Sponsor (July-Dec 1954)

: ■ , . . ■ .. ■: . ..:.:i !...: : ■ ...: .!■' Hill controversy from .in independent pi odu< ei / • Isn't it true that the networks are getting a tightei con. trol on programing and Bhunting (In agencies aside? • Doesn't the IV, commission <>n time costs alone suffi. ientl) covei sei i u ing the ~lu>\\ ? • Isn't it true that, with program costs going up, the agem j is doing the same amount "I work on a show tliat it did when program prices were cheaper? • l-n't ii true that although agencies get IV ; commission Eoj spot an<l network, 1 1 1 * latter is easier to l>u\ and there is often no program commission for spot? • \\ liai is bo expensive about servicing a show, anyway? < H course, man) advertisers have found satisfactory an swers l" these questions but there is enough dissatisfaction to warrant an examination of the problem, as witness tins statement to sponsor from the top air executive of one of tv's biggest advertisers: "The l.VJ commission on packaged network t\ shows can be a fantastic grav) train." The advertising manager for a manufacturer who has been on network t\ for years told SPONSOR: "There are -nine cases where I wonder whether an agency is necessary. For example, take the case where a client is offered a film package ahead) in the can. The agency pockets 15ft of the production cost and I can't see where it's justified." No agencyman will den) it's possible for an agenc) to turn practical!) ever) cent of the program commission into profit. But he will insist that such situations are nonexistent or rare. \n account executive said: "Sure, an agency can make a lot of mone) on network television show costs. Hut it would be a fool if it did. No reputable agenc) will accept the commission on program costs and do no work. Sooner or later the client will find out and. as they say in the papers, the agency will resign the account. If that's supposed to be a smart way to make money, then I'll eat a Does net tv help pay for spot? While agency cost accounting is directed more at finding out whether money is made on each client, rather than whether money is made on each medium, agencies know, in general, how media stack up. Assistant treasurer of a l>i£ radio-tv agency told sponsor that national media are more profitable than local media. Be Baid: "Magazines are damn profitable, network tv is pretty profitable, bo is network radio. Newspapers and spot are less profitable than the others. Von can lose on local media.' Point was made bj other admen that while agencj can do well on network tv eommis don, i li i> is often offset by the cost of manpower used in spot buying and the fact there are often no programs tO earn a commission. Hence, network t\ sometimes helps pay for the servicing of spot. tcle\ ision tube." Said the business manager of the television depart at one of the top 10 agencies: *'I think too main peon outside of agenc) work assume that even if an agem \ tri to find work to do on an outside package, it can't. Hut if <■ agenc) reall) watches out for it clients' interest then a tremendous amount of work to do. "\ei\ often the agencv is in on the program packaJ from the beginning. It ma\ originate an idea and ha outside package! execute it. If it doesn't originate an id.-. the agenc) -till ha to work with a packager and see tin the idea develops into a show the advertiser can u-e. Thi means checking the script and the talent involved ami seeing ever) step in the development of the program idea "Let me uive you an example ol bow we're invoked in . film package. When the program idea was fir-t propose to US, it was different than anything then on the air. so involved judgment as well as work in analyzing the potei tial audience for the show. We buv the -< ripts. read suggest revisions and sometimes rewrite them ourselves We have an office in llollvwood and a department in V 'l ork concerned with servicing the -bow. lime clearance! became a problem and we -cut men on the road t<. talk to station-. Where we couldn't clear time, we had tie tional problem id kines. I he show goes to Canada Honolulu, which means more work. We take care ..f shipping films, which is not as simple as it sound-, sine* stations use 16 mm. and a few 35 mm. equipment "There are times when an agencv takes over an es network show. There mav be less work involved so far athe original creative work is concerned. But there -til the problem of servicing. W here an agenc) takes over an account with an existing show, the entire stratejiv behind the show has to be reviewed and analvzed to decide whether the show i worth keeping. There are a lot of high-priced people involved in that. The feeling of agencymen that non-agenc\ people don't appreciate how deeply the agencv is involved in program servicing and how main details are involved is a widespread one. This feeling was the motive behind a speech hv Rodne) Erickson of Y&R at the 1 As I astern \nnual Confer. New York last November. Said Erickson: "In case anyone should forget, the act of buying ami servicing a package show for a client i not a simple as it appears on the surface. There are. in most agencies, M steps involved in buying and servicing package show-. These are the major steps and b\ no means are the) limited to 4ci in every instance." i For list of W>. see page 31.1 Erickson also pointed out that a "further function of the advertising agenc\ is to control good taste in television programing. While networks have their censors. I believe that agencies and clients, in respect for the main senSB tiv itics of the consumer, go much deeper in setting < riteria of good taste. We. the agencies, therefore, must continue to exercise rigid control of this intangible but vital "\ factor in show business. The Y&R man then continued: "There seems to be a trend to further sharing production responsibilities M package producer-. In recent months agenc) represents live have cast, re-set format-, even rewritten entire -ripts in package productions, \fter all. most agenc) representa ' Please turn to page 108 • 30 SPONSOR