Category: Broadcasting Magazine Detroit Radio

75 Years Ago, August 1, Broadcasting Magazine Reported In-Depth On the Status of the Radio Market in Detroit — Final Chapter – Part 6

 

 

Note: Missed Chapter Five? Go HERE.

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Detroit is headquarters for one of the country’s largest producers of TV visual presentations in the Jam Handy Organization. The TV department of this company was set up prior to 1941 by Jamison Handy, president, utilizing all the facilities which had been built up over 30 years in the field of visual training and commercial motion pictures, including production facilities in New York and Hollywood, as well as Detroit.

A citation for the “skilled application of commercial techniques to television” was made by the Television Broadcasters Association for the TV commercials of Lucky Strike, produced by the company. In addition, CCNY presented N. W. Ayer & Sons Inc. their 1949 award of merit for creating the most effective spot television announcement. This award was for the Lucky Strike Square Dance commercial produced by Jam Handy. Other Jam Handy TV commercial buyers are Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Curtis Publishing, Gruen Watch, and Standard Oil of N. J.

All of the Detroit stations except WKMH offer simultaneous FM with AM broadcasts. WWJ-FM is one of the earliest stations in the country. In 1936, it began broadcasting in this medium which was so new that a News editorial said at the time:

“The News is happy to assist in the revival of a craft which has languished with the perfection of commercial radio sets, the building at home of receivers suited to the new frequencies. A few of these are now manufactured, and their names or advice and plans for the home construction of sets of the same sort, we shall put at the public’s disposal.”

With FM receivers in the Detroit area estimated at 150,000, the three FM-only broadcasters are working hard at their specialized task, using music, news, and especially strong local programming of live talent. WLDM-FM was recently appointed Detroit outlet for the Michigan FM Network, which give it access to a continuing series of concerts from the U. of Michigan, plus the programming of the other 30 FM stations in the network. The Lincoln Broadcasting Co. owns and operates WLDM.

[Note: Mouse click over (pc) or tap and stretch (mobile screen) over the CKLW ad and all images for largest detailed read.] 

WDET (FM), which was established in January of this year by the executive board of the UAW-CIO, works closely with many civic groups plus the many auto worker locals. It is especially forward in presenting programs on controversial subjects. During the recent Ford strike, the station offered its facilities to both the company and the union to present their sides of the controversy. Ben Hoberman is station manager.

Strauss Gantz, head of WJJW (FM) in downriver Wyandotte, is another avid supporter of FM, and said this about broadcasting:

“Radio, either FM or AM, without good local programming, serves no public purpose, and becomes either a glorified jukebox or merely a relay point.”

Since Detroit was hooked up to the eastern coaxial cable in January, the growth of television in this area has been rapid. The latest estimate of the number of sets by the Detroit Edison Co. is over 60,000, and TV men confidently expect to hit 100,000 by year-end. The three stations each opened in a blaze of publicity, getting editorial and advertising support from the Detroit newspapers, each of which put out a TV section at different times. Advertisers, especially the key auto men, have been eager to try to do a good selling job via the new medium.

All four TV networks are represented in Detroit. WWJ-TV is outlet for NBC, WXYZ-TV for ABC, and WJBK-TV handles DuMent and CBS. There is FCC authorization for another channel, with several applications pending.

As expected, the auto men jumped into television with the opening of the first station in the city. The fact that here was a way of actually showing the product along with a spoken sales talk caused a rush to TV by both local dealers and national companies. One station, WXYZ-TV, had an eight-foot opening cut into its studio wall so automobiles could be driven directly onto the stage for commercials. END

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MCRFB Note: This chapter finalizes The Detroit Radio Market report (presented here in six parts) first published by Broadcasting, August 1, 1949.

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This article will conclude our weekly special series on Detroit radio from Broadcasting magazine, from August 1, 1949.

This feature was a special Broadcasting series about Detroit radio, first published, August 1, 1949. The complete article was republished on this site, Tuesdays, throughout August and September for a total of six weeks.

Originally published in Broadcasting magazine under the title “The Detroit Radio Market,” this extensive article was presented in full in six parts, in sequential chapters.

The 1949 article provides valuable insights into the state of radio in Detroit during the late 1940s decade, as it was, then, seven decades ago.

75 Years Ago, This Month, Broadcasting Magazine Reported In-Depth On the Status of the Radio Market in Detroit — Part 5

 

 

 

Note: Missed Chapter Four? Go HERE.

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Rather than buck the heavy advertising in the Thursday afternoon papers, he advised them to put their money in spots around the Breakfast Club hour, three of which were open. Avoiding price, for their quality foods couldn’t compete with the chains on that basis, the spots stressed just one special all week, with a reference to the convenience of “shopping where you work.” Each booth was to be featured for a week. Results were so good that the market has just signed to take two spots in the fall around the Kate Smith show, in addition to the regular purchase.

The Twin Pines Dairy, a cooperatively owned client of Luckoff, Wayburn & Frankel, has the Dr. Crane health program daily over WXYZ. Lately, the dairy has bought TV spots.

D & C Steamship Lines uses a heavy schedule of spots during the operating season on larger stations to promote excursions and cruises. WJR gets a large share of this business, aimed at tourist traffic from all over the Midwest. Another successful radio user is Cole & Irwin Co., buying 10 spots daily to sell jewelry and radios.

Boyer’s Haunted Shacks, a chain of auto accessory stores, embarked on a saturation spot program on one station, WJBK, featuring an eerie squeaking door commercial, and the copy, “High prices don’t have a ghost of a chance at Boyer’s.” Mr. Luckoff says the chain has had remarkable success. Other leading L -W -F accounts are T. L. Grissom, local Chevrolet dealer, who broadcasts horse races from Detroit’s Fair Grounds; Detroit Ice Assn., using TV spots to promote use of ice; Progress Bedding Co., maker of Rest -O -Craft mattresses, using chain breaks around high Hooter rated shows; Wolverine Potato Chips, with participation shows: and Borin Ice &. Fuel, using TV spots.

