European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 11, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Don t touch that to dial buy something by skip Wol Lensert associated press hopping shows Ere Cable television s newest sensation and they re stirring up excitement on Wall Street As Well As in american living rooms. No lower than five Cable networks already Are carrying Homo shopping programs nationwide peddling everything from air freshener and Home pest reseller to ? Arconia rings and electronics systems at bargain prices More Are planned. Network executives describe their programs As televised shopping malls or video catalogues Wilh companionable hosts serving As guides. Impulse clearly is the chief motivator As the hosts mix live phone Calls irom customers prizes and games with their descriptions of the merchandise. I Don t think anyone wakes up in the morning decides to buy such arid such today and turns us on said Bob Ocosta. Who is the Early afternoon Host at the Home shopping network it s All impulse viewers acl on those impulses by ordering via toll Iree Telephone lines the Home shopping Market could reach $1 billion in annual sales but analysts Are raising questions about whether the Public fascination with them is Only passing lad How Many ice sols or can openers or record cleaners arc customers going to buy before heir enthusiasm runs out asked Jeffrey Russell who follows the Media business for the invest men inn Drexel Burnham Lambert. Some analysts speculate that it is mostly housewives and att Luent retired folks who buy irom the shopping services but Roger Blackwell professor of marketing a Ohio state University said Home shopping suits working people As Well giving them the flexibility to fit shopping into their schedules. They gel some of the excitement of going to the mall without having to go he said the Home shopping network Artias been on the air nationally for More than a year reaching 72 million of the estimated 40 million Homes thai get television programs by Cable or satellite. It operates two networks 24 hours a Day the video shopping mall inc., based in Jenkintown a runs a shopping network 12 hours a Day seven Days a week it made its debut june 10 and is available to about 7 1 million households according to spokesman Ellrey Friedland. To entice Cable systems to carry Tho programs the networks generally Olfer them up to 5 percent of the Revenue produced by sales generated in their areas. Shopping programs also Are being carried on a filth network Tempo television of Tulsa okla., which reaches about 131 million Homes according to Ray Klinge Tempo s vice president for sales and programming unlike the others Tempo simply distributes programs produced elsewhere and carries non shopping shows such As movies As Well. The Home shopping network offering the most ambitious programming schedule is rooted in radio. Lowell Paxson. One of the network s co founders. Erma Bombeck americans can save trip to the mall with shopping via Delav Letlon. Began Selling merchandise Over the am radio station he owned in 1977 in Clearwater. Fla. He put his shopping service on a local Cable television station in 1982 and expanded it nationally in july 1935. The company gels merchandise by buying in bulk often acquiring close out and liquidation items that Are then sold at substantial discounts. Home shopping s 20 hosts display and describe products Al a Pace of eight to 12 items an hour. Wake up your jeweler whatever you have to do Early morning Hosl Larry Muzzy recently advised As he offered Lor $1.411 Diamond rings that a valued Al $4,200. Time is a Sale tool because viewers can t order an item from Home shopping network once the product is off he screen other networks permit purchases at any Lime. The hosts takes Call on the air from people who have jus placed an order and usually Are eager to Volunteer a testimonial. " can t get away from the set Gwen from Iowa told Muzzy. This is the Onty Way to prizes help build excitement. Without warning a Host May give a caller chosen at random a Chance to pick one of three envelopes and win vouchers Good for future purchases. If you Don t like the merchandise you have 30 Days to Send it Back for a refund delivery charges Are Olra the Home shopping no work said 349,000 people made a Purchase in the first 10 months it was on the air spending an average of $563 to get an average of 17.6 Ziema apiece during the period. The company initially offered Slock to the Public on May 13 b9t $1b a share the Stock opened at $42 a share on the american Stock Exchange Rose As High As t108 and was trading in mid so Range recently. Based in Clearwater fla., the shopping company reported a profit of $ 11a million on Revenue of s 106.8 million in the nine months ended last May 31. New shopping networks Are being assembled. The Tel shop network plans to offer 64 hours of programming a week according to spokesman Kirk Shelton. He said the network already had Commil meals irom Cable operators covering 11 million Homes. Horn & hardart co., the new York based Parent of the mail order merchandiser Hanover House industries inc., plans to Start a shopping network in september according to marketing director Norman Sylvester. Joseph m. Segal former chairman of Franklin mint corp., a direct Maii company based in Philadelphia plans to launch a 24-hour-a-Day Home shopping program called the voc network inc. In november. And crazy Eddie inc. A discount Home electronics Chain based in Brooklyn said it plans to Start a Home shopping network nationwide later this year. Tomorrow is a very special Day Lor Many americans it s officially designated As blame someone else it s a Day set aside to share responsibility and guilt Lor the mess we re in. Some people observe ii with Large patties tables of food and parades with funny hats. Personally i like to Sil alone in my loom talking to myself and sinking into Ablack Pil of sell pity. I like to devote the entire Day to thinking about people who have screwed up my life taken away my dreams and altered the course of my destiny. I think about Wayne win Gale. Whom i daled in College. Wayne had Success written All Over him and he was going to take me Wilh him. We would gel married go to new York and have two and a half children. He would practice Law and i would be a feature writer for the new York times. Then one evening we went to a movie to see the classic citizen Page 16 the stars and stripes Kane. Just As Orson Welles muttered the mysterious Rosebud before he died Wayne leaned Over and said Rosebud is his it could have been Good for both of us but no Wayne had to destroy our relationship forever. No thanks to Wayne. I never even saw new York until i was 39 years old. I think about a policeman who asked me to move my car irom a fire Lane at a shopping Center 25 years ago. I had just had three children in live years and could barely fasten my Seal Bell. I had talked myself Inlo enrolling in an exercise class at Tho shopping Center and was running late ii thai insensitive neanderthal had not taken away my parking place i would be Jane Fonda today. I blame my agent Lor sending me on a Book Lour to new zealand where there were 15 million sheep none of whom could read. I blame my hips on All the people wednesday february 11, 1987 who when i am on a diet say but i made this dessert especially for i blame my husband who knows very Good and Well that when i took Al him irom across the room and smile i am really saying i am dead on my feel and want logo Homo i blame my Mother for my hair thai friezes and goes out of control in the rain. It s All genetics i blame my son Lor my not winning the Pillsbury bake ii when he spit out my croissants and said maybe you should learn to play a musical one never gets her Confidence Back after that yes. Tomorrow will be spent in isolation where i will put All my ills and bad decisions where they belong. At the feet of those i trusted with my Faith and my future. If 1 cannot be reached to hear about my lottery winnings or if Bedford invites me to dinner guess who is going to get blamed the Jerk who invented blame someone else Day that s who. 1c in Anitas tunes Syndicate
