Self-Defeat

To keep tabs on TV's most persistent and most boring feud, the Sunday-night duel between NBC's Steve Allen and CBS's Ed Sullivan, the TV industry checks the Monday-morning Trendex ratings and awards the battle stars to the show that captured more viewers. Last week the broadcasters learned from pulse-taker A.C. Nielsen Co. a crucial fact the viewing public knew a long time ago. As many as 14 times within the hour, Nielsen deduced, audiences switch from Sullivan to Allen and back. The average viewer remains "loyal" to one of the shows only four minutes at a stretch. The discovery makes a mockery of overall ratings for the one-hour variety shows, since the "defeated" program may well have captured more viewers than the "winner" at any one of several peak moments. The other sponsor-sobering conclusion: viewers are not looking at commercials in either case.

In contrast, Nielsen found, opposing network shows that do not lend themselves to shuttle sampling, e.g., dramatic shows, situation comedies, attract consistent levels of "loyalty" during their full-time periods. Moreover, their audiences are likely to see the commercials all the way through.

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