Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1959)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

11 — Advertising TV AND LEISURE TIME: More people watched TV on a typical day in 1958 than in 1957, and those who watched spent more time in front of their TV sets. So reports Sindlinger & Co. in a special year-end study contained in an NBC research bulletin circulated to top TV management this week. Based on interviews conducted daily among some 1,000 persons 12 and older in a national probability sampling, Sindlinger’s findings for the 2 years showed that nearly 7 out of every 10 people watched TV each day in 1958: % Participating on Typical Day Activity 1958 1957 Watched TV 69 66 Listened to radio 58 56 Read newspapers 82 81 Read magazines 33 29 The fact that gains were made by all competing media, NBC feels, is due to the general increase in leisure time. TV, however, walked off with more than the lion’s share when it came to how much time was spent with what. Again, 1958 figures out-ranked those of 1957, with the average person spending more time with TV each day than with all the other media combined. Minutes Spent by Average Person on Typical Day Activity 1958 i957 Watching TV 120 117 Listening to radio 72 70 Reading newspapers 28 28 Reading magazines 14 11 TV viewing hit its peak during the last quarter of 1958, according to Sindlinger, with 72% of the over-12 population of the U.S. watching TV on a typical day, and spending an average of 131 minutes a day viewing. The latter figure, NBC points out, was nearly 10 times as long as was spent reading magazines. States NBC, summing it up: TV & radio dominate leisure time of American public. People: T. Newton Weatherby promoted to v.p., Sullivan, Stauffer, Colwell & Bayles. He’s succeeded as treas. by Herbert King, ex-controller. Nelson O. Argueso, ex-Doherty, Clifford, Steers & Shenfield, named controller . . . Michael W. Cradle elected v.p., Needham, Louis & Brorby . . . Otto Prochazka, ex-Benton & Bowles, named v.p., Compton Adv. . . . Gail M. Raphael, ex-Lennen & Newell, named v.p., Doherty, Clifford, Shenfield & Steers . . . Michael Frothingham, Ted Bates general counsel, named also secy. & v.p. . . . Charles J. Allen, ex-McCann-Erickson, named v.p., John W. Shaw Adv., Chicago . . . Thomas J. McDermott, Benton & Bowles TV-radio v.p., is chairman of NYC 1959 Red Cross TV-radio campaign bureau . . . Richard S. Jackson named v.p. and TV-radio director, J. M. Mathes . . . John L, Margo, ex-Erwin Wasey, Ruthrauff & Ryan, opens own agency in Cincinnati, following close of EWRR office there . . . Guy S. Warren Jr. resigns as exec, v.p., D. P. Brother & Co., Detroit . . . Joseph H. Vaamonde promoted to mgr.. Young & Rubicam’s Mexico City office . . . Ralph W. Bugli promoted to v.p., Doremus & Co. . . . Linwood G. Lessig promoted to v.p., A1 Paul Lefton, Philadelphia . . . Raymond Browne promoted to v.p., Victor A. Bennett Co., N.Y. Joe Wolhandler, formerly v.p. in charge of N.Y. office of Rogers & Cowan, public relations, has organized Joe Wolhandler Assoc. (406 E. 50 St.) to handle public relations & promotion in the entertainment field. Last to Go: TV is the medium every member of the family would give up last, reports the Indiana Publisher in presenting the findings of a survey of middle-class families — conducted under the auspices of the Indiana U Dept, of Journalism & the Bureau of Media Service. Newspapers came out second, says Editor & Publisher in presenting the gist of the story from the official organ of the Hoosier State Press Assn. When not required to pin their choice on only one medium, 61% of the families said they used all 4: TV, radio, newspapers & magazines. (Newspapers & TV only, 15%. Newspapers & radio only, 7%. Newspapers only, 9%. Radio & TV only, 2%. Radio only, 1%.) Following is the breakdown on how the various members of the family responded to the question: “What medium would you keep if you could keep only one?” College Hi-school Younger Selection Father Mother Age Age Children TV 40% 49% 38% 56% 91% Newspapers 38% 32% 28% 8% 5% Radio 12% 11% 23% 30% 2% Magazines . 10% 8% 11% 6% 2% Threats To Ad Agencies? The Advertising Federation of America warned its members this week that: (1) Sens. McClellan (D-Ark.) & Mundt (R-S.D.) are co-sponsoring legislation to make agencies & their copywriters criminally responsible for fraudulent advertising. (2) The Federal Trade Commission is starting a test case to make agencies & clients jointly responsible for false advertising claims. We checked on Capitol Hill and with the FTC. No such bills have been introduced and the FTC doesn’t initiate court tests. What has happened is that: (1) Sens. McClellan & Mundt are sponsors of a bill (S-550) to prohibit interstate operation of advance-fee real estate rackets in which operators obtain money through advertised promises that they’ll help home owners sell properties. (2) The Grant, Schwenk & Baker Inc. agency, Chicago, is cited along with the Skill-Weave Co., Chicago, in an FTC complaint that they made exaggerated claims in print-media promotion for a correspondence course in reweaving. If the FTC sustains the complaint — on which hearings were conducted by an FTC examiner this week — the respondents could carry it to the Court of Appeals for a judicial determination of the agency’s liabilities. Under existing law, agencies have been cited by the FTC in other cases, but its decisions haven’t been challenged. Note: At the same time, moves toward tighter govt, regulation of advertising claims — involving media & agencies as well as advertisers — can develop in Congress or at the FTC. It’s likely, for instance, that more will be heard about the sweeping recommendations made last year by the House Govt. Operations Committee for advertising reforms (Vol. 14:33). The history & uses of TV as an ad medium, and its emotional impact on viewers, are the subjects of 2 filmed TvB presentations which have been given to Columbia & N.Y.U. for use in advertising & marketing courses. Titles : The Vision of Television & E-motion. Obituary Nat Wolff, 59, Young & Rubicam TV-radio v.p., who returned to that agency in Feb. after 3 years as NBC program development director, died March 3 in N.Y. Surviving are widow, step-daughter. John Dearborn Lucas, 66, v.p. of Charles W. Hoyt Co., died March 3 in N.Y. Surviving are widow, son, daughter.