Hucksters in Britain

Strange things were happening in London. Fake detectives arrested Englishmen and marched them off to be gazed upon and laughed at. Fake paper hangers entered the homes of Englishmen and gummed up the walls beyond recognition. A fake baby was bundled in the arms of a woman as she singled out a total stranger standing in a bus queue. "He," she cried, pointing at the stranger, "is the father of my child!"

What had happened to British dignity? Commercial television had been let loose in the land.

The biggest shocker was People Are Funny (originally a U.S. show), ostensibly put on to entertain viewers, but really to sell them soap and such. Parliament and the press have denounced the show so roundly that it will be taken off the air next month. But though commercial TV has lost one battle, it is clearly in Britain to stay. In the five months it has been around, it has shown that in some ways it can do better in attracting audiences than stuffy, mighty BBC.

Top Ten. BBC has admitted that in the London area commercial TV is drawing about 51% of the potential adult TV audience. For viewers who have a choice, commercial TV also has the top ten most-popular shows: 1) Sunday Night at the London Palladium, 2) The Gracie Fields Show, 3) Saturday Show Time (variety), 4) Jack Hylton's Half Hour (variety), 5) Robin Hood, 6) Take Your Pick (quiz), 7) Roy Rogers, 8) International Screen (movies), 9) I Love Lucy, 10) Dragnet and The Inner Sanctum in a tie with a variety show, a disk-jockey show and a mystery-drama show. In prime evening hours, commercial TV outdraws the BBC in homes with a choice by three to two.

Commercial programs can be tuned in only in the London area. Out of 4,000,000 families in that area, about 1,600,000 (roughly 40%) have TV sets. Only about 525,000 of these families have gone to the expense ($31) of converting their sets so they can get commercial as well as BBC telecasts. Result: commercial TV has a potential adult audience of only 1,425,000, compared to BBC's potential of 12.5 million.

British commercial TV has already been forced to discontinue morning programs because it can not find enough advertisers to foot the bill. It has been sharply criticized for abandoning "cultural" programs and trying to win customers with "sheer entertainment." The Independent Television Authority stoutly retorts that it presents as much and sometimes more news, political discussion, religious programs and classical music than the BBC.

Crucial Test. Nonetheless, nobody seems to be very happy about British commercial TV. Critics snipe away. Advertisers are reluctant to buy time. This week commercial TV faces a crucial test when it begins operating a new transmitter in Birmingham, in the populous midlands. It is estimated that by the end of the month 400,000 additional families (about 1,150,000 viewers) will be able to see commercial TV shows.

But with all commercial TV's birth pains, Great Britain is becoming a TV nation. Britons who have looked down their noses at U.S. TV are learning a few lessons, notably, that 1) popular taste in any country, even Great Britain, is apt to be common, 2) hucksters making a sales pitch can be repulsive, and 3) any relationship between commercial TV and "culture" is likely to be pure coincidence.

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