Variety (July 1959)

W TV FILM! AXMAC Wednesday, July 8, 1959 A Market-By-Market Telefilm Appraisal By MURRAY HOROWITZ In line with Madison Aye's “image” thinking, indie stations in the nation’s No. limarket of N. Y. are assuming, separate programming personalities. With WPIX. it's telefilms,: as in years past; with WOR- . TV. it’s features still; with! WNEW-TV, it's “diversificar. tion;*’ and with M’NTA-TV, it's “living tape” personalities. The network flagship stations assume the characteristics of their respective Uvebs. Yeit each web outlet, in its own way, has an accent of its own. WCBS-TV, the best supplied feature station in the market, still is riding high with its “Late” and “Late Late. Shows.” WABC-TV, in the com¬ petitive feature struggle, his taken to “horror” nights. «WABC-TV's vidpix strip at 10:30. has been bitten into by the web.) WRCA has a number of feature strips, but with “Jack Paar Show” riding high, it’s far less de¬ pendent on cinematics for programming. The various station “images” are important for they spell out the potential customers for syndicators and possible slots for sponsors. But there are other key facets of the nation’s top market. They are: ' j 1. Sponsor buys cf svndication product are few and far between. Overall, Vidpix in N. Y, is a vehicle for participations. There are veyy few openings on the web flagships, WCBS-TV and WRCA-TV, for first-run skeins. WABC-TV has more time open than the other two web o&o’s, but the situation even on WABC-TV is tight. The program buys are in order for the few first-runners on WRCA-TV and WCBS-TV. But participations pre-r dominate on WABC-TV, and on the other outlets, 2. Consequence of the tight slotting situation on the web o&os. particularly WCBS-TV. and WRCA-TV, is that: prices of many first-run properties are beaten down. Se¬ ries serving as participation vehicles hardly bring, the same price as skeins sold directly to sponsors as program buys. I- 3. Features in the market don’t seem as much affected by the tightened local schedule of the web o&o’s. Despite Paar and what have yen. ! (WCBS-TV remains strongly entrenched with the “Late Show”, which has a potential : gross billing of about $60,000 weekly, exclusive of agency discounts. That cinematic showcase is practically sold out most of the time. WOR-TV, which recently replenished its first-run pix witn a SI .000.0.00 buy from Screen Gems, shows no signs of relen -rg on its “Million Dollar Movie” format. The multi-exposure “MDM” format ^till com¬ mands sponsors and audiences. Here are some operational highlights of metropolitan outlets: While its prime syndicated slots will be' contracted this fall. WABC-TV will remain firm in its feajture pro¬ gramming periods. The pix slots are the Monday through Thursday “Night Show.* y.ng at 11:15 p.m.. with Fri¬ day and Saturday nights devoted to horror pix. There also will be ai Sunday-night fiim and the 9" a.m. oherhour stripped feature showcase continues the next season. WCBS-TV, despite its playoff of features, still has a cinematic library ef 2.1 Jo pi\\. Station telecasts 24 dif¬ ferent features weekly. ..At ; the present rate of usage, taking into consider;;!ion the repeats, WCBS-TV -feels it has sufficient pix for s^vc-n; vears. Recent innovation efi pix sponsorship was the sole sponsorship- by Schaefer Brewing Co. of four pic specials, which preempted the “Late Show.” | WRCA-TV will continue its telefilm and. feature format . next season, without any mairked changes, WPIX remains tiie most heavliv programmed telefilm showcase in the seven-station market, buy'ng! a good portion of the avail¬ able first-run product. In the daytime hours up to 3 p.m, next season, it will be an educational outlet for the N. Y. Board of Regents, WNTA-TV again plans to accent its “living tape” personality shows, a format which has won the XTA o&o outlet attention in the N. Y. market. WNEW-TV also uses telefilms and features quite heavily, but as part of its diversified program format, station also relies on taped shows. j, That’s about the shape of the N. Y. market in mid¬ summer ’59. L.A. Hot on Syndication But Lukewarm on Features By BOB CHANDLER Los Angeles. Los Angeles—and the sarnie goes for any market with a multiplicity of indies—is huingryfor syndicated product. Paradoxically. i“s less interested in feature