Broadcasting (Jan - Mar 1949)

Program Analysis, Dec. 5-11 (Report 43) SPONSORED VIDEO airtime in December remained about equal to November, with a sharp drop in remote sports broadcasts. Other forms of sponsored broadcasts increased, but sports fell from 51% to 43% of all sponsored time. These figures are from the Rorabaugh Report on Television Advertising for the first week in December 1948. With the end of the football season, video turned to boxing, wrestling and basketball, but sponsorship of these sports is not yet as frequent as football sponsorship. Total number of sponsored remote sports broadcasts dropped from 203 hours and 35 minutes in November to 166 hours and 17 minutes in December. The report for December covers a total of 41 TV stations in 23 markets. Variety shows, ever more popular on television, increased to about 12.3% of all video sponsored time. A majority of these programs are network shows. The total hours of variety programs are estimated at 53. In November, variety programming occupied 28 hours of broadcast time, or 6.7% of the total. All types of commercial announcements increased considerably in the month. Approximately 31% hours of announcements were sponsored during the week of December 5-11. This is just about double the amount of announcements sponsored in the first week in November, and 7.3% of all sponsored time (See Table II). TABLE I Dramatic programs increased slightly in December to reach a total of about 50 hours. Again, most of this type of programming was network-originated. News broadcasts showed another steady gain — ^from a total of 29 hours and 34 minutes in November to 32 hours and 12 minutes in December. N«ws broadcasts now occupy about 7.4% of all sponsored video time. For the first time. Broadcasting has made a further breakdown of the type of program presentation used in current television operations. Sports remote programming is, of course, the most frequent form of program presentation, as 39.7% of all TV programming is produced this way (See Table III). The next most popular form of SPONSORED COMMERCIAL. TV TIME, BY PROGRAM TYPE & PRODUCTION METHOD (In Hours and Minutes) Studio Live 1. Audience Participation 16:25 2. Children's 14:00 3. Discussion :15 4. Dramatic 19:45 5. Education 1:20 6. Fasliion 7. Household Hints 10:52 8. Musical 5:25 9. News 4:46 10. Quiz 8:36 11. Sports 3:40 12. Special Events 13. Variety 46:00 14. Weather :30 15. Time Signal :20 16. Announcements 3:02 17. Misc. 1:10 TOTAL 136:06 ^ lie ^ TABLE II Sponsored Video Air Time Hrs.-Min. % of ToUl Programs 402:14 92.7% Announcements 31:34 7-3% 433:48 100.0% * * * TABLE in Production Method in Video Programming Type Hrs.-Min. % of Total Studio Live 136:06 31.4% Film 65:20 15.1% Live & Film 51:49 11.9% Live & Slide 6:38 1.5% Live, SUde & Film 1:16 0.3% Slide & Fibn :37 0.1% Sports Remotes _. 172:02 39.7% 433:48 100.0% TABLE IV Rank of Video Programs (Commercial) by Broadcast Hours Nov. 7-13 Dec. 5-11 Audience Particip. 7 6 Children's 5 7 Discussion 9 12 irama 2 3 lucation 11 11 .j'ashion 13 14 Household Hints 10 9 Miisical 8 10 News 3 4 Quiz 12 8 Sports 1 1 Special Events 14 13 Variety 4 2 All Ajincmnts. 6 5 Studio Film 1:25 5:30 :15 24:38 10:01 2:00 :18 2:41 17:22 1:10 65:20 Studio Live & Film 1:40 1:55 25:00 4:00 :10 2:30 1:58 2:41 6:00 3:25 :52 :03 1:35 51:47 Studio Studio Studio ' % of Live Live SUde Film Total & Slide & Film & Slide Remote Total Time 1:30 19:85 4.6 1:15 18:35 4.3 1:00 1:15 0.3 50:15 11.6 :15 5:35 1.3 11:02 2.5 :15 8:25 2.0 :50 32:12 7.4 :15 11:32 2.6 :40 :10 16:17 186:48 43.0 2:00 53:25 12:3 :01 :05 1:46 0.4 :22 :15 3:41 0.9 3:00 :31 :37 26:07 6.0 1:15 3:35 0.8 6:38 1:16 :37 472.02 433:48 100.00 JUKE BOX TELEVISION Shown in Chicago by Solofone, Videograph THREE-WAY juke box, offering six minutes of television, AM programming or phonograph music for a nickel, was introduced last week formally at the Coin Machine Institute in Chicago by the Solotone Corp., Los Angeles. The device is manufactured by Hallicrafters Co., Chicago. From the television viewpoint, the mechanism is designed to profit tavern and restaurant owners by keeping patrons seated and therefore not so preoccupied that they forget drinking and eating. It also is said to eliminate "floaters." Customers may switch off the AM or TV audio (not the TV picture) when they dislike certain programs and use only the records. Equipment to be installed includes one or more large television receivers, with a screen size similar to that now popular in public places, and small coin boxes along the bar or food counter, at two or three-seat intervals, and in booths. The coin box switch enables listeners and viewers to have their choice of 10 records, four AM shows or four TV shows. Maximum number of broadcasting channels provided is four. Screens are marked with the corresponding channel number. The new system "corrects problems which other TV systems have created in commercial locations," according to H. F. Dennison, inventor of the device, vice president of Solotone and president of Dennison Sales Co., national sales representative for the firm. Installation and operation is free to the businessman, as distribution is conducted on a percentage basis, Mr. Dennison explained. Solotone TV installations have been made in New Orleans, Minneapolis and Dallas. Second TV innovation at the institute was a device developed by the Videograph Corp., New York, and manufactured by Emerson Radio. Seven feet, two inches high. broadcast is the live-studio presentation, which accounts for 31.4% of all programs. Film programming and live and film combination accounts for ananother 27% of programming — while the use of slides, alone or in combination with live or film presentation makes up the rest of video's programming. Detailed breakdowns of these figures can be found in Tables I and III. Sports, variety, drama and news programs were the most popular forms of sponsored programs in December, in that order. Variety programming moved from fourth spot up to second, and dramatic and news programs dropped one place as a result. Announcements were fifth in total time sponsored, jumping one place above last month's spot. Children's programs dropped to seventh place compared to fifth on the November report. Quiz increased considerably to take eighth spot, compared to last month's position near the bottom in twelfth spot. These comparisons are shown in Table IV. TV SET FIGURES reported to Broadcasting during the past week: Cleveland-Akron — 22,310 as of Jan. 1, reported by WEWS Cleveland. Los Angeles — 79,640 as of Jan. 1, reported by Southern California Radio and Electrical Appliance Dealers Assn. New Orleans — 3,000 as of Jan. 15, reported by New Orleans Public Service Inc. San Francisco Bay Area — 3,500 as of Jan. 1, reported by KPIX (TV) San Francisco. it peddles 30 phonograph records and TV shows on a 122-square-inch screen for 5, 10 and 25^. At the rate of 5^ for three minutes, it costs patrons $1 per hour for suchentertainment. Differing from the Solotone, the Videograph is controlled by the management rather than patrons as to selection of records or TV. The video section, however, can be put on a free-play basis if the owners choose. Both audio and video are centered in one machine, as contrasted with Solotone's two receivers. Equipment may be purchased either outright or rented from a distributor, according to Louis N. Forman, Videograph president. Installations have been made in all parts of the country, he reports. Page 38 • January 24, 1949 BROADCASTING • Telecasting