Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

PROBING THE CURRENTS AND UNDERCURRENTS OF BROADCAST ADVERTISING cutting back on ad budgets. Evidently, the handiest to cancel (only two weeks notice is required) is spot tv, and the medium is getting it in spades. After sweeping cancellations of Halo and AllPurpose Ajax schedules, Colgate last week administered similar treatment to Floor and Wall Ajax. P.S.: The wholesale pull-out that really surprised the medium was P&G's Thrill liquid detergent. P&G's fiscal year dosen't end until March. So the trade assumption is that the product's having marketing problems. P&G spent $3 to $4 million alone on sampling Thrill. P&G takes a dip into spot radio Eureka! P&G, after an absence of seven or eight years, is back in radio. It's for Crest. Schedules call for 30 spots a week from Nov. 30 through Dec. 10. To give the commercials a testimonial flavor, the copy is to be read by local personalities, preferably attached to a woman's program. The list is limited to a few markets in the East to give P&G a chance to see how radio can be used in connection with other media, notably tv. Out on the West Coast another dentifrice, Macleans (Beecham), is also making its bow in spot radio. Nielsen meter shares rile nets Hottest flap going on among sales and research people at the tv networks is over the validity of Nielsen's revised audimeter sample. Core of the argument, as most emphatically voiced by CBS-TV and somewhat less vociferously by NBC-TV: the Nielsen sample favors ABC-TV which gears its evening schedule to young homes with large families. The new Nielsen sample is so distributed as to allow 34 percent of all the meters in homes that have children under 12 years of age. The latest U.S. Census allocation for this grouping is 27 percent. CBS-TV nighttime programing tends to lean somewhat more strongly than ABC-TV's toward older family appeal, with NBC-TV sort of in the middle of the two. Quipped an ABC-TV sales executive: 'if the opposition's ratings don't come up to snuff, they can now blame the audimeters." There's no question that the zooming percentage of younger people — about 50 percent of the population is under 25 years — does affect the program thinking of ABC-TV. It, more than any other network, has leaned toward giving the young people their own programs, a la Shindig. The many billions of their buying power aggravates the young-appeal pinpointing problem for all networks. How to reach the younger people, without sacrificing the upper age brackets, is a tough nut to crack. The choice in the home will become much simpler with multiple sets — as happened with radio. Compton off spec pitches Compton has had its fill of speculative presentations. It's been burnt twice in a row. First, the $8 million Eastern Airlines account, and now, the $1.5 million Michelob beer account. From now on Compton will refrain from submitting a proposed portfolio unless the sought-after account puts up all or part of the expense. The Michelob business went to C.J. LaRoche, which did nothing but an oral pitch. The third finalist in the Michelob contention, Y&R, also reportedly did a speculative presentation. But Y&R had a previous experience which might have encouraged the speculative ploy. That's the way it got Eastern Airlines. P.S.: It may be recalled that in April, 1963, when the ABC-TV account was open, Leonard Goldenson took the view that an agency that prepared an account-bidding presentation ought to be compensated for its efforts. Compton adds $1.5 million Compton's experience in new business-questing has also had its sweet side. Out of Norwich Pharmacal came Norforms and a new product (unnamed) jointly worth about $1 million in billings. On top of that the agency added a Wyler Co. -packaged chicken and noodle soup with billings estimated at around $500,000. Wyler is a division of the Borden Co. Radio: tackle the Media Council Sellers of spot radio may have been overlooking a good bet in their strategies to boost the cause of their medium. Direct approaches to advertisers, and to account people with hefty bundles I 28 SPONSOR '