NEWSPAPERS ALL THE TIME

Southland Times, Issue 17660, 18 February 1916, Page 6

NEWSPAPERS ALL THE TIME

OPINION BACKED BY EXPERIENCE. Mr Samuel A. Scribner, general manager of the Columbia Amusement Company, Chicago, U.S.A., which operates over seventy large theatres in tile big cities throughout the United States and Canada, discussing the question of advertising in its various aspects, said: — “Put me down as being absolutely against billboard advertising. We cut out bill posting altogether a year ago and since then tve have doubled our appropriations in tne newspapers in all the cities where our theatre are located. "We used to run 10 lines in daily morning papers, 20 lines in Saturday evening papers and 50 lines in Sunday papers. Now we are running 20 lines in daily morning papers, 75 lines In Saturday evening papers, and 240 lines in all Sunday papers. “In Toronto, we ran 50 lines on Sunday and 10 linos daily. Now we are running 420 lines on Sunday and 50 lines daily. "The Columbia Theatre at Chicago last year had the best season ever and not a line of bill posting was done. All the money was spent in newspaper advertising. 1 believe in tbe effectiveness of newspaper publicity. 1 study live people as 1 travel to and from my home in Bronxville and invariably I ilnd them with their morning papers. And they read the announcements; I am positive of that. “Who sees that sign up there?" pointing to one at Seventh avenue and -17 th street, located on the roof of a building imd facing Seventh avenue. "Not tbe high-class theatregoer. Ho passes it by in tiie trolley or touring-car. That’s why, as you will notice, it has only one theatrical announcement. Theatre managers are getting wise to the fact that billing is absolutely a useless expense. Give us tbe newspaper all the time.”