Sponsor (Apr-June 1962)

11 June 1962 Latest tv and radio developments of the week, briefed for busy readers SPONSOR-WEEK B&B PROTECTION STAND No. 2 spot agency warns it won't pay for tv spots placed unknowingly without 15 minutes of protection Benton & Bowles has fallen in behind Ted Bates in a hold-the-line effort on 15 minutes of product protection for tv commercials. Last week Lee Rich, B&B senior v.p. for media and tv programing, said the agency, second largest in the nation in spot placement, wouldn't pay for spots that didn't have 15 minutes of competitive separation. Rich denied guaranteed separation would immediately become part of station and network contracts but the idea, he said, was being considered. He insisted the agency was getting the protection it wanted in practice, but was concerned about announcements from station groups, WBC and Corinthian in particular, that they would not be bound by 15 minute protection guarantees. Rich said B&B would occasionally buy without 15 minutes protection but wanted to be fully aware of doing so. He compared the protection situation in tv to print and outdoor, where protection is guaranteed and the agency doesn't pay for advertising that gets less than the contractual minimums. The B&B stance has been cleared with some of its major clients including P&G, it is understood. Network spokesmen are perplexed by the whole furore. An NBC representative, denying published re ports that NBC gives less protection than the other networks, pointed out it has been following present policies for two years without complaints. In practice, all of the networks endeavor to give 15 minutes protection. The question has come up of whether networks give stations ample warning of spot schedules. NBC, for instance, sends its affiliated stations its daytime commercial schedule Wednesdays for the following week and tentative nighttime schedules on the 15th of each month for the following two months with final schedules the day before. CBS TV has plans for keeping affiliates more closely apprised of product protection status. SWEENEY SUCCESSOR NOW BEING PICKED Chicago: Midwest broadcast circles were abuzz last week with reports that a successor to Kevin Sweeney as president of RAB was about to be named in a wide open race. The four candidates in the running, according to reports, were Ollie Treyz, now of Warner Bros., Steve Labunski of WMCA, New York, Ralf Brent of WRUL, New York, and Robert Hyland of KMOX, St. Louis. It was learned that Joe Culligan was not interested in the post. The selection committee, consists of Frank Fogarty of Meredith Broadcasting, as chairman, Harold Krelstein of Plough, Weston C. Pullen of Time-Life, and Kevin Sweeney. Sweeney has been president of RAB since 1954. He announced in April that he would resign in February, 1963. He had advised the RAB board of directors of his intention to resign last summer. In April, when his resignation was announced, it was expected that a successor would be named by midsummer of this year. NBC TV'S $13 MILLION RECORD DAYTIME NBC TV reported last week that it wrote $13.7 million in daytime network business in May, its greatest daytime volume ever achieved in a single month, topping the previous high of $11.5 million booked in June 1961. ABC's Pauley blasts new NRI service Last week Robert Pauley renewed the ABC Radio network's controversy with Nielsen. He accused Nielsen of "shortchanging" the radio networks in its modified NRI, which starts in July. ABC is letting its subscription lapse. The issue was out-of-home rating coverage of auto and battery radios. Nielsen initiated a new plan to compute out-of-home as a "plus" in sets in use based on in-home. Said Pauley: "We want radios measured, not homes. We want program ratings, not sets-in-use." (Continued on page 10, col. 2) SPONSOR 11 june 1962