Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

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THE PROGRAM ANGLE
in which the sponsor is interested is the three minutes of com-
mercial which he gets out of the half-hour. Twenty-seven minutes
of program are designed merely to drawn as many people as possible
to his station so that when his message flashes on their screens
it will be read by the maximum number of people. Sponsors are
not philanthropists, and while they often get quite a lot of pleasure
out of the fact that so many people enjoy their offerings, they
would not continue them if advertising messages could no longer
be transmitted. It follows, therefore, that the message which is
presented in this very brief time is as strong and pulling as possible.
Although the viewers may not reject the commercial, and may
actually enjoy it, they are anxious to get on with the story when
they tune in at the beginning of a program. Therefore, experience
has pointed up the fact that the opening commercial should be
brief and not delay the story. It may take the form of a short
spot or other brief announcement about twenty seconds. Then
twice more during the course of the program there are two longer
announcements running a little over a minute each. These to-
gether with a closing of about twenty seconds take up the three
golden minutes which represent the entire reason for the sponsor's
investment.
The choice of the commercial's position in the show is ex-
tremely important and unfortunately is only too often ignored
or not considered, as is the actual text used. On the integration
of these two factors depends in great measure the success or failure
of the investment. To break the action at an extremely exciting
part of the story is permissible; it is done all the time in the
theatre, and the audience goes out for a breather or a rest from
the tension. In television the acts are so much shorter that the
relief factor is not so important, but the going out factor is ! If the
commercial breaks in with a gross commercial message just as
the widowed mother of seven young children has been sent to jail
for offering counterfeit money in an effort to save the old home-
stead, the viewers will be in a sympathetic mood where softness
and delicacy of approach will merge with it and continue their
attention. If a jangling or harsh, flamboyant announcement hits