Sponsor (July-Sept 1962)

SPONSOR-SCOPE continued It's a long way from being a sellout at night for the fourth quarter on any of the tv networks. Even CBS TV has quite a batch of commercial minutes available on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday. It's hard to calculate from the latest fall schedules approximately how many minutes are open, because the spot carriers don't indicate whether the sales are of the alternate week type or in batches of 6, 7 and etc. over the 13-week stretch. A rough calculation indicates that CBS TV has the least number of commercial minutes open for the last quarter (at least 120) and that between them ABC TV and 1\BC TV might rack up about 400 minutes. It's interesting to note how the top 10 nighttime regular series rate in terms of younger and older housewives. SPONSOR-SCOPE obtained from ARB covering April a breakdown on this variation of popularity and the figures broadly showed this bent: PROGRAM NETWORK Ben Casey ABC TV Wagon Train NBC TV Dr. Kildare NBC TV Bonanza NBC TV Hazel NBC TV Perry Mason CBS TV Andy Griffith CBS TV Perry Como NBC TV Danny Thomas CBS TV Gunsmoke CBS TV balanced balanced HOI SEWTFE APPEAL Younger Older Fairly Fairlv Older Older Older Older Older Older It was only a few years ago that network tv daytime expressed jubilance over the fact that its billings had gone ahead of Life magazine. The latest bit of exultation in that area: at the rate daytime billings are running — the indications for 1962 are $225 million — that sector of the medium will outgross Life and the Saturday Evening Post in combination. According to PIB, last year Life ad gross was $138,090,000 and the Post, $86,540,000, making a total of §224,630,000, whereas daytime tv accounted for 8206,576,000. So far in '62 Life and the SEP's billings have been under the 1961 level, but the wa\ things have been going in network daytime tv hitting the $225-million mark should be a cinch. Incidentally, there's also a good chance of network daytime tv outbilling the total gross for 32 different national magazines aimed strictly at women. Last year the 32 did $2 17,324,000 collectively. Seems that Mohawk carpet is on the way to making a tradition of sponsoring an hour variety Thanksgiving afternoon as its annual promotional effort. For the third successive year it will underwrite such an event on NBC TV, with the network producing and Maxon overseering. NBC TV has already picked up a couple of participants in the Pro Football Highlights of the Week — there'll be 14 half-hours of them Saturday. 5-5:30 p.m. during the la9t quarter. The initial buyers are Mennen and Chesebrough, with the package going for $10,000 gross a minute. SPONSOR • 2 JULY 1962 21