Press Pass 32: CBS Press Information Guide (1974-1975)

In the era of television that delivered shows like M*A*S*H, All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Good Times, the networks were reliant on national and local media to promote their shows. Since there were only three networks in the early 1970s, the new, fall primetime lineup was a major announcement as each of the three networks fought in the ratings war. Ensuring that audiences knew when their favorite shows would return and all the details about the new shows that were debuting, press materials were a key part of promotion. CBS had some of the highest rated programs during the 1973-1974 season, so when it came time to promote the 1974-1975 season (M*A*S*H‘s third season), they made sure the press materials were very well done. CBS released a Television Network Press Information Guide that contained binders full of show information, actor information, and their fall lineup. In this week’s post, instead of looking at a single press release or even a M*A*S*H press kit, we are going to look at a CBS press kit for the full 1974-1975 CBS network.

Programs

The information guide contains three binders of information. The first binder is bright yellow, and like the other binders in the kit, are brightly colored and contain a variety of fonts that are very 1970s. The nostalgia of the binders is great! Open the binder, and you are greeted by a series of dividers for each of CBS’s major television offerings: scripted television, specials, news, sports, daytime programming, children’s programming, and movies. Each section contains information about what to expect for the upcoming year for each category. They are not detailed overviews of each show, but each section provides a high level overview of which shows were returning and which shows were joining the lineup. The amount of information in this one binder alone would be enough to keep an entertainment reporter busy for days, but the information guide does not stop there.

For Your Information

The next binder is a great shade of orange (which is my favorite color). Inside is a collection of “For Your Information” sheets for each of the major shows including M*A*S*H, All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Waltons, and the CBS Evening News. There is a mix of nighttime shows, daytime programs, children’s shows, sports, and news programs. Each show has a page that lists the main details. For M*A*S*H, the sheet lists when the show airs, the production details, its format, the original premier date, the stars, producers, production crew, and sponsors and agencies. This is where a reporter would be able to compare the information to the prior season’s information and note any changes. For season three, there weren’t any major cast changes for M*A*S*H. Nor were there any major changes to the producers and crew. These sheets were created for each season of the show, but in later seasons of M*A*S*H, it got its own press kits (see the kits for Season 10 and Season 11). So far, this CBS press information guide has provided a lot of information about the shows on the network, but there is one more binder.

Biographies

The final binder is a nice shade of red, and it contains biographies for all the major actors and CBS personalities for the shows listed in the previous binders. There are biographies for people such as the M*A*S*H gang, Bea Arthur, Carol Burnett, Walter Cronkite, Valerie Harper, Carroll O’Connor, Jimmie Walker, and many others. The table of contents for this binder is six pages long, and for each person, there was a 1 – 2 page biography. The biographies listed their name, the show they were currently in for CBS, the character they played, and an overview of their life and career. The basic information was there, but there were usually a few anecdotes that could be used in articles. Each of the major cast members have biographies in binder including: Alan Alda Gary Burghoff, Jamie Farr, Larry Linville, Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, and Loretta Swit. The only cast member missing is William Christopher, but he didn’t become a member of the main cast until season four.

This press information guide was released by CBS in the summer of 1974 and most pages are dated July 1974. The new season of programming began in September, so that gave media outlets a couple of months to review and process the information to help promote the upcoming season of favorite shows. For M*A*S*H, the third season would be the final for two of the show’s major characters. But at the time this guide was released, that was not known by CBS and perhaps not even by the actors themselves. The major storyline heading into season three was that M*A*S*H had won multiple Emmy awards in May of 1974 including the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. This press information guide is a great example of another ephemeral item that was never expected to still be around 50 years later, but here it is. The presentation of the information is very well done, and it shows just how important the media was to television networks in the time before social media. The local and national press outlets were vital to ensure that audiences found their favorite shows and discovered new ones. These press kits were how networks ensured the information they wanted to promote got to the public.