Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

INTERNATIONAL continued ★ ONLY KWK REACHES AND SELLS THE 573,000 SPANISH PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GREATER LOS ANGELES ★ THIS SINGLE GROUP SPENDS MORE THAN $1,300,000 PER DAY ★ FOR THE LOWEST COSTGREATEST EFFECTIVENESS . TELL 'EM & SELL 'em in SPANISH! PASADENA • LOS ANGELES V Spanish Language x. Station S L. A.— RYan 1-6744 S. F. — Theo B. Hall Eastern Rep. — National Time Sales Increased Commercial Activity Reported by Bavarian Radio-TV A report by Bavarian Radio, Munich, lists 56 advertisers on the station's half-hour, daily commercial show during its eight months of operation. Sales figures for the government-controlled station, which broadcasts an otherwise sustaining schedule, were not available, but commercial resistance reportedly has been decreasing. Advertisers taking advantage of a total six minutes offered for spots each day fell in these categories: cosmetics 10, soaps and cleansers 8, food 8, automotive 6, textiles 6, tobacco 6, furniture and appliances 4, banks and insurance companies 3, newspapers and magazines 3, watches and toys 2 and mail order houses 2. Bavarian Radio's commercial tv segment, carried at present by Radio Free Berlin, also will be fed to Hesse Radio, Frankfurt, and South West German Radio, Baden-Baden, beginning Jan. 2. Production will be split between all except Radio Free Berlin, with 180 shows per year originating in Munich and 60 each in Frankfurt and Baden-Baden. Spots will be sold on a network basis. No regional or local commercials will be offered because of small audiences in the three separate areas. Advertisers discount Berlin as a market, since the Western Sector is surrounded by the Soviet Zone. Viewership for the 7:30 p.m. network commercial show is expected to be between 600,000 and 1 million, allowing for multiple viewing of more than 280,000 sets. An equivalent of $1,670 probably will be charged for one minute. If South German Radio, Stuttgart, should join the commercial network, as had been discussed, the minute rate would go up to around $2,140. Another possible starter on the commercial network could be West German Radio, Cologne, which has just announced plans to build a new $5 million plant. ABROAD IN BRIEF AMPEX ABROAD: Ampex Corp. reportedly has closed a deal with Siemens & Halske, German electronics firm, to introduce the videotape recorder in Germany. Details as to date and whether Ampex would adopt a straight export or licensing procedure have not been announced. The units will have to be converted to German technical standards. Siemens & Halske, with a registered capitalization of more than $100 million, is one of Germany's electronic giants. GERMAN SET SITUATION: A television boom is on in West Germany, after years of slow progress, according to observers. Manufacturers have reported a total of 850,000 set sales for 1957, representing 100,000 more than their original estimate. Production is sold out for six weeks ahead, they say, and a backlog of orders is increasing from other European countries where tv is growing. From 1.3 million tv sets in operation in October, the set total is expected to reach 2 million in 1958. This would make Germany contender for second place in European television, following Britain, which has 8 million sets. Page 104 December 9, 1957 Looking ahead to color tv, manufacturers say it will be four to six years before it is introduced in that country. Several firms, including Telefunken and Grundig, are active in color research, but production lines are busy filling the demand for monochrome sets. Stations in West Germany are concentrating on broadening program structures and are not inclined to push colorcasting. HOT SPOTS IN ITALY: Controversy is active over a proposal to extend the daily 10minute commercial segment in programming of RAI-TV, which holds the Italian public broadcast monopoly, and over an increase in annual set license fees. RAI-TV reports the 10-minute commercial segment, accommodating four advertisers, is too small to meet sponsor demand. Other media, opposed to the commercial segment from the beginning, are protesting any expansion. To fight increased receiver license costs, an organization of restaurant and bar owners has asked its members to cancel their set licenses. The boycott, which could extend to 70,000 sets in public places, has resulted so far in 30,000 license terminations, costing RAI-TV 1.5 billion lire. Restaurant and bar owners charge that the Rome government, in raising the fee, acted under pressure from motion picture and theatre interests. SAAR QUESTION MARK: Europe No. One, three-year-old radio station in the Saar Basin, is still up for sale, as rumored buyers disclaim any intention to purchase the commercially successful property. Selling Europe No. One is complicated for its Monocan owners by the fact that the station's fate is in serious doubt, since the return of the Saar (independent country since 1945) to West Germany, where broadcasting is government-restricted. The Bonn Postal Ministry, which regulates broadcasting, is expected to resolve the question. Banque de Paris and Deutsche Bank of Germany had been reported ready to buy Europe No. One for between $5 and $7 million, but they have denied it. Interests in France, where broadcasting also is government-operated, were said to oppose the deal. The station is owned by Images and Son, Monaco, through a 95% controlled interest in Saarlaendische Fernseh A.G. Scandinavia is opposing continued operation of Europe No. One on grounds of frequency interference, since the station has no internationallyallocated frequency. Firm After Immigrant Market To reach tens of thousands of European immigrants to Canada a group of foreignlanguage announcers has been organized to handle radio and television news and advertising. S. W. Caldwell Ltd., Toronto advertising agency, and W. A. Hoellige & Assoc., Toronto market consultant firm, have arranged to hire men and women announcers speaking German, Italian, Polish, Dutch and Ukrainian, the five largest language groups among new Canadians. It is planned to sell taped half-hour news programs in a combination of languages in 10-minute segments, with about IV2 minutes of commercials in each segment. Broadcasting