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Advertisers share enough of ABC's optimism to have paid $175,000 for a 30-sec. commercial and $350,000 for a full minute. This means that the network, having sold all the commercial slots,' stands to break even on the $32 million it paid Paramount Pictures, which produced the series. (The studio put up the remaining $8 million in costs.) ABC's profits, if any, are expected to come from reruns. But more than money is at stake. The Winds of War is a key to ABC'S drive to supplant CBS at the top of the ratings (see following story). February is a sweeps month, in which the ratings of local stations are measured and then used as a basis for advertising rates. If the show does badly, ABC'S affiliates will be poorer, and doubtless unhappy with the network executives who decided to gamble seven nights of prime time on one make-or-break show. If ABC'S plan works, however, the concentration into seven nights will give it a grand slam. People all over America will go in to work every morning next week talking about what they saw the night before. Word of mouth will send ratings higher and higher, and ABC affiliates will be able to approach advertisers encased in the golden glow of victory.
In an effort to provide that wattage, the network has been promoting The Winds of War for nearly a year, almost an epoch in a business that measures time in fleeting electronic images. To capture viewers for whom World War II is a hazy memory or ancient history, 550,000 copies of a 24-page color magazine were mailed to schools, libraries and special-interest groups, introducing them to the time and the five major wartime leaders: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Joseph Stalin. The magazine has served as a basis for a half-hour documentary narrated by John Houseman, one of the mini-series stars, that was sent to ABC'S affiliated stations.
On Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day, ABC began running 30-sec. promotion spots between its regular programs, and local affiliates were sent The Winds of War promotion announcements taped by the series' leading performers. The network also distributed five four-minute shorts on the making of the show, which local stations may use. "The best way of selling TV is TV," claims ABC Vice President Dick Connelly, who has coordinated all the hype and hoopla. NBC agrees, and it is already promoting its own antic counterprogramming for Feb. 6. In a 30-sec. spot, Orson Welles says: "Why spend 18 hours watching someone else's war, when you know how it comes out? We win, and then have to buy all their cars. Watch Steve Martin's The Winds of Whoopee. See it all in one hour on Sunday."
By Feb. 13, ABC and its affiliates will have allocated about $25 million to promote the extravaganza. That amount includes the value of on-air promotion time that otherwise might have been sold to advertisers. "There is always a risk of promising more than you can deliver," admits Connelly. "But given the magnitude and excellence of this product, we don't think we're overselling. We think we've got a hell of a winner on our hands. The Winds of War is a love story, a war story, an adventure story and a historical epic."