Broadcasting Telecasting (Jul-Sep 1960)

INTERNATIONAL FOREIGN TV FILM MARKET Eventual sales bonanza has its problems The foreign market for U.S. -produced tv programs should follow the theatrical motion picture pattern, with 50-60% of the total revenue eventually coming from abroad, John McCarthy, president of the Television Program Export Assn., said Thursday at a news conference in Hollywood. And "eventually" may not be far off, the way television is burgeoning throughout the world with some 28 million tv sets in homes outside the U.S., eight million of them added during the past year. But there are problems, Mr. McCarthy noted. There is the British quota system which limits program imports to 14% of the time on the commercial tv network (about one hour a day) and to 10% of the BBC's tv time. And there is the dollar limit imposed in Japan, where the top price for a halfhour imported tv show is pegged at $500 and was only recently raised from $350. Such a restriction for a country with five million tv sets is unreasonable, Mr. McCarthy said, noting that in comparison Australia which has only one million tv receivers pays an average price of $1,500 for a half-hour imported program with some shows getting as high as $3,000. Just as harmful is the British quota, which by allowing such a small amount of time for foreign tv shows, has created so much competition among U.S. producers that British buyers are able to get a halfhour program for only $2,000-3,000 while deriving $40,000-50,000 from the sale of advertising spots in and around it. Fair Play ■ In Britain, from which he has just returned, Mr. McCarthy said he had used the basic argument that such restrictions are unfair, especially in view of the lack of U.S. restrictions on the import of British cars, whisky and steel, among other commodities. Indeed, he stated, if feature theatrical films are included in the reckoning, it is probable that the English have taken more dollars from U.S. television than our program makers have received from British tv. In his negotiations in England, Mr. McCarthy reported, he pointed out that something has to give, and that if they don't do the right things the consequences could be unpleasant. The international balance of payments is a very serious matter for the U.S. he stated. Our exports, he said, amount to some $18.5 billion a year or about $3.5 billion behind the $21.5 billion of our imports plus our foreign aid and our defense support expenditures abroad. To restore a proper balance between income and outgo, the U.S. must either cut foreign aid and defense spending, or impose restrictions on imports or increase our exports. The last is by far the best solution, he said, and tv films are a part of our exports which legitimately could be increased. Viewers abroad want American made programs, he stated, pointing to their top popularity in Britain despite the fact they are usually scheduled outside the prime viewing hours. It is unfair not only to American tv producers but their own people for foreign governments or trade groups to impose such restrictions as now exist, he declared. Mr. McCarthy is no newcomer to foreign trade problems. For three years before he assumed the TPEA presidency in June, he served as the U.S. Minister for Economic Afl^airs in Paris. For seven years before that he was vice president of the Motion Picture Export Assn. and concurrently vice president in charge of international affairs of the Motion Picture Assn. of America. Far East ■ In Japan, for which he left California on Friday. Mr. McCarthy expects to use much the same kind of argument as he did in England, with the implied threat that a continuance of the ridiculous restrictions now imposed on U.S. produced tv programs could well result in a limitation on the U.S. import of Japanese products. To attack these and other problems of foreign relations before they become entrenched and to attack them with a united front is a main reason for the formation of TPEA. Charter members are: ABC Films, CBS Films, Desilu Productions, Four Star Television, Martero Productions, MCA-TV, MGM-TV. NBC, National Telefilms Assoc., Screen Gems, and United Artists. Acting in unison, this group could exert appreciable pressure abroad merely by withholding all of their tv programs from nations where unreasonable restrictions are imposed. U.S. scores Cuba on broadcast seizures The Cuban government has taken over control of all that country's "leading" broadcast stations, the U.S. State Dept. has Charged in a document, "Responsibility of Cuban Government for Increased International Tensions in the Hemisphere." The document said that as of last May, 43 am stations of the 88 independent and 75 network-operated am stations in Cuba, 18 of that country's 24 fm outlets and 23 of its 24 tv stations had been placed under government control. All the stations taken over by the government have been consolidated into a network, "FIEL" (Frente Independiente de Emisoras Libres), operated by the Cuban Ministry of the Treasury, with its stated purpose to " consolidate the revolution and orient the people," the State Dept. said. The first instance of the Castro government's seizure of broadcast property "clearly on the basis of its opposition to communism," the document said, was when Abel Mestre, who with his brother Goar Mestre headed CMQ (Circuito) network, in a telecast last March 3 1 on his own station. Ch. 4 in Havana, insisted on the right of free expression. The government took over the station the same day and froze the personal assets of the two brothers, the State Dept. said. BROADCASTING THE eUSINESSweEKLY OF TELEVISION AND RADIO 1735 DeSales St., N. W. Washington 6. D. C. NEW SUBSCRIPTION ORDER Please start my subscription immediately for— □ 52 weekly issues of BROADCASTING $ 7.00 I I 52 weekly issues and Yearbook Number 11.00 □ Payment attached □ Please Bill name title/ position* ' ! ° I company name address city Send to home addres': state 74 BROADCASTING, August 22, 1960