'Too many kids and old ladies': Quality demographics and 1960s US television

Screen

Volumn 45, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 40-62

  Alvey, Mark ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 63849105730     PISSN: 00369543     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (80)

1. Les Brown, TeleviSion: the Business Behind the Box (New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971)
2. Jane Feuer, Paul Kerr, and Tise Vahimagi, MTM: 'Quality Television' (London: British Film Institute, 1984), p. 3
3. Muriel Cantor, Prime-Time Television: Content and Control (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1980), p. 77
4. Sally Bedell, Up the Tube (New York, NY: Viking, 1981), pp. 31-6
5. Todd Gitlin, Inside Prime-Time (New York, NY: Pantheon, 1983), pp. 210-18
6. Bedell, Up the Tube, p. 34
7. For similar accounts, all of which cite Brown, see James L. Baughman, The Republic of Mass Culture (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992)
8. Laurence Bergreen, Look Now, Pay Later (New York, NY: Mentor, 1980)
9. David Marc, Demographic Vistas (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984)
10. Robert Metz, CBS: Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye (New York, NY: Signet, 1975)
11. Lisa A. Lewis, Gender Politics and MTV: Voicing the Difference (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1992)
12. Robert J. Thompson, Television's Second Golden Age: From Hill Street Blues to ER (New York, NY: Continuum, 1996)
13. Richard Corliss, 'Happy days are here again', in Horace Newcomb (ed.), Television: the Critical View (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982), pp. 64-76
14. Horace Newcomb, 'American television criticism, 1970-1985', Critical Studies in Mass Communication, vol. 3, no. 2 (1986), p. 220
15. Based on the British series Till Death Us Do Part (BBC, 1966-75)
16. For an informative account of the 'relevance' wave, see Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik, Watching Television (New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 1932), pp. 221-3
17. Brown, TeleviSion, p. 241
18. For example: Highlights, December 1952, no. 2; Highlights, January 1953, no. 2; Highlights. 'Nielsen TV pocket piece - 2nd October report', 30 November 1953; 'Advance Trendex ratings show NBC new shows closing the gap on CBS', 11 October 1957; 'November 1957 Trendex report - NBC improves competitive position against CBS', 14 November 1957
19. Report, 'TV network audience leadership - facts vs fantasies', 4 June 1953
20. Hugh M. Beville, Jr, NBC interdepartmental correspondence, 26 October 1954; Highlights, 'Latest competitive network standings show NBC no. 1 position', 21 October 1958
21. Bulletin, '"Ding Dong School" analysis', no. 50, 13 May 1953
22. Bulletin, 'The characteristics and buying habits of the daytime TV audience', no. 1, 3 February 1956. Eight other bulletins in the series, based on a Home Testing Institute study, followed, ending 1 March 1956
23. Hugh Malcolm Beville, Jr, Audience Ratings: Radio, Television, and Cable (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, 1988), pp. 37, 112-114
24. Douglas Gomery, 'How Nielsen and Arbitron became the ratings kings', The Library of American Broadcasting Transmitter, vol. 3, no. 1 (2001), pp. 3, 7. URL: www.lib.umd.edu/umcp/lab
25. Bulletin, 'ARB audience composition', no. 202, 21 April 1960
26. Albert R. Kroeger, 'They're dealing new hands in Detroit', Television, March 1961, pp. 49-50 ff
27. Murray Horowitz, 'Plot sickens for half hours', Variety, 17 October 1962, p. 21
28. See also 'Why the rush to hour-long shows?', Broadcasting, 17 April 1961, pp. 108-9, which likens participating sponsorship to the way 'the prudent investor spreads his investment capital over a number of stocks rather than plunging it all on a single company'
