Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1959)

10 JUNE 15, 1959 SPOT-TV UP SHARPLY IN 1959: The nation’s advertisers are really on the spot. During the first quarter of this year, their total expenditures for spot TV soared to more than $156.4 million, according to a TvB reflection of reports from 341 stations. A comparison of 308 stations reporting on 1st quarter activities in 1958 & 1959 shows an increase of nearly 26% in spot TV spending. (For spot-TV’s role in the entire media picture among 1958’s top 100 advertisers, see p. 12.) Not only are viewers seeing more spots, they’re seeing new ones. Numbered among the top 100 spot-spenders for the first time are: Bissell Carpet Sweeper, Cannon Mills, Hertz-U-Drive-It, Pam Enterprises, Pan-American World Airways, Pepperidge Farms, & Vic Tanney’s Gym. A quarter-to-quarter comparison, 1958 vs. 1959, also shows marked increases in the spot treatment given various product classifications: sporting goods, bicycles & toys up 125%, household furnishing 103%, transportation & travel 78%, pet produces 65%, drug products 42%, food & grocery products 40%, dental products 39%. Overall, for the 1959 quarter, announcements accounted for 77% of the spot spending, I.D’s 10.4%, & programs 12.6%. Most money was spent at night, 51.6%. Late night got another 11.1% and daytime expenditures accounted for 37.3%. Compared with the like 1958 period, announcements & daytime scheduling showed the largest increases in the type & time categories, respectively. By product classification, food & grocery products accounted for the major share of national & regional spotTV advertising, with a total expenditure of more than $46.5 million. Drug products were second but not even close, with nearly $16.5 million. Interestingly enough, TV & radio set activity accounted for only $162,000. Outstanding among spot advertisers who increased their expenditures from quarter to quarter, are these 15 members of the 1959 quarter’s 100 top TV-spot purchasers: 100 Largest TV-Spot Advertisers of 1959’s First Quarter Gross time costs only, as estimated by Television Bureau of Advertising: (TvB) in cooperation with N.C. Rorabaugh Co. Rank Advertisers Amount 1. Procter & Gamble ..$10,679,400 2. Lever Brothers Co. .. 5,342,200 3. Warner Lambert .... 4,570,300 4. Adell Chemical 4,351,900 5. Colgate Palmolive .. 4,191,900 6. General Foods 3,646,600 7. Continental Bak 2,844,800 8. Brown & William’n 2,278,700 9. Texize Chemicals .. 2,252,700 10. Am. Home Prod. .. 2,119,900 11. Interntl. Latex 2,035,700 12. Miles Lab., Inc. .. 2,024,800 13. Corn Prod. Co 1,523,700 14. Standard Brands .. 1,413,000 15. Kellogg Co 1,364,900 16. P. Lorillard 1,352,700 17. Bristol Myers Co. .. 1,297,600 18. Philip Morris Inc. .. 1,289,900 19. B. T. Babbitt 1,242,200 20. Food Mfgrs., Inc. .. 1.185,000 21. Vick Chemical Co. .. 1,088,900 22. Andrew Jergens .... 1,085,900 23. Amer. Chicle Co. ’ 1,011,500 24. Avon Prod., Inc 995,600 25. Sterling Drug 992.700 26. Liggett & Myers .... 987,700 27. Chesebrough Ponds 953,200 28. Pepsi Cola Co 940,200 29. Amer. Tob. Co 910,300 30. Wander Co 872,100 31. Borden Co 869,400 32. Robert Hall 867,000 33. Norwich Phar. Co. 863,800 34. Anheuser Busch .... 847,200 35. General Mills 836,800 36. Continental Wax .... 836,300 37. Minute Maid Corp .. 813,500 38. Peter Paul, Inc. .. 809,600 39. Coca Cola Co 787,300 40. J. A. Folger & Co. .. 774,800 41. Jacob Ruppert 763,800 42. Charles Pfizer 761,000 43. Sun Oil Co 740.600 44. Atlantis Sales 736,100 45. Shell Oil Co 682,500 46. Welch Grape Juice 675,700 47. Quaker Oats Co 661,200 48. Tea Council U.S.A. 562,300 49. Scott Paper Co 647,400 50. R. J. Reynolds Tob. 633,500 Rank Advertisers Amount 51. Drug Research .... 625,200 52. Duffy-Mott Co 584.800 53. Max Factor 673,200 54. Carter Prod., Inc. 568,200 55. Salada, Inc 667,700 66. E. & J. Gallo 564,000 57. Revlon, Inc 562,000 58. Wrigley, Co 654.600 59. Lanolin Plus, Inc. 649,100 60. Piel Bros., Inc. .. 530,800 61. Ward Baking Co. .. 627,700 52. Pharma-Craft 523,000 63. Pabst Brewing .... 