Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1959)

W%\R Delivers 85% More Radio Homes Tlian Tlie IMo. 2 Station In an area embracing 18 counties, 402,670 homes, 1.5 million people with o $2.5 billion buying-power . . . >VSYR DELIVERS MORE HOMES THAN THE NEXT TWO STATIONS COMBINED Top programming Top facilities 1^ Top personalities make the difference. *AII figures NCS No. 2, weekly coverage Rcpfejenled Nationally by THE HENRY I. CHRISTAL CO., INC. Watching habit in Fresno (California) KMJ first station in Fresno KMJ-TV Fresno, California The Katz Agency National Representative BRITISH-TYPE TV? (Continued from page 42) was only one station (as in a few cases today), any advertiser who wanted to use tv bought that station and took what he could get. One man long exposed to British programing awaits the day when a third "network" or program service — the second commercial one, with ITA — is introduced into England to satisfy advertiser demand. '"Then you'll find," he predicts, "a relaxing of rules, a straining to manufacture those 'natural' breaks within shows to accommodate more commercials and an increasing number of concessions to the needs of the sponsor." Dr. Young thinks the British system at this point militates against the richer advertiser and favors the poorer one. "The client with smaller budgets likes to be thrown into the pot and get the same advantage as the bigger-budget boys." How networks and stations can move minority appeal shows to a prime time slot against the threat of a mass appeal program is a question for which no one has an answer. One suggestion, made by Dr. Young: When a network schedules a think-type show against a musicvariety program at a peak viewing time, "the government — with a kind of culture subsidy — could make up the dollar difference so there'd be no loss of revenue." Another idea propounded: networks now pre-empt a certain proportion of time slots for spectaculars during prime time periods. With advertisers' cooperation, they and the client could similarly agree to pre-empt a percentage of the sponsor's shows for public service. Admen, seeing a leveling off of techniques both in Britain and the U. S., nevertheless think the twain will never meet in their basic approaches to programing and to sponsorship. Even though edges are smoothed, the differences are marked and are expected to continue to be so. How do the systems differ? In Britain, the Independent Television Authority has been in operation only four years. It maintains nine stations, each of which is programed and sold by independent contractors with a monopoly in each area they cover I Midlands, South, etc. ) . Thus, only one station covers any given area. The stations, all told, reach some 75% of the population. There are close to 10 million tv sets — most with a choice of two channels, BBC and ITA — and set sales for the year ending March 1958 totaled about $90 million. Of 60 hours of programing telecast weekly, 18 hours represent "balanced" programing for minority tastes. The last reported annual revenue from time sales was about $90 million, with ITA understood to have made a profit of $14 million last year. ITA's commercial tv heritage is predicated on the conservative, noncommercial BBC radio patterns. In the U. S., commercial television has been a substantial reality for 13 years, with three networks and 491 stations now in operation. Most stations are on the air 18 hours a day, for a weekly total of 106. Tv signals reach into 86% of all homes, and most homes, 81%, have four or more channels available. Total tv revenue in 1958 reached $1,360 million. The non-commercial system in Britain — the British Broadcasting Corp. — is a private corporation subsidized totally by the government. Its revenue comes from set licensing, some four pounds a year — a bit less than $12— for each tv set. The BBC maintains 20 tv transmitters and 28 studios, according to its U. S. representative, Derek Russell, and its services reach 98% of the people. It launched regular daily tv service in 1936— a world first. Even though the BBC produces more live programing than any of its commercial competitors, it is losing audiences to commercial tv, according to Norman Collins, deputy chairman of Associated TeleVision Ltd., one of the program contractors. He says. "Some 70% of the public regularly prefers the newer and commercially operated stations. The BBC service, fiercely competitive as it has become in the fields of light entertainment and sport, is at this moment the minority service." Agencymen speaking with SPONSOR concur that the issue is to produce more good programing designed for more varied public tastes for sale within the present framework of commercial television advertising. "The issue is not to destroy the workable system Avhich — in the main — satisfies needs of both public and sponsor," concluded one agencyman. "Our job is to make the system more workable and of greater benefit to public and client alike." ^ 68 SPONSOR 12 DECEMBER 1959