Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

FRIDAV A.T 5 Shift to Scatter Plan' Buying Puts New Stress on Need for Tv Ratings New York — Tv ratings should not be the sole criterion by which advertisers place millions in network billings, but the trend toward "scatter nlan" buying and away from full ,ponsorships places heavy stress on -ating figures to justify tv purchases. This, in essence, was the ratings phiosophy voiced by a pair of leading idmen — Donald L. Smith, advertising lirector of S. C. Johnson, and Maci^anus, John & Adams agency presilent Ernest Jones — during a tv roundliibic discussion of tv ratings on "open nd" in New York Dec. 13. Other guests on the two-hour disussion show voiced their own philosphies in their own terms: "There is 'public interest' in the act that some tv programs may not ;et a high rating. I have seen local I |hows on ETV stations which obvious / cost more than the average local how on network affiliates whose rofit can be 35 percent of their I ross" — FCC commissioner Kenneth , L. Cox. "Studies have shown us the people 'C have in the [NTI] sample do not isten or watch much differently from jcople not in the sample. We are not lying to measure particular areas — re are measuring the entire United tales" — Arthur C. Nielsen, Jr., preslent, A. C. Nielsen. "Aren't we providing a form of mocracy by providing the greatest imber of viewers with programs they jant to watch?" — Mark Goodson of loodson-Todman. "Most of what seemed to be wrong |n the Washington probe of rating . i-rvices) was in the field research, not I'oyle Dane Wins jheingold from FC&B New York — Rheingold Beer has /itched agencies. The account which •ent $1,039,850 in spot tv last year ad more than $2 million in the first iree quarters of 1964, will move 13m Foote, Cone & Belding to Doyle ane Bernbach as of March 1. Total Rheingold advertising billings in approximately $8 million. Rheingold had been with FC&B for larly 15 years until a switch to JWT i 1962 where it remained two years. the application of ratings" — Charles Howze, chief counsel to the Special Subcommittee on Investigations of the House Interstate & Foreign Commerce Committee. "People are mystified by the moves, the sudden changes of programs in tv. I can't see the harm in writing about ratings" — Richard K. Doan, tv editor. New York Herald-Tribune. Speaking from the agency viewpoint in big-time tv, MJA's Jones defended the basic use of ratings as "an important tool" in evaluating the medium, and the purchase of mass-appeal programs. "If you are going to rent Yankee Stadium," he said, "you're not going to put in a chamber music quartet and draw maybe 300 or 400 people. If you cast your bread on the waters of tv you'd better be prepared to like wet bread — or take a long look at the whole picture." Adman Smith of S. C. Johnson, queried by program host David Susskind on whether programs lived or died among sponsors on the basis of ratings, denied the implication, and said he used "as many as a dozen other factors" in evaluating renewals. He cited the case of his own firm's drop-out from the Red Skelton series which was "a good, sound business decision" based "on marketing factors." With Skelton in the upper -anks of the latest Nielsen, Smith pointed out, it was "a case of rating success, not rating failure." NLB and DCSS Merge New York — Announcement of the merger of Chicago-based Needham, Louis & Brorby, Inc., and Doherty, Clifford, Steers & Shenfield. New York, was made late last week by Paul Harper, Jr., president of NLB, and William E. Steers, chairman of the DCSS board. The new agency will be called Needham, Harper & Steers, Inc., and anticipates 1965 combined billings of $82 million. NLB, which ranks 20th in radiotv among agencies, has estimated broadcast billings of $36.2 million in 1964. DCSS ranked in 30th position with broadcast billings, of $19.6 million. Code Board Acts on Testimonials^ On-Camera Drinking^ Political Spots Washington D.C. — Advertising testimonials, on-camera consumption of beer and wine, and political spots were the order of business at last week's two-day meeting of the NAB's lelevision Code Review Board. On testimonials, the board placed its collective stamp of approval on a proposed Tv Code amendment which would require an advertising testimonial to reflect an honest appraisal of the advertised product. The amendment, which is subject to ratification by the NAB Tv Board at its January meeting in Palm Springs, stated: "Personal endorsements (testimonials) shall be genuine and reflect personal experience. They shall contain no statements that cannot be supported if presented in the advertiser's own words." NAB's Radio Code took similar action earlier this fall, although the language was slightly different. The Code Board also reaffirmed the broadcast industry's long-standing policy against the on-camera consumption of beer and wine and approved a Code Authority plan to issue guidelines to assist beer advertisers and Code subscribers. Currently, the Code merely says that beer and wine advertisements should be in good taste, but does not spell out the prohibition on on-camera quaffing. In still another action, the board discussed the advisability of applying the Code to political announcements and decided to look into the matter of drafting Code language or guidelines to include such standards as adequate sponsor identification and a clear labeling of dramatizations. Feeling is that such guidelines, particularly the clear-labeling feature, would take the onus for a political spot off the local station and place it on the sponsoring group, but it was emphasized that any such guidelines would not involve content. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE D«c«mber 14, 1964