Broadcasting (Apr - June 1960)

WILL PUBLIC SERVICE SPOIL TV? ■ Leading agencymen fear thought shows will imperil entertainment ■ If tv wants to get serious, it can’t count on sponsors, they say “It’s OK — and maybe even desirable —to fool around with public service programming. But don’t let it get in the way of entertainment. And don’t count on its being sponsored.” Those weren’t the exact words, but that was the impression that came out when six advertising agency men sat down to discuss prospects of station public service programming. The occasion was NBC Spot Sales’ first “Media Managers Conference,” an extension of the timebuyer panels it has conducted for several years. The conference was recorded May 9; its transcript is being made public today (June 13). The results seemed somewhat at variance with those NBC Spot Sales found in its latest timebuyer panel (conducted by questionnaire) on the same subject. In that instance the weight of opinion was that local public service could be sponsored and of advantage to advertisers (Broadcasting, April 18). The Media Managers Conference, a free-wheeling affair, touched on other subjects as well, including tv’s rates, pay television, editorials, government control and the Doerfer Plan for public service in prime time. Among the candid opinions expressed on these subjects: ■ Rates: they’ll enjoy a competitive advantage as print costs rise. ■ Pay television: it’s inevitable. ■ Editorials: they should be presented without giving equal time, except in a “letters to the editor” vein. a Government control: it shouldn’t happen. Responsibility should be left with local station management. a The Doerfer Plan (for voluntary agreements among tv networks to set aside primetime for public service): it was a bad idea. The six admen who contributed to these conclusions: Newman McEvoy, senior vice president of Cunningham & Walsh; Sam Vitt, vice president and associate media director of Doherty, Clifford, Steers & Shenfield; Don Leonard, media director of Fuller & Smith & Ross; Dave Wasko, vice president and media coordinator, Geyer, Morey, Madden & Ballard; Arthur Pardoll, associate media director, Foote, Cone & Belding, and Bob Liddell, head timebuyer, Compton Adv. The conference was moderated by Bill Fromm, manager of new business and promotion for NBC Spot Sales. Buildup to a Downbeat ■ After attacking the question of public service programming and its possible sponsorship from a number of angles, the conference focused on its less-than-optimistic conclusion in these three statements: By Mr. Leonard: There’s a possibility that tv could go too far with public service. “As long as television delivers the news and weather and public service programming twice a week, beyond that point I can’t see divorcing television from its primary entertainment purpose.” By Mr. McEvoy: “As a result of minority pressure, we’re going to get some minority viewing. Now if that is in the best interest of the viewing community, I’m dead wrong.” And by Mr. Vitt: “Don’t you feel though, that it might be advantageous in the long run [to have public service programming]? The shows will probably earn very little in the way of a rating ... I have the feeling that this just might point out clearly that the shows are being called for and viewed by a minority group. Perhaps it is good to have them on, but not necessarily in prime time.” He’s for Entertainment ■ It was Mr. McEvoy who emerged as the most consistent champion of tv's remaining primarily an entertainment medium, and who was most critical of efforts to put public service programming in prime time. Among his remarks were these: “The public service contribution seems to be in inverse ratio to entertainment capacity, which is most unfortunate. The implication is that the FCC would throw bouquets to the station that goes in for this high-level programming and, by implication, would look with disfavor upon all of the shows that I, just a boy with old shoes and crooked heels, regard as the more interesting ones.” And— “I think it’s rather unrealistic to suggest that a station can maintain a competitive position in the minds of agencies and devote a really significant percentage of its total programming time, particularly in prime hours, to editorial material. WQXR [New York good music station] does a superb job, and, in the halls of Washington, it is undoubtedly regarded as the ideal in broadcasting. But it is unrealistic to think a format of that sort should be foisted on a television station. Up and down Madison Avenue its image would deteriorate quickly — except for those advertisers intending to reach a limited sector of the market.” Pay-It-Yourself ■ Another adman with definite ideas about public service was Bob Liddell. He took the position that public service broadcasting could serve best to advance the image of the station, not of any advertiser who might sponsor it. He said this could be a good thing, in that it might persuade viewers to watch the station more and therefore enhance other advertising on the station, but that the station should not ask advertisers to shoulder the burden of paying for this station image-building endeavor. “There may be occasions when you’ll have commercial clients to sponsor public service.” Mr. Liddell said, “but in the main I firmly believe that the station itself should pay for this public service programming and that their revenue will be received from commercial sponsorship in other areas. ... To make the advertisers pay for this programming, which will enhance the station more than it will sell the advertiser's product, I believe is wrong.” When others on the panel questioned him about whether corporate images could be built through public service program sponsorship, Mr. Liddell conceded that some advertisers might have particular needs that could be satisfied by public service sponsorship, but he maintained that the prime benefactor was the station and that it should go ahead and pay the costs without counting on a sponsor. It Should Be Local ■ The admen found at least one area of general agreement: the most important service that stations could perform was to cover their local communities. This led some of the participants to the conclusion that the decision of what to program, and how much, must be left to local station management, and not made a matter of government fiat. As Mr. Liddell put it: “You can talk about defense in general, but the public service programming that a station will build its status with is the report on a local air base being built. In other words, the kind of stuff that 46 (BROADCAST ADVERTISING) BROADCASTING, June 13, 1960