Variety (January 1953)

100 RAMimi^X^OV Forty-*e*>enth Amdversmy Wednesday, January 7, 1953 TV Still Almost a Secret in France, j f j fl( |j n g a TV Formula But Radio, Is art ° f or Low-Cost Sponsors By GENE MOSKOWITZ Paris. beamed by Radiodiffusion here. In r unit fp1ovi«;ion Jean Nohain’s popular “40 Million In France radio and television prenchmen .. ^ th a liste ning and are a nationalized public service estimated at a sturdy 13,000,000 coming under the aegis of the Ra- w ith 4,000,000 sets, has show biz diodiffusion and Television Fran- people, writers, etc., commenting caise. This branch comes under the Ministry of Information. Ra- dio, which had a great portion of its stations destroyed during the war, on life in France, news and general views on trends in the nation. In- formal and fast paced this is a top- per. “Central 21-53” is a sort of >yea auring uie d.j. show with listeners calling in to has made a great comeback Tlfini ,i nv music or Doetrv materially and in actual airwave ask. for popular music or poetry to be dedicated to friends or sweet- time. Last year saw 15,500 houis j iearts jf- g e t s a ra ting listen- of emissions, and television now prw j sp _ jazz, cabarets, films and has a 30-hour week of -trans- missions. Radio is still kingpin here with over 7,000,000 sets tuned in and a hefty foreign beaming service in 15 languages shortwaved around erwise. most aspects of show biz life get a large share of the ether. Foreign beamage both to and fro is also a big part of the transmit- ting here. Last year about 920 hours of foreign programs intended the world for cultural and prop - f or p rance we re beamed in by re- ganda dissemination. TV has re- j ay £ or ^ ome consumption. “Voice certtly risen to about 40,000 set 0 £ Amerioa” j s /an important part owners, mostly in the Paris ai ® » of this network. North America and will take some years yet be- sen t a “B roa( j wa y Melody Hour.” fore it can really be considered an( j f rom South America ‘the trip an important part of the some- 0 f Jean-Louis Barrault and his thing for nothing show biz cate- theatre.group were beamed in from gory, Fix as yet have not , various spots such as Montevideo, nudged by it and the average s t Bio and g uenos Aires, price of 100,000 francs C$290) is still above the ordinary podket- book. TV is still in the curio -stage here, and nary a bar has TV with the Gallic cafe clientele usually preferring to gab rather than ngle the screens. Two emission centers for TV are Paris and Lille, with Lille adding 3,000 sets to the number in France. A Strasbourg transmitter is fore- seen for 1953 and two, more in Anniversaries, happily, otten Lyons and Marseilles in about five have the quality of stimulating years to be able to make a blanket plans for a brighter and better transmission possible for all of future, as well as inviting contcm- France. plation of past achievements. This is especially true on this “anni- By CHRIS J. WITTING “ 40,000 TV Sets In Operation [ versa £y” as a ll television networks This year the Television Salon and stations zoom to new heights sold over the last year’s net and it in billings. is estimated that there are over 40,000 sets in operation with half of them not declared for the licens- ing payment. License for TV is (Director and General Manager , DuMont Network) facilitate operation, the control rooms will be in the same location on every floor. DuMont’s Tele - Centre repre- sents, as do most of the new facili- ties of networks and stations, months of close cooperation be- tween video personnel and archi- tects and engineers. The coopera- tion is designed to insure stream- lined production techniques, re- programming departments, like- wise, are aware of sponsor resist- ance to television’s high prices. DuMont program executives have I 3 Networks Radiodiffusion beamed over 1,110 hours of foreign programs to vari- ous parts of the world. Six pro- ductions were beamed weekly oyer 350 stateside stations. Among pro- grams were such as “Paris Remem- bers,” “Gay Paris,” “French Thea- tre,” “French Masterpieces of Mu- French radio is divided into sic” and “Between Us Ladies.” In- three important networks, Paris- terbeaming between London and Inter, Programme National, and Pans is about 15 programs a week. Programme Parisien. The Pro- Television has still not hit its gramme National is the highbrow stride here but big planning is go- network with emissions in the cul- ing on and it is expected to be tural vein, Programme Parisien is brought up to a dominating level in more the Parisian setup - full of a few years. Many experts here spark, music hall, gossip and the feel that the very pattern of the whole crackling, glib melting pot French people will never make TV showplace of Paris; Paris-Infer is a serious threat to other forms of more in the international vein and entertainment. The French peo- is also experimental in carrying pie will always be going out, says sustaining programs of more po- one, they are .gregarious and prefer tent listening power.’ The lack of their leisure and relaxation in a commercialism at times stymies crowd, says another. There is also name programs, and there is a ten- a law. here which gives landlords dency to format with gab and mu- the right to refuse TV antennas if sic programs predominating. Be- they disfigure the esthetic outline ing government controlled it is also of his building. • the outlet for propaganda and es- Receptionwise the 819 line screen sential info to the people. Elec- gives the best definition in the Yet the spectre—cancellation of shows, exit of good sponsors— - . , , . makes those responsible for TV duoe overhead costs in all possible operation realize the need for ways, and integrate studio and 3.000 francs a year ($7.50) and for more economy and cost-conscious- production efforts m an all-out radio 1,000 francs ($2.50). At pres- ness in program production. The endeavor * :o en ^Dle bigger and ent rate of manufacture and turn- constant turnover of sponsors em- better shows to be produced more over it is felt that there will be phasizes the unfortunate fact that efficiently and economically. 100.000 sets in operation at the end TV’s costs are too high: too out of of 1953. There will also be an at- line with costs of other effective tempt to raise both the level and media. number of programs for the com- Networks and stations alike have ing year. been moved to search across a wide always made it a policy to stimu- Also being set up are transmit- front for ways and means of meet- late careful pre-planning as one of ters in Bordeaux> Toulouse,'Reims ing the situation. The concept of the many cost-cutting techniques and Nice which will be capable ef low-cost television production has which can be passed on to sponsors, diffusing purely regional pro- been making rapid progress, not in Programwise, some innovations grams. Also envisaged are-relay just one phase of -operation, but at DuMont are typical of efforts stations in Angers, Rouen, Tours, across the board—in all facets of programming and production. One of the most impressive of the cost-cutting techniques is rep- resented by the construction of new studios on the part of vir- tion time has each candidate al- loted 10 minutes for speech.pur- poses. . Commercial radio exists in Monaco (Radio Monte-Carlo), which beams paid programs into world. There are still many 425 sets in operation but these are slowly being replaced and the 819 will be the standard in a couple of years. There are no more emis- the ether for pickup on all French s i 0 ns in 425 lines, as they are con sets. The principality of Monaco verted in the studio by means of gets a good revenue on this and an 819 line camera to be sent out it allows French business to get ad- that way. This method of conver- vertising on the air. Andora and sion is also used beaming pro- Dutch radio also contribute com- mercial patter for French radio. Revenue is brought in by li- censes on sets (both radio and tele- vision). Take-home pay for artists is small and most names use it as a good publicity outlet. There are probably thousands of clandestine radio sets and many TV sets built by practical minded Frenchmen who do not like to pay taxes and are also mechanically inclined. grams to England and Belgium. Grenoble and Allouis. The four and a half hours of ransmission per day are mostly live with old films being used for the evening show. Programs* in- being made throughout the indus- try to introduce low-cost audience- building programs. Bishop Fulton J. Sheen’s video series proved that one man could carry a show alone—that costly elude variety shows, church masses, tually all webs, with the emphasis sets and expensive writers and a televised newsreel (made every day on 16m film), and talks on lit- erature, films and current events Theatrical transmissions are also big part of repertoire. Though TV is t nominally under the Radiodiffusion aegis, TV top- pers arc making a more concerted bid to get more of an outlay of money and try to build TV in qual- ity. Also envisaged on the agenda on production efficiency and econ- omy. Cost-Saving Devices PSt)* NBC and CBS have concentrated their large scale building efforts in Hollywood, while DuMont has in- vested $4,000,000 in its Tele-Cen- tre in New Yerk City. All of the new TV studios provide for a smooth flow of traffic, and for a is the perfecting of large screen l^ sy future with all it means in theatrical TV. There have been the way of expansion of facilities talks here twixt TV reps and film ^th* *^s**«. ^ x„- people as to the advisability of mak- I minute stories written, produced supporting talent were not vital factors. Drama, too, it was reasoned, could take advantage of this cost- cutting concept if it could present good plots