DAILY SENTINEL ROME, N.Y., SATURDAY EVENING, JUNE 21, 1975
She breaks through in Daytime Ratings
Just four years ago staid NBC broke precedent by allowing a woman into the inner sanctum of network programming, a men's club by tradition. Now, the breakthrough can't be attributed to pressure from women's liberation or change in upper - echelon thinking. Such turnabouts are pure fiction. The idea of including a woman's viewpoint in program selection simply never occurred to TV executives until bright Lin Bolen came along. Small, pert, and a bit of a fighter, Lin, who resembles actress Elizabeth Ashley, beat out 30 guys in persuading execs to give her a chance in prime - time programming, and soon had "McMillan & Wife" on solid ground by cutting out the jokes and by putting the family - type leads in jeopardy. Her skillful moves did not pass unnoticed, so when Lin read one morning in a trade paper that NBC's Daytime programming spot was open and she decided to apply, the name of Bolen was familiar to the brass. She got the job by knowing all about who dated who in soap opera history, and NBC daytime programming hasn't been the same since.
Thanks to Miss Bolen, "Another World" and "Days of Our Lives" expanded to full hours this past winter and spring, and the audience loved the move, according to ratings. Then, in April, Lin launched a 90 minute drama on "First Ladies' Diaries: Rachel Jackson," the first of a series, and that, too, earned big figures for the afternoon set.
In the game show department, Lin's delight in lights and pizzazz, has transformed NBC into a colorful gambling den with such newcomers as "Celebrity Sweepstakes," "High Rollers" and the latest gadgetry, "The Magnificent Marble Machine." When cynics pass wisecracks about Lin's penchant for razzledazzle, she counters with "We're in the entertainment business. I found theatricality missing in the way producers stage TV game shows." On a win streak, impresario Bolen really put it all together last St. Patrick's Day with a $100,000 pot on "Celebrity Sweepstakes," by bringing in contestants and hosts from other NBC game shows. And guess who walked off with the marbles? Not the learned history professor, but a Pasadena housewife who revealed the experience had given her "a new sense of self. I never felt I knew very much" she said. "Now, I feel really good."
That kind of answer has Lin Bolen purring inside. She's being helpful. You can entertain and be constructive too. Lin's woman's touch also looks good on paper. Since January, NBC jumped from third to first place in attracting the 18-to-34- age bracket among women, and the network is now tied for 1st place with CBS in the daytime sector. How did Lin do it? Three years ago, NBC was idling along, being clubbed by the opposition. Programming hadn't been overhauled in five years, and development projects were nil. Then Lin Bolen entered the picture. She asked for money, she ordered research to find out what women wanted to see, and she spent a year developing reltaionships with outside show packagers. And she went by gut feeling — her tastes and instincts. She guessed wrong on a realistic young - marrieds' soaper, "How to Survive a Marriage." The show attracted young marrieds like flics, but older women were put off, feeling either left out or threatened. "I made a mistake," Lin said. "You must find a common denominator in a show. Appealing to a limited group doesn't work."
So far the Lin Bolen common denominator is successful in the long form — the hour soap opera and the 90- minute "First Ladies' Diaries." The standard 3- minute scenes can run as long as 12 minutes, and fans seem to enjoy that extension. Costs may have doubled in the process, but the revenues, unnamed by Miss Bolen, are not far behind.
What's next? Lin Bolen, the daytime whiz, teams with documentary producer Lucy Jarvis and "Today's" Barbara Walters for a big September daytime splash — a 90-minute European venture as Barbara Walters visits nobility and royalty — the Duke and Duchess of Orleans, and Queen Margarethe II of Denmark and her husband. Prince Henrik. Cameras will also follow along as Miss Walters attends the posh Versailles Ball and mingles with European notables. So, at last, the women are having a say and their way at NBC. Everybody appears to be benefiting.
By
Paul Raven ·