29. Highlights, 'The number one evening network: NBC-TV', 14 November 1961; Highlights, 'NBC - the #1 television network', 6 November 1961
30. Highlights, 'What's in a home', 9 January 1963, p. 1
31. Highlights, 'For your analysis - Eleventh Hour', 8 April 1963; Highlights, 'NBC emerges as the leading network for upper income, upper educated young adults (which network is really first - a look behind the average ratings)', 19 November 1963
32. Highlights, 'NBC emerges'; Bulletin, 'The size and quality audience of NBC's anthology programs', no. 262, 25 November 1963; Bulletin, The young adult audience - NBC leadership confirmed by 26 ARB local market reports', no. 263, 3 November 1963; Bulletin, 'NBC Has 5 of the top 10 young adult programs', 3 December 1963; Highlights, 'Half hour wins among young adults by network', 6 November 1963
33. Bulletin, 'Another look behind the ratings', 11 December 1963
34. NBC Research Highlights Bulletin, 6 January 1964
35. Highlights, 'TW3 - the urban "Beverly Hillbillies"', 13 January 1964
36. Among numerous examples, circa 1965-66: Highlights, 'NBC - the number one network among young adults', 1 November 1965; Bulletin, 'Summary of network audience 1963-64 season', no. 266, 5 May 1964; Highlights, 'TV-Q indicates that NBC is the preferred network among the college-educated adults', April 1965; Highlights, 'The golden dozen', 6 November 1966; Highlights, 'NBC attracts record number of young (18-49) adults', 27 November 1966
37. Highlights, 'The latest data on Run For Your Life's audience', 9 May 1966; Bulletin, 'NBC has higher ratings in the top US markets', 17 August 1966
38. Highlights, 'NBC increases its lead as number one adult network', 22 July 1965
39. Bulletin, 'ABC's home built on crumbling (not building) blocks', 8 February 1965; Highlights, 'Batman's TvQ profile', 28 February 1966; Highlights, 'Monkees are "top banana"', 12 November 1966
40. Highlights, 'NBC continues to have TV's most-viewed programs', 11 November 1964; Highlights, 'NBC dominates top ten charts', 29 November 1964; Highlights, 'The top five programs in reach are NBC's', 8 February 1965; Highlights, 'NBC's number one position (with honor) is reaffirmed', 15 March 1965; Highlights, 'NBC wins first Nielsen nationals of the season', 12 October 1966
41. NBC Research Bulletin, no. 264, 26 March 1964; NBC Research Bulletin, 'Summary of ARB national color TV survey', no. 272, 24 March 1965; Bulletin, 'A profile of color TV set owners and prospective buyers', no. 278, 21 May 1965; Bulletin, 'A product usage profile of color TV set owners', 3 December 1965
42. George Rosen, ''64-'65: Nielsen in full color', Variety, 8 July 1965, p. 19; NBC Research Bulletin no. 272, 'Summary of ARB national color TV survey', 24 March 1965
43. Bulletin, 'How NBC color programs compare with selective magazines in reaching a "class" audience', 27 November 1965
44. Rosen, 'For those who think young', Variety, 20 January 1965, p. 47
45. Walter Spencer, 'TV's vast grey belt', Television, August 1967, p. 74
46. Richard K. Doan, 'Why shows are cancelled', TV Guide, 15 June 1968, reprinted in Barry G. Cole (ed.), Television (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1970), p. 124
47. Klein cites The Rogues in the Spencer article, and comments on Tarzan in the Doan interview. See also Highlights, 'Tarzan - an all-family program', 22 March 1967
48. Spencer, 'TV's vast grey belt', p. 55
49. Richard Donnelly, 'They're off! (as often as not)', Television, March 1967, p. 24
50. Highlights, 'Bonanza lead over Smothers Bros biggest ever', 16 February 1969
51. On the demographic makeup of these and other programmes, see Dick Hobson, 'Who watches what', TV Guide, 27 July 1968, reprinted in Jay S. Harris (ed.), TV Guide: The First 25 Years (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1978), pp. 147-50
52. Highlights, 'Sock it to 'em!', 3 April 1968
53. Herm Schoenfeld, 'Quo vadis TV: class or com?', Variety, 26 June 1963, p. 27
