Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1959)

PROFILE OF THE TV AUDIENCE continued WHAT & WHEN VIEWERS WATCH Networks programs by type Daytime (Sun.-Sat.) Afternoon (weekday) Children's Western 30-min. Miscellaneous Children's 30-min. Daytime Serial 15-min. Daytime Serial 30-min. Quiz & Audience Particip. 30-min. Misc. Adult 30-min. Misc. Adult 60-min. or more Nighttime (Sun.-Sat.) Adventure General Drama General Drama Situation Comedy Suspense Drama Suspense Drama Western Western General Variety General Variety Quiz & Audience Particip. Misc. Evening Programs Misc. Evening Programs Morning (weekday) News f Adventure half Children hour -j General Drama shows I Situation Comedy L Miscellaneous No. Viewers (000's) 11,301 11,664 5,791 6,739 6,408 6,467 3,901 % of all People 7.3 7.5 3.7 4.3 4.1 4.2 2.5 % of Viewers Viewers per Home 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 2.4 2.2 1.6 1.8 1.6 2.0 1.7 No. Viewers % of all % of Viewers (000's) People Viewers per Home News 6,347 4.1 100.0 1.5 'Adventure 3,118 2.0 100.0 1.6 Children 12,154 7.8 100.0 1.8 half General Drama 3,558 2.3 100.0 1.6 hour Situation Comedy 5,576 3.6 100.0 1.6 shows Western 3,257 2.1 100.0 1.6 Miscellaneous 2,909 1.9 100.0 1.7 Feature Films 3,991 2.6 100.0 1.5 Weekend (daytime) 30-min. 19,226 12.4 100.0 2.6 30-min. 22,599 14.5 100.0 2.4 60-min. 18,273 11.8 10O.0 2.3 30-min. 23,748 15.3 100.0 2.5 30-min. 20,156 13.0 100.0 2.4 60-min. 25,005 16.1 100.0 2.5 30-min. 32,231 20.7 100.0 2.6 60-min. 31,618 20.3 100.0 2.8 30-min. 14,905 9.6 100.0 2.5 60-min. 25,462 16.4 100.0 2.6 30-min. 23,009 14.8 100.0 2.4 30-min. 14,652 9.4 100.0 2.4 60-min. 22,953 14.8 100.0 2.7 programs by type News 5,115 3.3 100.0 1.8 ' Adventure Children 7,956 5.1 100.0 2.1 6,284 4.0 100.0 1.6 half General Drama 10,712 6.9 100.0 1.8 hour Situation Comedy 7,043 4.5 100.0 2.0 shows Western 6,145 4.0 100.0 1.8 , Miscellaneous 2,600 1.7 100.0 1.6 Feature Films 8,469 5.5 100.0 1.9 4,682 3/303 4,587 3,662 4,088 4,345 3.0 2.1 3.0 2.4 2.6 2.8 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1.5 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.4 Early Evening (Sun.-Sat.) News 12,284 "Adventure 15,150 Children 11,445 half General Drama 10,123 hour ~i Situation Comedy 9,864 shows Western 16,508 „ Miscellaneous 7,194 Feature Films 6,597 Late night (Sun.-Sat.) half hour shows 7.9 9.7 7.4 6.5 6.3 10.6 4.6 4.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1.9 2.3 1.9 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.1 2.0 News 13,012 8.4 10O.0 1.8 'Adventure 16,144 10.4 100.0 2.0 General Drama 11,825 7.6 100.0 1.9 J Situation Comedy 12,841 8.3 100.0 1.9 Western 16,276 10.5 100.0 1.9 I Miscellaneous 13,300 8.6 100.0 1.7 Feature Films 10,023 6.5 100.0 1.8 YARDSTICKS TO FORECAST SALES Adman's dream may come from outgrown measurements, ARF told $X advertising on Y advertising vehicle = $Z sales. It's not that simple yet, but experts think it's going to be. Some of them told the Advertising Research Foundation's annual conference how they're trying to reduce rating, cost-per-thousand and other data to an absolute sales yardstick. Richard F. Casey, vice president of Benton & Bowles, opening the session, called it "the most pressing, most urgent problem facing us today. . . ." The conference on "Better Measurements of Advertising Effectiveness, the Challenge of the 1960's" drew more than 800 to the Waldorf-Astoria in New York Sept. 25. Among those who addressed themselves to the question were Seymour Banks, vice president in charge of media planning and research for Leo Burnett Co.; Paul E. J. Gerhold, vice president and national director of media and research of Foote, Cone & Belding; Arno Johnson, J. Walter Thompson vice president; Benjamin Lipstein, associate research director of Benton & Bowles, and a battery of specialists from businesses and universities. Mr. Casey listed some of the gauges 36 (BROADCAST ADVERTISING) presently available, "usable measurements which tell us that advertisement "A" is more memorable than advertisement "B"; that television commercial "X" tells its story more clearly than does commercial "Y". . . . These are useful measurements of a given aspect of advertising effectiveness and help materially in many decision situations," he said, but "what does seem to be new is the brightening glow on the horizon that may indicate that at long last it could be possible to develop and apply measurements to the most basic meaning of the term 'advertising effectiveness'— the contribution of advertising expenditures to corporate profit." Media Stalemate • Leo Burnett's Dr. Banks called for new media measures to cover existing gaps and also because "we seem to be at an impasse when it comes to making sound inter-media comparisons." He credited "the spectacular rise" of broadcasting with adding research problems. Old methods are of dubious worth for new media, he said. "For example, the technique of measuring radio audiences is also used for television, but people question whether exposure to a radio program is equivalent to exposure to a television program [and] ... as the use of spot announcements becomes a more and more significant element of advertising expenditures, we find techniques which have been developed to evaluate broadcast programs are being asked to evaluate the announcements placed between programs." The price of television has made measurement of results more urgent, Dr. Banks said. "In this medium, an advertiser is very often asked to make commitments involving a million dollars or more for a program which has never appeared on the air before. The amount of money involved in these commitments, the rigidity that contracts for both talent and facilities introduce into an advertising plan, and the uncertainty as to the success of a program, have combined to raise real questions on the value of this kind of advertising. However, this involves studying not only an individual program or the medium as a whole, but alternative advertising vehicles as well. "The point I wish to make is not a criticism of television, but merely a statement that the problems involved in evaluating the television medium have probably intensified many advertisers' BROADCASTING, October 5, 1959