AMA's AMERICAN MEDICAL TELEVISION: SEVEN DRUG COMPANIES

AMA's AMERICAN MEDICAL TELEVISION: SEVEN DRUG COMPANIES will pay $ 330,000 annually for charter sponsorship that include a sizable advertising package and identification with the cable program. American Medical Television will run continuing medical education programming every Sunday on The Discovery Channel. The weekly medical program will be produced by the American Medical Association (AMA). To date, seven pharmaceutical companies reportedly have signed on as charter sponsors including: Wellcome, Key Pharmaceuticals, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Merrell Dow, Parke-Davis, Syntex and Upjohn. AMA is talking to other companies about the eighth sponsorship slot. The association said that it limited the number of sponsorship units to eight. If an eighth sponsor is not signed up, AMA can sell the commercial time alloted in that unit to different companies, AMA noted. American Medical Television will start airing on Jan. 8, AMA said. In a two-hour time block, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, the programming will show a one-hour VideoClinic, a half-hour Video Update, a monthly Washington update, and other special programs. VideoClinics will allow specialists to take a look at what is occuring in another specialty area of medicine. VideoClinics were initially produced in 1978 for sales and rentals. More recently they have appeared on Lifetime Medical Television and Hospital Satellite Network. Video Updates is designed as a magazine-type program that allows physicians to catch up on specific areas of medicine, AMA said. Video Updates have also appeared on Lifetime Medical Television and Hospital Satellite Network, AMA noted. A new series of VideoClinics and Video Updates will be produced for American Medical Television, the association said. The monthly, half-hour program will inform physicians of legislative, regulatory, and scientific developments from Washington. The Hospital Satellite Network, a satellite delivery system that is beamed into approximately 800 hospitals across the country, will provide American Medical Television with a half-hour program. The topics that the program will cover have not yet been determined, AMA said. Hospital Satellite Network provides a range of programming for health care professionals and has served as a delivery for AMA's videoconferences, AMA added. Continuing Medical Education credits will be available for all the programs. American Medical Television advertising on the air and in print will contain an 800 number that physicians can call to receive a print synopsis of the program and an evaluation form, AMA said. American Medical Television charter sponsorships will provide each of the eight companies with an advertising package that includes a total of 84, one-minute message spots. Each sponsor will have 13 weeks of four, one-minute commercials during the airing of VideoClinics, AMA said. Each one-hour VideoClinic has eight minutes of commercial time, and that is split between two sponsors, AMA explained. Sponsors will be able to underwrite the production of one Video Update on a topic of the sponsor's particular interest and of AMA's mutual interest, the association said. Each Video Update will be aired five times within the first year of programming. During the running of the Video Update, sponsors will have four minutes of commercial time, AMA noted. Prior to the broadcast of each Video Update, AMA said that it will present the point of view of the sponsor's Video Update in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The companies will also receive 12 additional one-minute spot announcements, which will appear during the Washington update program and during specials, AMA said. Sponsors can plan when and where their commercial spots will appear, as long as there is space available, AMA said. It is possible that sponsors could buy their commercial time to coincide with product launches, the association added. Non-charter sponsors will be able to purchase commercial time during any of the programs, except for the VideoClinics, AMA noted. VideoClinics' advertising spots are limited to charter sponsors. The cost to non-charter sponsors for advertising ranges from $ 4,000 for a 60-second spot during the Washington update program to $ 3,800 for a 60-second slot during the Video Updates and AMA specials, AMA said. The charter sponsors will be featured in a $ 2 mil. print advertising campaign for American Medical Television, which will run in JAMA and in AMA's weekly newsletter American Medical News, the association said. Sponsors will also have the opportunity to name a person to American Medical Television's advisory board, which is made up of representatives of AMA's scientific and policy-making group.