and effective projection of character and emotion by ex- perienced talent. Some of the unique programs which this new concept of TV production en- couraged us to present were “Night Editor,” “One Man’s Experience” and “One Woman’s Experience.” Night Editor” is a series of 15- ing pix both for TV and theatre, so as to avoid a competitive basis. tional structures have a common characteristic—they are designed to enable production and technical staffs to present better programs at lower cost. Simultaneously, the production and technical staffs have stepped up their adaptation and use of cost- Houston. saving devices. Rear-screen projec- U. of Houston plans to have an tion, which cuts down scenic costs, educational TV outlet in operation has come into more frequent use by next spring. The Houston In- and stock scenery and drops are . ... dependent School District has used wherever possible to present background for a dramatic senes. U. of Houston Propping Educ’l TV Bow in Spring and acted by Hal Burdick. Burdick, the sole cast member, tells his story through facial expressions, movement around his office and the gradual simulation of the voices of the characters he is por- traying. Dark of Night” has been anoth- er DuMont innovation. It has been hailed for utilizing the New York area’s “made to order sets” as agreed to purchase time from the as effective and realistic back- outlet for the public school sys- grounds as the costlier sets. The tern. DuMont-originated split control Station, first non-commercial booths, which aid more efficient educational outlet in the state, is production, will be used in all of scheduled to be ready to telecast the web’s five Tele-Centre studios, by April 20. To decrease construction costs and r Importance of Music Music is an important part of the transmissions with topper pro- grams being “The Pleasures of Music” in which Roland Manuel and Nadia Tagrine create a sort of musical appreciation hour with re- course to old types of musical forms and trends; “Great Musi- cians” with Jean Vitold giving a study of the works of great com- posers and playing their music; “Musical Presence” is dedicated to modern composers and animated by Gerard Michel;'“In The Musical Realm’’ is for youngsters and is more didactic in giving musical for- mation and history, and “The Golden Book of Music” shows the influence of music and literature on each other. There are many literary and theatrical emissions from inter- views with great contemporaries to studios of past greats and presen- tations of plays. There is a classi- cal morning program devoted to famous plays and the Comedie- Franchise puts its tr.oupe on the air with many plays from its wide repertoire. There are also a pleth- ra of originals and the usual faveltalks, household hints, kiddie les, femme programs and the rest hat’ make up listening time here. Show biz personages all dabble In radio with interviews or appear- ances on the many variety shows s'V* \ / V sv s .. V s - s v- \ * V* s ) \V * s Si X « /N ✓ N X/ s . ✓ s ■.•.■•.‘.•.vvjA'.w^vMNswAvcisv.sy.yAs V A ' v> S' , ■AV.V/iV.^WAV/iJf > z. ;> Greetings From AM the Nelsons DAVID, OZZIE, HARRIET AND RICKY The scripts have been built around such locations as a veterans hos- pital, a brewery and a Navy troop ship. Licking Set Construction .. | Then too, the program has virtu- ally eliminated the cost of set con* struction, while providng the cam- eras with sets more huge and cost- ly than any network could afford— a TWA hangar provided $6,000,000 of planes as “props” for a “Dark of. Night” story. Television networks are becom- ing increasingly aware of the need to provide a place in the medium for the sponsor with only a modest bankroll, but with a need for def* inite results for the money spent. Though the competitive spirit among the television networks is high, competing sales departments have been quick to recognize and adapt each other’s successful plans. The shared sponsorship arrange- ment Which DuMont created to en- able compatible and non-comp~a» tive sponsors jointly to share on a network program, has now become a permanent and rapidly expand- ing feature of network program- ming. The idea of segmented program- ming, enabling a sponsor to buy five, 10 or 15 pumites on an estab- lished 'program, represents an op- portunity for not only small budget advertisers, but short term and seasonal advertisers to buy into a going operation with effective fol- lowing without trying to build an audience from scratch. A successful bid, currently being emulated, to provide major local advertisers throughout the nation with topnoch TV, has been made in DuMont’s Monday night boxing program. „ ,, Television will contribute its full- est to America’s cultural develop- ment only when it solves the prob- lem of high costs, and yet can pro- vide both audience and sponsor with consistently excellent video 1 fare.