519,400 64. Heublein, Inc 517 800 65. U. S. Borax 502,'300 66. Nat’l. Bis. Co 498,600 67. Block Drug Co 495,200 68. Interstate Bak 491,400 69. Falstaff Brewing .. 487,400 70. Carling Brewing .. 465,200 71. Esso Stand. Oil .... 456,600 72. Schlitz Brewing .. 452,700 73. Standard Oil Ind... 452,600 74. Coty, Inc 441,800 75. Pam Enterprises .. 441,800 76. Hertz-U-Drive 436,500 77. Nat’l Dairy Prod. 434,700 78. Nestle Co., Inc 432,300 79. Rubinstein, Inc. .. 430,800 80. Reily & Co.. Inc. .. 429,900 81. Plough. Inc 425,800 82. Exquisite Form .... 419,500 83. Pepperidge Farm .. 399,900 84. Wilson & Co 398,100 85. Taylor Reed 393,900 86. Chock Full O’Nuts 385,000 87. Amer. Bak. Co. .. 382,000 88. Monarch Wine .... 380,700 89. Atlantic Ref. Co. .. 372.200 90. United Fruit (jo. .. 371,000 91. Pan-American 368,800 92. Bissell Sweeper .... 364,300 93. Cannon Mills 361,700 94. Phillips Pet. Co. .. 359,800 95. Hamm Brewing .... 359,000 96. M. J. B. Co 357,200 97. Vic Tanney’s Gym 353,100 98. Gulf Oil Corp 338.600 99. Safeway Stores .... 332,800 100. Nat’l. Brewing .... 326,800 Advertiser Jan.-Mar. 1958 Jan.-Mar 1959 Adell Chemical Co $2,217,300 American Home Products Corp 1,392,700 B. T. Babbitt Co 2,500 Bristol-Myers Co 588,600 Dulfy-Mott Co 43,500 Food Manufacturers Inc 636,300 Kellogg Co 263,000 Minute Maid Corp 279,600 Procter & Gamble 7,768,700 Jacob Ruppert 222,800 Scott Paper Co 73,400 Sun Oil Co 25,400 Texize Chemicals 504,000 Vick Chemical Co 206,100 Welch Grape Juice Co 145,700 .$ 4,351,900 , 2,119,900 , 1,242,200 , 1,297,600 584.800 , 1,185,000 . 1,364,900 813,500 . 10,679,400 763.800 647,400 740,600 , 2,252,700 . 1,088,900 675,700 See the adjoining list for the top 100 national & regional spot TV advertisers of 1959’s first quarter. TV spots will be used to sell a home-decorating kit for Christmas use. Osborne-Kemper-Thomas Inc. is backing its new product with a $1.1 million budget for packaging, distribution, and advertising. From Thanksgiving through Christmas, the ad emphasis will be on TV spots. The agency is Foote, Cone & Belding. Ad taxes continue to die aborning, as witness the fate of state proposals (Vol. 15:11) in Maine & W. Va., which died in committee, in Texas, where the legislature adjourned without taking action, and in Mich., where the proposal never even got formally proposed. Proposals before the Ala., Fla., & S.D. legislatures are expected to have no better future. NBC’s WNBQ Chicago increased sales 50% during the first 5 months of 1959 vs. the same 1958 period, v.p. & gen. mgr. Lloyd E. Yoder reported last week. The period included the highest April local & spot sales in the station’s history. Radio WMAQ jumped its sales 30% for the comparable periods, paced by a resounding 56% increase in record-breaking May 1959 over May 1958. Schaefer Brewing has scheduled 3 more full-sponsorship “movie specials” on WCBS-TV N.Y., following its May 23 rating success for buying all commercials in “It Happened One Night.” The next one is to be Frank Capra’s “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” with James Stewart & Jean Arthur on June 26, with others (to be selected) due in the station’s Late Show series on the Labor Day & Thanksgiving holiday weekends. More nighttime ads on Canadian radio are now permitted, it’s been ruled by Canada’s Board of Broadcast Governors in a move to aid radiomen reverse declining audiences. Heeding the plea of CAB, the board has increased the allowable amount of advertising on a 5-min. program from 60 to 75-sec., in 6 p.m. to midnight period. Use of TV to reach doctors only is being tested by Ciba as a medium for direct promotion of prescription drugs to the physicians. The program uses medical jargon to discourage non-professional viewers. Described as a first, the test series, titled This Week in Medicine, is a 15-min., early morning roundup of medical news, spiced with esoteric product messages. The test .series of 4 programs is being carried by WNBF-TV Binghamton, N.Y. (7 a.m.), KRLD-TV Dallas (7:15 a.m.), KCMO-TV Kansas City (7:30 a.m.) & WCKT Miami (10 a.m.).