Note: Mouse click over (pc) or tap and stretch (mobile screen) over the WXYZ ad image for largest detailed read.] 

In addition to Industrial National Bank, radio has been used by practically all of the institutional and utilities advertisers in Detroit. Commonwealth Bank, through Ted Reeves, of Toledo, is a long-time user of spots.

Detroit Edison Co., electric power supplier to Detroit and suburbs, uses the H.C.L. Jackson (Detroit News columnist) show, and was one of the first TV sponsors in the area, with its Kitchen Carnival show on WWJ-TV. It has another TV show, the Jane Durelle Story Book, a children’s program five times a week. This is in keeping with the utility’s policy of spending 90% of its budget in goodwill and public service programs. The only sales effort now going on is a spot, campaign throughout southeastern Michigan on electric water heaters. Campbell-Ewald is agency for Edison.

Fred Randall Co. places the Michigan Consolidated Gas Co. sponsorship of the Lee Smits newscast over WXYZ. Though the bulk of Bell Telephone time is placed in New York, the Detroit office retains a measure of supervision over local programs.

It is a doubtful honor in the ears of many, but Detroit claims credit for the origination of the singing jingle. In 1928 Cliff MacDonald, of the coal company bearing his name, in looking for something different for his ads, hit upon the idea of making up a short song to be used in spot radio. He wrote the words to a tune composed by a Detroit pianist, Carl Rupp, and “MacDonald for coal, MacDonald for coke, MacDonald for quality fuel” was introduced by Russ Morgan’s orchestra, then active in Detroit. The tune caught on, and for years Mr. MacDonald was saluted with it whenever he entered a club or dance. It is still used in spots. Neff Radio Productions is the agency.

The position as oldest consistent advertiser on WJR goes with no opposition to the Ohio China Co. of Monroe, Mich. Using participations on the station’s Mrs. Page show, this company has used two spots per week for 18 years, renewing each year, and going through three different Mrs. Pages in that time. Finzel Agency of Monroe handles the billing. Two of the largest spot buyers in the city are Speedway Petroleum Corp. and Federal Department Stores. Both of these 1,000 or more spots-per-year buyers are handled by W. B. Doner & Co. Though a reluctant radio user at first, Speedway Gasoline now puts ‘75% of its budget into radio and is planning a TV show for fall. The King’s Jesters’ singing commercial, “Speedway’s Goin’ Steady With Ethyl,” has aroused many favorable comments.

Federal has had a 1,000 spot-per-year contract for the past five years, and formerly sponsored a local AM amateur show for seven years. With 12 stores in the Detroit area, Federal is planning a super-saturation in August, preliminary to opening a new store; 150 AM spots a day will be used and 30 TV, for two weeks. A preview, complete with columnists, representatives of national manufacturers and Powers models for color, will be telecast. W. B. Doner is president of the company, with Charles F. Rosen as executive vice president. They handle the bulk of the agency’s radio accounts.

Another brewer with a big radio and TV budget is E & B. This company, through the Doner agency, has been placing a third of its budget in air time, and is sponsoring Tuesday night wrestling matches, with a Friday wrestling show scheduled to start in a few weeks. In addition, it is using 20 time report spots per day on WJBK, and has spots running continuously in 10 out-state markets.

Other prominent Doner accounts are: Annis Furs, now buying eight spots per week on major stations, heavier during fur storage season; Enggass Jewelers, one of the oldest spot buyers in Detroit; Faygo Beverages, buying top spot and chain breaks when available; Detroit Retail Druggists Assn., which has five and 15-minute shows on four major stations simultaneously. Doner also prepares copy for the Big Bear chain of super markets, planning radio and TV shows later in the year.

Harry Betteridge, who resigned as general sales manager of WWJ and WWJ -TV in April to form the firm, of Denman & Betteridge, with Willian I. Denman, is another radio and television veteran in Detroit. In lining up sponsors for WWJ-TV, Mr. Betteridge was selling television a year-and-a-half before the first Detroit telecast.

Michigan Mutual Insurance Co. is one of the agency’s principal accounts, using spots 52 weeks a year on 25 stations in five states. Another outstanding effort was that of the Thomas J. Doyle Co., a Dodge-Plymouth dealer, in promoting its Glitter-Glaze, an automobile polish. Through a strong spot campaign over 17 years, it was able to make Glitter-Glaze a common noun in the city, a la Simoniz. Detroit and Toledo Philco distributors last year used nine half-hours per week on television, one of the heaviest TV buys in the U. S. Other active accounts of Denman & Betteridge are Silvercup Bread (Gordon Baking Co.) and New Era Potato Chips. The agency also places the DeSoto Dealers of Detroit business, a buy of telecasting rights to the horse races.

No history of Detroit radio would be complete without recounting the story of The Lone Ranger. This tremendously popular program, with two others, The Green Hornet and Challenge of the Yukon, was created and developed by George W. Trendle, who is now president of Trendle-Campbell Enterprises. Mr., Trendle entered radio in 1930, buying station WXYZ, and operating it with his theatre business associate, John H. King. The firm was then known as the King-Trendle Broadcasting Corporation.

Beginning in 1933, during the depression, the program was a hit from the start. Gordon Baking Co. (Silvercup Bread) began sponsorship in November of that year, and continued until 1941. Now in its seventeenth consecutive year of broadcasting, The Lone Ranger has established a world record for half-hour radio dramas. The show started on a three times a week basis in its first year, and continued without interruption until the death of FDR caused the first cancellation. Since 1941, sponsorship in most areas of the country has been by General Mills for their Brix, Cheerios and Pyequick, through Dancer, Fitzgerald-Sample. In the South and Southeast, the program is sponsored by Marita Bread, through Tucker, Wayne & Co., based in Atlanta, Ga.

