Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

ivB Hears Call for Specialization \i Answer to Fragmenting Market New York — Suggesting that ATV, pay tv, ETV and UHF are radually fragmenting the market, le Rev. Thomas M. Garrett, S. J., ssociate professor of ethics, Unicrsity of Scranton, last week told vB's annual meeting that a "scramle for the biggest share of the least ommon denominator viewer may nly raise promotion costs at a ime when the real profit lies in the pecialized audience." (erox Corp. Receives JN 'We Believe' Award New York — Accepting the anlual UN "We Believe" award for :s $4 million bankrolling of a series f six special United Nations tv irograms, Xerox continued to emihasize that the sponsorship is learly in its own self-interest as a orporation. Sol M. Linowitz, chairman of he board, declared at an awards uncheon in New York last week: 'We at Xerox are convinced that hese programs may well prove to le the biggest bargain in all televiion history." Through the programs, Linowitz :ontinued, "Xerox has become the beneficiary of selfless contributions )y the foremost motion picture irtists, directors, writers, producers md musicians of our time — and has 3een given the opportunity to pre;ent in the name and under the luspices of Xerox a series of mem)rable programs at a price which A'ould otherwise be unthinkable." Linowitz added: "Measured igainst the magnificent contributions made by the artists who are giving so much so freely to this undertaking, we consider the cost to us as modest and our gain incalculable." Present at the awards luncheon were Secretary General U Thant. representing the UN, and U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson. Earlier in the year, Xerox drew heavy fire from the John Birch Society for its sponsorship of the programs. This is not pure theory. Father Garrett declared. "In the first place, 50 percent of our television sets are turned off even in prime time. This suggests that there may be a great many viewers if only you have the right product." Secondly, he said, "The sick baby of radio has started to specialize and the medicine seems to be working. "Thirdly, in those few markets where we have four, five and even six television stations, specialization of one sort or another has already begun." Father Garrett continued: "If we digest all of these facts and then look at the possibilities of the medium, we see that the profits of the so called mass medium may not depend on the massiest possible audience, but on a specialized audience, which, though large, does not include everyone." If this is the direction of change, he added, "it will entail a rethinking of cost structures and production methods and this will involve . . . imagination." Imagination is a "must," declared Father Garrett. "Indeed, unless we can substitute imagination and intelligence for more money, the future of television could be very grubby." Indicating that broadcasters have pretty well exhausted ideas that will gather the large least common denominator audience which produces the big profits in the present setup. Father Garrett asked, "Are they perhaps ideals which we have rejected as unsuitable for the massiest audience, which may be our salvation when specialization becomes imperative for survival? Are there no unexplored formats for informational programs? Have we exhausted our imagination with the documentary, the speech, the panel, the news commentator with clips and stills? Can we discover no way of presenting passionate, clear, sharp clashes of ideas?" Mutual Re-Signing Stations to Carry Deferred Clay-Liston Fight in Spring New York — With the dramatic cancellation of the Clay-Liston fight and its probable rescheduling for April or May. the Mutual Broadcasting System is faced with the burdensome job of re-signing stations to carry the deferred fight in the spring. MBS had signed a record 642 stations for the blow-by-blow description which never came off. Commenting on the situation. Robert F. Hurleigh, MBS president, said wryly: "It was the largest network ever assembled to air a professional fight in broadcast history. The only thing missing was the fighters." In addition to the signing of stations, there's the matter of sponsors, and MBS has given the four advertisers originally signed the right of first refusal. These include Schick (Compton), Pepsi-Cola (BBDO), STP (Standard and O'Hern) and Score (Grey). Hurleigh noted that the price of the package was originally based on an estimated network of 500 stations. "With 642 on the list, it should be a really great buy," he added. Live Coverage of Mexican Inauguration Is Scheduled New York — For the first time, American viewers will be able to see the inauguration of a foreign president on live television with announcement that Metropolitan Broadcasting, a division of Metromedia, will present an exclusive telecast of the inauguration of President-elect Gustavo Diaz Ordaz of Mexico. Slated for Dec. 1, the telecast will be seen from noon until 1 p.m. on WNEW-TV New York, and simultaneously on WTTG Washington, D. C, and KTTV Los Angeles. There will be no commercials in the telecast. November 23, 1964 17