films. And perhaps causing that disinterest is a keen appreciation of the potential of vidtape. KTTV, long a. pacese ter among, indie tv’ers, feels its position in the market has been hurt by the lack of enough good syndicated properties. Not only aren’t there enough of them, the station feels, but quality hasn’t, inv proved in syndicated film shows for years, while network film standards have been raised ' appreciably over the da\s when there were as many syndicated film shows on the market as there were network telefilms. KTTV remains the key telefilm buyer. KRCA, the NBC flagship, is second in the firslrun area, using plenty of syndicated shows in its 7-7:30 strip, and after 10:30, though NBC’s expansion into the.lat pr area may curtail its buying activities severely come fall. KTLA, the Paramount sta¬ tion. is still attempting to cajicentrate cn live production, on the premise it can build quality programming off the coin accrued from syndicated sales of tapes of the shows. Premise has yet to be proved. KABC, the ABC flagshipi also concentrates bn local live programming and is not a factor in the market. KNXT is like its sister station in New York, WCBS-TV, a fea¬ ture film and public service operation When it comes to local programming. And KCOP, the Big Crosby-Ken . Brown indie, concentrates its buying, in the area of first- run travel-adventure shows and subsequent ruii product in other fields, including features. KlJj-TV,. the . RKO.. Teleradio outlet, buys big in the kiddie field but only sporadically in other - syndicated programming. RKO fur¬ nishes its features. On the feature . film front, KNXT is top-dog, sitting pretty with the Paramount library. But other feature film outfits have’ found L.A: a hard- sell. There are cur¬ rently Screen Gems,., TJnited Artists and NT A packages Still going begging for buyers. One reason is that in the late-night field, KNXT, and KTTV,. latterwith its Metro library, are dominant. Another is that some station execs feel the Metro package didn’t pay off for KTTV. in terms of the size of the investment, A third is a feeling of “who needs ’em?”: . j. , Tape Factor ; — -y: | This latter factor is largely keyed to tape. The stations —at least the indiesMiave found that through tape, they can produce their own shows at a cost far less than they shell out for features, and attract an audience that’s com¬ parable. KCOP’s TomDugganis still a strong late-night draw, perhaps not so much in terms of. a. huge audience but in an SRO sponsorship situation. KHJ’s Oscar Levant, who pre-tapes according to his mood and physical con¬ dition, is a strong contender for the station. KTTV’s toprated show, in spite, of a schedule over¬ laden with. syndicated properties,, is a local production, its own “Divorce Court;” W’hic.h Guild Films, sells nation¬ ally for KTTV. Station is now in the tape business for fair, what with “Divorce Court,” and NTA’s “Peter Pot¬ ter’s Juke Box Jury” originating there, along with its own Paul Coates show, which it is syndicating on its own as a strip. Moreover, it’s purchased the two Westinghouse- TedGranikshowsand is looking elsewhere. KTLA, which has also set up its own distribution, hasn’t clicked yet with any taped properties. It’s tried the court¬ room and musical routes, the later with a minimum of success and the former, with some success locally but no exposure yet in other markets. Station, however, is stock¬ piling -taped prqper;ies, some: ,of -which it hasn't even aired, in the belief that it’s going to make a major dent on" the market; U ne. of these days. •• Tape’s no millennium, .'as- the L.A. stations have quickly discovered, but it can be a. mighty big help. KTTV will net over 8200(000 this year on sales of “Divorce Court;” a potent factor, in an. overall profit & loss statement for. the year. And a few occasional tape, shows from other sources help in the struggle for enough programming for an indie.. But the. tape formula, as a major aid to stations has vet to be found. ' * ‘Supply Adequate For Next 5 Years’: Cincy By JOE ROLLING Cincinnati. Cincy’s three tv stations,. each net affiliated and with bustling biz schedules,.are at ease about fall programming. What’s to happen if ho large- groups ;■of feature films are offered? : The supply is adequate' for; this market for the next five, years, according to .