The other half of the partnership is H. Allen Campbell, vice-president and general manager of T-C Enterprises, who went to the sales staff of WXYZ in 1930 from a Detroit newspaper. Within six months he was sales manager of the corporation. It was he who first sold The Lone Ranger as a network program, first with NBC Blue, then with ABC. Made general manager of Trendle-Campbell in 1933, he became vice president in 1946, when the firm began to be known as Trendle-Campbell Enterprises. In 1936, Trendle created The Green Hornet, still carried weekly by ABC as a sustaining program. Challenge of the Yukon, latest of the Trendle Trio, is currently being sponsored three times weekly by Quaker Oats Co., through Sherman & Marquette, Chicago. The company also owns and operates WTAC Flint, Michigan. MCRFB: to be continued next week . . . .

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This feature is a special Broadcasting series about Detroit radio. This was first released by the publication on August 1, 1949. It will continue as an exclusive presentation every Tuesday on this site throughout August and in the first and second two Tuesday in September, for a total of six weeks.

Originally published in Broadcasting magazine under the title “The Detroit Radio Market,” this extensive article will be presented in six parts, continuing in sequential chapters.

The 1949 article provides valuable insights into the state of radio in Detroit during the late 1940s decade, as it was, then, seven decades ago.

75 Years Ago, This Month, Broadcasting Magazine Reported In-Depth On the Status of the Radio Market in Detroit, Michigan

 

 

Note: Missed Chapter Three? Go HERE.

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The agency’s oldest active radio account is Schmidt Brewing Co., user of available spots before or after sports events. This account got one of the greatest bargains in radio history last fall when it bought a package deal of the AM rights for the Stanley Cup hockey games. The first game of the series, instead of ending in one hour, went more than two hours overtime, and permitted more than 100 commercials. Naturally, copy wasn’t written for even a great part of that number, and partner Simons wound up dictating new ones over the phone to the waiting announcers at Olympia Stadium. Schmidt is now buying spots on each of the three TV stations, plus a steady schedule of AM spots.

Simons-Michelson also placed Benrus Watch spots before the World Series games last fall, on every available station on a one-time buy. It instigated the Wheaties five-minute sports program before leading football games all over the country-pro, college, even high school or semi-pro if the game had generated enough interest in a specific area. Unfortunately, the football season was just a little too late in the year to do a good selling job on a cold cereal, and the idea was dropped.

[Note: Mouse click over (pc) or tap and stretch (mobile screen) over the WJR ad image for largest detailed read.] 

Pepsi-Cola is a heavy spot buyer in the Detroit area. Dossin Food Products is the local bottler, and at present is also using the Ty Tyson 10- minute sports show. One of the outstanding success stories in the food line is that of Velvet Peanut Butter. A comparative newcomer to the field, Velvet now ranks as the largest selling brand in Michigan despite the competition of national names.

This preference for radio has been built in part by the Floyd Rice account, local Ford dealer, which claims to buy and sell more used cars than any new car dealer in the world. About 75% of its budget is put into radio, especially spots, with emphasis on nearness to sports programs. Occasionally it buy sports shows. The agency also handles the Plymouth Dealers of both Detroit and Cleveland. The Detroit organization sponsors the early morning traffic program, Listen and Live, built around music, with a representative of the police department giving pertinent data on traffic, weather and driving conditions for the a.m. drive to work.

During last fall’s Plymouth model changeover, the Detroit dealers used twice as much point of sale display as they did radio, but when the 1949 Plymouth was introduced this year, the program had swung to 100% radio. In Cleveland, a saturation schedule was put on all stations, using over 400 spots in two weeks. Two other active auto accounts are Park and Jefferson Motors, Lincoln-Mercury dealers who buy a half-hour newscast once a week.

An instance of a product catching on with the use of radio through Powell-Grant is Miracle-Power, an engine conditioning product made by the A. P. Parts Corp. of Toledo. Another “off-trail” advertiser is the Southeastern Michigan Tourist Assn., which uses mid-week spots to buck up business in resorts that are having dull times, to pull out-state residents into the Detroit area, and Detroiters into the vacation-land along the eastern shore, north of the city. The association claims it can see a response the next weekend to spots placed on Wednesday. Lee & Cady, wholesale grocer, uses chain breaks to ‘satisfy retailers’ demands for product backing up. A furniture retailer, Fenster’s, uses spot radio in three-day buys when the store holds sales. Robert H. Powell is head of Powell-Giant, with Pat Freeman in charge of radio buying.

One of the outstanding users of radio in this area has been the Goebel Brewing Co., which has expanded distribution to the point where it now advertises as “Detroit’s National Beer.” Through Brooke, Smith, French & Dorrance, Goebel sponsors the AM broadcast of all Tiger games, at home and away, over the Goebel network, a regional buy of over 30 stations, including WJBK and WKMH in suburban Dearborn. In addition, the brewery is telecasting some 35 home games over WWJ-TV. To round out baseball activities, it is active in Chicago, telecasting the Cubs’ games over WEN-TV.

Willard S. French is president of the agency and Guy C. Smith is secretary-treasurer. Other active radio accounts are Iron-Rite Ironers, of Mt. Clemens, Mich., now buying the five minute TV show, Petticoat Lane on WJBK-TV and using occasional AM spots, and Youngstown Kitchens, who plan using a TV test program in the near future.

Hugh Hole is BSF & D radio director, with Clyde Vortman as time buyer. This agency is housed in an Italian Renaissance mansion on East Jefferson that once belonged to the Book family and was a landmark in Detroit’s social life.

Like BSF & D, Jefferson avenue is the home of Maxon Inc., which is housed in two buildings, one the lovely old Barbour family home which contains the media and research departments, and a few hundred feet away, the former building of George Harrison Phelps, a pioneer Detroit broadcaster and ad-man, which now houses executive offices and production facilities. No. 1 radio account of this nationally known agency is the Gillette Safety Razor Co., which sponsors most of the major sports events of the year, including the World Series and the Triple Crown of racing, plus the fights from Madison Square Garden. However, the billing of this account and purchases of time are handled through the N. Y. office, under the direction of Preston H. Pumphrey, and Ed Wilhelm, time buyer. This is also true of the recently begun spot campaign of the H. J. Heinz Co., another giant Maxon account, which is being continued. (In spite of the recent N. Y. Times ad of the American Newspaper Advertising Agency). Searle Hendee, vice-president` of the agency, is account-executive on Gillette.

