Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

PROBING THE CURRENTS AND UNDERCURRENTS OF BROADCAST ADVERTISING tlie two weeks ending Oct. 25. Surprising as it may seem, even the series that look Hke cHcks come in for rescheduling. It's to make sure they stay that way. ABC-TV, for example, will keep on doing it through October-November with Bewitclied, which reached upper rating levels from the start. Crosley rep arm on manpower hunt Crosley's rep arm, now known as Broadcast Communications Group, is on the lookout for a research director and radio sales people. Migrations to PG&W created the holes in the sales staff. John Abel switched from manager of the BCG's Cleveland office to PG&W's Detroit office, while Dick Hammer went from BCG radio in New York to PG&W radio New York. 4As may enter Rapid Shave litigation Don't be surprised to find Four As projecting itself into the U.S. Supreme Court's hearing of Colgate's appeal from the FTC charge that the Rapid Shave sandpaper commercial constituted a fraud. The case comes up in November, and the Four As is reported weighing stratagem of participating by the amicus curiae route. What the association appears to be afraid of is this: a decision unfavorable to Colgate might endanger the wide practice of using mock-ups in advertising. It could even bar the automotives from using a clay mock-up as just the bare body of a car commercial which is produced weeks before the actual new model comes off the assembly line. The Four A's decision to act, it seems, will largely depend on whether it deems Colgate's a landmark case in respect to what constitutes a deception. New NSI about to see the light Nielsen is getting ready to unveil to prospective subscribers generally its "repackaged" local tv service (NSI). It's already been previewed to a few major agencies. The outstanding changes in the service: (1) the sample has been increased to 75,000-100,000, (2) the sample will be measured in synchronous cycles, two of the cycles covering the entire country, (3) only homes with telephones will be counted, (4) the age groups will be expanded to provide a separate bracket for those 65 and over. What Nielsen calls getting a "step closer to advertising accountability": major advertisers will be able to get a geographical breakout of 25 sales areas, with the data derived from the latest ratings. This special service will be available, naturally, for extra compensation. Background: Nielsen started to work on these changes after the dust settled down from the Harris committee hearings on ratings in 1960-61. Spot radio's top 15 advertisers Poll the national sellers of farm radio for the leading spenders in that medium and you'll probably come up with a list which approximates the following top 15: International Harvester, Ford, Massey-Ferguson, Geigy Chemical, American Cyanamid, J. I. Case, De Kalb Agricultural Assn., Virginia-Carolina Chemical Corp., Hess & Clark, Spencer Chemical Co., Agricultural Labs, Inc., Ralston Purina, Quaker Oats (Full-O-Pep feeds), Shell Chemical Co., Keystone Steel & Wire. Electric shavers over 7 million Looks like the electric shaver field will wind up 1964 with sales somewhat over 7 million units. About 70 percent of the market is shared between Norelco and Remington. But the brand that seems sharply on the rise is Sunbeam. It's strong on franchises and sales organization. The shaver field itself might be considered as having shaken itself down to three actual brand competitors: Norelco, Remington and Sunbeam. Schick has been mostly busy turning out private label shavers and diversifying into hair dryers and otherwise catering to professional beauty shops. Schick in this respect has been taking some of the production load off the Realistic Co. of Cincinnati, its fellow Revlon subsidiary. Incidentally, Remington this year is leaning more than ever toward dealer newspaper co-op and retailer contests, leaving tv expenditure dominance to Norelco. Rather gray side of the shaver business: it continues to fall behind population growth. The introduction of the steel blade has added to the electric's woes, as far as the younger generation is concerned. 28 SPONSOR