all° It has been purchased on CBS stations for years by American Airlines and it pays for the overnight operation of the station. But, since it does not fit into the "news/talk" image that WEEI wants to establish, it is not part of the station's promotional campaign. WEEI does a great deal of promotion of its newsmen and "talkmasters" to establish audience familiarity with them. As noted earlier, the station is extremely contest- minded and the contests are generally of the random draw- ing type to make them easier to enter and administer. But, without exception, there is some kind of unique and/or in- teresting premise behind the contest-—such as the "I'm Going Steady" promotion on Valentine's Day and the "no contest" contest. The contests often are expressly designed to promote a specific program or personality-—such as the "Names In The News" contest for Jim Westover and the "no contest" contest for "AM Report." The print promotion for WEEI is not f1ashy--and usually without novel art work-—but the headlines are written so as to capture attention and make the reader want to continue. Specialized newspapers--such as those for the college community and the Negro population--are used when apprOpriate to attract particular audience seg- ments. The "news/talk" format is carried through in all ads. Perhaps there are too many slogans used--"Person to 66 Person radio," "Newsradio 59," "The Talk of Boston"—-but they all relate to the main format. The on-air promotion—~as devised by Hugh Heller--is novel and calculated to make the audience aware of WEEI's format. The use of the on-air telephone number in both print and on-air promotion is a good device for keeping the number in front of the audience and reminding listeners that they are invited to participate. WEEI's special public service promotions are useful in letting listeners and readers know about the achievements of the station in this area. Chuck Williams has promoted WEEI's format, personalities, and public service accomplish- ments to the greater New England audience. The station is successful in terms of audience and sponsor satisfaction and also saves promotion money by not using billboards, posters, bus cards, or television. The philosophy is differ- ent than that used at KLAC or WERE, but it works in Boston and that's all that really counts for WEEI. WCAW--Philadelphia, Pennsylvania WCAU, the CBS owned-and-operated station in Philadel- phia, has also had a gradual evolution of talk programming. Before starting the drift toward talk, the station (like WEEI) was typical of most of the CBS o-and-o's in the early 1960's; it programmed music, sports, CBS features, and had a very strong news department. WCAU was strongly promoted in all media-—emphasizing personalities and format components. A typical poster 67 for WCAU News at this time is shown as Figure 12. "News" is printed in bright red, below red, orange, and black flames, and the station's logo is in black. The poster is direct and to the point; it conveys the message quickly. WCAU has an extremely heavy commitment to play-by- play professional sports. The station broadcasts all the Philadelphia Eagles games (since 1950), the Phillies games, the 76ers, and the Flyers hockey matches. In this manner, the station can logically bill itself as "Sports Radio" in Philadelphia. The sports broadcasts are pro— moted in the sports sections of the major papers on the day of every game with small ads giving the WCAU broad- cast time. Figure 12.--WCAU Poster (News) 68 But play-by-play sports cannot fill an entire program schedule. The station was playing music during a great portion of the broadcast day, but was not doing well in the ratings. So WCAU began dropping its music programming (and its well-known personalities and replacing these shows with talk programs. During the period when WCAU was changing to a talk format, the station's logo was merely "WCAU Radio 121" (to tie in with the dial position). One newspaper ad run by Promotion Manager Hugh Ferguson promoted this "121" in an unusual manner. The ad had no art work, but the headline was a very large "121 times a week." The body copy continued: WCAU helps you in traffic I 22 times a day, Monday thru Friday I WCAU's Trafficplane, trained observers DAN CURTIS, PHIL SHUMAN and CHRIS WHEELER, plus 30 KEYSTONE/AAA ROAD PATROL CARS give WCAU listeners the latest on Philadelphia area roads and traffic Brought to you by your nearby Chrysler-Plymouth Dealer Monday to Friday 6:00-10:00 AM and 4:00-6:00 PM I See your nearby PLYMOUTH DEALER during his 2nd annual WIN-YOU-OVER Sale. WCAU 121 This ad accomplished several goals simultaneously. It promoted the Trafficplane service, the 121 times weekly that these reports are aired, and the "121" logo.5 5The ad copy notes that the reports are broadcast 22 times a day, Monday through Friday. This works out to only 110 reports. It is unknown by this writer whether the other 11 reports are scattered on the weekend, or whether Promotion Manager Ferguson hOpes that readers will not check this closely on the ad's accuracy. 69 The piece also served as a merchandising aid on behalf of Chrysler—Plymouth. WCAU probably does more merchandising in connection with its audience promotion than any of the other stations studied. The station has, for example, what seems to be a simple, yet effective, merchandising-promotion arrangement with Schlitz. The brewery sponsors all of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball games, and WCAU arranges for cards to be put up in local bars promoting the games. The cardboard card measures 11 by 16 inches and features a photograph of Wilt Chamberlain in action. The background of the card is white and the cOpy on it is printed in three colors. EVERY PLAY EVERY GAME WCAU 121 SPORTS RADIO The card then lists the complete schedule of games--with dates, opponents, and WCAU broadcast times. At the bottom of the card, in red print, is the following: Playoff games to be announced!...all games brought to you by SCHLITZ - THE BEER THAT MADE MILWAUKEE FAMOUS A similar arrangement exists for Household Finance Corporation, which sponsors the pre-game show before each Phillies baseball game. WCAU provides a counter-display piece for each HFC office, promoting Household Finance as the sponsor. This piece is done in two colors. 70 Display boards are used for daily programs as well as special sports broadcasts. Such a piece was designed for Continental Bank and Trust and an early morning news show (Figure 13). This board appeared in all branch offices of the bank. Such merchandising-promotion devices even extend to the huge subway posters used by WCAU to promote the Eagles' games (and merchandise for Plymouth). With all the promotion that WCAU was doing while it was refining and extending its talk programming, the only identifying logo that was used was "WCAU Radio 121." This was ideal for promoting the call letters and dial position of the station, but was of no value in trying to establish a unique format image. Since there was no unified format around which to promote each show, every promotion piece merely pro- moted a specific program and/or personality. Even the ads for the three talk programs shown in Figures 14, 15, and 16 (which could have been tied into a definite for- mat) have only the "WCAU Radio 121" logo in common. How- ever, two of the ads seem to indicate that WCAU was moving in the direction of a specific format image as "Philadelphia's Most Talked About Station." The art work and layout in these three ads appears to be effective in arousing reader interest to the point of tuning to WCAU. Especially arresting in this regard was the cross broken by the invitation to "Talk to 71 WHAT HAPPENED HIST HIGHT? Fora complete report of all the NEWS listen to s a . with the 7:45 AM Report each morning Monday through Saturday on Sponsored by aka 5 T Continental Bank and Trust Company Figure l3.—-WCAU Display Board (News Program) 72 Fig. in . Fig. 15 TALK TO MADATXN .\ll'l(lt.-\Y. ATHEIST Talk to _ Dr. Norman Vincent Peale about TONIGHT AT 1 PM JACK MCKINNOEY'S SIN, SEX & warvux x SELECONTROL Tmhyon . EdEbnmfs Fri-m 3r un-lrulruv‘l location. Vb“! firhnnc unm- cIm-vn tn \l.nr_\!.m~i MUTALYN "UKRAT 121k) lo J\( k \l‘ thNT’.) \‘Iu mnhmhs ,\n Min mt \lw u;|~ instruntrntal in am 1.! (0m- pulv-r} prawn m [MP-hr g-l-unh Howdoym [owl .rl-nut liw Irguunng n! w-trr] u|~mx [unu'rm '- fl Khuol»? What new olumuu~ nn .utu mn'.’ speak up. Participntr. J..." m. mm mum—an 1-4 PM MO 74500 / TE #6790 or \m .s um an .\' J.r EH CAU RADIO """" m" ‘3“ '" “H”! I” \‘urrnan Yuma! Peale and in. urT-x hr l'ralp Mmhtrr '” mtllmny" “ DIST"! 0' . Mart-It (‘nlla-wah- t hurrh New \nrk (‘rh' Hrs heel u-llrny banks In: unl- Thc- l‘nnrr n! T‘nnrln'r Thinking." Philadelphia! ”ml Talked Mm \ t-uulo In ( nnfulvnt Lung ' and hls lain! hank. "Sm Saw and 8-!“ nntrnl' ahu h prnmm-s [H be 0m- ”! hm Tr“ (ALI Mufnsm T TO :I‘Vv . z-R nusm An N] SIHHGGT' I - - Figure 1A.-—WCAU NEWSpaper "all In“ Advertisement ("Night Talk" Program) A new m on WCAU RAM 18!. starting Sunday. September 12. at 8-0) PM. IONIC? : MIC. mlt nuance lively and thought- penetratmg dISCuSSIOflS each Sunday imam-10mm Figure l 5 . ——WCAU Newspape 1" um All RADIO. Mme Stern . ms a multi- zzomerSal panel each week—II RortyenDCetholrc A d Ve rt 1 S eme n t ( " T a 1 k 0 f guest. I Protestant «master. a rabbn and e tourth member " ) represent-n9 a smaller (Chg-cu! group. P h i l a d e l p h i a P I" 0 g I” am During the second how of IUIJICT: IIUGUOI - (9 corp-00 PM). WCAU's t-stervng BUOtCfiCQ may partrooete In the drsctrss-on Jnm m, by telephomnq— M0 705(1). TE 9—6790 or WO 36909 (m N J.). Thus Sunday's topac; "When Requron Leaves the Pulpit" F i gure l 6 o "' " WC AU N e W S p ap e r mmmufluw' Advertisement ("Subject: Religion" Program) MXWM Maine's Most Tell-ed Atom Station Fig. 16 73 Madalyn Murray, Atheist" (Figure 1A). The copy in all three pieces was not excessive, but enough to create a desire on the reader's part to listen. Like WEEI, WCAU promoted the on—air telephone number in these ads; Pro- motion Manager Ferguson made it easy for the reader to participate. Each ad also contained a call to action: "Speak up. Participate," "Listen and talk . . . ," and "Join in, by telephoning. . . ." WCAU, while moving toward increased telephone talk programming, retained its strong news team and continued to promote its extensive news coverage. The emphasis in the print ads for the news service centered on what the listeners wanted to know about current events. Such an ad appeared prior to the 1967 mayoralty election. The top of the ad featured drawings of campaign buttons for the various candidates. The copy below read: 'WCAU has asked, and we're sure you have too-- Who's going to be the next Mayor of Philadelphia? The race is still a scramble, with issues, counter-issues, charges, counter charges. WCAU hOpes that you as Philadelphians will examine the candidates, their records, their platforms and VOTE FOR THE CANDIDATE OF YOUR CHOICE ON NOV. 7TH. EVERY DAY WCAU reporters are in the field, checking the progress (and the promises) of the campaign. As a community- minded radio station, alert to the best inter- ests of all Philadelphians, WCAU will endorse the man we think best suited to be Mayor of the City of Philadelphia for the next four years. FOR COMPLETE ELECTION NIGHT RETURNS, BEGINNING 8:00 P.M., TUESDAY, NOV. 7TH WCAU 121 74 Although the copy may be too wordy, WCAU promotes its campaign coverage, its editorials, and its election night coverage. In addition, the station performs a public service in urging Philadelphians to vote. To follow up this display of community involvement and public service, WCAU ran a full- page ad two days after the election. The ad was signed by John 0. Downey (Vice President of CBS Radio and General Manager of WCAU) and it congratulated Mayor Tate and urged Philadelphians to give him their cooperation. WCAU realized that the lack of a definite image was a detriment, and so, on April 8, 1968, the station began bill— ing itself as "Two Way Radio"--using the phrase originated at KLAC. By this time, WCAU was programming talk all day, except from 2:00 to 5:00 a.m. which was (and still is) fill— ed by the syndicated CBS feature "The Young Sound" and from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. where the "Arthur Godfrey Show" was slot- ted. The station also reserves the 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. time slot for coverage of play-by-play sports, although, of course, the games do not always fit into neatly-defined time segments. The use of the "Two Way Radio" slogan necessitated creation of a logo to accompany it. WCAU decided to use arrows pointing in Opposite directions, but its logo does not seem to be as distinctive as KLAC's in this regard. As the "2 Way" logo began to appear in news- paper ads and on billboards, the WCAU telephone number was dropped from the ads. The new emphasis in the pro- motion pieces is on the personalities and "2 Way Radio." 75 Figures 17-20 show a series of ads promoting morning personality Al Julius. These ads are designed to be scattered throughout the newspaper on a run-of—paper basis. The emphasis in these ads is on Julius and the audience involvement generated by his show. The copy is held to a minimum and the "2 Way" logo is stressed. Compare the WCAU logo and the one used by KLAC (shown in Figure 3). The design of the KLAC logo, being more compact, seems to draw the reader's attention more sharply to the idea of two way participation. Also, perhaps, the WCAU logo is not set off enough from the rest of the copy in the ad. When introducing a new personality, Promotion Manager Ferguson takes much the same approach as is evident in the ads promoting Al Julius. The introduc- tory campaign for WCAU's new evening personality Sol Weinstein featured Weinstein's picture and the "2 Way" logo in ads with such copy as: Who's Secret Agent Secret Agent Oy Dy 7 Oy 0y 7? is alive and well Find out 6 nites a week Mon.-Sat. nite 10 PM-2 AM 10 PM-2 AM Secret Agent . 0y 0y 7 IS in BONDage He's chained to your radio 10 PM-2 AM AmSHHSh Hc¢ mmdmomsoz agozrr. om opswfim *pcosomflpso>c< Lodmdmsmz D<03rr.wa onsmfim \\l a, .A ll// \\l1 1/1 5:53.22: E: M .. . 533.2% E: w 3 OS mwssoz a=______ a s: as as; a=_____. 2 =22— ( a: 2% :2 2o *psoEomemo>c< hodmnmzoz D©¢ mommamsoz bgozrr.>a onswfim fill. .. \IIII. : 5 =52. ._____s_ as: 5 322:: as: I. I s: 03 $5522 25.... a .92.... f 25 8:8 mess: .5. Sim masses. a.._____. a BEE—=3: _ r - m5 .8: 77 Again, the idea is to create a desire to listen to Wein- stein. Whether or not the show is good in terms of programming is not really Ferguson's concern; his job is to deliver the audience. In addition to using billboards, newspapers, mag- azines, posters, and WCAU's own air, Ferguson runs con- tests to increase audience size. Some of these contests reflect WCAU's philosophy of linking merchandising and promotion. One such promotion offered an opportunity for three listeners to win new 1968 Plymouths. The con- test was a random drawing and was promoted on WCAU. After the first winner was selected, WCAU ran a news— paper ad with the headline "lst winner." The ad fea- tured a photograph of the winner receiving the keys to his prize. The name of the car is never mentioned in the piece, but the COpy reads: 2 MORE WCAU LISTENERS WILL DRIVE A NEW 1968 AUTOMOBILE THEY WON IN "WCAU'S WIN- YOU-OVER" CONTEST The station is promoted, but Plymouth also receives some secondary promotion through the use of its "Win- You-Over" slogan. This promotion—merchandising linkage helps WCAU in combining its audience and sales pro- motion activities. Many facets of WCAU's audience promotion, how- ever, are unrelated to any merchandising efforts. For 78 example, Ferguson promotes WCAU's consultants in psycho- logy Drs. Barry and Patricia Bricklin with such devices as booklets mailed to listeners. The Drs. Bricklin are featured in a daily hour on WCAU answering listeners' phone calls relating to problems of raising children. They invite their listeners to write to WCAU requesting booklets that the Bricklins have prepared on specific areas such as Helping Your Young Child to Learn. These booklets are informative for parents, and additionally contain a request for listeners to call in any specific questions that they may have. This, along with the good will developed for the station, serves as a method of audience promotion. Another similar promotion concerns WCAU's Proba— bility Weather Service. The station prepared a small brochure to explain this service to listeners ("Two resident meteorologists. Instant reports on any impending changes in the weather. The fastest, most complete forecasts in Philadelphia. Direct from WCAU Radio's own weather bureau right in our building"). The piece explained how the service worked, and also included a glossary of terms about the weather. Pro- motions such as this and the booklets prepared by the Bricklins serve to inform listeners about specific WCAU services and get them involved with the station. The public service aspect of such promotions should also not be ignored. 79 WCAU takes great pride in its community involve- ment and public service. The station often runs ads promoting this community involvement (such as the ads mentioned earlier urging listeners to vote and con- gratulating Mayor Tate). In May, 1968, WCAU took ads in the major Philadelphia newspapers announcing the seven major news awards that the station received in 1967, for such achievements as Outstanding Editorial- izing and Outstanding Documentary, Public Affairs Pro- gram or Series. The headline of the ad was a reaction to KYW's use of an all news format in Philadelphia, which could have served as a threat to WCAU's news dominance in the city. The headline read: We don't broadcast the news all the time... but when we do, The Pros* think we do a great job *(Associated Press, Sigma Delta Chi- Journalistic Fraternity) This concept of strong community involvement and public service culminates in WCAU's largest promotional effort--the station's annual "Country Fair Days." This is a four—day event which was inaugurated in 1963 and involves many civic groups as well as many listeners. Each year, WCAU selects one or more local char- ities and sponsors these "Country Fair Days" to raise money for them. The station arranges for the site of the Fair to be donated and also persuades other local 80 merchants and charity groups to donate their time and efforts. WCAU pays for all the promotion of the event-- which is considerable. Display cards are put up around the city and in store windows, newspaper ads giving times and dates of the event (as well as how to get there) are run often, and many on-air spots are used. In addition, the station's personalities mention the Fair often during their programs. The Fair is an old-fashioned Country Fair. There is a carnival midway, exhibits by local merchants, a show (which concludes each year with the Philadelphia Police Department's Motorcycle Drill Team), and appear- ances by WCAU personalities. Usually a drawing is held on the final day of the Fair with the winner receiving a major prize--such as the year—round vacation home awarded in 1967. A nominal admission is charged and, since everything is donated, all money collected goes to the local charities. "WCAU Country Fair Days" involves the audience to a significant degree--over 75,000 people attended the event in 1967. A promotion such as "Country Fair Days" is an ideal vehicle for promoting WCAU's community involve- ment image. It is on the same order as WERE's "Swap and Shop" Family Fair. Both stations get involved with their respective communities and make it possible for the personalities to meet their listeners. For stations desiring listener involvement (as both WERE 81 and WCAU do), these fairs are excellent. WCAU reaps additional benefits since all money collected goes to charity (unlike WERE's Fair) and the public service function can also be promoted. Looking at the total promotional effort of WCAU, it is evident that Promotion Manager Ferguson believes in using all media-~newspapers, magazines, display cards, posters, billboards, car cards, television (largely on a trade basis with WCAU-TV), and on-air spots on WCAU Radio. He promotes WCAU's personalities as well as the strong public service image of the station. Since the ”2 Way" slogan and logo have been developed, Ferguson can also promote WCAU's total format concept. However, there are some problems involved in WCAU's total format. It is difficult to sustain a format image when programming keeps being interrupted. Such is the case with WCAU's play-by—play sports coverage get- ting in the way of the talk programming. Even the pro— motion sometimes reflects this dual orientation. For example, the following ad for WCAU's sports broadcasts: Where do you hear the Eagles games? and the Phillies and the 76ers and the Flyers 82 Sports Radio in Philadelphia V/ 2 Way Radio - WCAU 121 I V The piece promotes two conflicting formats—— sports radio and two way radio. It would seem undesirable to try to establish these two format images together. Certainly "sports radio" is well-established in the above ad--the station, after all, does broadcast the games of all the major professional teams in the city and the piece notes this--but how does this really relate to the two way format? WCAU reserves the hours from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. for sports coverage, but what happens if a game falls outside this time period? This happens often (when one of the local teams plays on the West Coast, when the Phillies play day games, etc.) and causes disruptions in the two way schedule. This would appear to make it difficult to establish WCAU as a true two way outlet. Both KLAC and WEEI dropped play-by—play sports when they converted to talk6 and they both have been very successful. WCAU might do well to adopt the same philosophy even though sports are profitable and pOpular. 6KLAC gave up the Los Angeles Lakers and WEEI relinquished the rights to the Boston Patriots. 83 The same might apply to the programming of music be— tween 2:00 and 5:00 a.m. Admittedly, these are probably not the prime hours for talk programming, but if the station is committed to a two way talk format, it is probably better to make the commitment total. WCAU is the only CBS-owned radio station that is not obligated to program "Music 'Til Dawn" since the American Airlines purchase does not include WCAU. The station, therefore, is in an enviable position in terms of establishing a unified format, but seems to be wasting this advantage by programming "The Young Sound" instead of all-night talk. There are strong points in WCAU's promotional effort ("Country Fair Days" for community involvement and public service, solid promotion of personalities and Special features such as news and Bricklins' psychologically-oriented show, and a continuous promotion-merchandising system for advertisers). However, the extension of the two way format would probably make the total promotional activities of WCAU more effective. Summary and Conclusions There are several variations evident in the promotion of these four telephone talk operations. Two of them (KLAC and WCAU) promote heavily in all media, while WERE and WEEL are more selective in choice of media. This is probably only partially a result of finances; the types of listeners each station wants to reach and the 8A Promotion Manager's decision as to the most effective way of reaching them also plays a part. Thus, WCAU's Hugh Ferguson feels that he can reach an important segment of WCAU's potential audience through display cards in con- sumer service establishments like bars and banks while Chuck Williams, Mike Rogers, and Robert Harris do not feel that such a technique used on a regular basis would be effective enough for their stations. All audience promotion must be tailored to the local market. For KLAC to promote heavily on the inside of busses would probably be wasteful because Los Angeles is not as oriented to public transportation as are the markets in the eastern part of the country. Yet cards on the backs of busses would likely be quite effective for KLAC because of the large number of automobiles traveling in Los Angeles--they would be exposed to the messages on the bus cards. Billboards would work well (and do) for KLAC for the same reason--a large number of cars driving past a board assures heavy exposure for the promotional message. But WERE and WEEI do not use bus cards or billboards; Cleveland and Boston are not as automobile-oriented as Los Angeles. This all reinforces the point that a Promotion Manager must know his market well before he can hope to promote his station effec- tively to the audience. The central feature that must be promoted for all these telephone talk stations is listener involvement. 