NEWSPAPERS ALL THE TIME

Southland Times, Issue 17661, 19 February 1916, Page 4

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 the 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 we have doubled our appropriations in tuc newspapers in all the cities where our theatre are located. "We used to run 10 lines in dally morning papers, 20 lines in Saturday evening papers and 50 lines in Sunday papers. Now wc arc running 20 lines in daily morning papers, 75 lines in Saturday evening papers, and 210 lines in all Sunday papers. “In Toronto, we ran 50 lines on Sunday and 10 lines 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. I believe in the effectiveness of newspaper publicity. I study the people as I travel to and from my homo in Bronxville and invariably I find them with their morning papers. And they read the announcements; X am posi. tive of that. "Who secs that sign up there?" pointing to one at Seventh avenue and 47th street, located on the roof of a building and facing Seventh avenue. “Not the high-class theatregoer. He passes it by in the 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 the newspaper all the time."