New Show at ABC

Heading into another television season, American Broadcasting Co.'s schedule is chockablock with new shows --Gidget, Tammy, Honey West, Jesse James, The FBI, and an everyday offscreen cliffhanger that might be called Keep Your Eye on Norton Simon. The California industrialist, who has broadened his Hunt Foods into a far-reaching company (TIME cover, June 4), has been a prime stockholder in ABC for more than two years. Last week it was disclosed that he has bought much more stock through Hunt and a subsidiary, McCall Corp., boosting his stake from 6% to 9% of the outstanding shares. He owns 400,000 shares, which makes him ABC's largest holder.

Bonanza. Simon's investment is worth about $22 million at current prices, has been rapidly appreciating. Price of the stock has doubled in the past 18 months, and last week President Leonard Goldenson reported that the company's first-half earnings rose 41% above the same period last year, to a record $7.6 million. From a lagging third place among the three television networks, ABC under Goldenson's gifted goading has risen to a point where it is neck-and-neck with NBC and CBS. Stockholder Simon has reason to appreciate the Goldenson touch, but may well be miffed at his aloofness. Last year Simon tried to get a seat or two on ABC's board, only to be frustrated when Goldenson put through a bylaws change that ruled out cumulative voting.

Simon is never permanently put off--as was shown anew at the annual meeting of another company, Canada Dry. Though its directors had rebuffed his bid for a board seat just a year ago, he showed up last week not only as a director but also as a prominent spokesman at the meeting. Far from acting like the feisty raider that he is often accused of being, he gracefully accepted a statement by President Roy W. Moore Jr. that Canada Dry's next quarterly earnings would drop because of a $3,000,000 outlay to promote a grapefruit drink named Wink. (President Moore, sipping Wink while speaking, at one point let out an inadvertent burp and apologized: "It wasn't the Wink; it was me.") After the meeting, Simon said: "Canada Dry is doing exactly what it should be doing."

Positive Feelings. So is ABC--so far. "I have no sense of urgency," said Simon. "We will keep on buying so long as it is a good buy." He insisted that he did not want a director's seat; that Goldenson "leaves me with quite positive feelings about ABC and its future." Television executives, however, remembered the cases of McCall Corp. and Wheeling Steel, in which Simon followed the pattern of investment-takeover-management upheaval. Goldenson seems secure in his job so long as ABC, in an industry that shifts more swiftly than sand, keeps its share of viewers. Whatever happens to Gidget, Tammy or Jesse James, ABC's new behind-the-cameras show is certain to be quite a situation drama.

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