I spent 25 years in radio broadcasting (1949 to 1974). Following my radio career, I started a small advertising business, specializing in television advertising. Thirty years later I am still making TV commercials, but now only for remodeling contractors.

I have a lot of opinions about broadcasting and about commercials, in particular. Radio used to be a great medium for keeping a local audience informed about local events. But the FCC has destroyed that. Today the once local radio station is owned by some conglomerate whose only interest is the bottom line.

They broadcast national disk jockeys or national talk shows. No more local events.

During the 1960s I operated a small town radio station. It you heard a siren anywhere in our town, you could tune to our station and in a few moments you would know who was operating the siren, and why.

That was a local service that satellite radio can never duplicate. Too bad.

Commercials used to be information about products or services that may benefit you. They were delivered in a lucid format that everyone could understand. They told you how and where to buy the advertised product or service.

When I first started in radio, I was often handed a proof of a newspaper ad by a local grocer and told to ad lib a commercial. When I stopped by the grocery store on the way home, the grocer thanked me if the ad worked, and chewed me out if it did not. I soon learned what it took to get customers into his store.

Today when I listen to the radio or watch TV, I often sit through a commercial, then ask "What were they advertising?" We used to say "salesmanship is king and creativity is its servant". Today, special effects are king and salesmanship is rarely considered. Why do advertisers keep paying for this?

An old time ad man once told me he would much rather make a presentation to a vice-president in some large company than to make a presentation to the owner of a small business. His reason? The vice-president will buy your campaign rather than admit he doesn't know what you are talking about!