Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1960)

8 JANUARY 25, 1960 Print Media Pressing On; Braced by sharp gains all along the line, print media faces the future with scrappy optimism. Magazines have recaptured some lost page & dollar volume, newspapers are moving out in a sales campaign to maintain retail-ad leadership. But print media also know, and latest surveys show, that TV’s giving none of its gains away. Magazines mustered heavy comeback strength in 1959, racking up a 7.1% gain in ad pages to eliminate part of the 13% sag suffered in the previous year. The latest Gallagher Report also shows that 83 magazines gained $92,756,484 in ad revenue for a 13.4% increase. In 1958, magazines had trailed their 1957 volume by $42.3 million for a 5.7 % loss. Ad-page gains were scored by 69 of the 83 publications. The New Yorker retained its ad-page leadership of the entire list. Business Week and Life also gained and repeated their 2nd & 3rd place finishes, respectively. Newsweek moved up from 6th to 4th and thereby topped 5th place Time for the first time. Among the top 50 magazines, the biggest percentage gains were scored by Reader’s Digest (up 51.1%), Sports Illustrated (25.1%), TV Guide (24.2%). Largest drop: Charm, down 12.7%. Overall, total magazine (including supplements) revenue rose 10.8% in 1959 to a record $898,218,610, late PIBLNA compilations show. Dollar-volume leader was Life, again, which gained 9.6% over 1958 to $134,441,468. Reflecting increased rates, SatEvePost and This Week posted dollar gains despite losses of 75 & 89 ad pages respectively. Newspapers also are on the prosperity trail, and “intend to remain champs” in the retail ad field. So said the Newspaper Advertising Execs. Assn, at its annual meeting in Chicago last week. The meeting marked the kickoff of NAEA’s 2nd annual “total selling” campaign to promote the newspaper industry and “win advertising revenue back from TV.” (Vol. 15:4 p2). Newspaper ad volume will increase substantially in the next decade, N.Y. Times ad dir. Monroe Green told the group. He foresaw “persistent percent-of-field improvement as against TV, radio and magazines.” But there wasn’t likely to be any slack-up in TV’s status as a leading print-media competitor, NAEA admen were also told. A new survey conducted by This Week magazine among 25 vps & media dirs. of leading ad agencies annually placing $650 million in TV reached the conclusion that, despite the recent quiz scandals & progi-am investigations, “advertisers will continue to use TV to reach the audience that will still be there. . . . There will be no mass exodus of TV accounts.” The agency-level checkup also found agencymen predicting “closer network control of programming & commercials, with changes in discount structures [benefiting] smaller advertisers.” Ad People: Arthur J. Kemp, ex-McCann-Erickson named Compton vp & asst, to the pres.; Robert S. Howell promoted from production supervisor to vp & TV-radio programming & production mgr. . . . Vincent Tutching, McCann-Erickson Corp. International vp, named a dir. & gen. mgr. of new subsidiary Hansen Rubensohn-McCann-Erickson Pty., Ltd., Melbourne, Australia . . . F. Stanley Newbery Jr., exMcCann-Erickson, named Cunningham & Walsh vp; Mrs. Jackie Agnew West, associate creative dir., elected vp. Obituary Harry H. Enders, 53, exec, vp of Young & Rubicam, died Jan. 21 of a heart ailment in Bronxville, N.Y. Film & Tape SAG STRIKE VS. MOVIES NEARS: Barring any unexpected, last-minute change, it appears certain that Screen Actors Guild will strike against the major film studios Jan. 31 or shortly thereafter — thereby forcing virtual suspension of movie production. Key issue: payments to actors on post-1948 movies sold to TV — a demand the major film studios have repeatedly refused to meet (Vol. 15 :52 et seq.) . When SAG’s board meets this week (Jan. 25), it is expected to call a mass membership meeting to consider a strike vote. That meeting may take place Jan. 31, the day the Guild’s contract expires. Both sides admitted that nothing came last week out of management’s meetings with SAG, Writers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America. At these meetings, film executives said they hoped it would not be necessary to sell their post-1948s to TV, but they gave no commitments that they would not do so. No Disruption to TV Films Now TV, with its own issues, remained untouched for time being. WGA’s strike against the majors & the Alliance of Television Film Producers Jan. 16, had not interrupted production in either movies or TV. Most TV companies are well stockpiled in scripts, and most series are nearing the end of their seasonal production. Remarked one TV executive: “If there had to be a strike, this was the time we could best afford it.” As for SAG, it hasn’t even begun negotiating with 'TV producers as yet, so they face no threat of immediate shutdown of production, as do the majors. If WGA hasn’t reached agreement with the networks by Jan. 31, the Guild probably will extend its strike to that area. The network contract originally expired Jan. 1, but was continued to Jan. 31. WGA has also extended until Feb. 12 its contract with independent producers not associated with networks or the alliance. WGA estimates the backlog of post-1948 movies is worth about $400 million. Its contract expired Nov. 17 but their negotiations with the major movie studios have collapsed completely. The studios are adamant in their rejection of post-1948 demands. Alliance Pay-Boost Formula Is Rejected Our source with the Alliance of TV Film Producers, whose members produce 60% of Hollywood’s TV film, told us his organization had proposed across-the-board increases in minimums to WGA, but they were rejected. He added that the Alliance is determined not to give in on demands for reruns for overseas showings of films, residual payments in perpetuity, and a residual increase based on the writer’s pay rather than the minimums (which currently are paid for reruns). “We’re completely apart on opening up & liberalizing the rerun formulas. We feel that by offering them minimum increases, we are increasing their residuals,” our source said. On other strike fronts: SAG received pledges of support from actors’ unions in Mexico & the British Isles. The Guild announced it has 400 contracts with producers providing for payments on post-1948s. WGA promised to indemnify any of its “hyphenated” members, (such as producer-writers or writer-directors) for damages from lawsuits arising from their refusal to perform writer services. It also threatened to expell any members found violating its strike order. And it signed another movie independent, Sol Lesser Productions.