85 This must not only be promoted, it must be actively encouraged-—the success of the format is dependent upon listener participation. All the stations analyzed try to involve their listeners. One of the most important elements in a telephone talk promotional campaign is the promotion of the station's on—air telephone number, and the stations have different philos0phies regarding this. WEEI promotes the phone number in newspaper ads and on- air spots while the other three stations promote the number (or numbers) only on the air. It is interesting to note that WCAU used to promote its telephone number in print but dropped the number from the ads as its new "2-Way" logo began to be used. Perhaps the station felt that the ads would be too cluttered with the number or perhaps it was dropped because this would force people to tune to the station to hear the number. A good argument can be made for either side-- printing the number in newspaper ads or leaving it out. If the number is printed, it makes it easier for lis- teners to find out how to participate on the air, but if it is omitted, it encourages the newspaper readers to tune in to get this information. This, again, is a deci- sion that probably will depend on the local market, but this writer tends to lean toward not printing the number in the ads. If this move increases the listening audi- ence even slightly, it seems worthwhile. 86 Listener involvement can be facilitated greatly by a slogan—-continually repeated in all station promotion-- that indicates that the audience is important to the station. Whether the slogan is "Two—Way Radio" or "Per- son to Person Radio" or some other similar phrase prob- ably matters little. But some slogan that can instantly identify the station as a telephone talk operation is essential. Robert Harris' creation of the "Two-Way Radio" slogan was a major breakthrough for KLAC. A slogan is not important solely because it indi— cates audience involvement. Its use allows a station to be promoted as having a definite, specific format image. However, this is all dependent on the station having a unified format. It was the lack of such a unified format that seemed to cause trouble in pro- moting WERE and, to some extent, WCAU. WEEI, while not having a complete talk schedule, promotes its "news/ talk" programming heavily to establish its image as a news and conversation outlet. Only KLAC, since it is not affiliated with any network, has the flexibility to create a total, fully unified, format. Not only must the Promotion Manager establish the station's format and indicate audience involvement, he must devise ways of actually getting the listeners in— volved. This can be done through relatively simple slogans like "Get Involved" (as KLAC uses) or by 87 requesting that listeners speak up, participate, join in, call, or other similar requests for action. Here again, the programming function is important——provocative host, controversial guests, and interesting programs all would seem to provide incentives for listener participation. Contests seem to be another effective way of involv- ing listeners with a telephone talk station. On this point, the four stations appear to have the most in com- mon with each other. True, WEEI does run more contests than the other stations, but all agree that contests are worthwhile promotional devices and that the simplest type of contest-~the random drawing-~is the most effec- tive in getting listeners to participate as long as there is some interesting or unusual premise behind the drawing. The value of the prizes awarded does not seem to be a major factor--even transistor radios given as prizes draw a large number of entries. Perhaps the best scheme to follow in regard to prizes is to make one major prize available to listeners, as well as many, less valuable, prizes. These all are important points for a Promotion Manager to note--his task can be simplified and his costs can be reduced and he still can end up with an effective contest. The really difficult part is the creation of an unusual contest premise or idea. Whether contests are scheduled continuously (as at WEEI) or less 88 frequently is a function of the market, the competition, and the station's philosophy. The involvement of the audience through contests can be extended by involving listeners on the air. Babs Pitt, advertising and promotion director of CFCF in Mon- treal, Canada, emphasized this point in an address to the Broadcasters Promotion Association. Said Miss Pitt, "Even if you have a letter—response contest, call the winner on the air. The element of authenticity and identification cannot be underestimated." (Broadcasting, October 23, 1967, p. 90). This is the procedure fol- lowed for several of the contests analyzed. The Roy Elwell promotion on KLAC in which Elwell picked a card at random and called that listener and the "no contest" contest at WEEI in which taped phone conversations with winners were played on the air offer two examples. Another way to involve the audience with the station was utilized by KLAC in asking listeners to design a "Two-Way Radio" logo and invent a name for the station's talk personalities. Such methods of actively bringing listeners into the "inner circle" of station operations may not be possible very often, but seem like good techniques to use when appropriate. Both WERE and WCAU sponsor fairs to increase lis- tener involvement with each station and its person— alities. Such events are also helpful in establishing 89 the image of these stations as community-minded oper- ations. WEEI and KLAC choose not to put on such fairs; these stations perhaps feel that in Boston and Los Angeles promotions of this sort would be ineffective in relation to the amount of time and money spent on them. Here again, the evaluation of the individual market must take precedence over any generalized "rules." One form of special promotion that is used by only one of the four stations is the audience mailer which KLAC uses with great success. It would seem that this form of promotion might be tried by other stations. Most broadcast stations mail promotion pieces regularly to advertising agencies and clients to promote the station to these people; there is no reason to assume that similar pieces tailored to the audience would not be effective. In addition, contests and other special promotions (as have been used at KLAC) can be tied in to these mailers to increase audience involvement. The concept of reaching the listener in his home is an appealing one--whether he is reached on the air or through the mails. Besides involving listeners and getting them interested in the telephone talk format, all the Pro- motion Managers promote the various personalities on their stations. Whether it be a Joe Pyne or Roy Elwell (at KLAC), a Bill Randle (at WERE), a Paul Benzaquin or Ulysses Shelton (at WEEI), or an Al Julius (at WCAU) 90 the object is the same--to establish the individual iden- tities of these personalities. The individualism of the personalities is probably even more important for a talk station to promote than for a music station. A disc jockey is a disc jockey no matter what his eccentricities may be, but a talk host may be a liberal, a conservative, or anything in-between and the establishment of this iden- tity is important to increase listener participation. The personalities, of course, are promoted on the air. Their own shows can even serve as effective promo- tional devices. But the personalities are also promoted in on-air spots at other times of the broadcast day. At most stations, these spots feature the personalities voicing invitations to tune to their respective shows. Robert Harris of KLAC feels that on-air promotion is secondary to other types because it promotes the station to people who are already listeners. But even KLAC does a great deal of on-air promotion largely calculated to get its listeners to tune to the station during all parts of the broadcast day (instead of merely listening to a few favorite personalities). Other types of on-air spots that are used by one or more of these four sta- tions involve promotion of the telephone number (or numbers) and special features of the format (such as the "free form news" or "Girl Power" concepts at KLAC). 91 On-air spots can be produced in any length--usually ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds, or one minute. It would seem that well-produced on—air spots, scheduled wisely, can be an important segment of a station's total promotional effort. Television spots can also be used to great advan— tage to promote talk operations. Such spots allow the audience to see the personalities they listen to on radio. Due to the high cost of television time, those telephone talk stations with sister TV stations in the same market (like KLAC and WCAU) seem to do more promo— tion on television. WERE without a sister TV station still uses television, but WEEI does not. Most television spots are paid for by trading radio time to the TV station in exchange for the use of television time by the talk station. However, due to the inequity of the cost structure in the two media, the radio station has to give up a sizable amount of its time to get a small amount of television air time. This fact tends to deter some sta- tions (notably WEEI among those analyzed) from using television. In the writer's opinion, television is one medium that has not been developed to anywhere near its potential as an audience promotion medium for radio stations. It seems apparent that a well-produced TV spot (even a short 92 one) can be very effective in urging viewers to "Get Involved" with a telephone talk station. All the stations analyzed spent more money for newspaper promotion than for any other type. Newspaper advertisements are used to promote the station's format, a specific personality or feature, a special promotional event, or a public service achievement. The analysis of the print promotion of these stations has indicated some general points which should be useful to Promotion Managers: 1) Unusual photography (such as that used in KLAC's "free form news" ad) or any other vivid graphic (such as the broken cross in WCAU's print piece for the "Night Talk" pro- gram) seem to be effective devices for cap— turing the reader's attention and getting him to look more closely at the ad. 2) Provocative headlines (like KLAC's "What in the world is going on?" in its "free form news" ad) also serve to attract the reader's atten- tion. An unusual graphic when coupled with an arresting headline makes for an even stronger eye-catching ad. 3) Copy that does not give the reader too much information, but gives him enough to create a desire to tune in (as in WCAU's ads for Al 93 Julius and KLAC's ads for "Girl Power") would appear to be more effective promotion pieces than ads with long, explanatory copy (such as the ads for WERE's news). A) Copy that invites the reader to participate (such as most of the ads for all stations analyzed except WERE) seems virtually essen— tial to the promotion of telephone talk formats. 5) A strong, easily-recognizable, distinctive graphic logo (such as those developed by KLAC and WCAU) is a useful device when planning a unified promotion campaign. The logo, if distinctive enough, will tie the entire cam- paign together and make every piece in it stand out. 6) Print pieces that always keep the unified format image well-defined (even when pro- moting a specific part of that format) would seem to have a positive impact on the audience. The ad for KLAC's "free form news" is a good example of this type of ad. Similar suggestions can be made in regard to bill- boards and bus cards. Since these are generally read while the reader is moving, the copy on them should be held to a minimum. Perhaps a brief slogan and the 9H station's logo are all that is necessary, or a specific show might be promoted by adding the name of the program and its air time. The KLAC board promoting Mort Sahl is an example of a colorful, descriptive outdoor pro- motional piece. Each of these stations is involved in public service activities and promotes its achievements to create a favorable station image. Whether this is done through newspaper ads (as for WERE's service in securing pork for Cleveland's needy families or WCAU's call for support for Philadelphia's new Mayor) or some other means (such as KLAC's excursion trip to the State Capitol for selected listeners) is immaterial. Robert Harris of KLAC con— siders the promotion of the station image equal to the promotion of the format and personalities--it is essen- tial for a telephone talk station. Needless to say, the station should engage in public service activities as a part of its normal operation. Often specialized problems may occur in regard to the promotional activities of a telephone talk station. These must be met as they develop and solved with what- ever methods seem appropriate to the Promotion Manager. When KLAC was confronted with a possible loss of revenue and station prestige because of the activities of some listeners who felt that the station was biased, Robert Harris devised his "Great Americans on Freedom of Speech" 95 campaign. When WEEI was faced with an imbalance of older listeners in relation to younger ones, Chuck Williams began promoting the station to college students on adver— tising blotters and in campus newspapers. The ability ofra Promotion Manager to adapt to prOblem conditions is an important and necessary quality. The unification of at least part of the sales and audience promotion activities is accomplished by tieing in some merchandising efforts with audience promotion. WCAU does a great deal of this (in its display cards for such advertisers as Schlitz and Household Finance and in posters and newspaper ads as well). KLAC ties merchandising into its audience promotion through its "Free Fun" drawings and on audience mailers. It would seem that any time a station can accomplish two (or more) of its goals at the same time and with the same promotion piece, the station should consider doing this. Of course, some stations do not include merchandising as part of their promotional efforts and tie-ins like these would be unnecessary. This same philosophy applies to the promotion of two or more station elements at the same time. Thus, if a station could promote its format, a personality, and its public service image together this would be desirable. The contest run by KLAC which awarded forty listeners a trip to the State Capitol promoted the fOrmat 96 of involvement, KLAC personality Roy Elwell, and the station's concern with community affairs. WEEI's annual "Penny—A-Month" campaign is a strong public service pro- motion, but also promotes the format of listener involve— ment. Promotion Managers would be wise to develop pro- motional ideas that can serve more than one purpose. A station's total promotional effort must be coor- dinated. The same slogans, logo, and advertising themes should be used in all media. This allows the station to establish a definite identity, and assures that promotion in one medium will reinforce promotion in other media. The four stations analyzed in this section seem to have coordinated their respective promotional efforts into unified campaigns. All the generalizations and methods stated above which "seem to work" should always be tempered with a consideration of the station's own particular problems, goals, and environment. This point has been made sev- eral times, but it cannot be overemphasized. CHAPTER III ALL-NEWS STATIONS Just as several stations changed their formats from music to talk in the 1960's in order to become more distinctive, other stations decided to establish them- selves as all-news stations. Such all-news operations are extensions of the news-block programming concept (in morning and evening drive times) which many stations began using in the early 1960's. The first station to broadcast news exclusively was Gordon McLendon's X-TRA which broadcasts from Ti- juana, Mexico, to the heavily-populated Southern Cal- ifornia area. The station began its twenty-four-hour- a—day news service on May 6, 1960. The news on X-TRA News (as the station was called) was compiled from UPI, AP, and local wire services; it was totally "rip and read." There were no actualities or features--just a continuous reading of news (Broadcasting, June 19, 1961, p. 108). McLendon also owned the second station, and the first licensed within the United States, to become an all-news operation. His WNUS (Chicago) switched to an all-news format in September of 196“. The format of 97 98 WNUS was the same as that of X-TRA-—continuous newscasts twenty-four hours a day, each cast lasting fifteen min- utes and made up of wire copy (Broadcasting, August 2“, 196”, p. 68). Both of McLendon's stations switched back to music programming early in 1968--the only two AM stations that have given up an all-news format after adopting one. The reason that McLendon's stations decided to abandon all-news formats might be seen as being a consequence of Mr. McLendon's philosophy: "To the extent that an all-news station is monotonous, it will succeed. To the extent that it is not, it will fail" (Broadcasting, April 19, 1965, pp. 76-78). But as the McLendon operations were dropping their all-news services, other stations began adopting this format in increasing numbers—-three in 1965, three in 1967, five in the first half of 1968. None of these are "rip and read" operations; all make extensive use of features, actualities, interviews, and reports from mobile units. Why the increase in all-news stations? The timing factor has certainly been of great help to the development of the all-news station. The volume and impact of news events over the past several years have tended to infuse radio with a new vitality and immediacy. Developments like the Israeli-Arab war, the war in Vietnam, deval- uation of the pound, the gold crisis, the race riots, the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Pueblo seizure, and the Presidential fandango have all contributed to a new interest in radio. 99 Being speedier and more flexible than tv, radio has been able to keep the American public in close touch with developing reports on one major crisis after another (Media Decisions, June, 1968, reprint). Media Decisions magazine has listed several impor— tant pointS'UDnote relative to all-news formats: (a)~ All-news and news and information are highly classified modes of programming, with demographic profiles that lean toward more literate and adult people who have upper buying power. (b) [News and information stations have a] higher degree of audience turnover than music stations. (0) The listening pattern is often determined by the excitement and urgency of the news, but astute scheduling of commentators and special features with oriented appeal morning and afternoon goes a long way towards holding up the audience level (Media Decisions, June, 1968). This section looks at the promotional activities of six all-news stations——three stations from both of the two large broadcasting groups which have converted sev- eral of their stations to all-news operations. The two groups are Westinghouse Broadcasting (Group W) and CBS Radio, and this section will be divided so as to examine these two groups separately. The Westinghouse stations to be analyzed are WINS (New York), KYW (Philadelphia), and KFWB (Los Angeles) and-the CBS o-and-o's are WCBS (New York), WBBM (Chicago), and KCBS (San Francisco). The stations will be examined individually, and then at the end of this section, a comparison will be drawn between the promotional philosophies which are followed by Westinghouse and CBS. 100 Westinghouse Stations Westinghouse Broadcasting (Group W) was the first major broadcasting group in this country to become heav- ily involved in all—news broadcasting. Three of the group's seven AM stations are now programming all-news. WINS in New York was the third station to switch to all-news, following McLendon's stations in Tijuana and Chicago. This was in 1965. About six months after WINS began its all-news format, KYW (Group W's station in Philadelphia) made a similar move. In March, 1968, the newest Group W property (KFWB in Los Angeles) switched to all-news. Joel Chaseman, head of Group W's radio operations, feels that there is more behind the emergence of all— news stations than the fact that there have been many unexpected and important stories in the news over the past few years. He also sees the coverage of a changing society, both internationally and nationally, acting to stimulate the public's interest in news and its inter— pretation and analysis. In Chaseman's opinion, the key to success of an all-news station is the "packaging of news in such a way that any listener at any time of the day or night can tune in and know what's going on in the world very quickly" (Media Decisions, June, 1968, reprint). This is the philosophy that is followed by Group W's three all—news operations. WINS--New York, NeW‘YorK WINS, Group W's flagship station in New York, has been called "the daddy of the highly professional all- news station" (Media Decisions, June, 1968, reprint). Prior to its conversion to all-news, the station had a rock-and-roll music format, and was rated around ninth or tenth in the New York market. At this time WINS was promoted heavily (as are most top-forty stations) in all media and with such special promotions as contests, dance hops, and personal appearances by personalities. Shortly after Group W (Westinghouse) bought WINS, the decision was made to convert the station from a pop- ular music to an all-news format. Westinghouse Broad- casting's President Donald H. McGannon said that the audience potential in New York was "the greatest," but that the economic potential in the market was not quite as bright. There are more than forty AM radio signals that can be received by the New York audience and it was estimated by Westinghouse that popular music stations, in total, were billing about $7,000,000 a year2h1business. Westinghouse reasoned that even if WINS as a top- forty station could get half of all the business placed on these stations, its annual potential would still be limited to around $3 or $3.5 million. According to McGannon, this did not seem enough "to really do well in New York." 102 The problem, then, for Westinghouse was to decide how to distinguish WINS from other stations and also how to increase the profit potential. The decision was made to change to all-news because, as McGannon said,such a format provided innovation, offered "focus programming" and at the same time "gave us a chance to pick up a little audience from all the other stations in the market" (Broadcasting, June 27, 1966, pp. 100-101). So, on April 19, 1965, WINS became Group W's first all-news operation. The change to all-news was promoted on WINS' own air and in print. The conversion was accomplished very naturally from a listener's standpoint; one day the station was playing music, the next day it was all-news. WINS is now, according to Promotion Manager Steve Bell, the most heavily—promoted radio station in the country. The promotion budget for WINS is large, and encompasses all media. Television is used heavily (and on major stations in prime time), as well as newspapers and magazines, posters, on-air spots, and specialized promotions. Bell's philosophy of promoting an all-news station like WINS is to call attention to the service offered by the station. This entails a promotional effort not like that normally associated with a radio station, but similar to that used for a service industry. Bell's analogy was "If you turn on a faucet, you get water. If you turn on 103 WINS, you get news." The concept of promoting a service is obvious from this analogy. Promotion Manager Bell also emphasizes that the promotion must be aggressive and must promote the service of all-news to the fullest extent. WINS' promotion in all media has revolved around campaigns using one or more of the following slogans: All news-—all the time News the minute you want it You never know what's going to happen next The campaigns using these slogans are designed as "flight campaigns"; that is, they are run for a speci- fied period of time, then end, then start again on another promotional "flight" at a later date, perhaps with slight modifications. In this way, the various slogans and promotional ideas can be spotted as Bell desires in his promotion and a campaign is never allowed to wear itself out before it is replaced. This on again-off again nature of the campaigns (the "short flight" theory) is, in Bell's opinion, conducive to maximum coverage and impact in a market. The major phrase that Bell uses to describe the service provided by WINS is "all news--all the time" with the other slogans being tied to this. In fact, the early ads for WINS (after the station had switched to an all-news format) concentrated on establishing the connection between "All news-~a11 the time" and 10H WINS' call letters and dial position. The ads at this time featured the slogan in large print, and the call letters and dial position below it. This was the aware— ness stage--attempting to make the audience cognizant of what WINS was. After this awareness was established, the other slogans and promotional ideas began appearing. Vir- tually every campaign conducted by WINS is done as a series of print ads (supported by posters, billboards,‘ and on-air spots). One series of print pieces noted that news events do not merely occur for the conven— ience of those stations that schedule newscasts for par- ticular times. An example of this is shown in Figure 21. Other ads in the same series featured headlines such as: The War in Vietnam isn't being fought every hour on the half hour and The President doesn't make decisions every hour on the half hour Note that the small amount of body copy in the ad (Fig- ure 21) ties in the ”all news-—all the time" theme. Another series of WINS ads played on the idea that all a listener need do is preset his radio to WINS, then when he wanted news, all that was necessary would be to turn the set on. The series featured ads with clock radios, table radios, and car radios (Figure 22). 