Sponsor (Sept-Dec 1958)

probably will beat their gums about it in Washington. But there it is and nobody is going to stop it permanently because it is progress, which nobody ever stops permanently. . . . Each day we come a little closer to the time when those who want to see these sports (baseball, football, boxing, etc.) will pay a reasonable fee to watch the events in which they are interested. . . . This doesn't mean that I think theatre-tv is the final answer, because I don't. Even with fights which would appear to be its best bet, the guess here is that it is a passing phase in the ultimate change-over to pay-tv, accompanied by free tv in the home. . . ."' Old ladies of Keokuk Corum's colleague and possibly the most highly respected man writing on sports today, Red Smith of the Neiv York Herald Tribune had this to say on the situation : "If this (referring to the Patterson-Harris fight) wasn't the dawn of a new era in boxing, then at least it added a new dimension to fight promotion. ... In the past the promoter sold his show to radio, home television, or closed-circuit, and cut the fighters in on the take. This time, the closed-circuit firm operated, in effect, as the promoter. The Teleprompter Corp. made the flat guarantees, $150,000 minimum to Patterson plus $60,000 toward the $100,000 which the champion promised to Harris. . . . Certain comparisons are inevitable. The biggest price ever paid by a sponsor of home tv was $300,000 for the second Marciano-Walcott fight. Under the terms standard then, the champion would get 40 per cent of that from the promoter or $120,000. This nmst be compared with Patterson's $270,000 or better for a dogmeat attraction ... if sponsors of home tv couldn't get any championship fights because the theatres were getting them all, how long would they continue to pay for secondary attractions? . . . For years it has been felt that television was creating a vast new body of fight fans, among old ladies in Keokuk who never went to an arena. . . . Some day, somehow, it seemed, boxing would find a way of cashing in on its new public. It begins to appear that closed-circuit shows may offer a partial answer. . . ." Pay tv's a comin' innninent pay-tv for theatre c 1 doiTt know how innninent pay-tv for theatre or home is. nor in what form it will arrive, but I agree with Corum, Smith and many others as to its inevitability. And I believe, as I have stated before, that it win present major programing other than sporting events. And it appears that some other people feel the same way. Last week the stock of Skiatron Electronic and Television Corp., who hold the pay-tv rights to the Dodger-Giant games Corum was discussing, hit its highest peak, $7 per share. Maybe it's a promotion, and maybe it isn't. Maybe Skiatron will be one of pay-tv's hot firms, and maybe it won't. But that hand keeps writing. Pay it heed. ^ Do y Letters to Joe Csida are welcome r always agree tvith what Joe Csida says in Sponsor Back stage? Joe and the editors of SPOISSOR will be happy to receive and print your comments. Address them to Joe Csida. c/o SPOISSOR. 40 East 49th Street, ISetv York 17, I^ew York. Here are the NCS #3 ratings; Tolal Homes in Area KTBS-TV .... .^69..^()() Sta. B 32 1.400 Tolal T\ Homes in Area KTB.S-TV .... 249.780 .Sta. B 221.420 Momhty Coverage KTBS-TV .... 199.470 Sta. B 179,680 Weekly Covera:^e KTBS-TV .... 193.970 Sta. B 175.150 Weekly Day lime Cireulation KTBS-TV .... 169.320 Sla. B . . . . . 154.500 Daily Daytime Cireulation KTBS-TV . . . . 121.010 Sta. B 113.900 Weekly Nii;litlime Cireulation KTBS-TV .... 192.080 Sta. B 173.240 Daily Nii;littime Cireulation KTBS-TV .... 150.130 Sta. B 140.850 .S7'er//v KTIiS-Tl uith dominant Nielsen and dominant ARB . . . the lust hay in Shreveport! See your SPONSOR • 6 SEPTEMBER 1958