Sponsor (Jan-Mar 1962)

LEE RICH ontinued from /></_ things tliun it is doing. So, let's dispense m itli discussions of quantity for a moment and talk about quality, I'k begin with, consider the demandthai are made da\ after da\ alter da) on it quality, whatevei that maj be. These 150 stations we mentioned broadcaal 1!! to 20 houra per day, Beven days a week, ~>2 weeks a \ear. Mar in and year out. This amounts. gentlemen, to approximately 10 billion words being broadcast annually . [liac's more verbiage than all the plays, all the novels, all the magazines produced Bince the invention of the printing press in the 1 -~> 1 1 1 Century. television is the hungriest monster that ever devoured script. A SUCCeSS ful |ila\ can enjo) an extended run on Broadwa) and then jiet still more mileage 1>\ means of road companies. \ new movie travels the circuit of theaters over a period of months and sometimes years. \ novel can be on the best sellei lists week after week. Mul what happens to a good television offering? It is seen once — or perhaps twice — and then is laid to rest in a \ ault. I'm sure you will a^rec. there is no other medium of communication that exists solelv on its ability to present new offerings so frequently with cv civ passing hour. I feel, gentlemen, that this is something to hear in mind when we're indined to agree that television is a "vast intellectual wasteland." There's one inexorable force, remember, a relentless taskmaster which dominateit completely — namely the clock. Because of that tyrant, it might he more fitting to call television "an intellectual haste-land." Not only must more ideas, more plots, more dialogue, more information be turned out than ever before in history, but they must he turned out in record time. There's practicallv no time to let new concepts season; to put promising formats aside and let them be improved upon; no time to nourish embryonic masterpieces to fruition; and no time to develop — over long years — the creative talents who must provide the television scripts demanded every moment of the dav. Reserve Now for NAB Convention April 1-4, 1962 — Chicago, Illinois ESSEX INN Michigan Ave. at 8th St. Across from Conrad Hilton Chicago — WE 9-2800 — TWX-CG82 • Closest motel to all convention centers, commercial and shopping areas, theatres, museums, art centers, and concert halls. • Free motel parking, in-and-out privileges. • Heated swimming pool. • Free TV, radio, ice cubes, wake-up coffee. • Complete group meeting facilities for up to 500 persons. • 24-hour switchboard, valet and room service. J^tiiSlOCHOt All credit cards honored; member of AAA, Best Western Motels. Reservations Quality Courts. Write now for reservations, Dept. 24. Airport limousines stop at our door. YOUR HEADQUARTERS FOR BUSINESS AND PLEASURE With every tick of that clock a deadline comes due, perfected or not, that script must be produced. I can assure \ou that we would be happy to relax the pace. But 150 million Americans have gotten a taste of television fare and they're demanding more with every move of that second-hand. I'm pointing these things out because no evaluation of television's quality can be accurate if they aren't taken into consideration. But let's move now to a more analytical appraisal of its standards. We're all familiar with the trend lines that are used to show quantitative things — how many people are watching, how much is spent on advertising and the like. Let's imagine that the same method is used to indicate quality. Now I learned a long time ago that two points are necessary to establish a straight line. Consequently, I don't think the direction that television is taking can be determined without using two points — known as the past and the present. Come back with me to the so-called "golden age of television" and look at a network program log for November, 1950: This is Show Business, Celebrity Time, Arthur Murray Party, Take a Chance, Talent Scouts, Lights Out, Can You Top This?, Roller Derby, Captain Video, Wrestling, Break the Bank, Blind Date. Sure, there were also the PhilcoGoodyear Playhouse, Kraft TheatreA Studio One, and Your Show oj\ Shows. But when anyone is tempted' to refer to these programs as a part of "television's renaissance," it might be a good idea for him to check the I reviews of these programs on the| "day after." Contrast this with the development, of programing today: — CBS ReportsX NBC's Project 20, the White Paper\ series and Close-Up series; the weekly drama and musical programs pre-: sented by the Du Pont Co. and the Aluminum Corp. of America; the "special programs" being presentee by Westinghouse, City Service Corp.,' Hallmark greeting cards, and other companies throughout the country; weekly news analysis in prime eve| ning time as well as the so-callec Sunday ghetto period, daily newscasts throughout the day. weekly dramatic programs of enviable character {Please turn to page 62) 60 SPONSOR 22 JANUARY 196