Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

ABC-TV Loses Early Lead: Ratings Sweepstakes Settle Down With CBS-TV Taking Top Spot New York — Despite ABC's valiant early bid for supremacy, a prospect which undoubtedly caused nervous shudders at the rival networks, the ratings race has begun to settle down into its anticipated pattern, with CBS leading the field, NBC second and ABC third. ABC jumped into the lead in the week ending Sept. 21 with a National Arbitron rating of 18.5. NBC scored a 14.9 that week and CBS had a 14.3. The picture changed radically in the week ending Sept. 28 with CBS hitting 18.4,^ ABC 16.3 and NBC 15.3. As of the week ending Oct. 5, with the new shows on the air, CBS drew a 16.8 as measured by National Arbitron, with NBC a single point behind at 15.8 and ABC third at 15.4. In terms of programs and halfhours, CBS had 12 shows and 16 half-hours among the top 20; NBC had four programs and 1 1 halfhours (although the network points out that a number of its shows are considerably longer than its rivals); ABC had four programs and five half-hours in the first 20. Here is how the top 20 break down, according to Arbitron: 1. Bonanza (NBC) 28.3 2. Bewitched (ABC) 25.3 3. RedSkelton (CBS) 24.1 4. Ed Sullivan (CBS) 23.9 5. Fugitive (ABC) 23.3 6. Andy Griffith (CBS) 23.2 7. Dick Van Dyke (CBS) 22.3 8. Beverly Hillbillies (CBS) 22.1 9. Peyton Place II (ABC) 22.0 10. Martian (CBS) 21.3 1 1 . Gomer Pyle (CBS) 20.8 12. Petticoat Junction (CBS) 20.7 13. Walt Disney (NBC) 20.3 14. Saturday Movies (NBC) 20.3 Lucy (CBS) 19.9 I've Got a Secret (CBS) 19.9 Peyton Place I (ABC) 19.5 .Jackie Gleason (CBS) 19.5 19. Virginian (NBC) 19.4 20. Perry Mason (CBS) 18.9 15 16 17 18 Taylor: Radio No Longer Fears Tv Threat Fort Worth — Asserting that radio is "moving into a singulary creative and profitable heyday," Sherril Taylor, NAB vice president for radio, told the Texas Assn. of Broadcasters that the majority of SYNCOM IT WORKS! One of the first pictures telecast direct from Japan to the United States via Syncom III communications satellite shows Etsusaburo Shina, Japanese minister of foreign affairs. The Gulf-sponsored NBC special on the Olympics aired Wednesday morning also included taped remarks by President Johnson and Secretary of State Dean Rusk which had been recorded in the United States and shipped to Japan for the program. NBC-TV was scheduled to use Syncom III for live coverage of the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games Saturday. The remainder of the games, a total of 25 programs, will be on tape shipped by jet to NBC's KING-TV Seattle, which will originate net telecasts. stations no longer have to "grapple with the once-ominous threat of television." Giving NAB's program clinics credit for kindling a "cross-pollination of creative thinking in programing and a healthful interchange of new ideas," Taylor said that today's radio is so mobile, personal and always present that its listener appeal and utility value "lie way beyond the accessibility of television." Taylor continued: "Alert radio stations, 1964 style, have garnered a strong niche in the creative power of the information and entertainment spectrum." Stressing the medium's intimacy, its new musical sounds and techniques, it's instant news coverage and wide "circulation," the NAB vice president said radio has an "unmatched edge among communications media." More and more today, Taylor continued, "radio is emphasizing the art of extemporaneous conversation — a human interest type communication direcdy with listeners by way of telephone. People to people sports, religion, medicine, public affairs, business, fashion and beauty columns in modern radio all have strongly established their popularity and have been conducive to an even wider listener appeal." October 12, 1964 17