Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

FILM CONTINUED NTA Net Income $1.95 Million In Fiscal Year Ended July 31 National Telefilm Assoc., New York, reported last week that net income for the fiscal year ended July 31, 1957, amounted to $1,094,031, equal to $1.60 per common share on 682,526 shares outstanding, as compared with a net income in the 1956 fiscal year of $441,877, equal to $0.68 per common share on the 650,000 shares outstanding. During the 12-month period a total of $17,720,134 in exhibition contracts were written in contrast with $5,793,975 for the 1956 period, the report revealed. It placed film rentals for the 1957 fiscal year at $10,976,479 as against $3,818,627 in fiscal 1956. Total assets of the corporation at the close of the fiscal year 1957 were listed at $32,143,270, compared with $13,092,934 a year earlier. The report stated that working capital on July 31,1957, was $11,806,936 and a year earlier amounted to $2,837,055. ABA, CBS-TV Film Sales Plan 'Attorney-at-Law' Series The American Bar Assn., which has been criticized by broadcasters because of the prohibitions imposed by its Canon 35 on courtroom coverage by radio-tv, last week announced plans to team up with CBS Television Film Sales and Producer Theodore Granik on a series of 26 half-hour films titled Attorney-at-Law. ABA, which hopes through this series to depict the legal profession in a "more accurate light," will receive royalties from the program and sponsorship approval in exchange for making available to Mr. Granik some case histories. Not all stories will end happily, ABA pointed out, but the series won't make the lawyer appear as "A dupe or charlatan, a twister of the law to suit a shady character ... or an unmitigated rascal." Flamingo Buys Five RKO Series Acquisition by Flamingo Telefilm Sales Inc., New York, of the tv rights to five film series from RKO Television is being announced today (Monday) by Robert Manby, vice president of RKO Teleradio Inc. and Herman Rush, president of Flamingo. The properties involved are Screen Directors PRISCIUASAI 7/SPEA£ FOR , YOUKSgLF^oHtf • . » • • «\A^E HAVE BEE WVET RADIO P0CH ESTER, NA' 1Q ANNIVERSARY „ HOV-22 Playhouse, Soldiers of Fortune, Aggie, The Big Idea and Animated Fairy Tales. RKO Television, Mr. Manby said, retains the tv distribution of its feature package and will be able to "concentrate on its program of the development and sale of various national network series on which co-production deals already have been set." Through this acquisition, Flamingo's catalogue totals 340 half hours of tv films, plus features and 194 cartoons, according to Mr. Rush. Food Industry No. 1 User Of Syndicated Films — Ziv The food industry has been termed the "No. 1 customer of syndicated tv film programs" by Ziv Television Programs, New York. The company reported that 37% of Ziv sponsors are processors, distributors or retailers of food and beverages. A study by the company's research department shows that the number of food companies using Ziv tv shows has increased 49% in the past two years. The largest gain within the food category, the study reveals, came from soft drink bottlers, with three times as many bottlers on the client list today as compared with two years ago. Bakeries were the most actively represented group, in number of sponsors, followed by supermarkets, food packagers, meat packers, soft drink bottlers, dairies and beers and wines. Large regional advertisers include Hamm Brewing Co. (57 markets on Harbor Command) , Interstate Bakeries (70 markets on Cisco Kid), Quality Bakers of America (18 markets on Men of Annapolis) and Colonial Stores (15 markets on Dr. Christian). ABC-TV, SG Agree on 'Frankenstein' ABC-TV and Screen Gems have made a co-production agreement for Tales of Frankenstein, a new series of 39 half -hour tv films to be produced both in Hollywood, where Screen Gems is negotiating with Bryan Foy to produce 20 programs, and in England, where James Carreras is sought as producer. Production will start as soon as possible, so ABC-TV and Screen Gems salesmen may be able to start showing the first films to prospective sponsors early in 1958, with series to be shown in the 1958-59 tv season. Warner Completing N. Y. Move Warner Bros, has announced that by Dec. 2 it will have completed the move of its entire New York offices from 321 W. 44th St. to the sixth and seventh floors of the new Tischman Building at 666 Fifth Ave. New space includes a two-story theatre with a special 16 mm projection booth for tv films plus a standard 35 mm movie booth. Many offices will include built-in tv and hi-fi sets. Warner's tv department will be on the sixth floor. Gould Starts Production Firm Formation of Walter I. Gould Productions Inc., 15 E. 48th St., New York, to make tv commercial films, has been announced by Walter Gould, formerly executive producer of Guild Films commercial division. PREPARING for Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, Popeye took to the air in a test flight Nov. 1 1 in Akron, Ohio. Created for Associated Artists Enterprises, merchandising arm of Associated Artists Productions [Film, Nov. 11], the sailorman will tower 56 feet over parade crowds. According to Goodyear, whose aviation products division constructed the balloon, Popeye will need a ground crew of at least 25 persons. Page 90 • November 25, 1957 Ziv Tv Survey Claims Viewers Wander Off at Station Breaks There's not much of an audience for the tv screen between programs, Ziv Television Programs, New York, claimed last week on the basis of a Cincinnati study. Results of the survey released by Ziv Tv show that 77% of an audience watching a television show is lost when the program ends, thereby decreasing the effectiveness of break-time commercial announcements. Commissioned by Ziv Tv, the study was conducted by Burke Market Research Inc., Cincinnati, in that city during the week June 3-10. Cincinnati is a three-station market. Personal interviews were conducted in 1,000 homes with the questions concerning viewing during the previous four-hour period. The survey, according to Ziv Tv, reveals that between tv programs, 28% of the audience leaves the room; 25% reads, makes phone calls or otherwise turns attention from the screen; 12% leave the house, 10% busy themselves by changing channels; 2% were not viewing but cannot specifically account for their activities. This leaves 23 % of the total group available for viewing between program announcements, Ziv Tv claimed. John Sinn, president of Ziv Tv, asserted, "while between program announcements have a definite role in tv advertising, they cannot do the same kind of effective selling job that program sponsorship accomplishes." Broadcasting