105 The water level isn’t dropping iust every hour on the half hour. . 3 .- 0“?“ . . \. ' 7’§\\K§: q. .400“ "$5 .-, Another reason why we broadcast I -,__ _ , all news . ; . I ._ ~ I _ a II the ti me. . , . . -. ~~ ' . GROUP WINS iiiiti'" W WESTINGHOUSE BROADCASTING COMPANY ..-<.0 Figure 21.—-WINS Newspaper Advertisement (General Format) 106 Amehom ammocoov pcmsomflpmo>u< hoaQOZOZ mZHzlr.mm opswfim >25on 02.55293 $301025“; mus—E. 2.: ._._< mmgmz ._._< 30:: mz=5 £3919 .mconnm: : 335:. 05 950: 05 30> you ...: £93.:— mz_>>m 23.52» 932 107 The ad for the clock radio showed the radio tuned to 1010 and the clock hands at 7:25 (presumably a.m.). The caption read: Set your clock-radio to WINS. How long should you wait in the morning to find out what went on during the night? The table radio was also shown tuned to 1010, with an arrow pointing to this "correct" position on the dial. This ad was captioned: Mark WINS on your radio. It's hard enough to keep up with what's going on in the world. You shouldn't have to hunt for it, too. All the ads in the series promoted the service that WINS provides and, by this time, the "All News! All The Time!" had become part of the WINS logo. A variation on this idea of setting the radio dial to WINS to get news instantly was tied in with another of WINS' slogans. Under the headline "You never know what's going to happen next" appeared cartoons of clock, car, and table radios tuned to WINS. The captions were all related to "You never know what's going to happen next": (Clock But you don't have to wait to find radio) out what happened while you were sleeping. If your clock radio is set to WINS, the all news station that never sleeps. 108 (Car But you can find out the minute it radio) happens if you make yourself a WINS button. It puts the world at your fingertips. (Table But when it does happen you shouldn't radio) have to search your dial to find out about it. Mark WINS on your dial for news the minute it happens. The "You never know what's going to happen next" campaign was extended in 1968, a major news year when events were so unpredictable that, indeed, the public never.did know what was going to happen next. WINS ran daily ads in the New York Times and New York Daily News tied to news events of the day and showing how WINS cov- ered each event. These events ranged over the full spec- trum of news--national, international, local, sports, theater, films, and business. Each ad followed the same format-—the "You never know what's going to happen next" headline over a line drawing relating to the news event and a caption telling how WINS covered the story. The ads ran daily in the two New York morning papers. Bell tried to depict news events in the ads that would be prominently featured in the news columns of the papers. His objective was to graphically point out to the news audience how much faster WINS is than print media. With newspapers, readers have to wait several hours (or overnight) to get the story; with WINS, the audience hears the news instantly. 109 In general, the stories chosen matched up well with those receiving large amounts of space in the news— papers. The campaign was capped off in early April with a full—page ad telling how WINS covered President Johnson's decision not to seek re-election (Figure 23). Another ad in the series, related to a local story, is shown in Figure 29. There were many daily pieces in this campaign--all following the layout design shown and described above. Not all of them featured hard news stories; some were lighter in nature to serve aszachange-of-pace, but all were related to stories covered by WINS. One ad in the series showed a drawing of movie actor George Hamilton captioned with: Remember that great lover of the big silver screen, heart throb of a nation, a legend in his own time-~George Hamilton? Gasp! His new movie "The Power" opened last night and Group W movie critic Bob Salmaggi brought WINS listeners the surprising news that the picture succeeds rather nicely, even if George's performance doesn't. Most of the ads, however, were more serious in tone. Such events as the U.S.-Soviet nuclear treaty, the shooting of a policeman in New York, and the hijacking of a plane to Cuba were typical of those covered. In addition to promoting WINS' all-news service, this series of ads promoted specific aspects of that service--like sports commentator Len Schecter, movie 110 You never know what’s going to happen next. Do you! After the President's startling announcement Sunday evening.WlN5 was on the air through the night bringing ' the reactions of: Ptcsrdential Press Secretary George Christian at the White House. Richard Nixon at LaGuardia Airport. Eugene McCarthy in Milwaukee. and Bill Movers, Eugene Nickerson. Mike Mansfield. and James Farmer. Plus world reaction from GYOUPWCOH’CSPODdChtS in Moscow. Pnris,(}eneva. London. Hong Kong. Prague,and Saigon.WlNS' continuous coverage followed up with an analysis of the probable effects on the stock market and Robert Kennedy's press conference. live from the Overseas Press Club. All onWlNS. That's what all news, all the time. is all about. All news. All the time. GROUP WINSlHiBmW NewYork’s onl station : broadcastin 31 news, all the time, 24 ours a day. Figure 23.--WINS Newspaper Advertisement (Specific Event) Westinghouse Broadcasting Company lll ou never know what’s 90mg to hop en next. Yesterday, New York (‘rty residents affected by the promsed Medicaid cutback vorced their protest with coordinated demonstrations in Albany and Manhattan. \Y/INS new~man Mike Levrne talked with people on the Lower East Side. in the morning. as they boardcd buses for Albany. Throughout the day WlNS followed the story wrth direct coverage from the State ( 'aprtol. chrrter l’aul Parker talked to demonstrators in front of Governor Rockefeller's midtown office and Doug Edelson spoke with ltey legislators in Albany to round om WINS coverage. “new.“flntine. W WINS'W’” W 1010 - NewYork’s onl station broadcastin al news, all the time. 24 cuts a day. Westmghouw Broadcasting Company Figure 29.-—WINS Newspaper Advertisement (Specific Event) 112 critic Bob Salmaggi, drama critic Ted Hoffman, and Group W commentators such as Rod MacLeish and Sid Davis. By this time the WINS logo had been expanded to include the information that WINS was "New York's only station broadcasting all news, all the time. 24 hours a day." This was a response to the change to an all- news format made by WCBS. However, WCBS' all—news service only ran from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., not twenty- four hours daily. WINS was merely reminding the audi- ence that it was still the only true all—news station in New York. WINS runs ads practically every day in the New York newspapers to keep its call letters in front of the public and promote the all—news service. For exam— ple, during the Republican and Democratic National Con- ventions WINS ran a series of small ads spotted through the local papers. The ads were intended to promote WINS' convention coverage and featured no art work, just short questions such as: Did you hear what the New York delegation just did? Did you hear what Mayor Lindsay just said at the Convention? Did you hear the latest about the dark horse can— didate? Did you hear what Mr. Nixon just said? One of these questions appeared in each ad and beneath each question (in smaller print) was the phrase 113 "Continuous Convention coverage from your News Center. 24 hours a day." The ads were completed, as always, by the WINS logo. The purpose of these ads was to motivate the readers to tune to WINS immediately to see if any new developments were occurring. In these ads, another slogan--"your News Center"--is used to describe WINS. This has a double meaning inherent in it. It, of course, refers to the fact that WINS is headquarters for news reporting in New York. In addition, it ties in WINS' dial position-~at 1010, the center of the dial. Many of the promotion pieces run by WINS are solely for the purpose of promoting the service of all- news that WINS offers. However, some ads are designed to promote a specific feature of the station or a spe- cial presentation of some sort. Examples of these types of ads are those that were run to promote a WINS Special Report on "The VD Epidemic." These ads had no art work, but extremely startling headlines like: Syphilis is Even nice How do you know not a dirty word. People 93t you don't have It's a disease. Syphilis. Syphilis? The copy under the headlines told readers about the upcoming special broadcasts and urged them to listen. Special broadcasts like these are not only pro- moted before they are aired, their subsequent impact is also noted in print. For example, Figure 25 shows the 114 Hyoursonisoldenoughtoshave,he’soldenoughtogetsyphilis. \ou know that \IiIII--I-II-II. III .In IIII kid oI wins. The one whos tops in his I I ass and plzn s hatskr Ih.Il| on Saturdays. The last thing on I'IIrIlI )IIII'II I-\pI'cl him to gel. is syphilis. Well, what makes \our son so SIN'I i:Il. ’ What makes him auv IlilII-rent Irom the hundreds ol nice kids w ho arc Ioming Ilow II with s} philis and gonor- rhea ewery week? The fact is: New York ('iIV is in the midst of :I V. l). epidemic. .\IIII no IIIIIIII r whaiI kind of :I homI your. son comcs IrImI. he s not immune. III the last ten years the IIumhI-r oI VII-cases has gone. up 500%. But. whats more IIIIhcliI \ahle Is that on r hull oI these victims are IecIIagI rs. . WINS II II the wzn to light this urowing ptohlcm was hy tellingr people. Just what was going on. We told that. in New York City schools. almost every child is taught what causes heri- heri rickets and ma- laria. But rarely. V. I). hid that s IOIIIIII mth closer to home. We told how V. I). Ian I'aIIsc hlindncss. make \ou sterile. and eren kill. How. IroIIiIalh enough, if its midi III its early stages. V. D. may he cured with a few of penicillin. And how. at any one of the Iwehe \I-w )ork (Iii) l’uhlic III-IIIIII ‘iPlllt‘l‘S. these injections :IrI II'I-c III I \en hIouIII'asI \\ |\.\' made this point: \. l). isnt :I dun word. Its a IIis‘I il‘l'.illlil should he traded like one. III ner}- I-IIiIorial we made our position I'lcztrz'l'hc :IIIsw'I r isI-IIIII :IIioII. Our children must he made aware ol the Ilamgc -rs PH II he -Iorc IhI \ hecomc teenagers. Since \\ l.\.\' lilttllL'lll this proh II-m out into the open In III as mam} pI'oplI- lunc- rprII-sII-d iIIIormaIion and educational III:III rial Irom ('ih l’uhlic Health Centers. \laun pI-opII- II-Ipteslin" :I V. l). examination Irom loI :II ltcallh I mm -.s gun: the \V I\S V. l). campaign as Ihcir reason. But our lIroaIlc This No III-voml \cw York City. \ mcmhI-r ol the (0mm IiI III \sscmhly. after hear- ing out I .unp.n;.:n. iIIII'oIIIIII- II :I hill to make treatment mori- casih :nuiluhlc to teenagers who'xe contracted \ I-nercal disease. \V INS Iecls iI's important to take action OII prob- lems that ilIIf‘t'I the healIlI'anII well being of the com- munity. I Hui. we feel it s CVO" more. important to get the com- munity to take action for "M““W itself. W hen that happenS. WINS NSWW we know we \eIII me our jOlD. wesnucnoust momma comm Figure 25.4—WINS Newspaper Advertisement (Public Service) 115 full-page ad taken by WINS telling of the positive effects that "The VD Epidemic" had. Such ads have also been run after other special reports (such as those on air traffic congestion and other problems of New York's major airports and the easy availability of mail-order explosives to children) and after important reportorial achievements (such as Group W's Jerry Landay's scoop of being the first American correspondent in the Gaza Strip to report on the Arab-Israeli War of 1967). This ad is shown in Figure 26. WINS has other methods of promoting its special reports. The station makes booklet reprints of these reports available at no cost to listeners. This func- tions as a service to those members of the audience who may be especially interested in a particular subject and also promotes WINS' image as a station concerned with important issues. This image of WINS as a community- minded station is reinforced by other special promotions, such as the offer of a free election guide to listeners for the 1966 election. Most of this analysis of WINS' audience promotion has concentrated on the station's newspaper promotion, largely because WINS uses print media so heavily. How- ever, Promotion Manager Bell does use other media as noted earlier. Much of WINS' promotion in other media follows the same pattern as the print pieces--the same They were followed through mine fields and sniper fire by a man in a taxicab. It was Tuesday. June (I. Second day III the Arab- Israeli war. The makeshift sign had been tacked up at a Tel AI iv taxi stand: "Anywhere In Greater Israel." For Jerry Ianday. chief ofour foreign news service. that was all the imitation he needed. He told the cab driver to head for El Arish in the Sinai, where early ground fighting had broken out. Just short of the frontier, they were stopped. The road had been bombed out. But Jerry Ianday wasn’t about to be forced back without a story. He found a column of Israeli halftracks on their wa to mop up operations in the Arab stronghold of Gaza City. Jerry and his taxi joined them. The convoy was just a I roaching the city when they hit the mined roadblock. e vehicle in front of Jerry's cab was blown up. Then came the sniper fire. Jerry hunched down in his seat, scribbling notes as bullets ripped into the roadway. Israeli haIItraI'ks moved in to protect the cab. In minutes mm mm hine guns blasted out the snipers. I'inaIII', meter still tic king the IIIII DeSoto taxicab delivered Jerrv IandaI into the hunting streets III Gaza C it). The first foIeign I "orrI spondent to enIeI since its fall. For WINS listeners Je rI) Ianday s on- the-scene Iov- erage was a change from the conflicting .-\rah and Israeli statements made. in the. early hours of the. war. His description of the pockmarked walls. the white handkerchiefs dangling limply In surrender over the doorways. could only have come from a man who had been there while the news was still news. It was, of course, Only one incident. But it was typical of the way we covered the Middle East war on all fronts , And just one example why so many people count on WINS for newsThey know they II hear it. No "m...“ Rim matter what we have to Mm go through to get it. museums: mus comm Figure 26. --WINS Newspaper Advertisement (Specific Event) 117 slogans and graphic design promoting the all-news service. Some promotion is done for special features of the station. One poster (done basically in blue and green on a white background) shows a transistor radio inside an open seashell. The copy above the picture reads: MARINE FORECASTS Going boating? Sailing? Fishing? Before you go, check WINS for the complete marine weather story. Every hour, on the hour, seven days a week. The WINS logo in the lower right—hand corner completes the poster. A piece such as this, strategically placed where people interested in marine forecasts are likely to see it, can be an effective way to reach a segment of the WINS audience. WINS' on—air spots generally follow the same philosophy as the print promotion. They promote the service of all-news as well as announcing special fea— tures and special reports. Often, taped portions of previous broadcasts are used to highlight WINS' unique immediacy and such excerpts are tied in with the "All news. All the time" slogan. This concept, above all, is promoted. The same promotional philOSOphy holds true for WINS' two television films. These spots (in color and 118 in both sixty and twenty second versions) promote the all-news service. One of the films features a series of still news pictures and a sound track made up of actual broadcasts from WINS. The pace is quick and the stacatto effect created (through both the sound and visual ele- ments) is designed to produce a feeling of how quickly news happens and how quickly WINS reports it for the audience. The other film is really a cartoon and the sound track points up how "you never know what's going to happen next" in the news. The animation is similar to the cartoon work featured in some of WINS' print promotion. Both of these spots are actually Group W-produced films, and are used to promote all three of the group's all-news stations. The final frames of each film (where the local station logo appears) are merely changed to promote KYW, KFWB, or WINS. WINS runs these films in prime time on major New York television stations (in- cluding Metromedia's WNEW-TV and-CBS' WCBS-TV). Often they are scheduled immediately preceding the news at 11:00 p.m. to reach an audience especially oriented toward news. WINS runs no contests and uses no gimmicky pro- motions; they are thought not to be suitable to an all-news format. The main effort is to promote the service and its advantages to listeners by using the three theme slogans: 119 All news--a11 the time News the minute you want it You never know what's going to happen next. KYW——Philadelphia, Pennsylvania KYW in Philadelphia was the second Group W station to convert to all-news. This format switch occurred on October 3, 1965- Many of the promotional techniques utilized by KYW (which was previously a music station) are the same as those used at WINS. The slogans and campaigns are vir- tually carbon copies of those used in New York. This is due to the fact that the audience promotion efforts of the Group W all-news stations are, for the most part, coordinated on a corporate level from New York and there is little variation among the three stations in this regard. KYW Promotion Manager Jim Munro does not neces- sarily feel that the same promotional techniques used in New York (and later in Los Angeles) are appropriate in Philadelphia. He is of the Opinion that Philadelphia is less oriented toward news than the two larger markets and does not produce enough significant local stories to use in the "You never know what's going to happen next" campaign which is‘a major component of the total promo- tional effort. One of these ads that did involve a local story is shown in Figure 27. Note that the layout is the same 120 You never know what’s going to happen next. Exclusive. KYW Radio Newsman Stu Brown reported yesterday that a reading clinic is the latest victim of the Philadelphia School Boards budget cut. If you were listening, you would have heard how the clinic, to be closed june 30 to save $35,000, has helped children to remain in school and go on to college. You also would have heard an interview with Clinic Supervisor Dr. Dorothy Withrow. That's what all news all the time is all about. All news. All the time. snoop RADIO 10E“) Philadelphia’s only station broadcasting all news, all the time, 24 hours a day. W’cstinghouse Broadcasting Company Figure 27.--KYW Newspaper Advertisement (Specific Event) 121 as the ads in WINS' campaign. The phrase "Philadelphia's only station broadcasting all news, all the time, 24 hours a day" appearing beneath the call letters corresponds to a similar phrase used in WINS' promotion. However, WINS is competing with another all-news station in New York (even though WCBS does not program news twenty-four hours a day). KYW is the only all—news outlet in Philadelphia, and so this phrase in the promotion serves only to rein- force the slogan. Due to the relative lack of exciting local stories, most of the pieces in this series featured national and international events such as news from Vietnam, reports from the Poor People's March, and stories regarding heart transplants. There also did not appear to be any light stories used (such as the theater and film pieces run by WINS) to offer a change—of-pace. Some of the ads in this campaign promote only the slogan without any reference to a specific news event. This technique is also used at WINS as described earlier. The layout for these pieces is shown in the subway poster pictured in Figure 28. The background of the poster is black and the printing is in white. This same theme is carried through in print with the headline slogan covering the entire top of the ad (rather than Just the upper left corner) and the logo centered at the bottom. In the print pieces, the colors are reversed--black printing on a white background. 122 Figure 28.--KYW Poster (General Format) 123 Some of the print ads do not follow this same lay- out pattern. In these ads, there is no open space boxed in, but more copy. The "You never know what's going to happen next" headline dominates these small ads. Above the logo, in parentheses, is the phrase "(That's why we're all news fill the time.)" The logo shown in Figure 27 completes the ad. This means that in a relatively small space, the "All news. All the time" slogan is used three times. It may be a bit repetitious, but it certainly reinforces the point. Some of the promotional efforts at KYW have been different from those at WINS. When KYW changed to an all-news format, it distributed buttons around the city printed with "NEWS NOW 1060 KYW." The words "NEWS" and "KYW" were the same size and printed in black. "1060" and-"NOW" were larger and in red. WINS did not feel that buttons such as these were appropriate to its format and did not use them. The "NEWS NOW" slogan was used only briefly at KYW-—it was replaced with the corporate all-news slogan "All news. All the time." Another early promotion piece for KYW's all-news service was a 5-1/2 by 5-1/2 inch card folded in half so there was an "outside" and an "inside" to it. The front cover featured a montage of photographs of boats surrounding the KYW logo. The back cover showed clouds and other weather phenomena pictorially represented. Inside, on :2A the left-hand page was the following copy, in red and black on a white background: for news HOW... dial 1060 weather...time... sports...traffic... comparison shopping... skiing, boating and fishing reports... shuttle weather...theater reviews... stockmarket reports... local documentaries... special reports...editorials... news...news... news The copy on this page was completed with the KYW logo which, at this time, only contained the station's call letters, dial position, and the Group W symbol. The right-hand page contained the headline "spe- ." and went on to note how KYW cial summer reports broadcasts beach weather and surf reports as well as fishing information. The times of these reports were given in the copy. In this small brochure, distributed widely in Philadelphia, both the general format and features of all-news and specific outdoor-oriented features were promoted. This would appear to be a good piece since 125 it gave a good deal of information in a small space and could be used for general promotion to the total audience as well as specialized promotion to the outdoor enthusiasts. The syndicated Westinghouse television show "The Mike Douglas Show" is taped in the same building in which KYW's studios are located. Promotion Manager Munro has distri— buted some KYW promotion pieces to the audience of this show. One such piece promoted Mary Ann Martin, KYW's comparison shopper. The promotion piece was a small card with a calorie chart on one side and a device for computing the cost per ounce of packages in grocery stores on the other. Above the cost-per-ounce calculator was this message: HEAR MARY ANN MARTIN On Your All-News Station KYW Radio 1060 Weekdays 10:15 A.M. 11:15 A.M. 12:15 P.M. 1:15 P.M. 2:15 P.M. 3:15 P.MJ A promotion such as this was perfectly tailored to the .housewives who make up the majority of the Douglas audi- ence. It offered them a useful device and promoted a KYW feature in which they would likely be interested. Since the small card would be used often (for computing cOsts while shopping and looking up calorie counts at IHeals), the promotional value of the piece was increased. 