The chief local radio account of this agency, whose president and founder, Lou R. Maxon, is as well known for his unpublicized charities as he is for his meteoric rise in the advertising world, is that of the Pfeiffer Brewing Co. Currently, this company is using an hour-long 1 a.m. show on WJR, featuring records beamed at stay-up-laters, plus a steady schedule of spots on 53 Michigan stations. The increased advertising of this brewery is in great measure responsible for its recent vault into first place in beer sales in the state. On a slightly smaller scale is the spot campaign being used nationally by Drewrys Ltd. for their beer and ale. Both Of these accounts favor chain breaks and best available spots.

Stockwell & Marcuse is another Detroit agency that has been quite active in the radio and television field. Sam’s Cut Rate, a local department store client, has sponsored the Detroit Symphony and has been a large spot buyer in the past. The agency telecasts pictures of actual homes for sale for Homer Warren & Co., local realtor. It claims a first in bringing a political figure to the TV mike in Detroit in a paid telecast.

Another advertising agency handling radio accounts is Howard D. Steere Advertising with offices at 2812 Book Tower. Howard D. Steere is owner of the firm.

In the institutional field, Stockwell & Marcuse handles the Industrial National Bank, which sponsors the local broadcast of the Ronald Colman half -hour drama. Another steady user of spots is the Michigan Automobile Club, AAA representative in the state. William Stockwell and Philip R. Macuse head the firm, with Mr. Stockwell handling time buying.

One of the oldest firms handling local accounts is Luckoff, Wayburn & Frankel, which evolved from Bass-Luckoff, founded in 1928. One of the original partners, Louis Bass, left Detroit and established a new firm, Bass-Luckoff of Hollywood. Lou Luckoff, senior partner of L, W & F, is a strong supporter of radio, especially spots. He says: “We find that a consistent program of spots, properly used, can go a long way in increasing volume. The key phrase is, properly used.” And he backs his statements with time buys, too.

Another leader in the local field is the Rex Advertising Co., who estimate their radio and TV billings as ‘70% of the agency total. Under the direction of Fred A. Epps, president, and Jack Trustman, v.n. in charge of radio and TV production, this agency has had to change locations three times in as many years, each time doubling space used. They are producing the half hour Club HADA TV show for the Hamtramck Auto Dealers Association, which features talent from the Bowery night club, plus guest stars, in a variety show. This association, whose members are in violent competition with each other, joined hands two years ago in an endeavor to publicize their Auto Row and to win business away from world-famed Livernois Avenue. One of the dealers, Krajenke Buick, in addition just signed a 52-week contract with WJBK-TV for a televising of western serials. Woody Pontiac, and Harley Buick are TV spot buyers. In the AM field, chief spot buyers are Lasky Furniture, Clark Auto Sales, and Kowalski Sausage.

A unique success story is recorded by the Broadway Market, one of the oldest markets in the area, located in the heart of downtown. With the rise of supermarkets in neighborhood areas, business had been falling off badly. The 34 different concessionaires who had booths in the market held a meeting and called in Mr. Luckoff, asking his advice on the spending of a $25,000 appropriation. MCRFB: to be continued next week . . . .

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This feature is a special Broadcasting series about Detroit radio. This report was first printed by the publication, August 1, 1949. This exclusive presentation has continued every Tuesday on this site beginning in August. The last two chapters of this series will be posted two weeks — Tuesdays — into September, for a total of six weeks.

Originally published in Broadcasting magazine under the title “The Detroit Radio Market,” this extensive article will be presented in six parts, in sequential chapters.

The 1949 article provides valuable insights into the state of radio in Detroit during the late 1940s decade, as it was, then, seven decades ago.

75 Years Ago, This Month, Broadcasting Magazine Reported In-Depth On the Status of the Radio Market in Detroit — Part 3

 

 

Note: Missed Chapter Two? Go HERE.

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At Kenyon & Eckhardt, Don Miller is account executive on the Lincoln-Mercury business. Like Ford, L-M has been active recently only in TV, sponsoring Toast of the Town on CBS-TV. This show is live in the East, plus Detroit and Chicago, and kinescoped to the rest of the network. K&E also has the Detroit L-M dealers who are buying spots on all three local TV stations, plus weather reports over WXYZ-TV.

Packard Motor Co. has only one show going now, a WWJ-TV presentation of the George Scotti Show. Young & Rubicam, which just celebrated its 18th year as agency for Packard, handles the show.

Ford, in a surprise move in May, announced that its entire effort on the air was going to be concentrated on TV. The AM Ford Theatre was dropped as of July 1 and the entire budget thrown to the Ford Television Theatre, which is to go to every other week in October, with tentative plans for weekly operation after the first of next year. The Ford Dealers fell into line with this policy by dropping the Fred Allen Show at the conclusion of this season.

Note: Mouse click over (pc) or tap and stretch (mobile screen) over the WJBK ad image for largest detailed read.] 

The dealer TV offering, through the Crystal Ball, is being sponsored by the 16 sales districts that have TV outlets in their area. (There are 33 Ford sales districts, with 21 of them handled by the Detroit office of J. Walter Thompson Co.) Eight of them are using TV spots or short programs, including the Detroit Dealer buy of Baseball Scoreboard on WXYZ-TV, which gives the results of all major league games seven days a week. In the AM field, however, only one district is active in spots at present, the Denver area using a schedule on used cars.

This picture is subject to change with practically no notice, however, and in view of the dropping of the Allen show, the budget may allow for more in the way of spots. Last year, when the 1949 Ford was introduced, all 21 of the Detroit-handled districts used a large schedule of spots.

Getting a little car-sick? Let’s settle your nerves with another quick look at this enormous market, big and active enough to soothe the most ambitious salesman.

