Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1961)

Research firm is testing its own tests FINDS THE BEST PRE-TESTING METHOD IS IN CATV HOMES The Center for Research in Marketing Inc., Peekskill, N.Y., a firm that tests television commercials and programs, has been testing its tests. The winning method for testing commercials, the company believes, is "CC/TV," which uses community-antenna homes for pre-testing. William Capitman, president of the center, described CC/TV last Thursday (April 13) for the Copy Research Group of the American Marketing Assn.'s New York Chapter, commending it as a system that is about as near as you can get to the actual circumstances of home viewing, short of buying air time. Over the past year-and-a-half, CRM has used five eastern catv samples to test commercials for a substantial group of advertisers and agencies. At the same time the company has used theatre-type testing (a network also is a client), which Mr. Capitman styles the "captive audience" technique, and the rear-screen system, which simulates receiver projection, so the company is in a good position to test the tests. These are the varying results Mr. Capitman got, testing two commercials and a program with the three methods, using matched samples. Commercial A Food product Rear Captive screen CC/TV Positive evaluation 72 64 38 Recalling of one or more copy points 92 90 78 Negative reactions 26 24 39 Image of brand Highly Highly Neutral Positive positive Communication High High Moder clear clear ate con fusing Commercial B Personal product Captive theatre audience CC/TV One of the best commercials 1 5 Better than most 1 8 Unsuitable for tv 7 1 Program X Captive CC/TV Overall reaction Positive Moderate Sex preference Men Women Appeal to children Moderate Low Strength compared High Moderate to competition Low Audience building High Moderate predictive Low Actual rating position Low In his AMA presentation, Mr. Capitman described operation of his CC/TV testing in Port Jervis, N.Y., which has about 2,2000 catv homes. The center selects a sample, and programs a show and advises the homes. While the show is on the air, blank questionnaires are delivered to homes. At show's end, an announcer tells respondents to get their questionaires and quizzes them on the test commercial. In return for mailing in the questionaire, the cooperating viewer receives a premium from the center. Through background data the center develops on buying habits and other characteristics of its catv audiences, the method lends itself to testing competitive commercials and other uses by means of matched samples. The system is used for testing copy as early as the storyboard stage. Citing some of CC/TV's merits over rear-screen and audience testing, Mr. Capitman mentioned the disadvantage of an interviewer's presence when a test commercial is offered on a portable projector, and about theatre testing he said, "It is so totally different from the television viewing situation that I do not believe that the results can be validly predictable of response." The Center for Research in Marketing was founded in 1957 and began by testing package design, using sociological and psychological techniques. Three brewers sponsor 'Diamonds' in 33 markets Three regional brewing companies have signed to sponsor Ziv-UA's newly released King of Diamonds, half-hour tv series, in a total of 33 markets, according to Len Firestone, vice president in charge of syndication sales. Jackson Brewing Co. (Jax Beer), New Orleans, will sponsor the series in 18 midwest and southwest markets; Piel Bros., Brooklyn, has bought five major markets in the east (New York, Philadelphia, Hartford, New Haven and Syracuse), and Jacob Schmidt Division, Pfeiffer Brewing Co., Detroit, has bought 10 markets in the Midwest. The new series stars Broderick Crawford as chief of security and recovery for the diamond industry. TvB says summer drop in tv viewing only slight The small decline in tv viewing that occurs in the summer is not reason enough for tv advertisers to take a "vacation" in June, July and August, Television Bureau of Advertising claims in a brochure called "This Is Summer Tv?" released last week. TvB acknowledges a 3.4% fall off in television's full week accumulated audi ence in the summer. While weekly unduplicated homes reached is 95.6% in a "peak" March, the percentage for a full week in August is 92.4 — "hardly a summer slump," the brochure asserts. In the daytime, the TvB folder shows, the hourly average of homes using tv, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is 17.5 in the months of April, May, September, October, November and December; in June, July and August the average is 18.5. In late night tv, there is no mid-winter bonus audience with the hourly average of homes using tv in the summer at 22.5, against the full-year average of 23.8. TvB adds that "homes with the highest education, largest incomes and most members maintain their viewing levels all year long even more consistently than other homes." As for those "vacationing advertisers," the brochure points out: "That just leaves more prime availabilities for the advertiser who knows the numbers." Atlanta award winners Henderson Adv., Greenville, S. C, took top tv commercial honors at the third annual awards ceremonies of the Radio & Television Representatives Assn. of Atlanta. The contest was limited to southeastern agencies and accounts doing business through Atlanta station reps. The winning commercial was for Sea Pak Frozen Foods. Certificates of merit were issued to Liller, Neal, Battle & Lindsey; C. Knox Massey & Assoc.; Henderson Adv.; and McCann-Marschalk. The outstanding radio honor was taken by Liller, Neal, Battle & Lindsey for its Life of Georgia commercials. KSD-AM-TV moves to Katz NBC affiliate KSD-AM-TV St. Louis announced last week that effective July 1, The Katz Agency Inc., would be its national sales representative. The move was the latest steming from the FCC order that network spot sales organizations get out of the national sales representation business. Earlier this month another NBC affiliate, WAVE-AM-TV Louisville, appointed Katz as national sales representative (Broadcasting, April 3, 1961). Both stations were formerly represented by NBC Spot Sales. Rep appointments... ■ KCDA-TV Douglas, Ariz.: Spot Time Sales. ■ WQXR New York and WHNC New Haven, Conn.: Foster & Creed, Boston. ■ WDXB Chattanooga. Tenn., and WLAN Lancaster, Pa.: Weed Radio, N. Y. 34 (BROADCAST ADVERTISING) BROADCASTING, April I/, 1961