126 The on-air spots for KYW are similar to those at WINS (featuring actualities used on the air) and the two television promotional films are exactly the same except that the KYW logo is used instead of the WINS logo at the end of each film. KYW promotes itself to the audience in all media, Just as WINS does. There is not much more that can be said about KYW's promotional efforts; the station has virtually duplicated what has been done at WINS, especially in the area of print promotion. KFWB-~Los Angeles, California KFWB, Los Angeles, was the third station of the Westinghouse group to convert to all-news. The station made the change on March 11, 1968, after many years as a top-forty rock-and-roll Operation. Group W did not purchase KFWB until January of 1967, and consequently very little information on the promotion of the station before that time was available. However, much information on the promotion of KFWB while it was still a rock-and-roll outlet and its change into all-news was provided by Promotion Assistant Frank Kwan. KFWB was promoted in all media-—newspapers, posters, bus cards, bumper stickers, billboards, on—air spots-- while it was playing music. The main emphasis of the promotional effort at this time, however, was on per- sonal appearances by station talent and on a wide range of unusual contests. 127 KFWB on-air personnel participated in such events as remote broadcasts from Disneyland on selected high school Grad Nights, appearances in major parades in the Southern California area, and personal appearances at various exhibitions. These exhibitions included such attractions as the Western Winter National Custom Car Fair, Auto Expo International (sports and imported car show), Long Beach Custom Car Show, and the Mobile Home Show. Many of these appearances were tied in with con- tests. For example, at the Western Winter National Cus- tom Car Fair, Revell Toys set up a "KFWB Slot Car Grand Prix." People attending the Fair were invited to race against a mechanical car and those who beat the car were eligible for a prize-drawing which was held each hour. At the times that KFWB on-air personalities were at the Fair, spectators could race against the person- alities for prizes. For other events, such as the Mobile Home Show, listeners' names were picked at random and read on the air. Those who responded by calling the station were invited to come to the KFWB studios with a guest and ride to the show with the personalities. The six winners and their guests received champagne during the ride to the show and a box lunch when they arrived. 128 Such events promoted the station (since its color- ful banner was displayed prominently at each appearance) and the personalities. They also allowed the personal- ities to meet their listeners on a more personal basis than would have been possible otherwise. At these major Southern California exhibitions, the station got a great deal of public exposure. But the parades were even better--they were covered on television and the person— alities were interviewed on the air during the parade (again with maximum promotion for KFWB). Such free pro- motion should not be ignored and KFWB took great advan- tage of such opportunities. These events were all pro— moted heavily by the personalities themselves on the air. As noted above, contests were a major part of the KFWB promotional scheme. These contests were often designed to involve listeners with station personal- ities. Such a contest was the "Lohman and Barkley Lemon Pie Throw and Bake-off." Lohman and Barkley were the morning team on KFWB-—and the station's major person- alities. This contest took place at a suburban shop- ping center in Southern California. Listeners were invited (Via on-air promotion) to bake lemon pies and bring them to the shopping center on the day of the contest. The pies were judged for taste and the winner won a lemon yellow Yamaha Motorbike. The second prize j...’ l\) \0 winner (picked at random from all entrants)received a year's supply of pies (one per week) from a local pie baker. After the pie judging, all participants stood in a circle and threw their pies at each other—-this was part of the requirements for entering the contest. Sixty listeners showed up to enter the contest and dozens more watched. The event was filmed by a local television station for use on the news and Lohman and Barkley were asked to comment. All this added up to a great deal of inexpensive promotion for KFWB. Another personality, B. Mitchel Reed, was pro- moted in the "Official B. Mitchel Reed Halloween Horror Mask" promotion. Listeners were invited to send in for their horror masks (which resembled B. Mitchel Reed) and wear the mask on Halloween night. KFWB staff members cruised around Los Angeles on Halloween and anyone found wearing a KFWB B. Mitchel Reed mask won a transistor radio. Such a promotion not only promoted the station and Reed to listeners, but also to those people who opened their doors on Halloween night and saw the KFWB masks. Again, KFWB obtained maximum promotional benefit with a minimum of expense. Another unusual contest, held in observance of Christmas, 1967, was the "White Christmas" promotion. KFWB ran spots on its own air for three weeks which asked listeners to send post cards to the station and 130 become eligible for the contest. The winner was picked at random from these cards and won a "White Christmas"-- twenty tons of snow blown on her lawn December 2A. The winner was notified by telephone to check if she still wanted the snow. She said that she did, her name was read on the air, and plans were finalized for the "White Christmas." Over 200 people came to watch the snow being Spread on the winner's front lawn. Pictures were taken and station personalities fed live reports back to the studio to be used on the air. There were some problems—-snowball fights broke out in the crowd, a window was broken, and a photographer was hit on the head. Everybody was very understanding and there were no bad feelings, but there could have been. Mishaps like this could seriously hurt the public image of a station and should be guarded against. After the con- test was over, a memo from the Programming Department regarding the establishment of more stringent crowd con- trol procedures was issued. The importance of main— taining a good public image cannot be stressed enough. One unfortunate incident could destroy years of image- building. The "White Christmas" promotion was unusual and spectacular, but it does not compare to one of the most fantastic special promotions devised by the station. This involved Lohman and Barkley and the franchising of 131 lemonade stands. The promotion began with a teaser cam- paign of on-air announcements to sell the idea of "Loh- man and Barkley Lemonade." These were parodies of well- known radio and television commercials, and mentioned nothing about franchising; they merely established the idea of "Lohman and Barkley Lemonade." After about a month of these rather nebulous spots, a new series of on—air spots and newspaper ads encouraged listeners to write for their "Lohman and Barkley Franchise." A post card sent to KFWB was all that was needed. The lemonade franchise kit consisted of a large, multi-colored poster to advertise the lemonade (Figure 29), a letter of welcome to the new franchisee (Figure 30), an official Lohman and Barkley lemonade recipe, instructions for constructing the stand, and "two swell hats to keep the hot sun off your head." A return post card was included with the kit. This was to be filled out by the franchisee and returned so that each indivi- dual stand and owner could receive a free radio plug (of ten or twenty seconds) on KFWB. The response to the promotion was greater than expected. Over 10,000 requests for franchises were received. There are now "Lohman and Barkley Sidewalk Lemonade Stands" in almost every state, as well as Canada, Mexico, Australia, India, and Vietnam. These stands are located in almost every type of environment O. Q ‘ V I I Q. ‘ I I t 0 Q I. .I .0 I\“H\9§e‘\i 63". ii‘.\‘b,.sbl. geese... e s cos... 9. so I. . e e . II. 132 so: one ‘ u \\ Poster (Lohman ion ial Promot ’1 v and Barkley Lemonade) ... .Q C x i I. ......b .wax as...“ \ ‘ . w I 0' It FWOIOI‘V‘CI}! (dz?! il“. vs QI‘QI‘ go‘s .. s. ... ... saws... I. Figure 29.-—KFWB Spe n a- “ v- ",c- r~~'a\ A” ‘ nr‘. - —-v" “Contact... \‘J has—4... can»- ‘ . IJ , a .V. x - .-.--Il.---a~m.-- .. .. -"Mv'.-Alvr~— -5 1 mu. no..-“ ---.-s—g-..-... _ -‘f ..- "H .- WV.'....I9-....0 6:19:11'1 I m..,~..¢.;,;.; on”; f" .. . 'l IOHMM‘ -. .1 St; ' I min 3 JAMES IAYMCI... 1, .- I W l\ i. 90.", lid] L lili ‘4. ll ‘I .-~"‘. VOKOF \" .‘ fihh'”? .I- I; .\ .|.'. th‘ II-‘v:.I I~' 0: C-‘I'If;‘.I7AE- ' M4 Av—g I} [LIT "r'j III.’ "I'FV ‘1'.'.' REM ADMIRAL ERIN-7 1..... v I LULU "MIMAL" MAN[I.;9( L ,. I. H I ' I I‘I‘II‘ ES fl. Post' 5‘. Fibrfl" -. ..J'I ' PC: I For I»; . Red-000 Fonts: as: ' Ccoud Les. 't n!"‘.\'.", g1 Pena; a I ~ r ,I',‘ IA HIV-I" hut ~.. 133 _-'-r'-V'Iv—'.ll—I-. 1"? ‘1- L-..A.1u-Il’ -m'm-I.J:..-r- n“ II!" _‘--‘ ‘fs - L lnrii‘ Official Lo iman & Barkley Sidewalk Lemonade Stand Franchisee: Congratulations! You have joined the hundreds of other young Southlandera wno Will soon launch exciting new business careers as officially franchised operators of Lohman 8.: Barkley Sidewalk Lemonade Stands. You niav also win valuable prizes if we stop by your stand. (III-'11 be drivin r around visiting different locations, :m arding ti ansistor radios.) As soon as you have set up your stand, fill out the enclosed post card and mail it right back to us. Then we can give your stand your very own commercial on our KFWB ‘ program. You'll also be eligible for the Grand Opening, which will go to one of our franchisees from a card picked at random. Don't miss out on the big summer lemonade season, get your stand set up right away. We'd also love to see a picture of it if you can send us a snapshot. We'll give a n. w portable TV set to a snapshot we draw from all the om s sent in. Good luck on your stand and keep listening for all the latest developments in the Lohman & Barkley Lemonade Company. Your friends, Lohman & Barkley KFWB QBWN Figure 30.--KFWB Special Promotion Letter (Lohman and Barkley Lemonade) 13H imaginable--on a boat in Marina del Rey, on trailers, on many college campuses, at the famous Hollywood Ranch Market, at the 1967 Watts Festival, at MGM studios, and in the mailroom of a competitive radio station. Enter- prising franchisees have opened a topless lemonade stand (featuring a four—year-old waitress), an "after hours" stand, and a key club stand. As noted in the introductory letter (Figure 30), a card was picked at random from those returned by fran- chisees. This owner received a Hollywood-style grand opening for his stand. The winners were a brother and sister (nine and seven years old) who lived in suburban Westminster. A tuxedo was rented for the nine-year-old owner, a live band played on the front lawn next to his stand, and a giant searchlight was brought in to herald the occasion. Lohman and Barkley (attired in tuxedos) arrived in a chauffered black limousine. The Mayor of Westminster accepted the first cup of lemonade to offi- cially open the stand and about 1,000 people gathered to attend the gala event. Lohman and Barkley also requested that their franchisees send in snapshots of their stands. One snapshot was drawn at random and that person received a portable television set and was interviewed on the air by Lohman and Barkley. This "Lemonade Stand" promotion seemed to have an endless number of positive features. It was unusual 135 enough to interest many listeners and involve them, and the listeners received many benefits (the franchise kit, a free radio spot on KFWB, and chances to win a tele- vision set and the big grand—opening). The station used the snapshots it received in sales promotion pieces and the returned post cards indicated what types of stands were being set up and where. This information was also used in sales promotion. But the primary gain for the station was the fact that each of these stands was acting as a promotion piece for KFWB and Lohman and Barkley. The art work on the lemonade poster carried through the same theme that was used in station promotion and, of course, featured the KFWB logo. Even the welcoming let— ter contained this same art work and the letterhead of "Lohman and Barkley magnificent morning machine works, ltd." The "magnificent morning machine" was the slogan used to promote Lohman and Barkley's morning show and it tied in to the lemonade promotion. In total, this promotion involved over 10,000 listeners with the station, was fun for all concerned, and broadened KFWB's promotional base. KFWB has also sponsored many give-away promotions. The station ran a "Honda Happening" promotion in which seventy Honda motor scooters were given away. Seventy Southern California communities were picked at random and the station's "Honda Happening Car" (painted in a 136 psychedelic manner) was driven to each community with a KFWB personality aboard. The car was driven slowly down a street picked in advance at random. On the car was this sign: KFWB HONDA HAPPENING Tune KFWB 98 and watch for this car to st0p in front of your house 70 HONDAS FREE A Honda horn was sounded on KFWB while the car was driving down the street. When the horn sounded, the car stopped at the curb and the resident of that house was given three minutes to come to the curb and claim his Honda. A promotion such as this not only kept listeners tuned to the station to hear the horn but got the sta- tion's call letters in front of many people while the wildly-painted car was being driven throughout Southern California. The car was also on display at many of the automobile exhibitions where station personnel made appearances. Another give-away promotion was tied in with a local supermarket chain. In the summer of 1967, KFWB ran a five-week "Beach Towel" promotion. The station sent pretty girls dressed in sarongs made out of KFWBeach Towels to the Southern California beach areas. The girls were to give away a beach towel to each person 137 they found who had his radio tuned to KFWB. KFWB per- sonalities promoted the contest heavily on the air. After three weeks of having the girls distribute towels (5,000 were given away), the towels went on sale exclu- sively at all Ralph's supermarkets for two weeks. KFWB promoted this heavily on the air with one spot an hour for the full two weeks; Ralph's displayed the towels prominently. Thus, the station combined an effective audience promotion with a merchandising service for a local advertiser. The beach towels were gaily colored and were printed with the KFWB logo and the phrase "The greatest air show on earth!" This was the KFWB slogan during the period after Group W purchased the station until it converted to all-news. It was promoted in all media--with heavy emphasis on billboards. The two boards shown in Figures 31 and 32 are typical of the campaign pieces. Figure 31 shows a general station promotion board and Figure 32 pro- motes Lohman and Barkley specifically. The boards were exceptionally eye-catching--in vivid shades of pink, red, blue, green, yellow, black, and white. Note also that the Lohman and Barkley board features the comic pair in their "magnificent morning machine" whichnis part of the "greatest air show on earth!" Sixteen of these Lohman and Barkley boards were displayed in selected Southern California locations. 138 .. _ . .‘a, ~ 1. ‘ . 1. . 1. .4 . .s.‘ ‘1 . a .1 s..~_ . 1,... , . w .1, , . n. u. . 1; -'<\’ .. 1, . i. .. 1 . Apmsoom Hmpmcmmv eemopafiam mzmxun.am magmas. _ 1.11 . 1. . 11.118 .1 N1 1 . I---11..1. m1 1..!|.0: a ...1 .5 n, .. . - . 1:! 4a 11 k. . . n. -. . .. ..1.-1 . . .. ., . . . 44’ v 1 10.13 b P ..n 7.... .u r, 30.1‘ cub. ... a. h . U ‘ ~ .11 .5 b..\ v 1. .. ,.. ... .,...., sun. .. Z . .. . ., 1 1c! 11 . ... . ,L I 11L! 3, it} h . i. K. 0.11. D Q . a o . n.‘. .IP. , "(I ... .I ... O I .‘ . ,1 :1\,..,— r~. .\,,. .‘Lr.. \dfv.r .. «5.30, .3 trap—u a e O .53 an. ,_ «on» Asmaxtmm mam emehoqv enmopanum mammui.mm mesmfim \ mm m—guv— sa—xaa: ace-use.— giéafigofi. 139 — \‘i‘Iiio , 0s . ... . . N ‘V‘ s u t 18‘. .. . ‘11:. .... ax. . . \ Q ._ ‘R 4 , ,. . .. . ‘I t .4 ...v. 0 ., I ‘v 9 ' a I I , I . . I . v \ .. . i , 1 .... , C 1 . n .W A , . #50. 9 . .fl.‘ Lil‘sx a ... 1 1 . 140 The board appearing on the Sunset Strip was mechanized so that the pilot's legs pumped up and down, the wheels and propellers revolved, and lights flashed on and off. Even on the gaudy Sunset Strip, such a board could not go unnoticed. Not only was the "greatest air show on earth!" slogan promoted heavily and printed on the KFWBeach Towels, it was also tied in with, naturally, air shows. One such show was staged over the 1967 Labor Day week— end. KFWB sponsored this "First Annual Real, Live Air Show" and promoted it at least three times an hour on the air. The show featured prize-winning stunt pilots who performed twenty-minute exhibitions over six dif- ferent beaches. In December, 1967, KFWB held its "Greatest Model Air Show on Earth." KFWB personnel made appearances at this event and interviewed the pilots of the radio- controlled planes. The personalities also phoned back to the station and aired live reports from the Air Show. KFWB provided trophies for winners of various events and had a plane pulling a "Greatest Air Show on Earth" banner flying between races. Promotions such as these two air shows not only involved the audience and offered entertainment but also related perfectly to KFWB's promotional slogan. There seems no better way of proe moting a broadcast "air show" than with an aviation "air 1A1 show" of some sort. Both these events were promoted heavily on KFWB's own air. KFWB has also run special promotions and contests to tie in with special programs on the station. The station programmed the Computer Heavyweight Championship Tournament in which information on the greatest heavy- weight boxers of all time was fed into a computer and matches were held to determine the all—time champion. Each week, for fifteen weeks, a bout was "held" and the computer provided a blow-by-blow account of the fight which was dramatized to sound like an actual match. KFWB ran a contest in conjunction with the com— puter tournament. Listeners were invited to pick the winner of each week's fight and send in their guesses to the station. From all of the correct entries received each week, one was picked at random and that listener won a portable television set. All entrants were eli- gible for the Grand Sweepstakes Jackpot whether or not they had won a weekly contest. This Grand Sweepstakes was held on the night of the championship fight. The Sweepstakes winner was selected by a random drawing and he was awarded a 1968 Dodge Charger, a Yamaha Motor- bike, a color television set, a complete set of golf clubs, a watch, and a transistor clock radio. The drawing was held at the conclusion of the computer bout. KFWB also invited the two finalists in 1A2 the tournament (Jack Dempsey and Rocky Marciano) to a special party the station had arranged (for agency people and sponsors). These two celebrities were interviewed on the air after the fight by KFWB's sportscaster Jim Healy. This provided an extra bit of audience promotion to interest listeners to tune in to hear the final bout and contest drawing. Heavy promotion was used to generate excitement in the computer tournament and the contests related to it. KFWB started its campaign two weeks before the first bout and advertised weekly in all major newspapers as well as the boxing and wrestling programs of a local arena. A sample of these print ads is shown in Figure 33. Note the logo featuring the "greatest air show on earth" slo- gan and also the art work tieing in the boxing aspect with the station's other promotional art. The ad also reinforced the contest. On-air promotion was also used to promote the computer boxing tournament. More than two million entry blanks were distributed by sponsors of the computer bouts. Twenty Sears stores featured posters advertising the special series and had a supply of entry blanks in the sports, mens, and auto- motive departments of each store. Each Shakeys Pizza Parlor (25) gave away an entry blank with every pizza. Thirty Dodge dealers distributed the blanks and dis- played the posters. Adohr milkmen distributed entry blanks three different times to their 150,000 customers. 143 "Who’s 'l‘llll ALIA'TIA“E IIIMVYWIEIGII'I‘ CIIAMI' 2’? KFWB presents Computer Championship Fights every Monday at 6:30 p.m. A 15 week elimination tournament by computer to crown the real heavyweight champion of all-time. Guess the winners. I’lllill : 15 1‘" SETS (633 INDIDGE 'I‘GINIGSH'I‘: JIM ' CORBETT r 1 Greatest Air Show on Earth KFWB 93 WESTINGHOUSE BROADCASTING COMPANY INC V . J Figure 33.