Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1960)

INTERNATIONAL TV OVERSEAS MARKET LIMITED ATAS panel told tv's international sales will never equal those of theatrical film It will be a long time, if ever, before U.S. producers of tv films will achieve foreign sales like those of theatrical motion picture producers. The theatrical film-makers derive 50-60% of their total revenue from sales outside this country, Alvin Ferleger, director of sales of NBC International, stated Tuesday (Jan. 26). Speaking at a global tv forum of the Los Angeles chapter of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Mr. Ferleger pointed out that unlike motion pictures, tv films are sold abroad largely to government-owned monopolies who can fix prices. Even where there is commercial tv, there is much less advertising than in the U.S. So lower prices are the rule. And, either by law or an agreement among the tv broadcasters, as in the United Kingdom, the amount of time allowed for imported tv programs can be restricted. In Japan, the maximum price for a half-hour U.S. program is $300, Mr. Ferleger said. The market, however, has grown to such proportions that the Japanese Broadcaster is able to resell the program to advertisers for $3,000 and up. Mr. Ferleger answered criticisms voiced earlier by representatives of television in foreign lands. They claimed programs imported from the U.S. are too often westerns and contain more escapist entertainment than informational or cultural content. Mr. Ferleger declared that NBC and others produce all kinds of programs which they would be glad to sell abroad, if they could. "What is seen abroad is what the foreign buyer buys," he said. "He doesn't buy our comedies or our dramas; he can produce comedy and dramatic programs himself. He doesn't buy audience participation shows; he can adopt our formats and do them at home. What he does buy is our westerns." Two-Way Street • Mr. Ferleger also had an answer for another comment of the foreign tv spokesmen: that international television should be a two-way street on which they'd have a chance to sell programs to the U.S. as well as import programs from us. "We represent the greatest market in the world for tv programs," he stated. "We have no quotas, no restrictions." He added that we also have virtually no solicitations from foreign tv program producers. He urged them to make a real effort to sell their product here. Mr. Ferleger reported that receipts from England, where U.S. programs are limited to two hours of air time a day (one on the BBC, one on commercial television) are less than they were three years ago. Generally, he said, such restrictions as these lend no hope for any sharp rise in the foreign tv market for American programs. However, the increase in set ownership and in broadcasting facilities abroad does make a steady increase in foreign revenue probable. Earlier, Greeve Del Strother, American representative of the BBC, said that he was always on the lookout for the best in U.S. programs, "the best in information as well as entertainment." As a tax-supported service, which "doesn't have to cater to the needs of advertisers and so is not bothered by ratings," BBC puts the emphasis on program balance, he said, and is as much concerned with cultural shows for the minorities as with shows of mass audience appeal. "Children," he said, "are an important minority." Canadian Picture • Kenneth D. Soble, president, CHML Hamilton, Ont., said that two major changes are being made in Canadian tv. One is the abandonment of the single-station theory under which only one tv station was allowed to a market. Now that this idea has served its purpose of promoting the spread of tv beyond the country's major markets, he said, it is being dropped. For the first time competition will enter the scene. The other major change is a requirement that as of April 1, 1961, 45% of all Canadian tv programs must be of Canadian origin. The figure will rise to 55% by April 1, 1962. Already a number of new Canadian program production companies have been formed, Mr. Soble reported, in Another crusade The chances for commercial radio following commercial tv into England are very good, Norman Collins, deputy chairman of London's ATV, told the ATAS meeting on global television (see story, this page). Mr. Collins, who led the successful fight to break the BBC monopoly in television and admit commercial tv into the British Isles, said he will again campaign for commercial radio and again the BBC monopoly will be the major target of his attack. eluding Sovereign Broadcasting Co., Toronto, which he heads. Sovereign, he said, is going into the production of programs on tv tape. The company hopes to be instrumental in establishing a Canadian tape network. Low-cost production, primarily of daytime programs, is Sovereign's aim, he stated. To make U.S. films more palatable to Canadians, Mr. Soble said, they'd like less violence, less horror, fewer westerns and more straight dramas. His thought was repeated by Juan M. Duran, director of public relations of Telesistema Mexicano. Mexicans, he said, understand the need for gun play in westerns, but they resent it in modern-day tv dramas. Although U.S. programming takes up to 27% of the time on Mexican television only three U.S. shows were in last year's top 10 in that country: Rin Tin Tin, Father Knows Best and Gunsmoke. Mr. Duran asked for an exchange of programs that would show Mexicans how Americans live and vice versa. "All we know from what we see on tv and in the movies is that you work too hard and drink too many martinis," he commented. In The Commonwealth • Norman TV HEWS from M&A ALEXANDER! Watch for TV's most exciting New Star! "d J. HUSH, PRIVATE EyE" w The "Whodunit" Cartoon of the Era 100 Color Cartoons! 10 complete stories! 10 episodes to a story! 3'/2 minutes long! L Call, Write or wire . . . A L M&A ALEXANDER PRODUCTIONS, INC. A ^ Hollywood: 6040 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood 4-3414 New York City: ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^tem^l^East^55th Street, PLaza 5-5266 BROADCASTING, February 1, 1960 8*