Sponsor (July-Dec 1955)

within the agency regardless of it size than he has evei bad before. I oday it i • doI unusual lot the radio-ri \ .p. <>f a major agent j t<> be as highly paid an ex« utive as the president of the agency. Here his status, without exception, is that <>f a key Bgure on the plans board. Furthermore, it's not unusual these days for the radio-rv director to have greater control <>f a lai .in media account than tin' account execute e. Inevitably tin growth of the radio-b director's stature lias brought with it a plague of new problems, along with the almost continuously increasing demand on his time. Here arc the headaches mentioned most frequently by a representative sampling of radiot\ directors in agencies of all sizes: Network tv time problem: Its no se< ret that it' tough to gel network tv time. It's also no secret that the hrunt of the responsibility for so doing rests with the radio-t\ director these days, since network lime i> so intimate!) tied in with programing. When an agency decides upon a certain available time slot for its client, it must in effect also make a programing decision. "This can be a pain in several ways," said a radio-tv director who recently made news 1>\ getting a choice time slot on a major network for a client who's a relative newcomer to the medium. "Suppose you've pot a pipeline to the hierarchy at the nets, and believe me e\er\ agency has feelers out and virtually a corps of spies working on the problem. All right, so you get first crack at some choice time, even though your agency isn't spending some $30 million on that web I and that can be a sizable factor in getting an availabilit\ 1. Well, \ou may be forced to buv a quiz show in that time period, when youi < lient's got a sen ice to sell that -ciii In 1 1 \ fol a diamati -how • ' Said anothei radio-ri director: "l.et face ii. Getting network t\ time i based on something beyond tin relationship of the radio h head w itb the network brass. 1 1 an agero a client in a ke\ network -lot who could help th< program ratings by shelling out biggei coin, 01 w ho no ;hl Inn into the network' pet plan, the radio-tv man's hand i strengthened in getting another time -hit that may be opening up. It' -till a chess game, hut the network -tart with the white." One fact was agreed upon by all radio-h dire tors inten iewed by sponsor: Not only i his record in getting network t\ time a major factor in the radio-tv director's relative strength within the agency, but it may even be the ke\ rea-on why he doe or does not keep a strong hold on his job. Itaiilr with media men: During the past year particularly tlii question has become a major problem at a number of top agencies, with jurisdictional battles raging. In a broad srn-e. this I roblem relates to the one ment*oned above: the tightness of t\ time. Here's how a veteran showman, now radio-tv director at one of the top 15 air media agencies, puts it: "Time and programing are increasing interlocked. For example, the choice of a syndicated film buv should be as much within the radio-tv director's orbit as choice of network programing. However, in a seller's market, the time buy often precedes the program choice and in a way dictates or limits it." The implications of such a situation are obvious: The radio-tv director feels 1 Please turn to page 92 > nCftf" Tir r Network, talent negotiations are kej lo radio-tt v.p.'s ]i 1* 1 1 ii: agencies. KM 's Wick "n<l from r. • disi w H ith < BS I v's Hubbei] Robinson (1. to r.), Sullivan, CBS Tv's Win. Hylan, rv's I ick \ an \ olkenburg K^s I Don Miller. ' .nial Interpreting storyboards herd on producers who film commercials is another ra<lin-t\ ?.p.*s responsibility. Al Hollendei to 1 filming himself Studio and control room time-consuming but important function for : :ir ctoi with brce network tv. Wm. I ^!an Lom.: -how