Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

PROBING THE CURRENTS AND UNDERCURRENTS OF BROADCAST ADVERTISING October tv spot to break records? Consensus of key tv reps: October spot tv has all the earmarks of a two-way record maker, in terms of gross billings. First, the biggest October to date; secondly, the highest revenue ever for any one month. However, a shadow hovers over this huzzah. Bookings for November and December at this time are softer than they were a year ago. Spot schedules this fall started earlier than normally, with standard flight patterns of six to eight weeks. Means most of them will expire by first half of November. Reps, meantime, are keeping their fingers crossed. Average tv stations are expected to score richly in October over and beyond the revenue from national and local advertisers. Political campaigning is the source of the other lode. Radio benefits from agency change Nestle's Ever-Ready cocoa is back in spot radio, after a two-year lapse. The campaign will run from Oct. 26 to Nov. 27 in traffic time. It would seem the buy is epilogue to the story about a client who suddenly realized that a product of his was no longer on radio. Subsequently that client switched agencies. The central elements in this story are Nestle Co., Ever-Ready cocoa, McCann-Erickson, (the agency that until a few months ago had the cocoa brand). Van Zant, Dugdale & Co. (the agency now on Ever-Ready cocoa). P.S.: West Coast reps are grieved because McCann-Erickson didn't include radio in the latest media plan recommended to Continental Airlines. Renewals begin for net daytime The signs point to network tv daytime maintaining, in the first 1965 quarter, the towering billings pace that the medium is experiencing during the present quarter. Renewals have started to come in at a strong rate, even though notice time is six weeks off. For example, NBC-TV daytime is at least a third sold-out for the initial 1965 quarter. Adding to NBC-TV's bright outlook for that quarter are these two pieces of business with January starting dates: Coca Cola's High C Div. six commercial minutes a week for 52 weeks; Lehn & Fink, 35 commercial minutes a week over seven weeks. The High C order could come out to $1.2 million for the year. Guriain, Elgin going radio Another perfume brand, Gurlain (Gilbert), has joined the pre-Christmas parade on spot radio. Gurlain had been preceded by Chanel No. 5 and Lanvin in requesting availabilities. Also on the availability trail for a pre-Christmas schedule is Elgin Watch, out of Gumbinner. Average home viewing up 8 percent There's plenty of kick left in the growth appeal of tv viewing. Boding well for the new season in terms of sets-in-use was a statistic in this second September NTI report. The figure related that during the period of the report the average home used sets for 5 hours and 2 1 minutes per day. Parallel period comparisons: it was 4 hours and 58 minutes in 1963 and 4 hours and 37 minutes in 1962. That's an 8 percent pickup for '64 over '63 and a 16 percent hike for '64 over '62. NTI revamps demo data sections Pressure on Nielsen from agency-advertiser researchers for smaller and more compact demo-graphic groupings has paid off. Revised age and income breakouts will take effect with the NSI's November-December cycle. Nielsen's own explanation for the changes: provides a "better reflection of the shifts in population and marketing tool." Also notes Nielsen: the changes meet the recommendations of the 4 As. Instead of three, there will be four age breaks: from under 35 to 35; from 35 to 49; from 50 to 64; 65 and plus. Household income will show these brackets: under $5000 to $5000; $5000 to $9999; $10,000 and over. The net result: a broadening of the middle base. Designation of heads of household have become more complex. The data will no longer measure housewives at home. A woman will be considered a working housewife if she puts in 30 hours a week away from home. However, the word, "housewife," has been banished from the 26 SPONSOR