Though Detroit is 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean, it still ranks second only to New York as a customs district, largely because of the city’s heavy trade with Canada, the second largest customer of the U. S. Over the river to Windsor, Ont., soars the Ambassador Bridge, while the Fleetway Tunnel burrows beneath the water.

The river forms a natural harbor, and the banks are lined with wharves and elevators, helping to handle the north and southbound ore, grain and automobile shipping. Five major railroads service the Detroit area, plus several smaller lines and scores of trucking systems.

Leading products include automobile bodies, parts and accessories, steel and pig iron, brass products, pharmaceuticals, heavy chemicals, paints and varnishes, stoves and furnaces, electric appliances, machinery, foundry products, tools, dies, gauges, jigs and fixtures, adding and calculating machines, soda ash, salt, cleaning compounds, screw machine products and cutting tools.

One of the important things to remember about Detroit is the large foreign  speaking population, a classification in which the city ranks third in the nation. Hamtramck, a city completely surrounded by Detroit, has a population of over 300,000, mostly of Polish extraction. There are also strong nationality centers of Italians, Slavs, Irish, Greeks and many others, though each year brings a more thorough breaking -up of the old tendency to huddle together in nationality groups.

The market is big in every sense of the word. Last year, estimates of the value of the Wayne County factory product value were $7.9 billion. The highly paid workmen of the factories didn’t do badly, either, taking home $1,530,000,000 as their share of the bounty. The high wages of the factories in the area have had their effect on the wages of every other trade and profession. Employees of the Detroit Street Railway, a municipally owned transportation system, are among the highest paid workers in their classification in the country.

And lest the use of 1948 figures bring the suspicion that 1949 figures haven’t kept pace, the April 25 issue of the Board of Commerce paper, The Detroiter, shows that whatever the rest of the country thinks of a recession, Detroit is too busy turning out goods to worry about it. With 498,000 factory workers employed during the first three months of 1949 (a gain of 24,000), they had raised their weekly average pay to $66.89, with factory payrolls at $33 million weekly increases over the same 1948 period of 5.1 %, 8.7 %, and 14.2%, respectively.

Though department store sales were down 5 %, most of this was attributed to the later Easter date, and in any case, the increase of $21 million in bank savings, and $6.6 million in E Bond holdings, reflected that Detroiters still had the wherewithal. With the slight downward movement of living costs, the area’s purchasing power is expected to remain on the upgrade.

The tobacco industry was one of the brightest spots in the 1948 U. S. sales picture, producing 352 billion cigarettes, and Detroit didn’t hurt sales a bit, buying one out of every 25 packages sold. Produce is another item that ranks high in big business in Detroit, for the Produce Terminal reported the unloading of 30,248 carloads of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Naturally, Detroit as a home-loving city, specializes in brides. The city had 26,077 marriages in 1948, and multiplying this by the national estimate of $4,900 in merchandise and gifts that brides are directly or indirectly responsible for, shows a sub-market in Detroit of $127,777,000, and not all in silver butter dishes! If it’s baby foods or diapers you’re selling, 48,148 new customers came to Detroit in 1948, only 2,000 less than the all-time high of 1947.

While Detroit has its feet in the factories, it also has a place in its heart for the arts. The Art Center, just north of downtown, includes the $4 million Italian Renaissance style Institute of Arts, the white marble Public Library, and the Rackham Memorial, center of the city’s engineering societies.

A mecca for tourists as well as residents is the Ford Foundation in near-by Dearborn, where Henry Ford recreated a replica of an age gone by in beautiful Greenfield Village. Detroit has the largest Masonic Temple in the world, with two floors occupied by Fort Industry’s WJBK and WJBK-TV.

Four major airports serve the Detroit area. The Municipal Airport on the east side, just 10 minutes from downtown, is one of the country’s busiest, handling just air freight and private plane traffic. With the increased use of four-motored planes, all the passenger airlines moved out to the giant Willow Run Airport, site of the Ford B-24 building operations during the war.

The 30-mile trip from downtown to Willow Run has been a sore point with Detroiters and they are solving it in a typical way by making a tentative agreement with Canada to build an international airfield just outside Windsor, only 12 minutes from Detroit.

Such a city was bound to develop some outstanding advertising agencies, agencies which have been consistent radio users in both the national and the local fields. They tend to the conservative side, with a minimum of account shifting, but are prominent in the creation of new commercial programs and ideas, and able new business departments specialize in the development of retail advertisers.

One of the most outstanding jobs of radio promotion ever used anywhere in the country is the drug chain sponsored Cunningham News Ace, a series of 5, 10, and 15-minute newscasts on every Detroit station. These broadcasts have now passed the 75,000 mark, and are still going at the rate of 117 each week. The high mark came in 1946, when the News Ace “came zooming into your home” 185 times every seven days.

Using a unique plan of product manufacturer cooperation, the firm has had unrivaled success in its field. The chain has now expanded to over 100 stores in 17 Michigan cities. It is also a consistent buyer of programs before and after leading sports events, including the Paul Williams Sports Ace before Tiger home games, and Football Panorama in the fall. Larry Michelson, of Simons-Michelson, handles the Cunningham account personally, and is known as one of radio’s strongest boosters in the area.

Each year Cunningham puts on an anniversary sale backed by saturation use of radio. One year it bought all spots available on every Detroit station. Another landmark came when it brought the Don McNeill Breakfast Club to Detroit and broadcast the hour long show on all six of the city’s AM stations.

At the same time, Cunningham jumped into the TV picture as well, sponsoring the area telecast of Cavalcade of Stars in conjunction with nine drug chains in other cities.

Simons-Michelson will celebrate the twentieth anniversary this year of the Leonard N. Simons-Lawrence J. Michelson partnership. One of the foundation stones of the firm has been the all-out effort of both the partners on behalf of every community welfare and public service drive. Invariably, the fund raising drives of Detroit’s charities will list one or the other as publicity and advertising chairman.

