Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

MGM-TY To Ride Demographic Trend in Syndication Computerized data expected to play an important role in 1965 sales goals, says firm's syndication sales director New York — By pinpointing tv audiences for syndicated film series and feature movies, MGM-TV expects to add considerable weight to its advertiser-agency sales approach during 1965. Furthermore, the step-up in demographic data will be conducted through "computerization" of research, a trend now widely in effect in spot television buying. "Network advertisers are used to buying shows and scatter plans on the basis of CPM figures for all kinds of audience breakout," MGM-TV syndication sales director Edward A. Montanus told Sponsor. "We feel that advertisers, agencies and reps will more and more want similar information concerning syndicated shows, and will not be content with research that deals mainly in simple rating numbers." MOM is paying much more than lip service to the drive for demographic data in syndication. The company's syndication offshoot, one of the largest in the field, now has a four-man tv research department, double its previous size, with Stan Birnbaum as research director. Birnbaum's group uses the IBM 1460 computer owned by parent MOM, and has already begun turning out special audience data aimed at timebuyers, reps and tv stations. What type of data does MGMTV plan to deliver? As a case in point, Montanus cites Eleventh Hour, a former network series now in rerun syndication. "We had fairly good ratings for two seasons with this show at network level," Montanus explains, "but additional computer research has shown that the series has extraheavy appeal for young housewives. "We have been selling the series in rerun to stations on this basis, showing them how they can play it in time periods where they can conceivably attract a large house ;pOfUI December 28, 1964 r.-l wife audience. We've urged them to follow this up by concentrating, through their reps, on clients and agencies anxious to sell products to this market." Many of the same research philosophies apply to feature films, Montanus believes. "Too many stations," he says, "are willing to spend up to several millions in acquiring strong feature packages for their libraries, only to have the features 'programed' by underpaid newcomers with little knowledge of audience research. This does a disservice to both the station and the spot advertisers buying into the features." From MGM's continuing research has already come some interesting audience-marketing slants. An example of good feature movie programing according to Montanus, is the use of big-budget Hollywood musicals on Saturday nights "where they will invariably attract an older audience that could be a receptive market for products like Geritol or items like packaged Florida vacations." Montanus also ad vocates the use of "art films" (i.e., foreign language hits from Italy, .lapan, France, etc.) on Sunday evenings "when you'll stand a good chance of hitting younger, high-income, well-educated household heads — the kind of people who buy sports cars or Bach recordings or the better wines." Montanus expects the computerized data to play an important role in MGM's 1965 sales goals: a 100 percent increase in all syndicated series programing, and a 40 percent upbeat in color syndication sales (mostly features) as compared with 1964 levels. "The day is fast approaching," Montanus concludes, "when major advertisers in the P «fe G, Lever Brothers, General Foods and Alberto-Culver class will demand that agency timebuyers be as precise in pinpointing audiences via syndication as they are now in lining up audiences in network participation buys. Stations will have to have the right shows in the right local time slots, if they want spot business — and syndicators will increasingly have to sift out the right series and features to offer stations in the first place." Edward A. Montanus (left), director of syndicated sales, and Stan Birnbaum, director of research, make a trial run cf data on MGM-TV shows seen in rerun for fimebuyers at major agencies seeking to reach lh= female viewer. Case in point is "Eleven;h Hour" where Montanus says computer research has shown the series has heavy appeal for young housewives. Here, Birnbaum (right) is operating the firm's IBM 1460 computer, from which MGM hopes to get a great deal of demographic data on audiences for syndicated shows and features. Birnbaum is research director with the company's syndication offshoot, one of the largest in the field. Double its previous size, the offshoot has four-man tv research department. 15