-~KFWB Newspaper Advertisement (Computer Tournament) JACK DEMPSEY VS 1AA Blanks and posters were also on display in 160 food markets. In addition to making such a great quantity of entry blanks available, these retail establishments also received merchandising benefits and KFWB was able to generate more audience promotion. Such widespread promotion assured KFWB heavy lis- tenership to the fight broadcasts (especially because of their inherent interest to many people) and also heavy participation in the Sweepstakes (especially be- cause of the valuable prizes and the ease of entering). This campaign offers a good example of an effective way of promoting a special program offering and a contest simultaneously for maximum impact. KFWB, against this background of strong audience promotion with many contests, stunts, personal appear- ances, and personality promotions, made the decision late in 1967 to switch to all-news. Not only did this dictate a major change in programming from rock-and-roll music to all-news, but a major change in promotion as well. Obvi- ously the slogan "the greatest air show on earth," which the station had worked so hard at establishing, could not be used to promote an all-news station. Another danger was the fact that after KFWB's strong personality—oriented promotional effort, any- thing the station might do to promote its new all—news format might seem anticlimactic. This possibility had to be guarded against. INS KFWB offers an unusual opportunity to see how the format change-over was promoted. The station provided a great deal of information relating to this campaign. Former Promotion Manager Dick Newton, in a memo relating to the all-news promotional effort, stated that: Our primary objective for the three month change- over promotion is to tell our audience and adver— tisers KFWB is all news, all the time. Because WINS and XTRA have established the con- cept of all news radio, our secondary goal is more to establish the unique quality of KFWB Newsradio. Using March 13th as the premier date for KFWB Newsradio, we plan only a minimal advance pro- motion. We will direct the main force of the campaign to coincide with the kick-off to gain maximum impact for listeners to tune now to KFWB Newsradio (memo dated January 15, 1968). The date for the start of the new format was pushed up to March 11, and the promotional campaign was organized into two phases: Pre-inaugural (January 31 to March 11, 1968) and Inaugural (March 11 to April 21). In the pre—inaugural campaign, newspapers, bill- boards, bus cards, and on-air spots were the primary media used. The main objective in this campaign was the establishment of the three slogan lines: "Newsradio," "All news! All the time!" and "News the minute you want it!" On January 31, three small newspaper ads began running in the Los Angeles Times to establish these slogans. As the date for the start of the new format drew closer, larger ads were used and more newspapers. Four large painted bulletin boards were designed with 1A6 the message: "All news! All the time! Soon on KFWB 98." These boards were shown for about a month prior to the beginning of the new format. As Newton stated, this advance promotion was rela- tively minimal. But on March 11, the massive inaugural campaign went into effect. Heavy newspaper advertising was used (mostly during the first week of the new format) in seventeen daily newspapers. Ads continued to run for up to six weeks in the major papers such as the Los Angeles Times and the Herald Examiner. These print pieces were both full page and smaller ads. A typical ad is shown as Figure 3A. This indicates that the disc jockeys had been replaced with a different sort of "talent." Other newspaper pieces featured copy such as: "We interrupt this newspaper to tell you we‘re all news, all the time." The outdoor promotion included 200 small bill- boards and 200 bus cards. These tied in the same cam- paign themes that were used in the print ads. An exam- ple of a bus card is shown in Figure 35. Notice how this reinforces the "We interrupt this newspaper" theme. Bill- board copy was similar. It read: "We interrupt this billboard. . . ." The four large bulletin boards re- tained the "All news! All the time!" message, but the "soon on KFWB 98" was changed to read "KFWB Newsradio 98 Now" to indicate that the new format had gone into effect. 1117 Meet some of our new personalities. .. All News! All The Time! GROUP KFWB $531398 WESTINGHOUSE BROADCASTING COMPANY Figure 3A.--KFWB Newspaper Advertisement (General Format) 148 Figure 35.--KFWB Bus Card (Introductory, General Format) Television was also used in this inaugural campaign. Five Los Angeles television stations were utilized (in- cluding the CBS and NBC affiliates) on a saturation basis during the first six weeks of the all-news format. The first Group W film (featuring news pictures and the actuality soundtrack) was used in both sixty and twenty second versions. This spot was scheduled in the news- oriented "Today" show, after the Walter Cronkite network newscast, in local newscasts, and in other non-news pro— grams for extended exposure. KFWB Newsradio 98 began Monday, March 11. On the following Sunday, the extensive week of promotion was climaxed by a sky-typing campaign. Five planes, with electronically programmed skytypers, typed out giant smoke messages in the sky over Southern California. The message "NOW ALL NEWS - KFWB 98" was typed eighteen times in dif- ferent sections of the city. In a market as sprawling 1A9 as Los Angeles, KFWB felt that this would be one method of reaching a great many people at the same time. Tuesday, April 16 marked the start of the daily "You never know what's going to happen next" newspaper campaign which ran for four weeks. This series featured the same layout and design developed at WINS (Figure 36). It is interesting to note that KFWB by this time had dropped the phrase "Newsradio" from its logo to conform to the other Group W stations.v Also the CBS station in Los Angeles (KNX) began using "Newsradio" in April and KFWB perhaps decided not to compete on this basis. Another KFWB print ad featured an editorial that the station presented following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This was run in both the Egg Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Sentinel (a local Negro newspaper). KFWB also ran ads promoting its dial position and the idea of setting KFWB on car, clock, and table radios. A follow-up ad noted how this could be helpful in getting news of a major event (Figure 37). Note that the radio is tuned to 98. In June, KFWB began its second flight of television spots--using the second Group W film (featuring cartoon art). After the initial change-over campaign, KFWB's promotion has been very similar to WINS' and KYW's efforts. , You neser know what’s going to happen next. A nationwide Strike against the Bell Telephone System began yesrerday. Charles Arlington and other KFWB newsmen talked with officials of Pacific Bell and the Communications Workers of America to report how the strike is affecting Los Angeles telephone service. All news. All the time. KFWB 390°“W The only station in L. A. broadcasting all news, all the time, 24 hours a day. Figure 36.--KFWB Newspaper Advertisement (Specific Event) En Convention ’68 on KFWB 93 All news! All the time! '.'.E371'\GHOUSE A CASil‘lG v."..:—!..‘V ‘_ ... ’1 i. GROUP Figure 37.--KFWB Newspaper Advertisement (Political Coverage) CBS Stations The CBS Radio Network's owned-and—operated stations have had a long history of success with their news serv- ices. Backed by the network's powerful news team, these stations have always had strong news reputations in their communities. Four of the seven CBS AM stations have now switched their formats to all-news; WCBS in New York began its all-news service in August, 1967, and KNX (Los Angeles), WBBM (Chicago), and KCBS (San Francisco) converted to the format in early 1968. All of these except KNX will be examined in this section. Clark George, President of CBS Radio, feels that the move to all—news was a natural one because of CBS' strong news team. Even though Group W already had all- news operations in New York and Los Angeles before the CBS stations in these markets changed formats, George feels that WCBS and KNX both can be successful. Strictly speaking, these four CBS stations are not really all—news, but mostly—news. The stations all schedule Arthur Godfrey for an hour daily and "Music 'Til Dawn" all night. George explains why by saying that the Godfrey show is a key source of revenue for CBS Radio 153 and that the great majority of affiliates want the show to continue. As has been mentioned before, "Music 'Til Dawn" also is profitable and is a combination purchase by American Airlines on many CBS stations (Media Deci- giggs, June, 1968, reprint). However, these two shows would seem to obstruct the creation of a true all—news format on these stations. WCBS--New York, New York WCBS, the CBS o-and-o station in New York, was the first station owned by the network to switch to an all— news format. This was on August 28, 1967. Prior to the format change, the station had been steadily declining in the ratings. It had traditionally been one of New York's most prestigious and successful broadcast oper- ations as the flagship of the CBS Radio fleet. In the early 1960's, WCBS was typical of the CBS o-and—o's analyzed earlier--music, CBS features, and strong news coverage were the basis of the format. As ratings started to slip, the station began increasing its news, adding more information features, and dropping some established shows in an attempt to find a successful format. Nothing seemed to work very well, and the sta- tion's ratings continued to drOp. Media Decisions magazine (June, 1968, reprint) characterized WCBS' format as a "combination of ingred- ients" at the time it switched to all—news, or more 15A correctly news and information since the station schedules many features and news analyses in addition to "hard" news. As noted earlier, the "Arthur Godfrey Show" is programmed for an hour a day in the early afternoon and "Music 'Til Dawn" fills the all—night hours from 11:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Since David Martin, Promotion Manager of WCBS, joined the station after it had switched to an all-news format, he was unable to offer much information regarding WCBS' promotion before the change in formats. Apparently the promotional effort was of an omnibus nature (like the programming)--promoting individual personalities and programs. When WCBS introduced its news service to the New York market, it was entering into direct competition with WINS which had been in operation for more than two years in New York. This presented special promotion problems. The station could not merely promote the unique concept of all-news; it had to promote WCBS' specific all-news format. WCBS adopted the slogan "Newsradio 88" to identify the station. The "88" in the slogan referred, naturally, to the station's dial position. The logo and slogan con- tained the three basic elements for promoting the station-- call letters, dial position, and a one—word format description. 155 The station announced on its own air, on television, posters, billboards, and in print that it was changing formats. A typical print piece, which ran in all major metropolitan and suburban newspapers, read: IF YOU GET UP AT 5:30 A.M. NEXT MONDAY, YOU'LL BE THE FIRST To HEAR WCBS NEWSRADIO 88. IT'S LIKE NOTHING YOU EVER HEARD BEFORE. WCBSlNEWSRADIO 88 This slogan "It's like nothing you ever heard before" was used for the early promotion of Newsradio 88. Apparently it was an attempt to attract listeners of WINS to sample WCBS. Of course, the ad would still serve to attract those people who had not heard WINS previously. The campaign became more vigorous as the date for the start of the new format drew closer. The ads appearing on August 27,.1967, (the day before the format switch) not only announced that "IF YOU GET UP AT 5:30 A.M. TOMOR- ROW YOU'LL BE THE FIRST TO HEAR WCBSlNEWSRADIO 88 . . . ," but also featured unique aerial photos of New York City to attract readers. This use of special photographic effects was an- othercfi‘the characteristics of the initial promotion of 155 The station announced on its own air, on television, posters, billboards, and in print that it was changing formats. A typical print piece, which ran in all major metrOpolitan and suburban newspapers, read: IF YOU GET UP AT 5:30 A.M. NEXT MONDAY, YOU'LL BE THE FIRST TO HEAR WCBS NEWSRADIO 88. IT'S LIKE NOTHING YOU EVER HEARD BEFORE. WCBSlNEWSRADIO 88 This slogan "It's like nothing you ever heard before" was used for the early promotion of Newsradio 88. Apparently it was an attempt to attract listeners of WINS to sample WCBS. Of course, the ad would still serve to attract those people who had not heard WINS previously. The campaign became more vigorous as the date for the start of the new format drew closer. The ads appearing on August 27, 1967, (the day before the format switch) not only announced that "IF YOU GET UP AT 5:30 A.M. TOMOR- ROW YOU'LL BE THE FIRST TO HEAR WCBSlNEWSRADIO 88 . . . ," but also featured unique aerial photos of New York City to attract readers. This use of special photographic effects was an— othercfi'the characteristics of the initial promotion of 156 the WCBS all-news format. A sample is shown as Figure 38, which shows the ad appearing on the day Newsradio 88 began. This piece not only announced that the new format had finally gone into effect, but (for the first time in the campaign) gave specifics about Newsradio 88. The copy emphasized the "now" aspect of the format to interest readers enough to tune in. Also the slogan "It's like nothing you ever heard before" now had become part of the standard logo. The copy of the ad in Figure 38 stated that "This is Phase I, and it will run every Monday through Friday from 5:30 AM on, for almost 15 hours. (Phase II, ex— tending the concept to the whole week, will be along shortly.)" In effect, then, WCBS had to introduce News- radio 88 twice--once for Phase I, and again for the ex- tended Phase 11. Phase I ran weekdays from 5:30 a.m. to 8:10 p.m., and Phase II did not go into effect until December. It would seem that this plan might hinder WCBS in trying to establish a definite image as an all- news service because Phase I actually made WCBS only a partial-news station. All the time that WCBS was intro- ducing Phase I with its semi all-news orientation, WINS was continuing to offer news twenty-four hours a day in competition. But even WCBS' Phase I did not begin exactly as planned. The day before WCBS was to change formats, a 157 AT5=3O THIS MORNING A NEW KIND OF RADIO CAME TO NEW YORK. NEW JERSEY AND CONNECTICUT. fiafiuMm-unew mmmm,. Andamveflmebe. Morfloasradowasmi Wu. heb-grystkralrwmstattn ,adxoabandnkrm mdwhodi bbeamecz-mohdemAm . . mmmo mmumcm srrxeshavewhat..merebmm Mreporsmerm...nu~ 3mm” mmmemsmm ammmasrmw... M'mmmmm Mbfinnlwiwimam may WWMMM . 0““ Mayhem-mess? misassomasywmtm Whom Wmflv‘em'ki W13 mow-1cm!!! mm... ' mehmlsmurs oidmreven"r-'cz.i!"\fs hardnmnqeommmw Wepbibrmkextmthwwhle. WIWNW b, "...,,.’,‘..m.w docwienules musmum bummmmm ””399 '3‘ -"" Mk WWW) vmmdvvtct ‘ Momma-aw ”Kt-’3. mosflfl'm bum n Trenton. Aim Fart-Cid .rsmemmm‘k? Camry. wn.» Pia-r13 Nam. (MMNMCBSW WmWasrwgtmDC Figure 38.--WCBS Newspaper Advertisement (Introductory, General Format) 158 private plane crashed into its AM transmitter, knocking the station off the air for over twenty-two hours. The months of planning and promotion were going to culminate in dead air on Monday morning when listeners would be tuning in to hear the new format. An unusual promotion problem, to be sure, but one that required immediate solution. The airplane accident was reported on broadcast newscasts on most radio and television stations as well as in print. Therefore, many listeners were able to find out about WCBS' problem. So the station decided to go ahead as planned and Newsradio 88 began on WCBS-FM only--and the initial story was about the loss of the AM transmitter. After the transmitter was repaired, WCBS ran some ads explaining what had happened and also promoting more of the specific features of the new format. One typical ad featured another special photographic effect (similar to the one shown in Figure 38) and the headline: "WCBSI NEWSRADIO 88.“ ONLY A WEEK OLD AND ALREADY INVOLVED WITH THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD." The copy under the photograph read as follows: We began WCBS/NEWSRADIO 88 on Monday, August 28, at 5:30 AM --but hardly as planned. The first story on our first broadcast-— heard on FM only--was about the loss of our AM transmitter as a result of a tragic plane accident the day before. 159 Now we're back in AM operation at 880 (as well as 101 on FM) with our new con- cept of radio. It is a concept so big it is coming to you in phases. This is Phase I, and it runs every Monday through Friday from 5:30 AM on, for al- most 15 hours. (Phase II, extending the concept to the full week, will be along shortly.) WCBS/NEWSRADIO 88 is now radio. It's some- thing else every minute...) Two helicopters (one of them a l70-mile- per-hour jet, first to be used by any broadcaster) tell you what's moving, and what isn't, in traffic. And together with four mobile units, they cover fast-breaking develOpments everywhere in the area., CBS News, the most celebrated reporting team in broadcasting, signs in with the good and bad news from around the country and world. Sports Director Pat Summerall and his colleague Harvey Hauptmann cover the sports scene with 12 reports a day. Myra Waldo briefs you on what's cooking in restaurants, food, travel. And psycholo- gist Dr. Rose Franzblau ,makes sense out of the sensitive area of family life. And something else... News of business, the columns, TV...the word on weather from our own weather center... shopping news...book reviews-..movies...the parks... It's the sound of the whole neighborhood. Yours and ours. This is what WCBS/NEWS- RADIO 88 is all about. Just one thing though. Once you tune in, it's hard to stOp listening. A similar ad also described specific features of the news service. This time, however, the aerial shot of New York was turned on its side and the headline read: "WCBS NEWSRADIO 88: HOW TO STAND A CITY ON ITS 160 EAR." This linkage of the headline and the photography seems to be an effective device for attracting the reader's attention. Soon the unusual photography began to disappear from the WCBS ads, and the station began to promote its cov- erage of specific news events. One ad, with no art work at all, contained the following copy: TWO STRIKES AND WE'RE OUT: ON THE JOB. It was an ordinary Monday morning. Un— less, of course, you're a Long Island com- muter. Or the parent of a New York City schoolchild. Or a reporter for WCBS/NEWSRADIO 88. Because it was anything but ordinary for us. But then we started out to be like nothing you ever heard before. And what we did yesterday was just what we've been doing every day since we began. Only more so. At 5:30 AM yesterday we Opened sh0p with the news of the Long Island Railroad wildcat strike. From then on we covered it with every resource--on the ground by reporter,. and in the air by helic0pter. Meanwhile, our second helicopter was cov- ering other traffic situations on main ar- teries leading into Manhattan. (On Route 3 in New Jersey traffic was bumper-to-bumper. We reported it. From the air. On the scene.) Meanwhile, at Julia Richman High School, reporter Ed Bradley was interviewing United Federation of Teachers President Albert Shanker, and other teachers, pupils, and the Julia Richman principal. Jack Cavanaugh was reporting from P.S. 158. 161 In between times we brought you more details on the Long Island strike. CBS News delivered national and world news. Then back to Tony Brunton at UFT head- quarters, Steve Flanders at the Board of Education. Mary Pangalos came in with the picket story from Intermediate School 201 in Harlem. At 3:36 PM we took our lis- teners to City Hall for a report by Mayor Lindsay. And so it went all through the day. No matter what happens in this tri-state area, we cover, uncover, discover, and report it. Starting first thing in the morning. Join us when you get up--for all the things you need to know. There are several things to note here. In the first paragraph, the copy makes the news personal—- referring to disruptions in the normal lives of Long Island commuters and parents of school children. Then the copy describes how several news stories are covered concurrently by WCBS' large staff--this seems to give a flavor of the immediacy that WCBS is trying to stress. The ad concludes with a call for action "Join us when you get up—-for all the things you need to know." After several ads like this, all claiming that WCBS "is like nothing you ever heard before," the station began to promote Phase II of Newsradio 88. The pro- motion of this was not as extensive as that for Phase I, but on-air spots were used as well as print pieces. The ad that appeared in the major papers on the day 162 that Phase II went into effect had an enormous headline "PHASE II" and the body copy continued as follows: On August 28th, WCBS Radio introduced Phase I of NEWSRADIO 88. From Monday through Friday we began bringing the tri-state area a news service in the tradition of CBS. Now we are proud to announce Phase II--an ex- tension of that service. Beginning today, December 4th, WCBS/NEWSRADIO 88 will be on the air seven days a week.. Monday through Saturday NEWSRADIO 88 will start at 5:30 AM and end at 11:30 PM when "Music 'Til Dawn" takes over. On Sunday we'll begin at 7:30 AM and continue through until 1:00 AM Monday morning. Now you can tune us in every day of the week for regional, national, and international news. For sports, business, weather, traf- fic and entertainment news. For news of peOple and places. For all the news, all day, all evening, all week long. With the start of Phase I of NEWSRADIO 88, we assumed the responsibility of keeping you well- informed on just about everything from Monday through Friday. Starting today, we do it all day, all evening: all week long. The remainder of the copy contained information about specific features and personalities heard on Newsradio 88. The "It's like nothing you ever heard before" slogan was dropped from all station promotion at this point. The emphasis from the start of Phase II on was on "All the news. All day. All evening. All week long." This also began showing up in the WCBS logo. For a short time after Phase II began, the print ads 163 promoted the fact that Newsradio 88 was now in operation seven days a week. "All the news. All day. All evening. All week long." seems to be an extension of the WINS slogan "All news. All the time." WCBS tied its new slogan into a brief campaign to invite listeners to keep tuned to the station on weekends--traditionally slow news periods. The campaign also indicated the extensive news reach of WCBS through print ads like this: THE PUEBLO WASHINGTON PANMUNJOM THE RESERVISTS PYONGYANG THE U.N. It's going to be a busy weekend. Keep listening for CBS News reports on WCBS NEWSRADIO 88 All the news. All day. All evening. All week long. Other ads point up the way the news really affects the day-to-day lives of listeners (as has been noted in some previous print pieces for WCBS). The ad below is typical of these--featuring an attention-provoking head- line and then a description of WCBS news coverage of an event. Sure you're angry about the mess in the streets. 164 Who isn't? As the garbage piles up, your anger mounts. But our job is to keep cool. To be where the strike news is breaking. To keep you totally informed. And we're doing more. In frequent editorials since the start of the crisis, WCBS/NEWSRADIO 88 has said what most New Yorkers are probably feeling: "The garbage must be picked up, whether by sanitation men or other workers especially recruited for the job. It should be made plain that clearing the heaps of garbage overflowing city streets is not a tactic to break the strike; it's a pub- lic necessity." New York's largest radio news staff is going to stay with this story every minute. Today and all weekend long. Maybe on Monday we can all breathe easy again. WCBS/NEWSRADIO 8 8 All the news. All day. All evening. All week long. This idea of making the news personal to listeners seems to be a way of getting the audience involved with WCBS-—a difficult task for an all-news operation. In February of 1968, WCBS ran a campaign to pro- mote many of the famous CBS newsmen heard on WCBS radio who are also known as television reporters. Seventy- two small ads were run in the month, promoting eight of these network personalities in the three major New York dailies. The ads all had the same format as the one for Harry Reasoner shown as Figure 39. Other newsmen promoted 165 Where can you find Harry Reasoner when he’s not on television? ON RADIO. ' ALI. THE news. ALL DAY. g ALL EVENING. .4 ALL WEEK LONG. Figure 39.