In 1997, that proportion was 85 percent. Women are the predominant buyers of products advertised on infomercials. Throughout the program, a toll-free number appears. Its title is "Arnold's Gourmet Kitchen.mbtshoes4sales.topmbtshose." During the 1940s and 1950s, radio shows routinely carried the names of their sponsors.9 million of infomercial billings were registered in the health and fitness area, $35.com) and kitchen electrics, and $23 A million in finances, business opportunities, insurance, and banking.com) August 1990, harks back to an earlier age in broadcasting." By producing programming to go with their commercials, companies create ads that are similar to infomercials as a way of ensuring that the ads will not be lost in the clutter of other messages.The infomercial is a 30-minute ad that looks like a program but is instead selling a product. Syndex stipulates that cable stations cannot show syndicated programs if the same programs are being shown on local television in the same market. The Valvoline Driving Test, which aired in late MBT Shoes On Sale(http://www.1 million in house wares MBT Shoes(http://www. Overall, there were $827 million in media billings in 1997, and billings have been dropping in the past five years. During the time that is now blocked out by Syndex, cable stations can, if they choose, pick up infomercials beamed to them twenty-four hours a day at no charge via satellite. Because the program bore the sponsor's name, it, too, was a form of advertising. The Dinah Shore Show was sponsored by Chevrolet and featured the tune "See the USA in Your Chevrolet.

. By calling it, viewers can order the product., makers of Valvoline motor oil, had its advertising agency, Bozell, create both the Second Annual Valvoline National Driving Test fire-resistance cable and the ads for it. He then paid disc jockey Wolfman Jack to endorse the product as "Wolfman Jack's favorite all time hits"; $200,000 in production costs later, the infomercial offering the cassettes was ready to air. Another infomercial featuring chef Arnold Morris resembles a Julia Child cooking show. For that infomercial, a producer gathered the rights to 150 past hits and packaged them on twenty cassettes. In the fourth quarter of 1997, $42. On January 1, 1990, when the Federal Communications Com-mission's regulation called Syndex (for "syndication exclusivity") went into effect, use of infomercials by cable stations rose. Valvoline Inc. One infomercial had the look of a rock 'n' roll special. In 1995, 69 percent of purchases were made by females