An annual advertising survey conducted by investment firm Bache Halsey Stuart Shields Inc. suggested that M*A*S*H and three other “long-running series” were “considered candidates for cancellation before the season ends,” according to an August 4th, 1978 article in The New York Times. The other three shows were The Rockford Files on NBC and Barnaby Jones and Hawaii Five-O on CBS.
The Bache surveys began in 1975, according to the article, and involved experts from thirteen advertising agencies giving their opinions on new and returning programs on the three networks. Anthony M. Hoffman, the broadcast analyst for Bache, stated that the surveys “have proved fairly accurate in forecasting the overall results of the season, if not always in predicting the fate of individual shows.”
As everyone knows, M*A*S*H didn’t come to an end until February of 1983, so the Bache survey was off by quite a bit. But Bache was also wrong about the other three shows, all of which ended in 1980. And there is no evidence to suggest that CBS was considering ending M*A*S*H at the end of the 1978-1979 season.
References
- Brown, Les. “ABC-TV Expected to Stay No. 1.” New York Times. 4 Aug. 1979: C21.
