Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1960)

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VOL. 16: No. 4 13 Canadian Set Census: Latest sampling survey of Can ada’s TV penetration shows 3,493,600 households, or 81% of Canada’s 4,294,500 homes, are TV-equipped. These figures are from the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement’s Nov. 1959 estimates, issued last week. The full survey results, by counties & census districts, will be included in the forthcoming Spring-Summer Television Factbook. Here are BBM’s estimates of TV households in Canada (excluding Yukon & Northwest territories) as of Nov. 1959: Province Population Households %TV TV Households Newfoundland 86,900 39 33,500 Prince Edward Is. ... 23,600 62 14,600 Nova Scotia .... 722,400 169,400 81 138,000 New Brunswick .... 695,500 129,200 75 96,300 Quebec 1,092,900 89 976,900 Ontario .... 6,013,100 1,649,100 88 1,369,900 Manitoba 229,000 73 166,800 Saskatchewan 241,700 64 155,600 Alberta .... 1,267,100 329,300 70 231,000 British Columbia .... 1,586,800 444,500 70 311,100 CANADA ....17,581,400 4,294,500 81 3,493,600 ♦ * * Decision on Canadian TV applications in Winnipeg & Vancouver are likely to come in around Feb. 1. Three groups applied for one channel in Winnipeg and 5 for the channel in Vancouver. The Winnipeg sessions revealed a letter by W. E. Williams, pres. & gen. mgr. of Procter & Gamble Canada Ltd., declaring that the 55% Canadianprogram-content requirement was “impossible & unduly expensive” and warning that big TV buyers would turn to other media where dollar return is greater. The Vancouver sessions brought a protest from the British Columbia div. of the Retail Merchants Assn, against one applicant— Metropolitan Television Ltd. — ^because of “too much control of advertising & communications media in this various large area.” Big partners in Metropolitan Television include Vancouver’s only 2 daily newspapers. The Sun and The Province, and the 2 most popular radio stations, New Westminster’s CKNW & Vancouver’s CKWX. NBC-RKO General station-swap intensions (Vol. 16:1 p9) have been communicated to FCC in the form of a letter signed by representatives of both. It says: (1) NBC will exchange WRCV-TV & WRCV Philadelphia for RKO’s WNAC-TV & WNAC Boston. (2) RKO will buy NBC’s WRC-TV & WRC Washington for $11.5 million — if NBC can at the same time buy a TV station in another “suitable” market. (3) NBC agrees to comply with all provisions of the consent decree which requires it to sell the Philadelphia outlets (Vol. 15:39 p3). It’s understood NBC is still negotiating for the purchase of a San Francisco station — KTVU or KRON-TV. The NBC-RKO agreement says the deal will be called off if NBC doesn’t get another station by April 2. Under the consent decree, NBC can buy in San Francisco or other major markets if it satisfies Justice Dept, that the seller hasn’t been threatened with the loss of NBC-TV affiliation. One unsettled matter in the picture is FCC’s position on Philco’s protest against the renewal of WRCV-TV & WRCV. RKO General Inc. is the stationowning subsidiary of General Tire & Rubber Co. Virgin Islands get TV March 1 when WITV St. Thomas is scheduled to begin as closed-circuit CATV, carrying English-language programs, but also picking up Spanishlanguage shows from Puerto Rican TV stations. William R. Lastinger of Austin, Tex. is pres. & resident administrator of operator. Virgin Isle TV Cable Corp., which has $30 installation charge and $10 monthly fee. WITV also plans microwave to St. Croix and other Caribbean areas. Programming NETWORK PROGRAM SHIFTS: NBC-TV’s nighttime program schedule began to look like the diagram of a Syracuse U. triple-reverse play last week as network officials added, dropped & shifted programs in the wake of a major round of mid-season sponsor cancellations. By comparison, program backfields at the other 2 networks were largely unaltered, but some ABC-TV & CBS-TV substitutions were in the works too. At NBC-TV: A filmed-in-Europe series. The Man from Interpol, produced by the Danziger Bros, and sponsored by Sterling Drug, will replace taped, rating-light It Could Be You, cancelled by Pharmaceuticals Inc., in the Sat. 10:30-11 slot starting Jan. 30. People Are Funny, now in the Fri. 7:30-8 p.m. period, will move to Wed. 10:3011 p.m., replacing Procter & Gamble-cancelled Wichita T own, effective in early Feb. In a major Tues.-night shuffle effective Jan. 26, Ford’s Startime specials will begin 60-min. earlier (8:30 p.m., instead of 9:30) in a move personally handled by NBC Pres. Robert E. Kintner. Ford is moving down to replace Fibber McGee & Molly (cancelled by Singer & Standard Brands) and Arthur Murray Party (moving to 9:30 Tues. in the first 30-min. of the vacated Ford slot). Now scheduled back-to-back at 10 p.m. Tues. with the dancing Murrays is M Squad, moving over from Fri. 9:30 p.m. — a slot that’s likely to be filled by Masquerade Party which is expected to move over {stay with ms) from CBS-TV’s Mon. 7 :30-8 p.m. slot — to be filled by the Kate Smith series. Elsewhere on NBC-TV, Revue Productions’ Overland Trail is due to replace Revue’s Riverboat at Sun. 7-8 p.m., with the latter dropping anchor in the Mon. 7:30-8:30 period, replacing a pair of axed shows, Richard Diamond (Helene Curtis; Block Drug) and Love & Marriage (Noxzema). The network’s new 60-min. public-affairs series, World Wide 60, replaces 5 Fingers, Sat. 9:30, on Jan. 30. Substitutions at ABC-TV & CBS-TV At ABC-TV: Having already replaced Dick Clark’s World of Talent series with the filmed 21 Beacon St., ABC-TV’s next program shuffle, we’re told, will be to drop the nighttime version of The Gale Storm Show, sold to ABC-TV last season by ITC and scheduled in the Thurs. 7:30-8 p.m. slot. It’s primarily a sponsor cancellation by Warner-Lambert, unhappy because Gale Storm reruns — under the same title — are scheduled as a 2:30-3 p.m. daytime strip for participating advertisers. No other immediate ABC-TV shifts are expected, although there’s likely to be considerable juggling when the 1960-61 fall schedule is announced later this year. At CBS-TV: As mentioned above. The Kate Smith Show is replacing Masquerade Party in the Mon. 7:30-8 p.m. period, a not-unexpected move since “Masquerade” was itself an interim replacement for Name That Tune, a musical quiz axed by CBS Inc. Pres. Frank Stanton in the wake of the quiz hearings. Being groomed as a possible replacement for either The Lineup (cancelled by CBS-TV) or Big Party (cancelled by Revlon, which wants a 60-min. weekly show) is a new 60-min. taped Nat Hiken package. Madhouse 60, whose pilot was recorded in N.Y. Jan. 19, with Nancy Walker & Eddie Foy Jr. starred. Kellogg, for budgetary reasons, may cut back on its sponsorship of the Sun. 7:30-8 p.m. Dennis the Menace (a rating success and not likely to be dropped) and its co-sponsorship of the Fri. 8:30-9 p.m. Hotel de Paree (lackluster ratings and a candidate for the network’s axe).