Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1956)

VIDEO BORROWS THE SNEAK PREVIEW An old Hollywood custom is put to use for filmed television series by ABC Film Syndication and Brisacher, Wheeler & Staff agency, each using a different technique with successful results. DISTRIBUTOR'S DIAGNOSIS — SNEAK PREVIEWS, for many years an important part of motion pictures, now have made their way into the television industry. ABC Film Syndication, in an effort to show advertisers that its new The Three Musketeers film series is destined for high audience acceptance, has conducted a test of the series on WNHC-TV New Haven, Conn., chosen because the station covers an area combining rural, urban and suburban residents. Following the showings, set owners were solicited for comments — both by mailed questionnaires and by on-the-air invitations from the station. Only $250 was invested in the audience research study, and ABC Film Syndication executives believe they have come up with a set of conclusions that will prove most helpful to advertisers and their agencies. To insure impartiality, the study was conducted by the Fordham U. Dept. of Communication Arts in collaboration with Robert Galen, research manager of ABC Film Syndication. Questionnaires were mailed to people whose names were selected on a random basis from the New Haven and Hartford telephone directories. They were asked to watch the preview on WNHC-TV on Feb. 5 (1-1:30 p.m. EST.) and then to fill out and return the questionnaire. WNHC-TV, meanwhile, asked viewers to watch the "sneak preview" and invited mail comments, comprising the second part of the study. ABC Film Syndication believes its study is an accurate indication of the likes and dislikes of WNHC-TV viewers, and by projection, of the audience throughout the country. Fordham U. mailed out 1,917 questionnaires, of which 1,885 were delivered. Total responses amounted to 149, representing 9.1% of the number delivered. ABC Film Syndication concluded that the responses represented a valid cross-section of the viewing public, pointing out that about 10% of the recipients did not own tv sets and sets in use for the time period totalled about 20%. It estimated that the potential audience was about 500 for the total mailing, with the 149 responses representing about 30%, of the potential andience. In response to specific questions posed in the questionnaire, according ABC Film Syndication, it was indicated that The Three Musketeers is: • A program which is above average, with the show rated excellent, above average, or average by 95.1% of the respondents. • A program which is better than most popular programs. • A program which has a star that the viewers like. Some 91% liked Jeffrey Stone. • A program which is good entertainment for the entire family. More than 89% of the people considered Musketeers good family entertainment. • A program which will build a loyal audience. Almost 90% of the respondents said they wanted additional episodes. More than 100 pieces of mail were received by WNHC-TV, of which 94% liked the program and 66.6% expressed a desire to see additional episodes of Musketeers. AGENCY'S APPROACH — TO OBTAIN a representative reaction to new tv film properties, Brisacher, Wheeler & Staff agency has inaugurated a system of sneak previews in its San Francisco office whereby prints of new programs being considered for use. are shown to a pre-selected group of agency personnel, from account executives to clerical staff. After the showings, which are held during lunch hours, questionnaires are passed out and the viewers are asked to make comments. These questionnaires then are evaluated by Howard Gossage, head of the BW&S television department, for consideration in future agency recommendations. The agency describes the procedure this way: "A notice is sent to the entire staff, generally on the day preceding, which requests general attendance. Individual invitations to the control group are made in person, and in this control group we try to obtain, insofar as is possible within the agency group, a representative cross-section from the people of various economic backgrounds, social strata and intellectual capabilities. We get homemakers, non-homemakers, family men and bachelors.". Questions asked on the form include: "From the standpoint of a television viewer, forgetting for the moment that you are a member of an advertising agency staff, how would you rate the program you have just seen? Excellent? Good? Fair? Poor? "In your considered judgment as a member of an advertising agency, how would you rate the program you have just seen? Excellent? Good? Fair? Poor? "With what client, if any would you relate this type of show? "Would you recommend this show for a client you may have named above or for any of our clients? "If this show has appeared on the air before — have you seen it? Have you made a point of watching it before? "Would you make a point of viewing this show if it appeared on the air? "To what audience do you think this show would most appeal? (You may check multiple categories) Male? Female? Teens? Juvenile? Older? Younger? Married? Single? "With what show now on the air would you compare this show? How does it compare? Better? Poorer?" The agency sums up the value of the previews in this manner: "First, they provide this department with an opportunity to present account executives the programs available to them for their accounts in a manner somewhat more dramatic than is usually the case. "Second, they provide documented ammunition for the department in selling a departmental recommendation for a show to an account executive and possibly, at a later date, to a client. "Third, they provide a good opportunity for the vendor to display and discuss his wares, thus assuring us a high screening priority when new shows come on the market. This, of course, presupposes we can and do buy some of the shows screened." Page 50 • March 12, 1956 Editorial Film Takes Time, Large Staff, Says Salomon WHAT does it take to produce 53 minutes worth of editorial film material? Henry Salomon, producer of NBC-TV's Project 20 series, supplied B«T with these statistics: The idea for an hour-long program on the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler — to be shown Wednesday night at 9-10 p.m., EDT — was born five years ago during the filming of Mr. Salomon's prize-winning Victory at Sea series and took over four years of basic research to begin with before the Project 20 staff could go ahead with actual production. Then, it took a staff of more than 15 people close to 3,000 man-hours to initially screen 90 million feet of film footage. Out of this, 15 million feet were "rough material." Third and fourth screening cut the figure down to five million feet. Out of this, 150,000 feet were ordered from sources that included official government agencies of the U. S., France, Great Britain, West Germany, U.S.S.R., confiscated war films, private collections and commercial motion picture companies. First editing left 25,000 feet out of which 4,770 feet were left after some 14 editorial sessions. Additional time was put in logging up flights between New York and various European capitals, Mr. Salomon said. Aside from newsreel and war combat films, the Project 20 staff sat through a crop of German-produced films that filled in gaps not otherwise recorded. New Appointments Announced By Fred A. Niles Productions ADDITIONAL key appointments at Fred A. Niles Productions Inc., Chicago and Los Angeles, have been announced by President Fred A. Niles [B»T, At Deadline, Feb. 13]. They include Robert Boutier, formerly J. Walter Thompson Co., as art director: Frank Richter, formerly with Encyclopedia Britannica Films and CBS, as chief sound engineer; Tom Ryan as production manager; John Reese, supervising editor; Edward E. Katz, formerly with Eddy Arnold Co., as controller, and Gray Stafford as assistant director. Rogers Keene will supervise production and William E. Harder will be unit director on Oral Roberts evangelist series now being filmed by Niles and seen on 147 stations. New company also has effected agreement with George Nasser, owner of General Service studios, for use of sets and crews now engaged on other Hollywood tv film properties. Niles Productions also reported it had received $500,000 worth of new business since it started operation as a tv production firm last Dec. 12 and anticipates a volume of $1 million by the end of this year. Christian Scientists Release Second Group of Tv Films THE RELEASE of a second group of Christian Science tv films was announced last week by Will B. Davis, manager of Christian Science Committees on Publication. More than 160 television stations have broadcast the initial 13 programs in the series How Christian Science Heals since they were first released last September. Documented examples of "the solution of character, business, health, and other problems" are described in the 15-minute programs, performed by non-professionals. The programs, Broadcasting • Telecasting