Woman's Home Companion

Will Opal marry Joe, or will the dead hand of the past reach out to prevent the match? War or no war, such dread questions--dear to the hearts of soap-opera buffs--remained the favorite daytime stimulant of 35% of U.S. radio's listeners in 1943.

Heralds of radio's coming-of-age had hoped that it was no longer so, or that it was a dwindling fact. But a Hooper Survey, out last week, showed that just as many people as ever were listening to daytime serials. There was a weekly average of eight fewer serials than in 1942, but there were still plenty (about 40) to go around.

One Hooper statistic, however, gave some indication of eventual surcease from the soaps: in 1943 daytime listening expanded 6%. Most of this additional listening was to nonserial programs, of which there was a 1943 increase from 6 1/2 to 22 3/4 hours a week (weekly hours devoted to soap opera: about 50).

That radio in general, not merely soap opera, is the American woman's home companion was confirmed by Hooper's finding that at almost any hour of the day or night more women are listening than men and children combined.

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