Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1959)

14 OCTOBER 12, 1959 Film & Tape SHYING AWAY FROM SYNDICATION: Some Hollywood producers have become increasingly wary of the syndication field. They prefer a network showcase — in which they usually get all or most of their production costs back, with the reruns representing profit. Originally Ziv TV produced its telefilm series for syndication only. But a few years ago the pioneer company began aiming a number of entries each season at network showings. Four Star Films dabbled briefly in syndication, but pres. Dick Powell prefers his series on networks— and that’s the emphasis at Four Star today. It produces not a single series for syndication. Revue, kingpin of Hollywood independents, puts the bulk of its production into network series. Recently, Phil Krasne, California Studios pres., who, with his onetime partner Jack Gross, was one of the fii’st producers in syndication, deserted it to gamble up to $800,000 on 13 pilots aimed at the networks. When we asked Krasne why he was undertaking the most hazardous gamble in TV — pilot-making — rather than continuing to turn out syndication series, he had some quick answers : “When we first got into the business of syndication, it was pleasant & profitable. But it has been getting more difficult & complex for the past 3 years. A producer with a good-budget show can almost never recoup his cost on the first run. Formerly we could do fairly well on reruns, but that business became rougher, primarily because the playing time we used to get is now taken by feature movies. “Independent stations have stopped buying TV-film shows on speculation and then finding a sponsor. That s because many were stuck with unsold shows and they are now using a large part of their program budget on features. So getting money out of reruns in syndication is a hard sell. The market isn’t gone, but it’s become time-consuming & difficult. You’re caught in a dilemma. Every sale is a project. You have to find a local sponsor for your show in each market — and the only way you can do that is to come up with a top quality show. The cost of quality, plus 35% off for cost of sale, makes it almost impossible to rack up enough gross to make a profit. You have to outguess the ever-changing sales market, and retool your sales technique constantly.” Krasne acknowledged that his pilot project is “highly speculative,” but he sees no profit in syndication except with low-budgeted shows. “We used to wrap up $500,000 in sales contracts on a series in a few weeks. Today in those same markets you have to find an ad agency that will let you try to convince the sponsor he should buy. It’s not the same,” he lamented. Syndication has become a buyers’ market, and today’s buyer pays less for film shows than he did 7 years ago, although production costs are up 50-100%. If Krasne’s pilot doesn’t sell nationally, he intends to spot-book — i.e., find an important sponsor who can’t use network because his product doesn’t sell in all markets, but who will spend more than a million for the markets in which he is interested. Krasne pointed to Death Valley Days as an example of a series which is neither network nor syndication, but spot-booked, with one sponsor U.S. Borax & Chemical Co. — paying the production costs. Samsonite Luggage is another sponsor of this type. The producer has other safety valves for his 13 pilots should they remain unsold: to present them as a summer anthology series, or to produce 26 more for a 39-week .series. He is aiming his first project. Rogue for Hire, for a year-end sale, the others for next year. Have Had-it, Will Travel: There was producer turnover in Hollywood last week, with one of them leaving a series because he was “bored” with it. CBS, looking for a troubleshooter to help out on its Hotel de Paree, talked Sam Rolfe into leaving Have Gun, Will Travel, to take over the new Western. (Stanley Rubin, who has been producing “Paree,” will produce 10 taped GE Theater shows for CBS.) Rolfe, who gets a better participation deal on “Paree,” told us, “After 2 years of Have Gun, I was bored. We had 22 shows in the can and no problems. Other shows need help. I am now renegotiating a new deal with CBS, which will involve other properties as well.” But sources with the series told us star Richard Boone was unhappy with the scripts he was getting, had noted unwelcome departures in his characterization and refused to do at least one given him. (To replace Rolfe, CBS picked Ben Brady, ex-Pe7'ry Mason producer.) Meanwhile, over at Screen Gems, Herb Meadow, who was originally signed to produce 26 episodes The Man from Blackhawk, is leaving in a few weeks, after finishing 13. Explained ex -writer Meadow: “The producer grind is too tough. I worked every day from 6 a.m. to midnight. There’s no time to do anything or see my family. It’s exhausting mentally. I’m returning to creative writing.” Revue Expands: Revue Studios, the former Universal International lot, has a new look these days. Virtually completed construction of 4 new stages brings the Universal City lot to a total of 27. UI had found its 21 stages ample for movie production even in the years before the cinema’s downward spiral, but when Revue took over the lot last spring, following its purchase by MCA, construction of additional stages started quickly. And while several independent TV-film companies had rented space from UI, not one is located there today, unless it’s involved in a co-production deal with Revue (such as Jack Chertok’s Johnny Midnight). Back in 1951, this same Revue rented 2 stages from Eagle-Lion, the studio later acquired by Ziv TV. At that time Revue had one series. Today it has about 16. Film’s Literary Link: The list of film series linked with books, both hard-cover & pocketbooks, has been lengthening— to the gratification of producers, who believe the extra promotion should aid their ratings. For months a good seller has been 77 Sunset Strip, a collection of 3 short stories by Roy Huggins, one of which served as the basis of the Warner Bros, series. Last year saw publication of Dragnet and The Badge, by Jack Webb. There are also books on The Lineup, Dennis the Menace, and Dobie Gillis. (Plans are current for plugs of the lastnamed book on the Groucho Marx, Art Linkletter and Goodson-Todman shows, among others). Also there are an Alfred Hitchcock pocketbook, the Erie Stanley Gardner’s multiple Perry Mason books, the Mickey Spillane private-eye stories. Joining them this season is the Goodson-Todman private-eye hero, Philip Marlowe, based on the Raymond Chandler character. Indirect beneficiaries of authors’ works are Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theatre and 20th-Fox TV’s Adventures in Paradise, the latter having been inspired by James Michener, author of Tales of the South Pacific. Desilu Productions has signed Joseph Shaftel to produce 2 episodes of The Untouchables . . . Crosby-Brown Productions has named Joe Porter, ex-NTA Films, southeastern sales rep.