--WCBS NeWspaper Advertisement (Harry R eeeeeee ) T66 in the series were Walter Cronkite, Doug Edwards, Eric Sevareid, Frank Gifford, Charles Kuralt, Roger Mudd, and Mike Wallace. In March, 1968, WCBS began a new promotional cam- paign using cartoon art and a new slogan: "Listen. Why shouldn't you be the first to know?" The theme print piece for the campaign contained a cartoon drawing of a man with the new slogan, in bold print, as the headline. The copy read: Any reason you have to be the last one to hear the news? Don't have enough time? Tune to WCBS NEWS- RADIO 88. We'll fill you in fast. With ten— minute news summaries on the hour and half- hour. Lots of quick recaps studded through- oUt each hour. So that any time you tune in you'll get a briefing on what's happening in the world. Got more time? Keep listening. We'll dot the "i"s and cross the "t"s for you as no other radio station can. You'll get back- ground, detail and comprehensive news analy- sis by the world-wide staff of CBS News. Great coverage of local news. Plus sports, business, weather and entertainment news. Traffic reports from our two helic0pters. And all this goes on seven days a week-- morning, noon and night. Tune in. Isn't there something you'd like to know right now? Other ads in the campaign contained the phrase "Listen. Why shouldn't you be the first to know?" as part of the logo. The ads promoted the continuous, extensive, authoritative news coverage WCBS offers, 167 and also promoted special features of the format. A radio tuned to 88 was part of the cartoon art work-- pictured along with the cartoon figures shown in each ad. Two examples of ads in this campaign are shown in Figures “0 and 41. Other pieces in the series were in the same vein. One showed two men each with radios tuned to 88 and the headline "After we give you the news, we give you the news" referring to WCBS' continuous news coverage. Another ad pictured a woman listening to Newsradio 88 and pushing a shopping cart. The headline read: "Heavy investors in the market count on WCBS Newsradio 88." This play on words allowed the copy to promote both the special Wall Street and Shopper's guide reports. Not all the ads were so light in tone. One fea- tured a drawing of a dove and below the picture, this quotation: "War does not die easily, even when threatened with peace." The copy explained that this was a state- ment made by WCBS newsman Dick Reeves in his wrap—up to a special report on Hanoi's response to President Johnson's bombing pause. The ad was devoted to a sum— mary of the way in which WCBS covered all aspects of this important story—-from the SEATO Conference in New Zealand to the reaction on Wall Street. This entire campaign——tied together by the cartoon characters and "Listen. Why shouldn't you be the first 168 Takeitallinwhile youshaveitalloll. In the ttme 1t takes to go over the trouble spots on your lace, we can tell you what's happening tn the trouble spots all over the world. You get a compact, ten—mtnute news summary on the hour and the hall-hour, And lots ol qunck recaps throughout each hour it you're m a hurry. If you've got the ttme to stay thh us, we'll ltll In all the detatls you ought to know Background stories w1th news analysns by the world—wnde stall of CBS News. Plus local news, tralhc, weather, busmess and sports. Ettber way, you can use WCBS NEWSRADIO 88 the way you want to. For all the news, all day, m all evemng, all week long. Ur lor just a once over ltghtly. Newsradio ‘Bt'mmwmnmmmnnuummmmhmw Figure AO.—-WCBS Newspaper Advertisement (General Format) For a radio station. two helicopters are practically an air force. But with more than 500 miles of commuter roads to cover, we need two helicopters. If an Edsel runs out of gas on the RD. Fl. Drive, you'll be the first to know. ll there's a lady attempting a U-turn on the George Washington Bridge, you'll know enough to head for the tunnel. All week long—morning, noon and night-we cover all the news. With tan-minute reports on the hour and hall-hour. News recaps throughout each hour. And in between, all the news in depth. Comprehensive news analysis by the world-wide stali at CBS News. Plus local news, weather, sports and traffic reports. So it you have the feeling that ball your day is spent in the car, tune us in. Knowing W has to avoid a traffic jam is one of liie's simple pleasures. “menu-inherent:- Figure lil.--WCBS Newspaper Advertisement (General Format) 170 to know?"—-appears to have been designed to promote WCBS to listeners who wanted news in a hurry and those who wanted to listen for longer periods to get more depth. The news service and some special features of that ser— vice were promoted during the course of the campaign. This campaign, as all of the others done by WCBS, seems to be directed not only at increasing WCBS' audience, but at taking some listeners away from WINS to close the gap between the two stations. The appeal seems to be "If you can be the first to know by listening to WCBS, why bother with WINS?" Promotion Manager Martin's philosophy of wooing listeners away from WINS was evident again in a new campaign introduced in the summer of 1968. This cam- paign was based on the theme "Try our brand of all-news radio." The cartoon art was continued, including the radio tuned to 88 on the dial, only now the radio was transformed into other shapes. Figures 42 and H3 show two ads in this series--one with the radio in a break— fast bowl, the other with the radio pictured as a gaso— line pump. Other pieces in the campaign have featured headlines such as: "Try our brand of all-news radio in your kitchen," "Try our brand of all-news radio at the beach," and "Try our brand of all-news radio for Conven- tion coverage." All ads contained the slogan "Listen. Why shouldn't you be the first to know?" as part of the logo. 171 our hr 7 nd . of all-new rad to for breakf. st. ....... .1 <<<< You can start your day with our brand oi all-news radio every day of the week and never get tired of it. Because newsmen like Cronkite, Sevareid, Reasoner, Porter, Osgood and Adler keep it fresh and reliable. A blend of International, National and Local News, with fast, objective coverage by the world-wide staff and facilities of CBS News. Sports, weather, helicopter traffic reports, entertainment and information - features. Perfect anytime you want a good all-news station. Try us today. - 88 many shouldn’t you he the first to know? Figure U2.--WCBS Newspaper Advertisement (General Format) 172 our brand ’ of all-news ratio in your car. Tune in today for our brand of all-news radio. In—depth news coverage by CBS News Correspondents Walter Cronkite, Harry Reasoner, Eric Sevareid and the world- wide news facilities of CBS News. Plus national, international and tri state area news from WCBS Newsradio 88 newsmen Lou Adler, Charles Osgood, Steve Porter and Hebert Vaughn. Traffic reports from our two helicop~ ters to keep your car out of trouble. Sports, weather and market reports. Local news. Entertainment news. All the news. With the speed, accuracy and WCBS reliability you'd N expetah‘gm WCBS. 88 Listen.Wliy shouldn't you be the first to know? .2mf.:\"_ til-3: 1.4%.. .-" 'v. {21" . II‘, {1.2: .;.. ”easement”; 13.1: r‘.‘ l )1 Figure H3.--WCBS Newspaper Advertisement (General Format) 173 WCBS runs its print ads in all three major New York daily newspapers as well as twenty other suburban papers in the New York-New Jersey area. Regional edi- tions of magazines such as Time, Newsweek, ngk, and Ladies' Home Journal are also used. In addition, on-air spots, some television spots, posters, and billboards are utilized to promote WCBS. On-air spots often feature examples of news reports previously broadcast on WCBS to indicate to listeners the immediacy of the format. WCBS runs no contests to speak of, but does do some public service promotions. For example, the station placed a barrel in its reception room, as well as barrels in each branch of a local bank, to collect toys that would then be repaired and distributed to needy children. But the main thrust of WCBS' promotional effort involves the promotion of the format, the specialized features within it, and some of the big-name network newsmen who are heard on the station. WCBS is at a disadvantage in being the second all-news station in New York--with WINS already having an established lis- tenership. This makes the wooing of part of the WINS audience part of WCBS' promotional strategy. WBBM—~Chicago, Illinois WBBM in Chicago has traditionally been one of the outstanding radio stations in the Country in the field 174 of news, documentaries, and special events. Media Decisions magazine (June, 1968, reprint), in fact, has described this CBS owned-and-operated station as "the cradle of radio news." The station's format prior to its switch to all— news was one based on talk and information with a heavy emphasis on news. At this time, the station was very personality-oriented and promoted its on-air people heavily. WBBM's slogan prior to its format switch was "The Talk of Chicago" and this was used in all station pro- motion. A sample of that promotion is seen in the final print ad in a campaign to introduce a new morning show-- "the morning people" (Figure NM). The campaign was based around the slogan "give up something Good for something much Better!" The "something Good" was the previous show; the "something much Better" was "the morning people." All the print ads and on-air spots leading up to the one shown in Figure nu did not even mention the title of the new program. These pieces merely invited the audience to "give up something Good for something much Better!" either "next week," "tomorrow morning at 6 AM.," etc. depending on when the ad was run. The copy did indicate that the show was scheduled from 6 to 10:00 a.m., but that was all the information given. 175 We morning” - Mb whereilalThe BIG IDEA that says. "MOVE OVER" for the zippiest new morning radio program ever to come down the eitpresewaysl. Tune in the MORNING PEOPLE...ior a 4 hour news. information and personality special every day. Dan Price. Dale W end tee Hello report what's happening everywhere...and to whom. ”madame brandefspicevvithwmwitty observations on the Chicago scene. 3 days a week Two way tailr...gueete...inte~iewsi fl 1' I'// giveupsomething Good forsomethingmuch Better! “the morning people up; lick Weaver on Sports. with special weekend "armchair quarterbacking" by Frert Leahy. former Notre Dame coach. on Mondays and Fridm. Dr. leenerd am. Science Editor. tells you what‘s new in the world of science. space and medicine. Frequent “Weather Commend" weather news by nine meteorologists forecasting exclusively for WBBM Radio. Pius...CBS world-wide news 0 Traffic reports 0 Mini- documentaries 0 Audience telephone participation and...A news quiz for prizes every day. lWTflflWflFflWWflflflf [I'll I- II PM". . aeeeee “DI- Figure Nu.--WBBM Newspaper Advertisement ("the morning people") I I 176 This was done, of course, to create listener in- terest in the new program and a desire to tune in. The full—page ad shown in Figure uu which actually intro- duced the show ran in all major newspapers in and around Chicago, and emphasized the personalities involved-— "the morning people." The features of the program-- news, traffic reports, Sports, instant documentaries, a news quiz, telephone participation, weather news, science news--were also promoted. After the show was introduced, WBBM ran a series of smaller print ads promoting individual personalities and specific features of "the morning people." There was no art work in any of these ads and the copy was in the style and format of the piece promoting Lee Phillip (Figure 45). WBBM, because of the audience involvement gen- erated by its telephone talk programming, had been active in public service. In January, 1967, for example, the station preempted all of its regular programming and acted as an on-air information clearing house in the aftermath of the fire which destroyed Chicago's McCormick Place on the day the National Housewares show was to open. Later that same month, WBBM again preempted its programming to act as an information source during the worst snowstorm in Chicago's history. The station even flew an expectant mother to the hospital in its traffic helicopter during this crisis. ..‘75 AM [He Phillip WgnlEB’s World Comments and interviews 2-way phone conversations. “the morning ,, people ' 6-10 AM MON-FRI Figure “Sn-WBBM Newspaper Advertisement (Lee Phillip) 178 It was against this background of a strong news service and a strong public service image that WBBM made the decision to switch to all—news. A WBBM sales pro- motion piece explains the station's philos0phy: Significantly, WBBM Radio's total talk, infor- mation and news format preceding the all out news commitment, had already had as a major emphasis: the news. That format, backed by the world-wide news gathering facilities of the CBS Network, had a built—in flexibility for instantly going "all-news" when a major news story broke anywhere in the world. WBBM Radio's new format would merely be an extension of the important service. This news orientation, in addition to declining ratings and WNUS' switch from all-news to music, made the WBBM decision predictable. Almost immediately after WBBM made public its decision to switch to all—news, it seemed a wise move. The announcement that WBBM planned to change formats on May 6, 1968, was made on the air at 11:00 a.m. on March 29. Within an hour after the announcement, arsonists set fires in four major Chicago department stores, and an incredible week of news developments had begun. During that week (Friday, March 29 to Friday, April 5), multiple fires broke out in New York City department stores, President Johnson announced he would not seek re-election,French President DeGaulle praised Johnson's stand on a bombing cut—back in Viet- nam, the first Vietnam peace talks were announced,the Jupiter space launch was held, Dr. Martin Luther King, 179 Jr. was assassinated, and rioting erupted in major United States cities including Chicago. These news events pointed up the necessity of an all-news station in Chi— cago to replace WNUS (McLendon's "rip and read” operation) which switched to a music format on March 1. May 6, 1968, was the date set for the change to an a! all-news format. WBBM's campaign to announce the change used all media-—newspapers, television, billboards, bus cards, and on-air radio spots. "Newsradio 78" was selected L as the name of the format--following the pattern developed i at WCBS. A unique advertising theme was developed to promote WBBM--the station was termed "Radio Free Chicago." An interesting promotional technique was used on the billboards and bus cards. This campaign, based on "Radio Free Chicago," was carried out in three stages on the billboards as shown in Figures u6—A8. Board num- ber l, in stark black and white, was merely a tie—in of the promotional slogan with the station logo to in- terest the audience. The second board, appearing several weeks later, was the same as the initial board except that a red "x" was drawn through the printing and "Fight Truth!" was scrawled in red ink. The idea, of course, was to indicate that those mysterious people and organi— zations which are against truth were attempting to harass WBBM because the station did such a factual job of reporting. Stage three of the campaign, which went into effect several weeks after the second board appeared, 180 Radio free Chicago. WBBM NEWSRADIO 78 ...; ‘ enerai orma. ' t io free Chicago. newsman flIIWW’ 181 featured the same basic board only now, presumably, with the forces of truth having their say. "WBBM" was circled and the truth brigade's cry of "Sock It To 'Em!" was written in blue. This three stage outdoor campaign was innovative in its use of graffiti and pointed up the importance of I.“ a reliable news source in contemporary society (which "J‘Ifl. 1.! I would, of course, be WBBM in Chicago). Especially the second board, with its unfavorable connotation of man- “fl aged news or partial facts, was a strong graphic repre- i sentation of WBBM's service in securing factual news for its listeners. The "Radio Free Chicago" theme was also carried through on television with a saturation campaign for six weeks on WBBM—TV announcing the new format. WBBM Radio ran a minimum of one spot an hour on its own air to explain the new all—news service. In addition, WBBM News Director John Callaway was heard periodically on the air describing the all-news format. Thousands of questioning letters and telephone calls were received by WBBM because of the format change. Each inquiry was answered by a letter from Vice President and General Manager William O'Donnell which explained the reasons for the change and the new format. This can be viewed as a type of direct mail audience promotion. 182 Much of the promotional effort was concentrated in newspapers. Full page (and smaller) ads were printed daily in the four major Chicago papers. The first series of ads ran for three weeks and a second series of smaller pieces ran for another three weeks. The approach used in these ads, as well as the television spots, was what Promotion Manager Richard Axtell described as "stark black and white realism in photography, with copy centering around activities at Chicago City Hall, the smoldering ruins of Chicago's rioting, Vietnam issues, '68 political campaigns and other hot, topical issues." Such an ad is shown as Figure 49. The photography is indeed stark, and the cOpy states that "Radio free Chicago, WBBM is committed to truth . . . ." This preoccupation with truth seems to be one of the major features of the WBBM promotional effort. The introductory ad in the campaign pictured a barbed wire fence with a radio transmitting tower behind it (presumably WBBM's tower beaming the truth to those behind this fence). The headline read: "Now WBBM is NEWSRADIO like you've never heard before. Radio free Chicago!" The body copy of the piece continued: Beginning now, you will become a part of this city like you've never been before. WBBM is now broadcasting news and features l7-l/2 hours a day. With a news staff that's tripled to fifty . . . with 4 mobile units cruising the city night 183 A Radio free Chicago reporter is well paid, has excellent fringe benefits, and unlimited opportunity for advancement. Safety is something else. When riots tore up Madison Slim-t last month no one had to ask WBBM's Nr-ws Dlit‘ClOl John Callaway to "go get a story." He was thr-rc It s thr- way of life fov WBBM's rr porters WBBM NEWSRADIO 78 has no use for reporters wrth just pretty VOlCL‘S. lhoy must be committed to bring where the action is, no matter what the personal hazards may be Now wr- could stay away, and 'Oly on Official Rr‘porls But Radio fit-c Chicago, WBBM is committed . l0 "Lilli (iiirllltqf FT‘wt‘Yl",(}r" . ,1i'i ',- 'r, ”i t', . ~,,r,. v Siriil li.'.riri t": v'w... , ., i-‘-;ri.v til. if or r}. i MADISON STREET, APRIL 5th Figure 49.-—WBBM Newspaper Advertisement (General Format) 18A and day . . . with WBBM reporters in City Hall . . . in troubled neighborhoods . . plus the World Wide facilities of CBS News . . . plus the Associated Press . . plus United Press International . . . plus hundreds of other newsmen throughout the United States and Canada . . . you won't just hear the news. You'll live the news on WBBM Newsradio 78. WBBM is Newsradio like you've never heard it before. A similar slogan is used here as was used by WCBS-- "Newsradio like you've never heard it before." This probably is an attempt to combat the "rip and read" image established by Chicago's previous all-news station WNUS. The concept of "living the news" is a device to get listeners excited about the new format. Other ads in the initial "Radio free Chicago" series promoted these concepts of listener information, excitement, and involvement. One ad pictured the Chi- cago City Hall with the headline "Radio free Chicago breaks through the granite curtain. The rest is up to you." The copy noted how WBBM's reporters probe beyond official public statements to get at the facts and allow listeners to make up their own minds. Another print piece had a picture of National Guardsmen patrolling Chicago's riot-torn West Side with the headline "Hear it like it is on Radio free Chicago." This reversal of the popular phrase "Tell it like it is" referred to WBBM's investigative reporting. The COpy urged readers (and listeners) to find out what's really going on before taking a stand. 185 Still another ad pointed up this information function of WBBM. The photograph in the ad showed housetops in a residential neighborhood—-a very placid scene. The headline, in bold print, read: Abortion School busing The pill Open housing Vietnam Find out what's really happening on Radio free Chicago. After arousing the reader's interest, the ad copy continued: Break out. Escape from the unreality of your everyday life. That's what WBBM's features are all about . . . features meant to anger you, entertain you, shock you. Hear Lee Phillip and guests talk about personal and family problems. Hear Dr. Freda Kehm and Mal Bellairs answer your questions about child care. Hear Van Gordon Sauter report on the background of news stories as they break. Hear all the interesting features on the issues that interest you . . . or should. Radio Free Chicago is more than just 17-1/2 hours a day of news. We're out to liberate you. The emphasis in these ads is on the way WBBM can help make its listeners more informed and aware citizens. In addition to promoting its news format, WBBM also pro- motes its features heavily-~these features are essen- tial to the station's mission to liberate its audience from ignorance of the facts. 186 WBBM runs ads on its personalities and special fea- tures in addition to the above ads promoting the station image. Like the other CBS all—news stations, WBBM pro- grams the "Arthur Godfrey Show" and "Music 'Til Dawn" and is heavily loaded with information features. Many of the personalities that previously answered listeners' questions on the air via telephone now answer questions that are written in to the station. There are no more telephone shows. One typical personality ad contained no art work and had the following c0py: Help Radio free Chicago help your child Dr. Freda Kehm & Mal Bellairs answer your letters on the air, 9:16 a.m. 11:10 a.m. 12:16 p.m. 1:16 p.m. 2:16 p.m. weekdays. Dr. Freda Kehm, WBBM's Child Development Specialist, and Mal Bellairs, father of eight, really know what they're talking about when it comes to child care. They know child raising is getting tougher all the time, and they want to help. DrOp Dr. Kehm and Mal Bellairs a line, and get quick, on the air professional advice on your problems, large and small. 187 These important features are made possible by the MIRACLE WHITE People, makers of MIRACLE WHITE SUPER CLEANER and MIRACLE WHITE FABRIC SOFTENER. Both MIRACLE WHITE and WBBM are committed to doing all they can to help today's youths become tomorrow's leaders. This ad not only promotes these specific child care features but also merchandises for Miracle White, sponsor of these special reports. Features on traffic, psychology, cooking, fashions, and key newsmakers are also scheduled on the station as well as interviews, phone-out calls to newsmakers, news analyses, and special investigative re- ports. WBBM's all—news service follows in the CBS tradi— tion of a highly-featurized service. The introductory promotion of WBBM's new format was all tied to the "Radio free Chicago" theme. Other, more recent, promotional campaigns have extended this somewhat. One such campaign was specifically designed to attract former listeners of WNUS. When WNUS switched its format from all—news to music, the station adopted the slogan "wall-to-wall music." WBBM ‘Promotion Manager Axtell used this slogan in his campaign which was based on the theme "So you wanted all—news and got wall-to-wall music. Tune to WBBM Newsradio 78." ; WBBM has continued its strong community involve— ment and public service and has continued to promote its strong local personalities. The "Radio free Chicago" idea seems to have been an effective one in attracting listeners to the new format. One advertiser (Telex Hearing Aids) had been advertising on WBBM for seventeen 188 years. With the advent of the Newsradio 78 format, the company's mail inquiries as a result of on—air spots jumped 395 per cent. "Radio free Chicago" in addition to being a promotional aid for WBBM seems to be an apt description of a station devoted to truth and the involve- ment of listeners in current events. KCBS-«San Francisco,,California KCBS, the CBS owned-and-operated station in San Francisco, is the most recent station in the country to switch to an all-news format. KCBS, like some of the other CBS o-and-o's, has undergone two format changes to arrive at all-news. The station was a personality— music operation with a heavy emphasis on news in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Then, following many of the CBS stations, KCBS began scheduling talk and infor- mation programs, although the station did not commit itself exclusively to talk. In May, 1968, the infor- mation programming was extended and KCBS became an all- news service. While KCBS was playing music, the station's person- alities were promoted heavily to establish them with the San Francisco audience. A typical print piece, which ran in all San Francisco newspapers, is shown in Figure 50. This is an ad from January, 1962, and was used to intro- duce KCBS' bright new morning personality Dave McElhatton. The ad established McElhatton as being a little wacky, but 189 Will McElhatton make it to the office on time? if you tune in at 6 a. m. you'll find out! Not only that—you’ll wake up to the Bay Area’s newest, most exciting radio show. You’ll hear up-to-the- minute, on-thespot news coverage by KCBS' award-winning news team. You'll hear the time and the weather. You'll hear happy music and a host of sparkling features in the McElhatton manner. In short. you'll hear “McElhatton In The Morning" (6 to 10 a.m.)