Marian Sanders is radio and television director for S-M, assisted by Rudy Simons, son of Detroit’s famous songwriter and band leader, Seymour Simons. These two were thrown headlong into the production of filmed TV commercials when a promised commercial for an early TV client didn’t come through.

Dragging a cameraman with them, the two utilized any props they could to do the job, including Marian’s fiance and her own apartment. The agency became experts on paste-up commercials through clients’ insistence that production costs be held to a minimum, one even offering $20 for the costs on 10 jobs! They still insist that it doesn’t take a lot of money for the small advertiser to get into television if he will only use his budget in the smartest way. MCRFB: to be continued next week . . . .

_____________________

This feature is a special Broadcasting series about Detroit radio. This was first released by the publication on August 1, 1949. It will continue as an exclusive presentation every Tuesday on this site throughout August and for two weeks in September, for a total of six weeks.

Originally published in Broadcasting magazine under the title “The Detroit Radio Market,” this extensive article will be presented in six parts, continuing in sequential chapters.

The 1949 article provides valuable insights into the state of radio in Detroit during the late 1940s decade, as it was, then, seven decades ago.

75 Years Ago, This Month, Broadcasting Magazine Reported In-Depth On the Status of the Radio Market in Detroit — Part 2

 

 

Note: Missed Chapter One? Go HERE.

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Detroit is a city of many stories. It is the story of the gigantic auto plants that are within its boundaries and in the cities that surround it; of the thousands of tool and die shops; of the deep-laden lake freighters hauling iron ore down the river, and coal back up; of the drug industry; the stove works; the deep salt mines on the edge of the city.

But most of all it is the story of rows of homes, each with its backyard and front lawn, where friendly families talk across back fences and by the garages that hold the family cars. For Detroit not only believes in making cars, it also believes in buying them. In 1948 there were 551,000 passenger car registrations in Wayne County, which means that, with a little squeezing, the entire population could have been car-borne. Cars also accounted for the greatest single retail sales total, coming to $440 million.

A retail market the size of Detroit builds big business, and one of the city’s biggest is the mammoth J. L. Hudson Co. – now the largest in gross sales in department stores under one roof. Though it is also a tremendous buyer of white space, Hudson qualifies as one of the oldest consistent radio time buyers in the area.

[Note: Mouse click over (pc) or tap and stretch (mobile screen) over the WWJ ad image for largest detailed read.] 

For 15 years it has sponsored the early morning Minute Parade on WWJ, devoted to classical and semi-classical music. Another program on the same station is Home Making Highlights, devoted entirely to promotion of the store’s 10th floor where items for the home are sold. Rounding out its AM schedule is the Don Wattrick Sports Show on WXYZ three times per week.

The store waited even less time to get into television. It was one of the first advertisers on WWJ-TV, and its Sketchbook show is the oldest sponsored program in the area, having celebrated its second birthday in May. Still another TV offering is Man’s World on WXYZ-TV, a 15- minute show featuring topics of masculine interest. All of the programs are produced by Wolfe Jickling-Conkey with the exception of Minute Parade which is placed direct. Jim Christensen, radio and television director for the agency, directs them. Ralph L. Wolfe, agency president, heads the Michigan chapter of the AAAA.

But the first and foremost in the Detroit picture are the automobiles, and radio advertising budgets devoted to their sale. The use of radio by the automobile industry has been a sporadic one, marked by fine selection of new programs, developing them into national prominence, and then unexplainedly dropping them in time for some other sponsor to reap the harvest. But there are indications that the picture is changing, and it is perhaps worthy of note that the agencies handling auto accounts, both local and national, are all radio minded. Especially do the motor makers seem intrigued by television, for their cry has always been (even if mistakenly), “We’ve got to show ’em, to sell ’em!”

One of the oldest sponsor-client relationships in Detroit is that of Campbell-Ewald Co. and Chevrolet. At one time this agency had the entire General Motors billing, and when GM decided to split up the business, C-E chose to retain Chevrolet. Radio activity centers on this account, for the agency places time for many of the dealer organizations as well as the manufacturer. Chevrolet has been sponsoring the NBC-TV show, Chevrolet On Broadway, a half-hour drama. In January the auto maker had an all-out spot campaign to introduce new models, using three spots a day on 450 outlets for three consecutive weeks. Some 300 of these were factory buys all over the country, and 150 were dealer purchases in 14 metropolitan areas. Henry G. Little, executive vice president of the agency, handles this account.

The Detroit Chevrolet dealers are quite active, too, using two spots per day on four local stations, plus the Sunday half-hour of Ziv’s Wayne King show. To support the market for trucks, Chevrolet is beginning a spot campaign of indefinite length on 350 stations. Plans call for one spot per day on each outlet. Henry T. Ewald, founder of Campbell-Ewald, is president and chairman of the board. He is also founder of Detroit’s Adcraft Club. Another facet of the Chevrolet story is that of individual dealers. One, Grand River Chevrolet, is using TV spots now, through the W. B. Doner agency, and plans a TV variety show in the fall. Another, P. L. Grissom, is buying the AM broadcasts of the horse races from Detroit’s Fair Grounds, through Luckoff, Wayburn & Frankel.

Right down the hall in the General Motors Bldg. is the D. P. Brother agency, handling the Oldsmobile account. Olds also is using television, in addition to a steady radio schedule promoting the 1949 Futuramie models. It sponsors the Douglas Edwards news program three times weekly over CBS-TV, utilizing eight stations in a 52-week buy. In addition, 160 AM stations are sharing in a constant campaign of musical spots, featuring the tune that Olds must have given thanks many times for, “In My Merry Oldsmobile.” Mr. Brother is president of the agency, with Clarence Hatch Jr. as executive vice president and account executive on Olds. Carl Georgi Jr., also a vice president, buys all radio time.

