Radio Spenders

Notoriously secretive about their financial affairs are advertising agencies, most of which are incorporated partnerships. Yet Variety, gusty journal of the show business, reports annually on how much each big agency spends for its clients on radio broadcasting time (exclusive of hiring talent). Knowing what agency handles what account, Variety simply foots up program time, multiplies by the appropriate time rate. Last week it published a list of the agencies which spent the most radio money in 1934.

Topping the list was Chicago's Blackett- Sample-Hummert, Inc. which laid out a total of $4,104,000 for eight programs over National Broadcasting Co.'s system 14 over Columbia Broadcasting System./- Its radio accounts included Bayer's Aspirin, Ovaltine, College Inn Food Products. Nearly tied with Blackett was the leader for the two previous years, J. Walter Thompson, with accounts like Standard Brands (Chase & Sanborn, Fleischmann), Cutex, Carter's Ink, Eastman Kodak, Kraft-Phenix Cheese. Third with a radio budget of $2,900,000 was Lord & Thomas whose best account is American Tobacco (Lucky Strikes).

Other agencies which laid out more than $1,000,000 were Young & Rubicam (Castoria, Fels Naptha, Grape-Nuts, Packard); Benton & Bowles (Best Foods, Colgate-Palmolive-Peet); Erwin Wasey (Real Silk Hosiery, Musterole, Zemo, Bost Toothpaste); N. W. Ayer (Deerfoot Sausage, Eno's Salts, Henry Ford) ; Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn (Atwater Kent, Armstrong Cork, Gold Dust, General Electric); Ruthrauff & Ryan (Campbell Soup, Cocomalt, Gillette, Rinso); Stack-Goble (Swift, Freeman Shoes, Bromo-Quinine) ; Newell-Emmett (Sunshine Biscuits, Chesterfields) ; McCann-Erickson (BeechNut Packing, National Biscuit, Vaseline).

/-Last week Columbia Broadcasting announced that there were nearly 2,500,000 more radio sets in the U. S. than anyone suspected, bringing total radio homes to 21,456,000. The CBS cstimate was derived from a Daniel Starch survey of 125,000 homes. Previous figures were based on the 1930 census which was taken at time when there was wild talk of a radio-set tax, particularly in the South where radio-ownership is supposed to have been been generally concealed.

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