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Paul Raven Grand Master

Paul Raven

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Broadcasting magazine  July 84

In a premiere preceded by an unusual amount of fanfare, NBC launched its newest daytime serial drama last week: the one -hour Santa Barbara at 3 p.m. It is NBC's first new soap opera since 1982, when Texas was dropped after less than a year on the air. Although NBC is in third place in daytime ratings, it has shown some important gains against the other two networks this year, and NBC executives hope Santa Barbara will help to continue that trend. In the second quarter of this year, for example, NBC aver- aged a 5.1 rating and a 19 share in daytime - a 19% increase over the same period in 1983. And in June, NBC's average daytime rating increased 13% to 5.2 over June 1983, compared to a 6% rise for CBS (7.3) and a 19% decline for ABC (6.0). Daytime serials are renowned as slow au- dience builders, but once viewers are hooked, they can pay dividends almost in perpetuity. Although two of the newest network soaps-CBS's Capitol, which was launched in 1982, and ABC's Loving, launched last summer -consistently find themsleves outside (sometimes way outside) the coveted top 10 daytime shows, others like Search for Tomorrow (NBC) and Guiding Light (CBS) each have been on the air for 32 years. But NBC appears to be pulling out all the stops for Santa Barbara. First, it will be produced at NBC's new $12- million videotape production facility in Burbank. The 62,000 -square-foot complex features the 18,000 -square-foot Studio 11 -the largest daytime television production facility in the U.S., network publicists claim, large enough to house three basketball courts. Second, NBC burned up $2 million worth of its own air time the week preceding Santa Barbara's premiere for promotional spots. NBC even decided to introduce Santa Barbara on the second day of the Olympic games in hopes of picking up some of the disgruntled ABC daytime viewers. Santa Barbara .was created by the husband and wife team of Jerome and Bridget Dobson, who also serve as co- executive producers. Their credits include General Hospital and As The World Turns. In addition, NBC signed Broadway actress Dame Judith Anderson to play a role as one of the wealthy Santa Barbara residents. In all there are about 25 continuing parts in the series - about average for a serial drama -which centers on four Santa Barbara, Calif., families, including two prominent ones: the Capwells and Lockridges.

Advertising agency executives warned that it is too early to judge the show, and several confessed to having not yet viewed it. But those who had seen it were impressed by the show's production quality and liberal use of location shots. Over the first three days, Santa Barbara averaged a 3.5/11 in Nielsen's eight metered markets, according to NBC. That compares to an average of 4.2/ 14 for the Match Game - /Hollywood Squares Hour in the 3-4 slot over the previous four weeks. But the numbers for Santa Barbara steadily declined over the first three days. For Santa Barbara's premiere on Monday (July 30) it averaged s 4.4/14, compared to a 3.4/11 on Tuesday and a 2.8/9 on Wednesday. National ratings will not be available until this week. By comparison, the top 10 daytime show; usually average between 6 -10 rating points with shares in the low 20's to mid 30's. An NBC spokesman confirmed that it would cost around $30 million to produce the show for the first year. "I think that's probably the highest budget for a new daytime serial," but added that given rising costs it could even be exceeded by successful serials on other networks. Daytime can be very profitable for the networks. Whereas it costs an average $800,000 per hour to produce a weekly prime time series, it costs about half that to produce a whole week's worth of daytime serials. NBC accountants have estimated that each rating point in daytime is worth approximately $40 million in advertising revenue. "NBC has put everything into this, like David Merrick would bring to Broadway," observed Robert E. Buchanan, executive vice president and U.S. media director for J. Walter Thompson U.S.A. Buchanan -who produced daytime serials in the early 1950's -said Santa Barbara "appeared to have all the attractive ingredients," including well -known writer /producers like the Dobsons and actress Dame Judith Anderson, who rarely appears in televison roles. The signing of Anderson, he said, "is a real coup. It lends instant respectablity and prestige to the show

Edited by Paul Raven
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