-Roger.- By Read* general manager of WKRC-TV. now;.using an \ average; of 18; full lengths a week;. Should that be .exhausted, fie .points to syndicated ieruns from CBS-TV.'. .Mortimer C. Watters lias station programming in mind for his. W COP-TV, in the ’ A-BC TV link, a la Jack Paar,, “Most NBC stations carrying the Paar show,” fie says, “have requests for feature films drastically reduced. They’re not bothered with public demand for feature films,” '' Robert E. i>un\ille. Croslev Broadcasting Corp: pres¬ ident. notes that at least' one major producer is video taping programs fqr. syndication; “It’s only a question of a year or so. before many shows will be available for video tape.” he stated. His organization takes in three Ohio, tv stations and WLtV-A, Atlanta, and WLW-I, In- ‘ dienapolK Telefilms in this market, bring from $100 to $700, an average cf $650. per title and syndicated half 7 hours from $100 to. $600. Sponsors are. mainly participation from the food and beverage fields Are prices too high? “Yes, to attract full sponsorship at local level,” said Duriville: According to Read there’s A Dissent From Green Bay By JAMES R. G.AHAG.AN : Milwaukee. Some sharp! criticism on syndicated programming and prices was voiced, by Jack R. Gennaro,.station manager of WFRV, Green Bay, Wise., a NBC-TV affiliate. Said Gennaro: “We find that there is too much mystery, tob much adyenture,, and not enough quality syndicated w esterns oh the market today. In fact, T would say that only one out of 10 syndicated film shows today are the quality that our station wants on the air. We would like more diversified selections for oirr syndicated films. As always the prices are much too high, for, this, market. “One big reason why. there is not more sponsorship oh syndicated half-hours in this iharkef is because we have; to pay too high a price for the films.. We are, therefore, required to :r-o to second runs, or package deals With particular film companies, so that, we; may buy at a price advantage. This necessitates running a lot of the film as participating find never recapturing- the money we’ve spent for them. / ^ “We have paid as low’ as $15 for, half-liour shows, and as high as S125 in this market. Most shows are selling for $75. and S100 here. To be more realistic these shows should be selling more in the $50 to $75 range, so that we could attract the kind of sponsors we would like. . I would - guess that the. syndicators; are the people who are forcing. local and r e g i o n a 1 advertisers to spots rather than to programs,” Gennaro stated. a growing tendency to increase prices; which producers blame on increasing costs. From Watters: “Some prices are too high, most any station manager will always say.” Those Syndicated Blockbusters Ain’t What They Used To Be in Chi By LES BROWN ' Chicago;- •.. Gone are those, maniac days when every station in town was buying all the celluloid it could get, if only defen¬ sively, to keep it from the competition. Film syndicators, even those with hot new product to peddle, will find this; oversized four-station. market a tough one to crack for the coming fall season. Not only da. the station managements here feel they’re amply sup¬ plied, or. even overstocked, they’ve acquired through ex¬ perience a few reservations about pictures for television as a programming staple. There will be some buying, of course, but it should prove anything but spirited. To sum up the prospects briefly: WBBM-TV wants some strong titles to. supplement its feature film library but isn’t going to be interested in half-hour telefilms; WGNr TV, on the other hand, will be looking mainly at the 301- minute fare but only the cream of the crop, having plenty of filler on hand; WBKB and WNBQ Will virtually stand pat. The last, for instance, has cut down its feature ex¬ hibition and has announced it will onG stock new half hour series if they , come in fuliy sponsored. That attitude, although extreme, points up a general unwillingness of Chi stations to specul ate anymore. They’re thinking more cautiously than ever, before making celluloid investments.. Symptomatic of a growing disenchantment With feature, films (except at WBBM-TV) is the fact that a. number of them have been axed recently. WBNQ has deleted six shows and now is down to. one feature a week, on