Sponsor (Sept-Dec 1957)

lie, il is interesting l<> note thai Gobel rating also slipped from 17..'; the firsl week to 1 1.0 on the next rating. "People read critics for entertainment, not as a guide to their t\ viewing," says ^ \ I!" Rod Erickson. "The critics arc newspapermen, they're not in t\. The) write controversial stulf to get readership, hut the) don't control what the million of groups of two or three people in the living room tune in to." The "saddle sores": The most frequent criticism of this season, and this one is made In some of the tv pros themselves, is the fact that "tv's over loaded with saddle sores. Too many Westerns. \elp the critics. But here are the Facts most agenc) t\ heads stress about the Westerns: • I here are still more situation comedies on the air than there are Westerns. • I ntil this year, the proportion of Westerns to other shows on tv was considerabh below the proportion of \\ esterns to other films that Hollywood produces. • Last year's ratings showed that people like Westerns, and it's to the audiences interest as well as the client's to produce what the people want. "And don't forget that for years the radio tempo reaches the "city on wheels." A program with music; news-while-it-happens; weather and freeway information. Los Angeles moves— at home and on the road — listening to KFWB...the station geared to the tempo of the times. KFWB 98© the personality station National Representatives: Branham Co.; McGavren-Quinn, San Francisco Robert M. Purcell, President and General Manager. 5000 Watts day and night. ..clear regional channel. Number One Hollywood box office attraction hasn't been Clark Gable, but John Wayne," says Phil Cohen, SSCB tv v.p. 'Historically Westerns have been the heart and soul of the movie business, so it's a basic entertainment torm. The excitement factor: That's what's missing this year, say the critics. "The audience is tougher to excite these da\s," sa\s Ted Bates' Jim Douglas, whose views on this subject are shared by the majority of tv pros. "The\"\e seen so man) stars in the last few years, so much entertainment through tv. that they're very hard to impress. What unusual things were actualK done in \ears past that are not being done this year?" Moreover, there are more spectaculars scheduled for this year. "The spectaculars are very important for spicing the season," says Bill Wiley, assistant director of McCanns tv and radio programing services division. "Twenty years ago, a person would have had to pa\ SI 00 a seat to see all the talent that a spectacular ma\ offer." Are agencies putting damper on experiments? Some of the tv pros feel the agencies exercise a more conservative influence on programing. "The individual client or packager doesn't have the same urge or possibility to experiment as the network." says Bill Wiley. "The investment in tv for the individual client is so high today that he must try to reach a maximum audience right from the start. This may rule out certain totally new and untested concepts of programing which might turn out to have only minority audience appeal." Agencymen do worry about this tv season, but not because of the programing content, rather because of costs. The short life expectancy of tv talent has caused talent agents to drive harder and harder bargains and production costs have been climbing proportionately. Warns the head of tv at one of the top five agencies: "The cost-per1,000 of the medium is still favorable, but we may approach a turning point. So far the decrease in ratings is somewhat compensated by a larger total audience. But increased cost of tv offsets this again. This may be tv s decisive year: Hold the cost line or clients will turn more to other media. ^ 92 SPONSOR 19 OCTOBER 1957