—the perfect way to start your day. Why not let us get m up in the morning? Just set your dial for 74. cos RADIO WWII. Figure 50.--KCBS Newspaper Advertisement (Dave McElhatton) 190 still human enough to have problems getting up in the morning. The copy suggested that KCBS (and McElhatton) could help in getting the reader up and out of bed. Spe- cific components of "McElhatton In The Morning"--news, time, weather, music, and humorous features-~were also promoted. HR The logo (in the form of a microphone) established '3. the call letters well enough, but did not include the dial position. In fact, the only mention of the dial . position was in the final line of the copy--"Just set a your dial for 7A." The only slogan used for KCBS at this time was "CBS Radio In San Francisco"--not a very descriptive phrase. "McElhatton In The Morning" was promoted heavily in all media. The campaign was built around the theme "Get the McElhabit" and audience promotion to this effect was run in newspapers, on billboards, posters, and in on- air radio spots. In addition, a short film trailer pro- moting McElhatton was run in four San Francisco movie theaters. Contests were a major part of the KCBS promotional philosophy. These were often used to promote specific programs and personalities on the station. One such con- test (run during the summer of 1965) was especially designed for the off-beat "McElhatton In The Morning." This was the "Win Your Weight In Dollars" contest which was conducted by McElhatton on his program. Each 191 listener who wished to enter was asked to send in a post card with his name, address, and telephone number on it. Four cards were picked at random each day and these lis- teners each received two record albums. At the end of each week, one of these winners was selected to win his weight in dollars-~at the rate of one dollar per pound. At the conclusion of the contest, the Grand Prize winner (chosen from among the previous winners) was awarded an all-expense-paid trip for two to New York City for the World's Fair. "Win Your Weight In Dollars" followed the same pattern as most of the contests at KCBS--a random drawing tied to some unusual premise. As KCBS began adding telephone talk programs to its schedule, the station altered its promotion somewhat. The personalities were still promoted since the talk shows were centered around these hosts, but the station logo was changed and a slogan was developed to describe the talk format-~"talk—back radio." All media continued to be uti- lized in the promotional campaigns, but the emphasis at this time was on audience involvement. A typical print piece is shown in Figure 51. Notice the slogan used as the headline and the logo pointing up the fact that "KCBS 74 has something to say." The ad indicated the controver- sial and informational nature of the show and urged lis- teners to participate. Even the slogan "talk-back radio" was indicative of the importance that KCBS placed on 192 talk-heel: radio with Morgan-in-the-Middle On one Side. you. the radio listener on the phone. Versus guests like Stokely Carmichael, John Rousse- lot. Joan Baez and Helen Gurley Brown. With Morgan in the middle to ward off the blows. Come get involved. C" . 1,”; $\ - r: _. \ ~ 3 e e a. V ' Harv Mor/ CONTACT nightly 8:30 to 11:30 pm Kc B s i V‘ has something to say. Figure 51.--KCBS Newspaper Advertisement ("Contact") 193 listener involvement. The unusual photographic effect showed how Morgan was indeed "in-the-middle" and how lis- teners were given a chance to sound off to the guests and vice—versa. The "Contact" ad in Figure 51 not only promoted the show, but also the opportunity to talk to the famous personalities who appeared as guests. This use of well~ known people as guests to stimulate conversation and audi- ence participation was an integral part of the telephone talk format at KCBS. Many of the promotional pieces for KCBS promoted these guests to listeners. The ad in Figure 52 (for the station as a whole rather than any one par- ticular program) shows another method of working the guests' names into the COpy. Not only were the guests promoted, but also the listener involvement. The art work in this ad (which was obviously meant to symbolize lis- teners and guests conversing) was carried through in other KCBS print pieces. These other print pieces were not only for the pro- motion of previous guests, but for upcoming guests as well. One small ad (which featured the same graphic of the telephone receiver and the same theme phrase "KCBS has something to say--and our listeners talk back") announced that listeners could "Ask Stokely Carmichael about 'Black Power'--8:35 to 11:30 p.m. Friday." Such pro- motion not only could help attract a large audience (if YOU COULD IF YOU’D BEEN TUNED Listen to AND talk with famous and/or fascinating peo- ple. From McElhatton in the morning, through Spectrun 74 and Newsday tn the afternoon and Contact at night. Sorry it you missed last week. But come around THIS week and get into the act. KCBS has something to say . (and our listeners talk back!) TALK- BACK RADIO SAN FRANCISCO Figure 52.——KCBS Newspaper Advertisement (General Format) 195 the guest was controversial enough) but allowed listeners to think about their questions in advance of the show which perhaps could make for more stimulating conver- sation. Of course, these guest appearances were men- tioned often on KCBS to help in creating listener interest. Some of KCBS' promotional ads did not specifically mention any special guest, but concentrated instead on the fact that listeners could call in and speak to the host about any subject. One small piece (which was typical of these ads) featured a telephone dial with the on-air telephone number printed inside the dial. The headline read simply "talk-back radio" and beneath the dial the copy continued (in reference to the telephone number): from Oakland and the East Bay and talk with Dave McElhatton about news, weather, traffic and the Red Baron. 6 to 10 a.m. Mornings with McElhatton KCBS radio 74 has something to say 196 During the time KCBS was "talk-back radio," the station was as contest—oriented as it was during the music format. For example, the station's major audience promotion of 1966 was the "Whirlwind Party" contest in which fifty listeners won a "whirlwind trip" from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back to San Francisco. Listeners merely had to send in post cards which were drawn at random throughout one KCBS broadcast day. All fifty people selected won a one day all-expense- paid trip to Los Angeles (where they toured CBS Tele- vision City and ate lunch in the CBS commissary) and Las Vegas (where they dined at Caesars Palace hotel). The group returned to San Francisco after the event- filled day. The "Whirlwind Party" was promoted in the local newspapers and on KCBS' own air for the four weeks of the contest. In 1967, McElhatton conducted a "Mrs. Chinatown Contest" in celebration of Chinese New Year. He asked for husbands, children, and friends of the contestants to send in names and photographs of their entries. Three finalists were selected from the photos and the winner was picked after an interview with McElhatton and two other judges. "Mrs. Chinatown/KCBS" (as the winner was titled) and her family rode in San Francisco's Chi- nese New Year's Parade and received a free dinner with Dave McElhatton's family at a restaurant in Chinatown. 197 The winner also was awarded merchandise prizes which included a transistor radio for each of her children. This "Mrs. Chinatown Contest" was a simple one and involved little expense for KCBS, but it got the station's major personality involved with the audience and indi— cated how important KCBS felt the Chinese community is to San Francisco. In addition, the station received a great deal of publicity because of "Mrs. Chinatown/KCBS'" appearance in the parade. Later in 1967, KCBS tied a contest in with a pro- motional campaign. The promotional effort was the "Go Big Name Hunting" campaign which was carried out through newspaper ads in the major San Francisco papers, tele- vision spots, billboards, bus cards, and KCBS' own air. The theme of the campaign was that many of the "big names" of politics, sports, entertainment, and news could be heard on KCBS' "McElhatton In The Morning" program. An example of a print ad in this campaign is shown as Figure 53. The theme is established immediately in the headline and the caricatures picture the wide range of "big names"--from Stokely Carmichael to Ronald Reagan and from Phyllis Diller to Yvonne (one of San Francisco's famous topless dancers.) Other features of the show (the "Stupid Idiot Award," "McElcaptions," traffic reports, and news to mention but a few) were promoted in the box at the lower right-hand corner of the piece. The copy to the left 198 ,A .. .. .- y ,0 - .. -' . . " .i -;»-" v ‘ ‘ ‘ ’- .1. . ' -: -‘ . -. ‘ a ‘ " n ' '. ‘ . 3”_." pa , ‘ I 1.- g" ‘ 2"'...‘ . 1.: » , I l I ' '.-' . ..'-__ _ .‘a‘ 0 .' \ . . -, ... -:. ~ . . t. - . g 'a , .l . ‘ ,_ I - ' ‘ ‘ .'. .. > g ~ -' ' > g..f'_-_,;_-‘_-. r ' . '1 ' ' .~ '_ . '5'; '~ ~ , . . .- »- v. '- Senator Everett Dirksen r a four-year-old kangaroo ”WMMWuM'sa-bm .- Red Skelton '- a lady who wanted to sell her husband STUPID IDIOT awaao— m . rr mm nus '- Eva Marie Saint r the president of the Flat Earth oav...nmmx-W mmsamn ant—mm - ' - hbnportlocelelmlllceondlom(mguycaledmmemldde Socrety - Stan Freberg n" etc. No name Is too big nor 0' m. "0' ”mm- mm‘mo“_“a° “ too small for Dave McElhatton to stalk out. track down and souaonou 74mmamm—mqmmm. bring 'em back alive...or on the telephone during his morn- mwnfigium'mwwm $ ing radio show. Are you missing something? semen (m ot‘The Search tor ml- Earhart") A1 LARGE. us-ou-svoms-mmneoommumw Ion” K088 “- (at Senator DIM). Flat will “Ulla Thing” (don‘t eat lobby ra lo _ Kennedy). Alto map-mum,me has something to say. motlnr never W you W W by PM owe. tmhbheummmmrmcmgomgflmHunungwllhoavelnolenoylm. Figure 53.--KCBS Newspaper Advertisement (Dave McElhatton— ,Contest) 199 of this box noted some of the people McElhatton had inter- viewed since "No name is too big nor too small for Dave McElhatton to stalk out, track down and bring 'em back alive . . . or on the telephone during his morning radio show." This ad with its unique caricatures and witty copy would seem capable of generating interest in the show among people who had not heard it before. Especially the last line of copy ("Are you missing something?") .- should start listeners wondering if they are missing something if they miss McElhatton. Beneath the KCBS logo was the contest tie-in "Tune in to hear how you and your family can go Big Name Hunting with Dave in Dis- neyland." The "Big Name Hunting" contest itself was a random drawing on McElhatton's program of post cards sent in by listeners. All fifty-eight winners and their fam- ilies were flown to Disneyland with McElhatton and his family for a day's visit, courtesy of KCBS. In the field of contests, KCBS seemed committed not only to random drawings (as many other stations are) but also to awarding trips as prizes. KCBS per- sonality Mike Cleary awarded six listeners and their guests a trip to Hollywood for a day in a contest con- ducted on his program. This was also a random drawing and Cleary and his wife accompanied the winners. By 200 having the air personality and his family join the con- test winners on these various trips, KCBS involved its program hosts with the audience on a very personal basis. Not all of the contests held at "talk-back radio," however, were random drawings. For Independence Day, 1967, Dave McElhatton held another of his interesting contests. Listeners were asked to duplicate the painting of the "Spirit of '76" (in this case, renamed the "Spirit of '74" to tie-in with KCBS' dial position). The painting depicts a patriotic flutist, flag bearer, and drummer in Revolutionary War days. When recreating the painting, listeners were told to substitute the figures of McEl- hatton and two of the strange characters on his show in place of the original trio. The entrants were encour- aged to use their imagination and entries could be drawings, paintings, sculptures, or even photographs. A panel of Judges chose three winners who were announced on McElhatton's July ch show. The prizes awarded were relatively small—-first prize was a tran- sistor radio for every member of the winner's family, second and third prizes were dinners for four at local restaurants. This contest, which did require some skill to enter, still drew several hundred entries. It indi- cated KCBS' desire to celebrate Independence Day and was a light, fun—type promotion which allowed listeners to create something. In addition, the three winning 201 entries were displayed at the main American Airlines office in San Francisco; this was further audience pro- motion for KCBS since McElhatton and his cronies were featured in all three works of art. Later in the summer of 1967, KCBS launched an unusual community-minded audience promotion. The two- and-one-half week promotion was the "We Want You, Char- lie" campaign, designed both as a listener contest and as a method of convincing Charles Finley to move his Kansas City baseball team to Oakland, California. All of KCBS' air personalities invited their listeners to send in post cards with "We Want You, Charlie" written on them as well as the listener's name and address. Twenty of these cards were drawn at random at the con- clusion of the contest and each winner received his choice of one prize from among a list that included watches, movie cameras, patio barbeques, portable tape recorders, hairdryers, and floor polishers. In ad- dition, if the Kansas City team did actually make the move to Oakland (which it subsequently did), each winner would receive a pair of season tickets to all the team's home games and a baseball autographed by the players. After the campaign-contest was over, all cards were sent to Finley's office in Kansas City to show how enthusiastic the fan support was in the San Francisco- Oakland Bay area. This promotion gave listeners an 202 opportunity to win some valuable prizes and also allowed them to perform a service for Oakland with KCBS acting as coordinator. The campaign was a success since the Kansas City Athletics did move to Oakland and the twenty winners received their additional prizes. However, KCBS did not secure the broadcast rights to the games as the station had hoped. KCBS has also been very public service minded through the years. Typical of the station's public A service campaigns was the "Operation Paperback" drive held in January of 1968. This was a three week cam- paign which asked listeners to donate paperback books for shipment to Marines in Vietnam. The drive was con- ducted by KCBS in cooperation with the Twelfth Marine Corps District. Listeners could bring or send their books to the KCBS studios or deposit them at any of the twenty branch offices of First Savings And Loan Asso- ciation, a KCBS advertiser which offered to help in the drive by donating its facilities. KCBS ran an average of eight on—air spots a day for ten days promoting the drive and the total number of books collected was over 200,000. As an additional promotion for KCBS and the Marines, CBS Correspondent Don Webster, based in Vietnam, taped an interview with the Marine Colonel who accepted the books. This inter- View was aired by KCBS and listeners heard the official 203 expression of gratitude to KCBS and its audience. Pub- lic service campaigns such as "Operation Paperback" not only can get listeners involved in doing something worth— while but also enhance the station's image as a solid community-minded organization. It was against this image of strong public service and the possession of what was probably the best news team in San Francisco radio that KCBS made the decision to become an all-news station. There were undoubtedly several other factors that influenced this decision. One, of course, was the fact that three other CBS o—and— o's had changed to all—news and could offer advice on what to do and what not to do; in other words, KCBS did not have to be the trailblazer. Also, there was no all-news competition in the market when KCBS began its all-news service. KCBS, seeing a nationwide trend toward all- news in large markets, perhaps wanted to get the jump on any other San Francisco station that might decide to program this format. Promotion Manager Russ Smith cited another reason for the switch to all-news. He noted that it takes virtually "unlimited" funds to operationally conduct an all-news program schedule. KCBS, with CBS Radio behind it, can afford the format while other stations might find it too expensive. This economic restriction on all—news competition makes it more dif- ficult for KCBS to be "knocked off" quickly by another 2OU similar station in the market as sometimes happens to a music—personality or talk-personality station. On May 28, I968, KCBS began its new format. One of the introductory newspaper ads illustrated Smith's philo- sophy of promoting the total news concept and not indi- vidual personalities. The ad had no art work, but the copy was arranged as wire copy might be: NOW KCBS IS TOTAL NEWS. . . .SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. . . .WITH LOCAL. .REGIONAL. .NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS. . . . . .PLUS SPORTS. . .TRAFFIC. . .WEATHER. . .BUSI- NESS. . .AND FINANCIAL REPORTS. . . .IT'S ALL HERE WHEN YOU WANT IT. KCBS IS WHERE IT HAPPENS. . . . . .YOU CAN DEPEND ON IT! The ad was completed by the KCBS logo--"KCBS - NEWSRADIO 7A - That says it all!" This ad established KCBS not as all-news, but as "total news." Smith promotes KCBS this way because (with Godfrey and "Music 'Til Dawn") the station is not really all-news, but its news is complete and extensive for nearly eighteen hours daily--thus the phrase "total news." Another feature of the ad is the logo "KCBS — NEWS- RADIO ?“ - That says it all!" This is the slogan that is 205 used to promote KCBS in all media. In addition to news- papers, Smith employs billboards, bus cards, ten second television spots, and KCBS' own air to promote NEWSRADIO 7A. The "7A" is especially important because none of the major San Francisco newspapers print the dial positions of local radio stations. This must be established by each individual station. So "NEWSRADIO 7A" must become well- known for listeners to know where to locate KCBS on the dial. Promotion Manager Smith feels that just because a station is news-oriented does not mean that the program- ming or promotion has to be stuffy. KCBS' programming is kept lively through the use of many special features in addition to straight news, and the promotion also is oriented toward liveliness (in good taste). For example, on the KCBS billboards and bus cards the black lettering is printed against a background of fluorescent colors. These boards (see the example in Figure 54) feature a different color background for each line of type. There are three different boards in the series--one done in shades of orange and red, another in shades of pink and purple, and a third in a combination of orange, red, and pink from boards one and two. All contain the same copy. The boards began appearing in June, 1968, (coin- cident with the format switch) and were alternated in 206 Ahmapnm 1‘. .1 .mth \l C 0v wasonfiaem mmoxnu.sm meamfim 207 a campaign with bus cards. The boards were shown in June (board one), August (board two), and October (board three), and the bus cards were displayed in alternate months (July, September, and November). In Figure 5“, it can be seen that the printing on these boards was blocked, except for the second line in which "NEWS" extends out to the left. This was done intentionally since, after all, news is really what KCBS is all about and Smith wanted the "NEWS" to be prominent on the boards. Note also that "KCBS" is printed alone on the top line and that the station's slogan is featured at the bottom of the board. This slogan, incidentally, was developed by Smith to serve two purposes, and he plays up its double meaning. "That says it all!" when used in conjunction with "NEWS- RADIO 7A" indicates that KCBS "says it all" in regard to the day's news, being comprehensive and thorough. Also, the phrase indicates that "NEWSRADIO 7“" says it all about KCBS—-the station is total—news. As noted earlier, "That says it all!" is used in all station promotion. An example of a print piece for KCBS is shown in Figure 55. The special photography not only attracts attention but also relates to the copy ("...most well-rounded source of total news and information"). Promotion Manager Smith also ties in this slogan with the station's on-air promotion, which centers 208 KCBS NEWSRADIO 74 is Northern California’s largest most well-rounded source of total news and information. KCBS NEWSRADIO 74 In San Francisco that says it 2L1! Figure 55.--KCBS Newspaper Advertisement (General Format) 209 around actuality reports previously broadcast as KCBS was "saying it all." KCBS also runs a Speakers Bureau which provides newsmen to speak to local groups on news and the cov- erage of it. This is all handled by Russ Smith. All of this relates to Smith's concept of pro- _‘ moting the news format as a whole rather than individual 1 personalities. This was more difficult for KCBS than for many other stations because KCBS retained many of its previous air personalities when it converted to its total— mt In“ . .‘ news format. These personalities had previously been promoted heavily to establish their individual traits and now had to be assimilated into a total format which, for the most part, deemphasized individuals. But KCBS has apparently been able to successfully accomplish this change of emphasis in the promotional effort. Even such a strong personality as Dave McElhatton (who withstood the transition from a music to a talk format and now is morning anchorman for the total-news operation) has worked into the new format. Smith does promote the spe- cial capabilities and talents of individual newsmen, but all this is subordinate to the main promotional effort. KCBS, which was so active in the area of contests, has not abandoned the contest concept totally. However, the contests for NEWSRADIO 7A cannot be quite so frivo- lous as when the station was more personality-oriented. 210 A typical contest (run in observance of July A, 1968) asked listeners to send in slogans tied in with Inde— pendence Day. The best of these were used on the air and the contestant received a small prize. There is cer- tainly a vast difference between this contest and McEl- hatton's "Spirit of '74" promotion which was run the previous year. Smith believes that an all-(or mostly) news format can be attractive to all types of listeners. KCBS' research indicates that the average listener listens two or three times during the day for between fifteen and thirty minutes at each sitting. KCBS, because of the nature of its format, is not trying to get people to listen to the station all day as they would to a music or talk station. The ultimate goal is to make KCBS everybody's second radio station in San Francisco--a station to which people can tune when they want news. Any station's promotion must be based on the station's market and competition within the market. Russ Smith has attempted to tailor NEWSRADIO 7A's pro- motional effort to the San Francisco audience and has selected "That says it all!" as the phrase around which to build the campaign. The station's rates have increased since the new format went into effect--this is one con- crete measure of KCBS' (and Promotion Manager Smith's) SUCCGSS . 