From: seltzer@ics.enet.dec.com (Richard Seltzer)
Newsgroups: rec.games.chess
Subject: more thoughts on pitch for TV
Date: 9 Apr 92 19:11:19 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation



further thoughts on a pitch for chess on TV:

The Clustering of America by Michael J. Weiss (Harper & Row, 1988) 
provides demographic profiles of 40 life-style "clusters" 
in the U.S.  The only mention of chess appears in the description 
of the wealthiest, most exclusive neighborhoods.

p. 269 ZQ 1:  Blue Blood Estates

"From the sprawling manses of McLean, Virginia, to the 
cliff-clutching villas of Malibu, California, Blue Blood Estates 
encompasses America's wealthiest neighorhoods.  Often situated in 
the greenbelt suburbs of major cities, they're home to the 
nation's corporate kingpins, the upper-crustiest white-collar 
professionals like heart surgeons and entertainment lawyers, as 
well as the heirs of old-money fortunes. ... You can usually 
identify their residences by their surroundings:  tall iron 
gates, private security guards and well-tended shrubbery.  Blue 
Blood Estates represents the pinnacle of success to which 
Americans traditionally aspire:  Easy Street.

"With one in ten millionaires living in Blue Blood Estates, 
cluster consuming patterns reflect their regal tasts.  Residents 
play chess, buy imported champagne, acquire U.S. Treasury Notes 
and attend the theater at many times the national average. ..."

******************
This description indicates to me that a sales pitch to a TV 
station could be built, in part, around the notion of chess as a 
"status" game, which people naturally associate with education, 
intelligence, and wealth.

Regular television series regularly play on this stereotype.  A 
chess set is shown in the background, or characters are shown 
playing, when the director wants to imply that the people are 
well-to-do or status-conscious.  We frequently see a Bill Cosby 
or a Michael J. Fox with a chess set in the background.

Of course, many chess players do not fit that mold.  But 
significant numbers of consumers who do fit that mold apparently 
do know and enjoy the game of chess.  That could prove useful to 
a TV station in trying to attract advertisers.

********************
This passage also implies that the "national average" for chess 
playing, and the average for each of the 40 clusters are known.  
Does anyone out there have a clue as to where to get those 
numbers simply and quickly and correlate chess playing with other 
activities and buying behaviors?

The title page of the book indicates:

"This book was based on the PRIZM cluster sytem developed by the 
Claritas Corporation of Alexandria, Virginia, which provided 
demographic statistics, maps, tables nad bar charts.  In 
addition, this book contains PRIZM-coded data drawn from Simmons 
Market Research Bureau (SMRB), Mediamark Reserach Inc. (MRI), 
R.L. Polk & Co. and Targeting Systems, Inc., under an agreement 
with Claritas Corp."

If necessary, I will contact them directly; but they probably 
charge for this service.  I'd much prefer to get the few numbers 
I need from a published document, if such exists.

Richard Seltzer  seltzer@ics.dec.com
-- or --      ...!decwrl!ics.dec.com!seltzer
-- or --      seltzer%ics.enet.dec.com