In August I wrote about an article in The Chicago Daily Tribune that provided Nielsen, Videodex and The Pulse, Inc. television ratings for May 1950. I used Bob Hope’s Easter Special, titled “Star Spangled Revue,” to determine the period the ratings covered. According to the Nielsen list in the article, “Star Spangled Revue” ranked 3rd with a 57.6 rating. It wasn’t included in ratings from Videodex or The Pulse, Inc., however.
“Star Spangled Revue” was broadcast over NBC on Sunday, April 9th, 1950 from 5:30-7PM. According to an April 15th article in The New York Times, it drew a 49.4 Hooper rating, placing it second behind Milton Berle (Texaco Star Theater) in “program rankings” [1]. Whether this means “Star Spangled Revue” was second in the weekly Hooper ratings (running Monday, April 3rd through Sunday, April 9th) I can’t say. The article explained that a special Hooper rating was taken in New York City, Chicago, Cleveland and Washington, D.C. [2]. Furthermore, the share of the audience was an 88.2 and an average of five people were said to have been watching each set [3].
On April 23rd, Sidney Lohman reported in The New York Times that because of the impressive Hooper rating, “it is rumored that his sponsor will advance the date of the comedian’s next appearance, which was originally announced to be on Decoration Day. Now, it is said, Mr. Hope and company will do the second show on Mothers Day, May 14” [4]. That second special, also titled “Star Spangled Revue,” eventually aired on Saturday, May 27th. You can watch the first “Star Spangled Revue” at the online Museum of Broadcasting Communications Archives, although you’ll need to register (which is free).
Works Cited:
1 “Radio and Television.” New York Times. 15 Apr. 1950: 32.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Lohman, Sidney. “News of TV and Radio.” New York Times. 23 Apr. 1950: X9.
The special received a HUGE rating because it WAS Bob Hope’s first national TV special (it was seen via kinescope on the West Coast shortly after its original live telecast, as there were no coaxial cables for “coast-to-coast” live TV transmissions until September 1951) , and people wanted to SEE how he’d handle the new medium {hence the head count of “five people…watching each set”}, and it was well publicized, via NBC and his sponsor, General Motors’ Frgidaire division.
According to Raymond Strait in his book “Bob Hope- A Tribute”, Hope initially didn’t want anything to do with TV in early 1950, telling his agent, Jimmy Saphier, “They couldn’t pay me enough money {to appear}”. The ad agency representing Frigidaire- Foote, Cone & Belding- wanted Bob to headline a special for them. When asked how much he wanted for one special, Hope “threw” out a figure- $50,000 – figuring that was enough for them to turn him down [fifty grand was a LOT of money to invest in “big” talent for a TV show at the time]. Instead, Frigidaire made him a counter-offer: $190,000 for FIVE specials; $40,000 for the first one, and $150,000 for four “follow-up” specials. Even Bob couldn’t resist that kind of money, and agreed. Once he headlined the first “STAR SPANGLED REVUE”, he KNEW where his future was going to be [even though he continued his weekly radio show through April 1955]. The May 27th special (on a Saturday evening this time), featuring Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore as his major guest stars, was just as successful.
When you say shortly, are we talking later that night, or a 1-2 day tape delay?