Sponsor (1964)

SPONSOR SCOPE PROBING THE CURRENTS AND UNDERCURRENTS OF BROADCAST ADVERTISING Tight fall spot tv market looms Nation. il spot buyers ma) be facing the tightest market for choice availabilities m years. Judging from the bectk rush reps were undergoing the past two weeks, it looks as though advertisers wfll be picking over the leavings b) the middle Of this month, at least in the top 30 markets. Reason: they're starting their schedules earlier than usual Lasl year the hulk of fall starting dates were for the first week in September. I his time man) advertisers are starting off the third or fourth week in August. One resulting implication: enough added business to overcome the anticipated losses from preemptions during the four days of the Democratic convention. Is this the way to do a survey? BBDO has produced quite a dust-up among sellers o\ radio over the way the agency phrased the questions in a SUTVe) aimed at networks, stations, reps, advertisers and agencies. The essence o\' protests from sellers to BBDO: the questions are negatively slanted and can't help bring a response unfavorable to radio as a medium. The questionnaire starts off with the assurance that the purpose is strictly objective and is not to be considered for or against anything. Then comes this type of query: (1) What do you think is good about either network or local radio.' (2) What do you think is wrong with present day network or local radio'.' ( 3 ) What is network or local radio doing that the) shouldn't be doing'.' (4) What ought the radio people be doing that they aren't doing'.' Quipped one rep: •There's something about the BBDO questionnaire that smacks of the one about, 'Are you ^t ill beating vour wife?'' Antifreezes warm up for radio Spot radio's two harbingers of cold weather. Union Carbide's Prestone and DuPont's /crcx. last week uxik the availability call route. Prcstone's radio plan: over 150 radio stations on six-week schedules. Zerex's radio blueprint: three weeks of saturation before the estimated first freeze date and four davs o\ blitzing after the actual lust freeze date, on about 100 Stati Prestone will also have .i scattei pi foi it on network tv. while Zerex has do tv com mitment, which bungs up .moth gate to spot radio, namely, Menle) t Fames' Contac. it's going in for the ^ugust-Septen ha) level spell Stations .ire being asked to insert the latest pollen count in the ( ontac s[>>i Shell seeks 120-second commercials \ow conies shell's consumer division with a plan which would use 120-seCOnd commercials for a spot tv campaign stations m proposed markets are being asked via Ogilvy, Benson \ Mather ( I I whether they'll take tvvo-niniutc commercials. (2) what's the rate It may be ol interest to Shell to know what happened when P&Ci embarked on similar projects About si\ years ago it was on behalf ol ride and a year and a half later for (rest I he response as to desired rate was quite diverse Some cited the 10-minute program rate, others quoted a rate oi 15 percent of the minute rate, a lew thought the five-minute program ought to appl) and a handful wanted 200 percent of the minute rate P&G*S experience wasn't so forte It found itself in undesirable time periods, hit-and-miss scheduling and a much-above-average cost efficiency. Shell, according tO Shell ad executive J. C. Anderson, will make a decision on the plan within the next two weeks \s he phrased it. the companv was first trying to "get a fix." It's ahead) had complete rejections of the format from a few stations Business as usual for piggybacks? Hie flare-up over the status of piggyback Commercials i.i spot tv could turn out to be a tempest in a teapot Major users oi piggybacks report they're not encountering an) scrums obstacles in scheduling such commericals I hey s.iv the way has been eased, as far as contending with premium rates is concerned, bv a group, or rep. here and there adopting the preemptible Concept That is. exercising the privilege o\ cancelling if another piggy backer agrees to pa) a premium \a couple of the leading piggyback user see it. the sellers have been split into two camps on the CONTINUED CN NEXT PAGE' Augutf 10 1964 23