Across the street from the General Motors Bldg. in the Fisher Bldg., which houses WJR, is another agency that goes back more than 30 years – MacManus, John & Adams. The late Theodore MacManus, founder of the firm, was voted into advertising’s Hall of Fame at the recent meeting of the Advertising Federation of America, for his services in pioneering in the field of automotive advertising. One of the agency’s auto accounts, Pontiac, just finished a spot campaign on the 1949 model, but future plans have not yet been revealed. Last fall Pontiac dealers bought the AM broadcast of U. of Michigan games on WWJ.

Principal radio buy right now is the Champion Spark Plug sponsorship of Harry Wismer’s Roll Call on 216 ABC stations. John MacManus is account executive of Champion. A local dealer, Packer Pontiac, is sponsoring a 15-minute newscast on WEXL, plus spots on several other stations. Another auto account is Cadillac, but is not a radio buyer. James R. Adams is president and W. A. P. John, who recently hit the pages of the Saturday Evening Post with an article on his recovery from a severe heart attack, is chairman of the board.

Hudson Motor Car Co. has a long history of broadcasting, including such buys as the Paul Whiteman Show. But the company had been out of network shows since 1937’s Kate Smith program until it returned this April with a 513- station, one-time buy of the entire Mutual network to celebrate its 40th anniversary. At the same time the Hudson Dealers of America launched a 700-station spot campaign that is still continuing two weeks out of each month. This cooperative program generally consists of five spots per week per outlet.

In addition, Hudson Dealers of Detroit have just picked up the tab on an across- the-board telecast of live and filmed news over WJBK-TV. The 15-minute program features commentator Larry Ruppel. The factory also is sponsoring five spots weekly on WJBK-TV and three one-minute spots on WWJ-TV and WXYZ-TV. Brooke, Smith, French & Dorrance is agency for Hudson.

The McCann-Erickson Detroit office is origination point for another auto account, Chrysler-Plymouth Dealers, buying Sammy Kaye Showroom on 364 stations, one of the largest groups ever to buy an automotive program.

Automobile plants often use spots to summon men back to work after layoffs caused by strikes or materials shortages. A heavy spot program is used the day before, on a spread of stations, listing those who are to report back and at what time. Briggs Body is a steady user of this idea through McCann-Erickson, as is Ford Motor through J. Walter Thompson. Chrysler Division of Chrysler Corp. right now is using only a one-hour disc jockey show on WJR. Paul Holder handles the C-P dealer program. MCRFB: to be continued next week . . .

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This feature is a special Broadcasting series about Detroit radio. This was first released by the publication on August 1, 1949. It will continue as an exclusive presentation every Tuesday on this site throughout August and September, for a total of six weeks.

Originally published in Broadcasting magazine under the title “The Detroit Radio Market,” this extensive article will be presented in six parts, continuing in sequential chapters.

The 1949 article provides valuable insights into the state of radio in Detroit during the late 1940s decade, as it was, then, seven decades ago.

75 Years Ago, This Month, Broadcasting Magazine Reported In-Depth On the Status of the Radio Market in Detroit, Michigan

 

 

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WHAT’S in a nickname? Known for two generations as “The Motor City” and during World War II as “The Arsenal of Democracy,” Detroit prefers to be called “The City Where Life Is Worth Living” or “The Dynamic City.”

But the clue to understanding and selling the Detroit market lies in the fact that the people consider it a good place to make a good life. The Detroit area’s 2,725,000 residents are home-owners. In the city proper there are 326,111 single and two-family dwellings, as against only 14,275 multiple units. So it is plain that any sales campaign directed at the cliff-dwellers of the East will miss the heart of Detroit.

[Note: Mouse click over (pc) or tap and stretch (mobile screen) over the WKMH ad image for largest detailed read.] 

A majority of Detroit’s homes are owner occupied, with the percentage rising each year, due partly to the post-war shortage of rentals but mostly to the character and ambitions of the population.

And this is only part of the market. Adjacent municipalities add 81,700 dwelling units, and unincorporated areas increase this by 41,300, with an even higher ratio of single, owner occupied units than the city proper.

A Detroit News estimate gives a total of 577,000 dwelling units in the city or a metropolitan area total of 700,000.

And they are home-staying people, too. Night clubs have rocky going, but neighborhood taverns are numerous. These Detroiters must be sold in their homes, which explains the success of the outstanding radio and television stations in the area.

The terrific Detroit market is split among a relatively small number of stations, thus making it possible for each to show a very respectable listening public at any given time. The AM field is covered by eight stations: WWJ (NBC), WJR (CBS), WXYZ (ABC), CKLW (MBS), WJBK, WJLB, WEXL and WKMH. WEXL and WKMH are located in suburbs.

All these except WKMH give simultaneous FM broadcasting. In addition, there are four exclusive FM operations in Detroit. Three are commercial – WDET (FM), WJJW (FM), WLDM (FM) – and one is non-commercial, WDTR (FM), operated by the Board of Education.

Just how big is this Detroit radio market? In 1948, time sales of the eight AM outlets totaled $7,800,000, with the billing of the three FM-only stations pushing the total over $8 million. In addition, there is a TV market that will add up to better than a half -million dollars this year at a very conservative estimate, based on 1948, plus growth in 1949. Breakdowns between local and national billing aren’t quite so accurate, but a good estimate would be that $3 million comes from local advertisers alone.

It is hard, sometimes, to convince non-Detroiters that there is anything else sold in the city but automobiles, and that it is not unique for someone to work anywhere but in the huge auto plants. The city doesn’t try to hide its dependence on, and pride in, the sprawling factories that made it world famous, but it likes to emphasize the hundreds of other important segments of its economic life.

As one production man put it, “Nobody makes nuthin’ until we make the tools for them.” And he was almost right. Tool and die companies in the Detroit area cover five full pages of type in the telephone directory, and are busy the year around turning out the means of production for industries all over the world.

Founded in 1701 by Antoine Laumet de la Mothe Cadillac, as a fort to contain the English in the West, the city has been a center of commerce ever since. In 1948, the total retail sales in Wayne County were $2,892,344,000, a gain of 13% over 1947, which had been the biggest year in history until then.

