Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1962)

lesser shows, those no longer on network, those that wowed viewers in 1958, will they hit as hard and score as well in 1962? The buyer that guesses right— and here the computer can be of no help — is a hero. Media researchers. A reshuffle of estimated coverage impact by fringe stations. Until ratings and reception shake down, it means they are guessing in replying to queries from marketing men. They wonder about the impact of competing programs, about local program tricks and twists, and what these can be doing to suddenly available spots. They know the new stations will get a certain amount of curiosity tune-in and hold an unknown portion of this tune-in if the new station programing and signal is as good as that of the older stations. So, as one adept agency researcher put it, "We sit and wait to see what happens." The reps. During the first flush of success, of the excitement of the opening, things are great and the sell is easy. Then the gloss and glitter wear off and they're again breaking their backs with a hard competitive sell. One of the pro's among these pitchmen explained it thusly, "For the first two weeks everyone throws some money into the market; everyone helps to get the new station rolling. Then, just when everything looks like your new station is an automatic buy, suddenly the honeymoon is over. Then everyone starts worrying what the first ARB will show and we're back selling the future rating potential of the new station vs. the proven rating deliverability of the old station." The network feeding the affiliate is always happy to get that third station, especially when it hasn't had a primary signal in the market. It means full exposure of the network programs, more equitable competitive saturation (Casey is great in 110 markets but Kildare is better in 150 markets) , and more network revenue as advertisers add the new market to their station list. The other network is happy as hell to get that other network's programs off its affiliate! The other stations in the market get all fired up and have to remember how to get out and hustle for local listeners, regional revenue, and national spot dollars. And to stay alive they remember Network stars arrive in Syracuse opening night Carol Shell, merchandising dir., WNYS (TV), greets ABC TV stars Bob Conrad and Troy Donahue for opening ceremonies. On hand to help are Charles Kinney, PGW tv v.p. (far r) and W. Donald Roberts, PGW Chicago tv sales manager how it was and start doing it. The market itself is harvest time for all other media as the new sta* tion buys time on radio, space in print and on outdoor boards, buses, taxicabs, and anything else available. More national advertising dollars pour into the market. Competition gets keener, selling gets sharper, and viewing goes up as programs the audience has heard about appear on the new channel. Viewers are happier, too, as the truly jumbo shows on each network fall into their own slot on each of the three stations instead of two giants being in conflict as sometimes happens when two networks are trying to clear time on one station. Time salesmen in the market. Suddenly everyone is an engineer talking about signal overlap, cochannel interference, low-band vs. high-band quality, and short stick vs. high stick signal strength, as salesmen look for arguments to downgrade the newcomer and vice versa. For the first time since radio's directional antenna rig permitted local low-watt outlets to use clear channel wave lengths, engineering factors have become an issue in selling tv time. Programing. Suddenly the premium is on sharp thinking, shrewd reasoning, innovation-inclined program people to devise the touches that may swing viewers to the new channel. And color programing, even down to special I.D.s with musical jingles to boot, gets the go-ahead because it gives the new station an exclusive edge to ballyhoo and promote. Thus WNYS (TV), the new channel 9 in Syracuse, promoted itself as the "Colorful Channel 9" along the entire media route. And programing capitalized on local working habits to make a quick score with listeners. Building an audience. Presumably the other stations didn't worry about the fact that factories in the Syracuse market have a 4 p.m. quitting time, that these workers are home and beginning to hit the supper table by 5 p.m.; and ready for an evening of television by 6:00 or (Please turn to page 54) SPONSOR/26 November 1962 J