Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1956)

INTERVIEW REFLECTIONS ON ABC'S CLIMB TO THE BIG TIME TO GET first-hand information on ABC's progress during the three years since its merger with United Paramount Theatres, B*T went to the man at the helm, President Robert E. Kintner. A team of three editors armed with tape recorder and many questions got from him the answers which follow. Q: The third anniversary of AB-PT seemed to us a pretty good time to take a look at the progress you have made since the merger of ABC and the United Paramount Theatres, and to see what your plans are for the immediate future. At the time of the merger, I believe you had a goal of attaining equal competitive stature with CBS and NBC within about five years. Are you on schedule? A: I'm glad you came here on our anniversary. If I may, I'd like to give you just a few statistics on the progress we have made. This may point up our belief that we are advancing toward our goal and our expectation that two years from now we will be equal to NBC and Columbia in business, public and program acceptance, and other criteria on which networks are judged. In 1955, ABC-TV's gross billings were over $50 million. Two years before that our gross was $21 million. Our gross, comparing the latest month available, December 1955, with the year before, shows an increase of 58% which compares very favorably with the 13% gain for CBS-TV and the 23% gain for NBC-TV. For January 1956, we had approximately 150 quarter-hours of commercial time on the ABC Television Network, which is almost double the 79 quarter-hours we had in January 1955 and almost quadruple the commercial quarter-hours in January 1953. While I don't want to bore you with statistics, I think they do point up our three-year progress and the opportunity we have in the next two years. The audience for our programming in television is growing faster than ever before, and actually is growing faster than the other networks. To put it one way, the typical commercial message on ABC-TV was viewed in over one million more homes in October 1955 than in October 1954. This is a 43% gain compared with 17% for CBS-TV and 6% for NBC-TV. You can consider the impact and importance of a million homes with 2.5 million active ABC viewers if you think of a magazine, which in the space of a year, could increase its readers by 2.5 million, and in fact, increase its noters by that amount. Just to add one more statistic. According to Nielsen Multi-Network Area Reports, which test program popularity among the three networks, compared to the previous year, ABC had more than doubled the ratings of our affiliates in those time periods where we programmed new shows this fall. I know I've talked enough, but in general these statistics highlight the progress that ABC-TV has made. Q: Do you think that at the end of five years your billing will be comparable to that of CBS and NBC? A: Yes, we do. We think that all three networks will be very comparable because they will program similar hours with almosl comparable rates, and I believe that network television will be practically sold out. The equalization of the three networks will give to the public better program fare. It will be extremely important to the advertiser because without a third network his pro gram possibilities are confined to the more limited hours available on two networks. In fact, I think that one of the greatest advantages of a third network, in addition to a greater choice for the public, is the advantage to the advertiser of greater freedom of choice. One of the most striking things, I believe, in the development of ABC during the past year has been the support given us by the socalled blue-chip advertisers who have placed their programs on ABC, or sponsored ABC programs, not only because we are a good advertising buy but in order to aid in the development of a third network, thus increasing their freedom of choice. I'm talking about companies like General Mills, American Tobacco, Liggett & Myers, General Motors, General Foods, Chrysler and other top companies in the business. Our two greatest accomplishments to my mind, in the last three years, are better programming, such as Disneyland, and the support of the most important advertisers in the business. And, of course, the public has responded with much larger audiences to our shows. Q: In one of your speeches, to the Assn. of National Advertisers A: I couldn't have made that many speeches. I'm the non-speechmaking president. Q: You did mention something about further cooperation between the agencies and the networks. Would you like to tell us about that? A: Yes. I think, first, that the spirit of antagonism which has arisen between advertising agencies and the networks over the control of programming is not proper in the business. It seems to me that with so many hours to program, the creative ability of the agencies and the networks are both needed in order to provide enough top-flight entertainment. In addition, I think there should be much greater cooperation between the agencies and the advertisers in the field of creative research— and particularly, in the field of motivation research. While we know a great deal about the circulation of our programs, the number of homes reached, the number of families and the character of the families, we know very little actually about what motivates people to watch a program and to buy the products advertised. I think a collective effort on the part of the agencies, the advertisers and the networks to develop valid research in this area would be helpful not only to the buyers but to the public at large. Q: You mention motivation research. Is that . . . are you doing something along that line? I seem to remember in your ANA speech you mentioned a Detroit study. A: Actually two studies. One in Detroit and one in New Jersey. Taking the Detroit study, we are doing interviews on why people watch programs and what their program habits are based on. Another aspect of the work being done in Detroit is an attempt to correlate viewing activity as it relates to the movement of goods. In New Jersey we're doing a study to determine programs children prefer and what effect their reactions have on the advertiser's product. These are pilot studies out of which we hope to have indications both as to the best types of programming, the motivating factors affecting viewing activity, as well as what sells goods. This Page 68 • March 5, 1956 Broadcasting • Telecasting