Sponsor (July-Dec 1953)

\\ hat <loc the future hold in the wax i>l radio and TV rate "deals"? Is there likeK to he more — or less — rate chiseling, special arrangements for offbeal spot campaigns, preferential discounts, and similar quasi-legitimate tactics? From the admen queried l»x sponsor on the rate topic, this was the consensus : 1. The number of straight chisels that i>. one that is an under-the-counter reduction in an established rate card for an ordinary air campaign — is on the downgrade now. and will continue to lessen. 2. However, the number of saturation drives in which advertisers feel the) are entitled to some kind of carload price is likelv to increase. And, unless stations hold the line on rates — backed In industry and industry group support — there will he a rise in the number of detours around rate cards. 3. To forestall this situation, there's likelx to he a lot of soul-searching among stations as regards radio rate cards. Main stations will update their rates, or spell out just how far they will go in giving special volume discounts lot extra-large campaigns. Manx COMPLETE BROADCASTING INSTITUTION IN /srY/if/io/ia WMBG WCOD WTVR -AM -FM -TV First Stations of Virginia WTVR Blair TV Inc. WMBG The Boiling Co. more will make a point of going on record to the effect that thej will not under an) condition make a rate deal. 4. There's some likelihood ol strong industry action on the part of radio and T\ associations and groups against industrx members who make a practice of (healing on their rate card.-. One rep summed it up thuslx : "There will always be some rate chiseling as long as human beings are in the radio business. But. with the cooperation of agencies and advertisers, I'm sure the radio industrx ax ill be able to police itself against actions which \x ill ultimately do harm to both buxer and seller. * * * MOVING DAY I Continued from page 41 i work bogging down for days and \ital papers and data disappearing into thin air. Some agencies, reps, and broadcasters have gotten around the lock-stockand-barrel txpe move by splitting themselves amoeba-stxle with various departments in different buildings. Columbia Broadcasting Svstem. for instance, finds itself with 21 different addresses in New York City to handle its radio, TV, and film operations. Firms that are fortunate enough to get additional space in their present buildings sometimes find that this vertical-type growth has a tendency to be inefficient. One agency which found itself in that position last year was Cunningham & Walsh. Inc. During the 25 years that the firm was housed at 40 East 34 St., increased billings ( from $20 million in 1944 to $34 million in 1952 1 had caused the agency to expand over five floors in that building. Skipping around from one office to another could be a tiring experience, somexx hat akin to trx ing to find a particular captain in the Pentagon. The firm decided to shop around for new quarters. C. Everett Hoyt, v.p. of the agenc) . told sponsor of the criteria the firm set: "We wanted a building large enough to house our complete operation on txxo floors, also we wanted to get sufficient space so we could expand without having to go through the same process again. Insofar as location was concerned we had to consider the fact that a good main 92 of our employees are commuters; those using the long Island B.R. came into Perm Station (33 St. & 7 Ave. I : another group came into town dailx from Westchester using the Nexx \ ork Central H.K. (Grand Central I. We weren't particularly concerned about the convenience to clients because manx of them are out of town and any location in midtown New \ ork is cquallx accessible (or inaccessible i . ' The search took 18 months, finally narrowed down to txxo possible new buildings: 380 Madison Ave. 1 46th I on the site of the old Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and 260 Madison 1 38 St. i . C&W settled on the latter location, moved in on 28 Jul\ 1952. The mechanics of the move are discussed later in this article. This October Lennen & Newell plans to take over the sixth and seventh floors of the new Ritz Building. The firm s present quarters cover about 30.000 sq. ft.: the new area will gi\e them 54.00(1 sq. ft. to move around in. But agencies aren t the only ones suffering from cramped quarters. Storer Broadcasting Co. couldn't fit comfortably into its offices at 488 Madison so the firm went out and leased ixxith option to buy I the whole building at 118 East 57 St. Setting a new high in lush quarters for the rep field. Storer gave the inside of the five-story building a complete going over, ended up with two floors of offices, and three floors of living quarters for visiting brasshats and firemen. Complete with formal gardens and Filipino houseboy. the Storer layout is a suitable setting in which to sign a contract of multi-million-dollar proportions. Another tenant-to-be of the Ritz Building is H-R Representatives. Inc.. and H-R Television. Inc.. xvho will move into the structure as soon as it is completed, around early October. Contracts have been signed for approximateU 5.000 sq. ft. of office space. Around the end of the year Broadcast Music. Inc.. and its wholly owned subsidiarx. Associated Music Publishers, will take oxer about 22.500 square feet of space in the txx in air-conditioned office buildings now going up at 579 and 589 Fifth \\enue. A comparatively simple move was carried out bv the 0. L. Taylor Co. in June \xhen the station reps moved down the street from 488 to 444 Madison. In the new quarters the firm has SPONSOR