Radio annual and television yearbook (1951)

THE FUTURE OF FILM 10 TV By BILL PARKER. Associate Editor. Radio Annual I Bill Parker NDICATING a tremendous growth in the use of film in television, a total of 6.500 hours of television programming were film-recorded by the four major TV networks during 1950. By percentages, over fifty per cent of the network programs of ABC and DuMont and over sixty Dcr cent of those of NBC and CBS were being film recorded at the time of this writing. While the experts continue to debate the quality and cost of film production versus live production, the trend continues toward recording on film virtually all network programming with the possible exception of news and sports coverage. Major reason for the use of film in television is, of course, time clearance, which will undoubtedly become progressively worse until the FCC freeze is lifted. A few examples of the time clearance problem are illustrated by the following shows which are among the tops of their respective networks: NBC-TV's Garroway at Large, carried live to 29 markets and on film to 22; DuMont's Star-Time carried live to 11 markets and on film to 17; CBSTV's Morton Downey show, live on 15 stations and on film over 21; and ABCTV's Don McNeil show carried live on 18 stations and on film bv 10 stations. • In addition to the transcribed and kinescoped programs mentioned above, there is also an increasing demand for programs filmed expressly for television. As the quality of filmed packages has become higher while costs have decreased, more and more advertisers the past years have requested that their advertising agencies investigate the feasibility of farming out their "live" shows to TV film producers. The cost for filmed packages is most often the same as for live shows (as will be shown by the following figures) ; however, the cost can be varied from considerably less to considerably more. Costs can be made less by the saving in rehearsal time, or they can be made con * * • siderably more by the desire of the producers to exploit the versatility of movie production — shooting outdoor scenes and trick shots. General Mills spent $13,000 per film for the "Betty Crocker Show," $15,000 for "The Irwins," and another $15,000 for "The Lone Ranger" (which was frequently among the top ten in the national Nielsen ratings). "Fireside Theater" was produced at a cost of $14,500 per film for Procter & Gamble. The program was shown over the NBC network in 31 markets and rated "second" place in the national Nielsen ratings several times. "Life With Linkletter" was filmed for Giant Green Peas at a cost of $7,500 per program; "The Gene Autry Show" at $17,500; "Truth or Consequences" at $15,000; "Magnavox Theater" at $22,500; "Stars Over Hollywood" at $10,000; "Smilin* Ed McConnell" at $4,500; "You Bet Your Life" (with Groucho Marx) at $6,000; and "Party Time In Club Roma" at $3,000. • Reducing this cost to sponsors, there are many cases in which the sponsors and producers share revenues from subsequent runs of these films, although it is generally customary for the producers to retain the rights alone. According to an analysis by the Paramount TV Film Network, comparatively few advertisers want or need national coverage. Many more want regional or local coverage. Limited advertising budgets handicap their desire to use TV because they are bound to be dissatisfied with anything less than big-time entertainment. The solution, they say, lies largely in filmed shows — in shared costs — through local sponsorship of a network show or purchase on a spot basis of a syndicated filmed program. Most stations were found to be eager to sell filmed shows to their local sponsors because they, the stations, then receive all the full rate payment for facilities instead of the percentage (usually one-third) that the networks are able to pay them. In addition, the problem of inadequate cable facilities to serve all the networks may continue with us for some time under wartime material restrictions. Many TV stations will be forced to continue operating on a local basis, thus adding greatly to the role of film in TV. 79