Sunday, evenings. With 70 features in stock, the NBC station feels no emergency. WGN-TV, the lone indie, is showing two a: day but has withdrawn its Sunday evening feature and is. considering lopping off its Monday night film for a live comedy show in - the fall,. And WBKB is .dropping “Shock Theatre” (in. this case, because of a shortage of product)' on Saturday nights and is replacing it . with “Cuban Winter Baseball” on video tape. [ . . ; Discouragements : , \ Behind: these symptoms are some discouraging develop¬ ments over t he past year,, the. chief orie being Jack Paar’s incredible potency in the latenight arena against a trio of features. Consistently Paar has been doubling the combined ratings Of his opposition. Not even WBBM- TV’s 10-day blockbuster binge at the start of the year* to introduce the new. Paramount package; was able to jar Paar from the ruling roost between 10:15 and midnight. This situation, plus the. development, that. features in every area seem to have, reached a sets-in-use plateau, is creating no panic.here over the news that the Hollywood, vaults are near, depletion. In any prime' local periods, competing cinematics have been meeting head-on, and the effect of this has only been to divide the audience pie several ways: . . "With the singular exception of WBBM^TV’s Saturday night feature, blockbuster shoWs ain’t what they used to be. Reruns, the. stations, have found, frequently, get ratings to compare with firstruris, sO theyfie playing off. whatfi on . hand. The - selling has been good, both on participating and single sponsor bases: The particular problems of the stations have, a hearing too on the negative revaluation of filih in this market. As a. result: of greater network invasion of ,»ocal time—par¬ ticularly at the ABC station, winen the daytime network was incepted—there are fewer choice timeslots available for the better and.more costly half-hour series. All three' network stations have a fair shafe of syndicated shows waiting in the can. to plug any programming gaps. WBNQ last year dropped its 10 p.m. strip, of half hour vidpix, including “Sheriff of Cochise” and “Death Valley Days,’.’ and is concentrating instead on off-network rkein . for late afternoon stripping. Already set for thfi coming season are the syndicated editions of “Life of Riley”, and “Jim Bowie.” ■ : Also worth considering as a factor in the foreseen tele¬ film recession here this fall is the fact that at least two. outlets—WBBM-TV and WGN-TV—are preoccupied with the station image, and it’s clear that no. awards or cita¬ tions obtain from grinding film. Both stations will be- accentuating live production. next fall, and both seem eager to create shows, for video tape syndication, WGN-TV, which as indie must needs program a quantity of film, has indicated it is looking only for “Class A” product. The station has overbought half-hour films in the past and got stung on. some expensive, ones, and so has plenty to play off until 1960 and is proceeding gingerly with new buys. The Trib station so far has scheduled only five fresh syndicated properties for the. coming term: twq firstruns, “Cannonball” and “Lockup" and three firsts-off-the-nets, “Air Power,” “You Are There” and “I Married Moan.” Not counted. are a raft of oldtime comedies and cartoons, which. will be slotted daytimes. . . Syndicated video taped shows came late to this market but interest in them appears to be growing.' At least half a dozen of them will be beamed here this fall, including “Ding Dong School,” “Mark Wilson’s Magic Circus” and “Divorce Court” on WGN-TV; the previously mentioned “Cuban Baseball” on WBKB; and “Peter Potter’s Juke Box Jury” on WBBMrTV. WGN-TV will also continue as Chicago outlet for the shows developed for syndication by New York sister-station WPIX. v Back to feature films, WBBM-TV, with both the Para¬ mount and MGM packages, has taken. over topdog status as local tv exhibitor. Station is getting over $1,000 per minute spot in its prime Saturday night feature, which still gets blockbuster ratings in or near the 30s. Running three features per day; on weekdays, the last one starting, at midnight, WBBM-TV grinds out 1,100 full-lengthers a year from a library containing only around 1,800 titles. However, by rerunning the films in different time periods (Continued on page 42)