54. CBS promotional booklet for The Defenders, 1962. Reginald Rose papers, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research at the State Historical Society
55. For a superb critical analysis of 1960s TV documentary, see Michael Curtin, Redeeming the Wasteland: Television Documentary and Cold War Politics (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers, 1995)
56. Richard Oulahan and William Lambert, 'The tyrant's fall that rocked the TV world', Life, 10 September 1965, p. 94
57. George Rosen, 'Paley's pouch-money, that is', Variety, 22 January 1964, p. 33
58. CBS advertisement, Variety, 27 January 1965, p. 82
59. 'CBS reshuffle: emphasis on youth', Broadcasting, 27 February 1967, p. 25
60. Richard K. Doan, 'End of the line', TV Guide, 17 June 1967
61. reprinted in Harris (ed.), TV Guide, pp. 132-4
62. On the demographics of Gunsmoke (and other shows), see Donnelly, 'Television's big target," pp. 52-3
63. Single-sponsor shows accounted for between 3% and 7% of prime-time shows by 1970, depending on the source consulted. Leo Bogart (ed.), The Age of Television (New York, NY: Frederick Ungar, 1972), pp. 425-6
64. proposes 7%, and Sydney W. Head, Broadcaating in America (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1972), p. 267, offers 3%
65. Dann is quoted in Jack Stanley, A History of the Radio and Television Western Dramatic Series Gunsmoke, 1952-1973. PhD Dissertation, University of Michigan, 1973 (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms), pp. 177-81
66. Ralph Tyler, 'The 1967-68 season', Television, June 1967, p. 37
67. Dwight Whitney, 'Irreverent is the word for the Smothers Brothers', TV Guide, 10 February 1968, reprinted in Harris (ed.), TV Guide, p. 143
68. Metz, CBS: Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye, pp. 44, 293-305, 320
69. Bert Spector, 'A clash of cultures: The Smothers Brothers vs CBS Television', in John E. O'Connor (ed.), American History/American Television (New York, NY: Frederick Ungar, 1983), pp. 159-83
70. Steven Alan Carr, 'On the edge of tastelessness: CBS, the Smothers Brothers, and the struggle for control', Cinema Journal, vol. 31, no. 4 (1992), pp. 3-24
71. Eugene Feehan, 'The over-50 age group', Television, June 1967, pp. 20-21, 44-7
72. Murray Horowitz, 'CBS, NBC reiterate pro-Negro stand on casting but meaningful drama on integration still lacking', Variety, 31 July 1963, p. 22
73. Lynn Spigel and Michael Curtin, The Revolution Wasn't Televised: Sixties Television and Social Conflict (New York, NY: Routledge, 1997), p. 12
74. CBS's public stance on the older audience over the past decade has ranged from 'comfortable' to 'eagerly pursuing'. See 'Producers miffed as CBS shuns youth-oriented shows to woo an older crowd', TV Guide, 30 September 1989, South Texas edition, pp. 49-50
75. Rick Kogan, 'A show of neglect', Chicago Tribune, 6 August 1992, section 5, pp. 1, 11
76. Jane Glenn Haas, 'Networks warned of perils in ignoring viewers over 50', Chicago Tribune, 1 October 1993, section 5, p. 3
77. Marl Hart, 'Mature viewers gain stature in ratings war', Chicago Tribune, TV Week, 31 November 1996, p. 1
78. Steve Johnson, "Out with old, in with 18-49', Chicago Tribune, 21 October 1999, section 5, pp. 1, 8
79. In spring 1999, with all the numbers in, CBS regained its spot as the most-watched network for the first time in five years - and NBC discounted the victory because CBS trailed in attracting the eighteen-to-forty-nine demographic; the same scenario played out again in May 2001. Yet in 2002, when NBC had bragging rights to first place in the ratings, the network trumpeted its mass Nielsen status, remaining curiously quiet about its demographic superiority. See Allan Johnson, 'CBS wins network title; rivals are unimpressed', Chicago Tribune, 27 May 1999, section 3, p. 1
80. Sharon Waxman, 'Zucker targets NBC's aging nightly lineup', USA Today, 24 June 2001, p. G01