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I think that the sophisticated advertisers thought of NBC being the powerhouse and the stronger engineering-oriented company. I think they looked upon CBS as being pretty damned effective in terms of coverage, but light years ahead of NBC in terms of being a class act in service and in being on our toes. And I'm not talking about research now, I'm talking about the company as a whole.
Yes. That's what I meant.
Something that I don't think I've ever talked about publicly. Certainly never to people who didn't know it in the company. I came up with the idea one time of saying to management, “Why don't we go out and find out what the agencies and the advertisers think of us? And factor that into our strategy and planning.” Well, the first question is, you know, how do you find that out? In today's world there are a lot of public opinion pollsters who go out and do this kind of thing. But there weren't people doing that at that time. And I made a list of what today would have been Fortune 500. And said, “Let's get somebody to call on the advertising manager of Bristol Meyers, and the sales manager of Bristol Meyers, and if we can get into see him, the President and the chairman of the board. And say, “I represent a group who are thinking about starting a third network. We're looking for the strongest people we can get to fill certain key jobs. In your experience, who are the best people that we can turn to get somebody to fill these jobs?”
Wow.
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