With Proven Hour Specials

acquired funds from CPB and the Ford sensational thing you'll ever see") on Foundation for its new Federal City Proj- Nov. 12- 13- 14 -15; Carroll O'Connor in Signed up. Operations Prime Time and ect, which will allow the station to cover The Last Hurrah on Nov. 16 at 8 -10 p.m. MCA -TV, which last month announced important events in Washington such as NYT; a Frank Sinatra drama Nov. 20 at plans for three more TV adaptations its live, gavel -to -gavel coverage of the Bert 8 -11 p.m.; a Beatles special on Nov. 24, the (BROADCASTING, Aug. 29) for 1978, report Lance hearings there last month (BROAD- Miss Teenage America contest on Nov. 25, clearance thus far in almost 70% of CASTING, Sept. 19). and America's Salute to the Queen on country, with 41 network affiliates and Nov. 29 at 8 -I1 p.m. Nor will NBC be 24 independent stations. Three four - "caught short" in the post -sweep weeks, hour projects will be based on John Mr. Klein said. Jakes's The Bastard" and "The Rebels" Mulholland tells Lester Crystal, executive vice presi- and Martin Gosch's and Richard Ham- dent, NBC TV News, reviewed changes in mer's "The Last Testament of Lucky Lu- affiliates that NBC Nightly News, which he said were ciano" First OPT venture was Taylor distinguishing it from the competition Caldwell's "Testimony of Two Men:' it's back to series and, in the process, adding 45 -60 seconds of film and tape to each broadcast, bring- At first of regional meetings, ing the average to nine and a half minutes he says `events' will be per show. He said Today will be given a search and corporate planning, reviewed de- emphasized; other reports more national character, and that co -hosts NBC's ratings position, saying it was too come from Schlosser, Weinblatt, Tom Brokaw and Jane Pauley will do more early to draw clear conclusions about the Segelstein, Klein and Crystal originations from around the country. new prime -time season, that in daytime Chester Simmons, vice president, ratings it is a close three -way race, that Robert E. Mulholland, NBC -TV presi- NBC Sports, and Don Ohlmeyer, execu- Tonight has shown consistent gains and is dent, told network affiliates at a meeting in tive producer for NBC Sports and for its now up to a 34 share of audience and that San Francisco last week that over the next coverage of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Tomorrow, following Tonight, has shown two or three years he foresees no increase games, described NBC's expanded sports a similar pattern of gains. in "event" programing and probably a coverage and plans for its new NBC President Schlosser, opening the reduction. Sportsworld, which starts in January as a session, told the affiliates that though Making his first official appearance as weekend program running one to two NBC -TV is "the event network;' he NBC -TV president at a meeting of West hours. It will be programed in part to help realized it must have strong series to sup- Coast affiliates, Mr. Mulholland said in heighten interest in the 1980 Olympics, port the events. answer to a question that event program- offering a 45 -50 minute event, often in- Some 25 -30 affiliates attended the San ing is very expensive but necessary in a volving Olympic -type competition, plus Francisco meeting. Similar meetings with blend with series programing. 15 -18 minutes of a minor event such as other affiliates are scheduled tomorrow "I see a shift back to more emphasis on rodeo or surfing, plus "hard- hitting jour- (Oct. 4) in Cambridge, Mass., Friday (Oct. series;" he said when asked for his views nalism" related to sports. 7) in Atlanta and the following Tuesday on what the event- series mix might be two William Rubens, vice president, re- (Oct. 12) in Chicago. or three years hence. He said he couldn't offer percentages but added, "I don't think you'll see an increase in event televi- sion" Other highlights of the meeting, first of this fall's series of regional conferences between NBC officials and affiliates: Both NBC President Herbert S. Schlosser and Mr. Mulholland, NBC News executive who became NBC -TV president in late August, said having a "news maga- zine" in prime time is an NBC goal. Mr. Schlosser assured the affiliates that when undertaken it would be well done. Mike Weinblatt, NBC -TV executive c vice president and general manager, said that contrary to some speculation, NBC - TV has "absolutely" no plans to increase the amount of network commercial time in prime time. Indicating that sales are strong, Mr. Weinblatt also said that rates are still going up but that the rate of escalation is slower than it was in the past two or three years. Irwin Segelstein, executive vice president, programs, said the network has a supply of prime -time programs ready for introduction if needed, among them Baa Baa Black Sheep, Quark, CPO Sharkey, James at 15, Class of `65, Buck Rogers - MassMassarmoral appeal and also the right to convert Emergency and Police Story back into weekly series from their current status as frequent two - with proven hour specials. Paul Klein, vice president, programs, performance. said NBC is well stocked for the November sweep period, including Aspen, a three - part novel, to be shown Nov. 5 -6 -7; the nine -hour Godfather Saga ( "the most 274 County Road Tenafly, N.J. 07670 201 -567 -8800 A Division of Bonneville International Corporation .

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