History: Part 1

When radio stations began broadcasting in the early 1920s, the programs were, to say the least, “explosive.” Such a colourful debut was due to the fact that the first radio stations were funded by radio equipment manufacturers and retailers who made the programs available solely in order to sell more radios to the listeners of their programmes.

Consequently, many non-profit organisations followed suit by setting up their own radio stations building on the success of these early programmes. Such organisations included schools, clubs and civic groups.

As the advent of sponsoring programs became ever more popular, individual radio programs would normally be sponsored by a single business in exchange for a brief mention of the business' name at the beginning and end of the sponsored shows.

Since the success of these ventures seemed boundless, radio station owners quickly realised that they could earn more money by selling sponsorship rights in small time allocations to multiple businesses throughout their radio station's broadcasts, than selling such rights to single businesses on a per-show basis.

The concept of sponsorship was carried over to television by the late 1940s and early 1950s.

As the appeal of radio sponsorship became more widespread, the part played by radio became a contentious issue. There were those who wanted to extend the commercial opportunities offered by sponsorship. On the other hand, there was a vociferous faction who argued that radio should be available to everyone. They felt that it should be used only non-commercially and for the public good.

In the case of the United Kingdom, they introduced public funding for the BBC, or British Broadcasting Corporation. Although it was originally a private company, it later became incorporated as a public body by Royal Charter in 1927. In Canada, there was a lively group who was able to persuade the federal government to adopt a public funding model akin to that adopted in the UK.

However, in the United States, there was no such appetite for a publicly funded body. Instead, a commercially orientated model was adopted with the passage of the 1934 Communications Act. However, in order to appease those who felt that radio should be for the public good, the U.S. Congress stipulated that commercial broadcasters should operate in the "public interest, convenience, and necessity." Notwithstanding this, public radio does indeed exist in the US.

The up-and-coming trend of selling advertisement time to multiple sponsors was originated, in the early 1950s, by the Dumont television network. Previous attempts were less than successful, with Dumont having trouble finding sponsors for many of their programs. So much so, that they had to resort to selling smaller blocks of advertising time to a variety of businesses.

The sale of advertising time to multiple sponsors eventually became the industry standard for commercial television in the United States. On the other hand, it was still a common place to have single sponsor shows, such as the U.S. Steel Hour. In these cases, it was not unusual for the sponsor to exercise a great deal of control over the content of the show. In fact, it could even go as far as having the advertising agency actually writing the script for the show.

Today, however, the single sponsor model is more the exception rather than the rule. A notable exception is the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

Advertising – How To Succeed

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