Sales like this can only be made to well -paid workers, which is what the Detroit area specializes in. The average hourly rate of a factory worker in Detroit had risen to $1.71 by the end of last year, which gives a weekly paycheck for 40 hours of $68.40. The high take-home of the city’s workers was reflected in federal bank records which show a jump of $20 million since last year, and a gain in savings deposits of $5 million.

The metropolitan area’s market of 2,725,000 residents tells only part of the story. Detroit is also the shopping center for much of southern Oakland and Macomb counties just to the north, well within the effective radius of the Detroit stations. At the turn of the century Detroit, of the wide shady streets and lovely homes running out East Jefferson along the river-front, had a population of only 285,000. But the invention of the automobile and the circumstances that induced Detroit to take this new industry to its heart and make it into the leading single industry in the country, transformed a quiet town into the fourth city of the nation, and the third greatest manufacturing center.

Detroit’s 144 square miles rise so evenly from the 11 miles of frontage on the Detroit River that the terrain appears level. There is a man-made skyline though, in the form of ranges of skyscrapers and banks of smokestacks, culminating in the tower of the Penobscot Bldg., 657 feet from the sidewalk. This, in turn, is topped by radio, for the WWJ-FM and TV operations are handled from the top of this building, with the antenna towering over the entire city.

Commercial radio came early to Detroit. WWJ, the Detroit News station — at that time W8MK, later WBL on Oct. 13, 1921, and finally WWJ on March 3, 1922 -began to broadcast regular programs on Aug. 20, 1920, and has been in continuous operation since that date.

There has been a constant dispute over whether or not WWJ antedates KDKA Pittsburgh, mainly turning on what is considered “regular programs.” This was the beginning of a long line of firsts claimed by the station, which is now under the general managership of Harry Bannister. They include the first announcer, William F. Holliday, the first news broadcast, dance orchestra, and many others.

In 1918, Dr. Lee de Forest was in New York City, where he was told by the government radio inspector that there was no room in the ether for mere entertainment, the air being needed for Navy communication. Driven from New York, Dr. de Forest tried to convince newspaper owners that they should install broadcasting equipment, pointing out that every big city had an increasing number of owners of those queer contraptions called crystal sets.

The first man to take to his idea was William E. Scripps, now head of all the News’ enterprises. He had been interested in radio since 1901, when he saw a demonstration by Thomas E. Clark, who sent a message to a point two blocks away in downtown Detroit. Mr. Scripps bought a small transmitter panel for the News, and it was tucked away in a corner of the sports department.

It mounted two oscillators and two rectifier tubes, similar to the one Dr. de Forest had been selling to the Navy. Since Feb. 13, 1925, WWJ has been the Detroit outlet for NBC.

CBS in Detroit is represented by the G. A. Richards station, WJR. Starting with an almost bankrupt property in 1926, Mr. Richards built it into one of the most profitable radio properties in the country. With its 50 kw, WJR attracts a high percentage of national accounts. Harry Wismer, sportscaster, has had a rapid rise in the organization, and is now general manager of WJR. In January 1947 Mr. Wismer also was named assistant to the president of the G. A. Richards’ stations, and a few months later was elected to the board of directors. Worth Kramer assists him at WJR.

The only network-owned and operated station in Detroit is WXYZ, bought by ABC in 1946. ABC retained most of the personnel of the station and raised James G. Riddell, veteran of 18 years with WXYZ, to general manager. Harold S. Christian, who doubles as commercial and merchandising manager, has built both sales and a strong merchandising reputation.

Since 1932, CKLW has been a network outlet in the Detroit area. With studios in both Detroit and Windsor, and offices in both cities CKLW is truly an “international affair.” J. E. (Ted) Campeau is president of the Western Ontario Broadcasting Co., holder of the license, and E. Wilson Wardell is commercial manager. Outlet for CBS until 1935, CKLW now is the Mutual and Canadian Broadcasting Corp. outlet. Like WJR, CKLW broadcasts with 50 kw.

There are four independents, all showing solid financial strength in their billings and all appealing to large segments of the market. WJBK has seen a phenomenal growth since its purchase by Fort Industry Co. in June 1947 and has strong lineup of local favorites in participation shows and the Detroit Tiger baseball broadcast.

George B. Storer is president of Fort Industry, with Lee B. Wailes vice president in charge of operations. Richard E. (Dick) Jones, a young veteran of Detroit radio, is vice president and general manager of WJBK and WJBK-TV. Being antedated only by WWJ and WJR in the state of Michigan, WEXL, located in Royal Oak, a northern suburb of the city, has built up a strong following both in the communities north of Detroit proper and in the metropolis as well. Under the direction of George B. Hartrick, president, and Jacob B. Sparks, vice president and partner, since 1929 WEXL has concentrated on music and news, with extensive coverage of church services on Sundays, utilizing remote pickups. Calvert M. Hill is commercial manager.

John Lord Booth, a member of one of the state’s oldest families, is president and general manager of WJLB. Now renewing a long time policy of foreign language broadcasts, WJLB is making a play for a major share of this immense market. In addition, this station has been active in storecasting with FM broadcasts, several grocery chains having installed FM receivers to pick up programs directed at the shopper. Eric V. Hay is commercial manager.

Latest addition to the Detroit radio family in the AM field is WKMH, in west side Dearborn, first station to start up in this area since 1932. Fred A. Knorr, president and general manager, was elected Young Man of the Year from Dearborn this year because of the station’s efforts in behalf of community projects. Assistant general manager and commercial manager is Walter Patterson, a veteran of 19 years in radio. MCRFB: to be continued next week . . .

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This feature is a special Broadcasting series about Detroit radio. This was first released by the publication on August 1, 1949. It will continue as an exclusive presentation every Tuesday on this site throughout August and September, beginning today–for a total of six weeks.

Originally published in Broadcasting magazine under the title “The Detroit Radio Market,” this extensive article will be presented in six parts, continuing in sequential chapters.

The 1949 article provides valuable insights into the state of radio in Detroit during the late 1940s decade, as it was, then, seven decades ago.