211 Summary and Conclusions The two broadcasting groups analyzed in this sec- tion have differing vieWpoints as to the promotion of their all-news stations. Group W prefers the corporate approach and all three of its stations' promotional activities are quite similar. The reasoning is that what worked in New York at WINS can be used to promote all—news stations in other markets. The corporate ap— proach also allows Group W to coordinate the sales promo- tion of the three stations to a greater degree than would be possible otherwise. CBS, on the other hand, tends to leave the pro— motion of an individual station to the Promotion Manager of that station. Some of the slogans and phrases used at different CBS stations are the same, but the majority of the promotional activities used at these stations vary from station to station. Thus, "Radio free Chicago" is the campaign theme at WBBM, "That says it all!" is used at KCBS, and "Try our brand of all-news radio" is one promotional idea used at WCBS. This same orientation is evident in the programming of both groups' all-news stations. While the CBS stations all use the same network newscasts and features, the 212 remainder of their individual formats are different. WBBM programs many of the same features and personalities (like Mal Bellairs and Dr. Freda Kehm) as it did when it was a talk station, KCBS has its special features (such as a weatherman who reports from a state park nearly 3,900 feet in the air), and WCBS offers its unique features (such as a brief news quiz daily). The object appears to E} be the creation of all-news services tailored to these : various markets. Group W's three all—news stations seem to be more unified in their formats. There are special 3i features, but the general formats appear to have the same 2 structure. However, Group W has one major advantage--its sta- tions are truly all-news. The CBS stations, tied up with network commitments, are "mostly-news" since they all program news for about seventeen hours a day. This lack of a completely unified format makes the promotion of these stations more difficult. This is the same point emphasized in the section on telephone talk operations. Some of the CBS all-news stations analyzed have tried to overcome this programming handicap in their promotion (through such means as the use of "total news" to describe KCBS' format rather than all—news), but nothing seems to be more effective than a 2A-hour all-news format pro- moted as such. 213 There are several general points to be noted in regard to the promotion of all-news radio stations. For the most part, the station's personalities are not promoted to the audience. Rather, the service of all- news (as Steve Bell of WINS points out) receives the primary emphasis. The CBS stations deviate from this philosophy slightly—-they do promote the big-name net— work newsmen who are familiar to the audience. The series of ads that WCBS ran to promote these men was the most notable example of such personality promotion. Contests do not seem to be major promotional activities of all-news stations, because of the serious nature of the programming and the fact that individual personalities are not promoted as much as the all—news service itself. As has been noted, many contests on music or talk stations promote personalities. Those all-news stations that do have contests do not run humorous or wild ones (as personality stations are likely to do). Instead, contests on these stations tend to be like the Independence Day slogan contest run by KCBS-—more public service oriented. Stunts are not in the scheme of all-news pro- motions. Whereas a station like KFWB staged stunts such as Air Shows, ”Honda Happenings," and "Lohman and Barkley Pie Throws" at the time it was a music operation, the wierdest stunt it has staged since the format switch 214 to all-news was the skytyping promotion announcing the new format. And, judging from the lack of stunts at other all-news stations, even the skytyping might be considered as an extremely wild promotion for such stations. Group W's corporate philosophy has made it easier for the group's three all—news stations to use tele- H vision effectively. The two television films prepared by Group W for use by these stations are probably more i expensive than any one of the stations could have afforded alone. Yet by interchanging logos, the films can be used for all three stations and the costs can be amortized. Group W's television spots—-with their unique way of emphasizing the immediacy of all-news stations--seem to be very effective promotional pieces. Their effective— ness is increased through wise scheduling of the films in or near television news shows. The CBS stations produce their own television spots individually and thus cannot spend as much on them. As with the talk stations analyzed in the previous section, these all-news stations put most of their pro- motion effort into print promotion. The same pointers that apply to print promotion for talk stations (page 92) generally apply to all-news print promotion as well. The copy should invite listeners to tune in (and give them a reason to), art work and headlines should grab atten— tion, and the advantages of the all-news format (the 215 service function) should be promoted heavily. If the photography and headline can reinforce each other (such as the WCBS ad featuring the aerial shot of New York and the headline "WCBS NEWSRADIO 88: HOW TO STAND A CITY ON ITS EAR"), this can make the ad even more effective. Cartoon art is used to promote all-news stations _ (at least those analyzed) to a greater extent than the Bi telephone talk stations studied. Group W (especially i WINS) and WCBS use cartooning in their ads. This is ‘ one way of injecting a light touch into the promotion ' without being unduly frivolous. Posters, billboards, and bus cards are used by all six all-news stations. These outdoor displays gen- erally carry through the same campaigns used in other media, although usually in abbreviated form due to the fact that observers typically do not have much time to spend looking at outdoor promotion. Thus, KFWB's "We interrupt this billboard" is merely an extension of the station's "We interrupt this newspaper" campaign. All-news stations are not as concerned with listener involvement through participation as are the telephone talk operations. The emphasis in all—news promotion, as noted earlier, is on the service aspects of the all-news format. What types of campaign appeals are used for all-news stations? Group W's stations (following the successful promotion campaigns used at WINS) have concentrated 216 on two main slogans: "All news. All the time." and "You never know what's going to happen next." Other slogans ("News the minute you want it" and "NEWS NOW") have also been used. These promotional slogans all reflect the importance of news to the listener and the ways in which an all-news service can provide immediate news. The three Group W stations tend to organize their Efi promotional efforts into "flight campaigns" so that the audience does not become so attuned to one campaign theme i “-1 that it no longer has any effect. g H The CBS stations analyzed have all adopted the phrase "Newsradio" which, along with the dial position, is used to label the various stations. However, "News- radio" does not necessarily signify an all-news station to listeners. WERE and WEEI (neither of which are all- news outlets) both use "Newsradio" in their promotion. One positive feature of the "Newsradio" slogan is the fact that it is coupled with the dial position. "News- radio 7A (or 78 or 88)" quickly identifies where the station may be found on the dial. KFWB used the phrase "Newsradio 98" as part of its promotion, but has dropped it to conform to the other Group W stations. In addition to the "Newsradio" label, the CBS stations have used other slogans to promote their all- news formats. WBBM's promotion in its "Radio free Chicago" campaign is concerned with the station's dis- semination of truth. Some of the pieces in this campaign 217 (such as the ad showing Chicago's City Hall and the head- line "Radio free Chicago breaks through the granite cur- tain") seem to imply that some form of news censorship is being practiced in Chicago. If this is the case, then WBBM is to be congratulated for its service to the public in breaking the censorship, but if WBBM has P created this censorship image merely for its own pro— motional use, the station is probably derelict in its public service obligation. The point to be noted here i is that promotion should be tempered with ethical con— E siderations as well as audience building ideas. WCBS has used many promotional slogans in New York. "It's like nothing you ever heard before"—-the initial slogan-—is a dangerous one because of the pos- sible negative connotation that can be attached to it. It also could apply to almost any "new" format and this means that it is not promoting the essence of what all- news really is. A slogan should have some tie-in to the format it is promoting. WCBS' second slogan--"All the news. All day. All evening. All week long."--is merely an extension of WINS' slogan and seems to have two main faults. First, it appears to be too lengthy to be remembered by the audience and, secondly, the audience might be unfavorably disposed toward such an obvious "borrowing" of slogans fron1WINS or might confuse the two stations. Perhaps 218 WCBS was hoping to confuse the audience, but this is not a desirable promotional tactic. The next slogan used--"Listen. Why shouldn't you be the first to know?"--seems more suitable for an all-news station. It was related to the format and implied that WCBS' listeners were ahead of other people T1 in regard to news awareness. WCBS' current promotional slogan-—"Try our brand of all-news radio"-—is probably the best of the station's ‘1 III-f‘.‘wl—¢ ‘- slogans in terms of its competitive situation with WINS. The campaign tied to this slogan illustrates the various places where listeners can profit from an all-news service ("in your car," "at breakfast," etc.). It also encourages a specific action ("Try our brand. . .") and if Promotion Manager Martin can succeed in getting lis- teners to sample WCBS, the task of holding the listeners is up to the programming. WCBS, like most of the other all-news stations, has built its logo from the theme slogans of its cam- paigns. After "It's like nothing you ever heard before" and "All the news. All day. All evening. All week long." appeared in the copy of ads, these slogans became part of the logo, and then were drOpped. Only one slogan was used in the logo at any one time. The current logo contains "Listen. Why shouldn't you be the first to know?" (a former theme slogan). This 219 logo is run in connection with the "Try our brand of all— news radio" campaign. It would seem desirable to keep the station logo as constant as possible to establish its identity. The Group W stations, for example, began using "All news. All the time." as part of their logos very early. By continuing to use the same logo (with only slight modi— fications), WINS, KYW, and KFWB have established "All news. All the time." as the service each of these stations provides to its community. But since WCBS has E changed its logo so frequently, the audience may have a more difficult time in identifying with it. WCBS also did something else that none of the other stations tried. It introduced its format in two phases-~about three months apart. This does not appear to be the optimum method of inaugurating a new format. It forces the use of two "introductory" campaigns and it makes the format seem segmented to the audience. 'The WCBS format as it is is not completely all-news; by fragmenting it even further in the Phase I campaign, the station made its task more difficult. In this writer's opinion, a format should not be introduced to the audience until the station can introduce it totally. :Saturation campaigns such as those used at WBBM and ICFWB seem to be effective in introducing this type of anified format. 220 In regard to audience campaigns, the recent Group W "You never know what's going to happen next" print series was a very imaginative, well—done campaign. This series, with its art work tied to the copy and headline, took excellent advantage of the unexpected news developments that seemed to occur with regularity. The theme slogan itself conveyed the importance of an efficient all-news service, and when it was coupled with references to actual news stories and the coverage of them by the individual Group W stations, the slogan took on added impact. In the campaign pieces which featured the slogan alone (with no reference to spe- cific stories), the reader (or listener) could supply his own interpretation of what had happened that he didn't expect. WCBS tried this same approach in some of its ads by mentioning some of the current names and places in the news and suggesting the audience listen to WCBS to keep up with latest developments. Other ads noted how WCBS had covered certain stories. But without the added appeal of the line drawings, these ads did not seem as potent as the WINS series. Another effective appeal was used in the WINS cam— Iaaign featuring ads such as "The War in Vietnam isn't tieing fought every hour on the half hour." The WINS canmaign based on "making a WINS button" on car radios 221 and setting clock and table radios to WINS also reiterated the idea that the audience cannot anticipate when news is going to occur and should keep tuned to WINS to find out the latest stories. This is a different philosophy than is followed at KCBS, which is out to become every- one's second radio station in San Francisco. Some of the stations tried to make the news for- mat more personal to listeners. Ads with headlines like WCBS' "Sure you're angry about the mess in the streets. Who isn't?" and copy like WBBM's ". . . you won't just Eggg the news. You'll llXE the news on WBBM Newsradio 78" are examples of these efforts at personalization. I It is likely that many listeners (perhaps a majority) are more concerned about their local garbage strike than the war in Vietnam; appeals like these would prob- ably be very successful in attracting listeners. Mention might be made here of some of the special promotion devices used. Booklet reprints of documen— taries (used at WINS) and such useful devices as the calorie counter and price computer (used at KYW) can promote the station to its audience. These pieces also promote special features of the all—news format, and reinforce the print promotion in this area. Of course, the main intention of all this audi- ence promotion is to attract listeners. It is useful to examine how successful some of the stations have been in this regard. 222 Perhaps the most interesting situation exists in New York where two of the all-news stations analyzed are in competition. WINS' rise has been truly amazing. The station was rated around ninth or tenth in the New York market when it converted to all—news in April, 1965. By October, 1965, its advertising revenues for the month were higher than the previous October (Bennett, National Observer, January 22, 1968, p. 13). By October, 1966, WINS was rated fourth in weekly cumulative audience 7 by January, 1967, the station among adults from 25-49; had climbed to the number three position. The next year (January, 1968), WINS was first in this important category. The station made similar gains in other audi- ence categories and is now number one with men in New York and number two with women (Figures all from ARB Metro Area reports up to and including April/May 1968). WCBS has increased its audience somewhat, but by July, 1968 (according to ARB Total Survey Area reports), averaged around fourth or fifth in weekly cumulative audience in all categories. Note that WINS' figures are based on Metro Area reports and WCBS' figures are from Total Area reports. This undoubtedly causes some dis- crepancy in comparing the two stations. —_ 7Weekly cumulative audience is defined as the un- duplicated audience of a program (or station) over a week. The total number of different homes (or listeners) reached during the week is the cumulative audience. Because of the special nature of the all-news format, this seems a better indicator to use than the average l/A hour audience. 223 But the evidence still seems clear that WINS is reaching more listeners per week than WCBS. This may be a result of several factors——the fact that WINS has been all-news for about two years longer than WCBS, the fact that WINS is all-news twenty-four hours a day and WCBS is not. or it may be that WINS' promotion attracts more attention. Perhaps it is a combination of these ele- ments; it is very difficult to predict in this area. In the author's opinion, WCBS is now counter— promoting WINS more effectively than at any previous time. If the station could become truly gllrnews, this might be the needed step to compete with WINS on more equal terms. The "Music 'Til Dawn" contract expires for all the CBS stations in 1969. If it were not renewed on WCBS (and WBBM and KCBS), these stations would then be more integrated in regard to programming. This is especially important for WCBS because it is in direct competition with another truly all-news operation. Again, the importance of programming and promotion functioning together on a complementary basis is shown. Other stations have also done well with all-news formats. KYW in Philadelphia doubled its total weekly audience in two years after switching to all—news. It jumped from fifth to second place in total weekly adult listeners during this period (ARB figures cited in Bennett, National Observer, January 22, 1968, p. 12). This would seem to invalidate Promotion Manager Munro's claim that 22“ Group W's promotional approach is not workable in Philadelphia. To sum up, it might be noted that a strong intro— ductory promotional effort can aid greatly in estab— lishing the all—news stations. Especially when a station is making a drastic format change (as from rock music to all-news), this strong inaugural campaign is essential. .1 ‘llfl CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION This study has examined the audience promotion activities of ten major-market radio stations: four telephone talk stations and six all— (or nearly all-) news Operations. The specific conclusions about the promotion of these two formats are contained in the sum- maries of the respective sections. A few general suggestions will be offered here. First, some general principles of effective audience promotion. The following list is from Jacob Evans' book Selling and Promoting Radio and Television. I) Give the promotion eye or ear appeal Gain attention 2) Glamourize your programs . . . . Capture people's imagination. 3) Be specific. Give the public reasons why the program will be appealing. A) Use newsworthy,gtimely copy 5) Stick to the point. Make the copy clear, descriptive and . . . brief. 6) Move people to action. Emphasize the time of broadcast and the station's dial position (1954, p. 297). 225 226 When Evans was writing, the trend was toward indi- vidual programs rather than unified formats. Today, a station (whatever its orientation) must have a specific format image for the promotion to be used to full advan- tage. The above principles can still be applied to today's promotion problems. But those stations which do not have fully—unified formats place their Promotion Managers at a disadvantage. As has been stated several times throughout this paper, the promotion of a station should take into 2; account the market and competitive situation, as well as the budget, objectives, and station promotional philo— SOphy. There are advantages to a corporate approach to audience promotion (such as relatively lower cost and more unified sales promotion), but the flexibility that is needed to adjust to local conditions should be main— tained. The most desirable system, for most stations, is one achieving the proper balance between corporate control and local autonomy. Another important concept relates to the promotion <3f a new format. Whether the change is from music to ‘talk, from talk to news, from music to news, or from "x" 'to "y" is immaterial--a major change in programming srnould necessitate a major change in promotion. Mggig Ikicisions magazine (June, l968, reprint) has stated that The promotional effort, . . . can't be concen— trated in just the first month or two and be in and out. It's a case of having to change and 227 build new habits, and that's a tough nut to crack these days when there may be scores of am—fm—tv signals competing against one another in the same market. The Promotion Manager can use contests, stunts, posters, billboards, newspapers, television, bumper stickers, bus cards, his own air--the whole arsenal of promotion devices--to build an audience for his station. a?! He must choose those techniques that fit his format, budget, and philosophy, and he must commit himself to- tally to the promotional effort. To attract an audience, 1; people must notice and be aware of the station. é Sound audience promotion has additional benefits. If a given promotional event is intriguing enough, the station can obtain additional promotion through news- paper articles or television films about the event. Perhaps the most effective method of garnering this free publicity is to be active in public service and sponsor many public service promotions. These events seem to reflect favorably on the station, even in com— peting media. Promotions which get the station involved in the community are also successful in garnering space in other media. One final point should be made. Due to the rapid turnover of station personnel, it would be desirable for stations to keep more efficient files of audience promotion activities and campaigns so that Promotion Managers would have a better idea of what had been done 228 for several years previous. The current files are kept up fairly well, but an efficient back-file would put the station's current promotion in proper perspective, and guard against a new Promotion Manager duplicating a previous campaign unknowingly. The brilliant British lyricist Sir William Gilbert was totally unconcerned with audience promotion when he created the following lines from Ruddigore I: If you wish in this world to advance Your merits you're bound to enhance; You must stir it and stump it, And blow your own trumpet, Or, trust me, you haven't a chance. But, in essence, this is the underlying philOSOphy of all audience promotion. This study has shown several ways that this phiIOSOphy has been implemented. LIST OF REFERENCES American Research Bureau. New York Radio Ratingg Reports, April/May and July, 1968. "As you promote so shall you reap," Broadcasting, 73, Number l7 (October 23, 1967), pp. 88—93. Bennett, Ralph K. "Radio Stations Ride an All—News Format to Ratings and Prosperity," The National Observer (January 22, 1968), pp. l2-l3. ' Connah, Douglas Duff. How to Build the Radio Audience. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1938} Dennis, Harry. Personal letter, February 6, 1968. Evans, Jacob A. Selling and Promoting Radio and Tele- vision. New York: Printers' Ink Publishing Com- pany, Inc., 195”. "Hottest trend in radio," Media Decisions (June, 1968), reprint. "Los Angeles is talking . . . and talking. . . ," Sponsor, 20, Number l9 (September 19, 1966), p. 57+. "McLendon all news at Chicago station," Broadcasting, 67, Number 8 (August 2“, 196“), p. 68. "McLendon wary of WINS test," Broadcasting, 68, Number 16 (April 19, 1965), pp. 76-78. Midgley, Ned. The Advertising and Business Side of Radio. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1938. Mitford, Jessica. "Hello, There! You're On The Air," Harper's, 232, Number 1392 (May, 1966), pp. 47-53. "News and nothing but the news on X-TRA," Broadcasting, 60, Number 25 (June 19, 1961), pp. 108-09. Newton, Dick. Memo, January 15, 1968. Riggs, Frank L. "The Changing Role of Radio," Journal of Broadcasting, 8, Number A (Fall, 196“), pp. 331—39. 229 230 Seehafer, Gene F., and Laemmar, Jack W. Successful Tele- vision and Radio Advertising. New York: McGraw- Hill, Inc., 1959. Seidenbaum, Art. "KLAC, Where The Talking Is Constant," Los Angeles Times West Magazine (March 2A, 1968), pp. 9-13. Summers, Robert E., and Summers, Harrison B. Broadcasting and the Public. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1966. "Want to be different? Turn to talk," Broadcasting, 70, Number 26 (June 27, 1966), pp. 75-106. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVER I Y 51’ LIBRARIES 6 3 1193 03082 105