For five years the Ford Foundation has stood like a rock of gold behind TV's Omnibus. "We were operating," says Omnibus' Executive Producer Robert Saudek, "with what Justice Holmes called 'the fighting significance of guarantees.' " What Saudek meant was that Omnibus, with Ford's "venture capital" behind it, could fight the mediocrity of TV and "raise the level of American taste." Saudek and Omnibus made such a good start at both objectives that last week the foundation decided to abandon its "experiment" and sent Omnibus into the cold world of commercial TV —with its blessings.
The show's full property rights fell to balding, bushy-browed Bob Saudek, 45, who promptly formed a new packaging firm—Robert Saudek Associates, Inc.—to keep Omnibus on the TV air. Best "guarantee" now, says Saudek, is "the funded know-how of my creative staff," which will include such Omnibus regulars as Cultural Headwaiter Alistair Cooke, Drama Critic Walter Kerr. But the question remains: Can Omnibus maintain the courage of past conceits, the venturesomeness of past successes, the educational luxury of such occasional failures as its go-minute The Iliad, without special subsidy? The signs are encouraging: both current sponsors (Union Carbide and Carbon Corp., Aluminium Ltd.) have committed themselves to sponsor part of Omnibus for a new season, and Saudek says there are other potential sponsors, and that all three networks want the show. CBS appareritly wants Saudek more than it wants Omnibus; NBC is considering alternating Omnibus with Wide Wide World on Sundays at 4 p.m., and ABC, its present network, wants Omnibus more than Omnibus wants it.
To make ends meet—and to make a profit as well—Saudek hopes to branch out. He talks of a jazz series, a high-toned dramatic series, and a children's program which will "excite youngsters [he has five of his own] into involvement with the world." All he needs, says Saudek, is "the well-conceived idea, the well-written word, the well-cast performer and the well-spent dollar." And he believes that all of them are within reach.