Bold Venture "Cruise To Batabano" (05-12-52)

Cruise To Batabano (Aired May 12, 1952)

Bold Venture was a classy production from start to finish. At an estimated cost of $36,000 per taping week [or about $12,000 per episode], it pretty much had to have been. Even subtracting the Bogarts' contribution of $5,000 per episode, that still left $7,000 per episode to fund the remaining production costs. That's about $420,000 a week in today's dollars. More than enough budget to ensure a top notch production. The cost to the sponsor-subscribers reportedly varied between $25 a week to as much as $250 a week, depending on the size and reach of the target market(s). That would have yielded anywhere from $975,000 to $9.75M over the course of three years of Bold Venture's sales. Even arbitrarily averaging the varying theoretical sales would have yielded on the order of at least $5M to Ziv and company over three years. Subtracting even $1M in production and marketing costs would have yielded at least a $4M profit.

THIS EPISODE:

May 12, 1952. Program #37. ZIV Syndication. "A Cruise To Batabano". Commercials added locally. A shipment of silk causes two murders and involves Slate Shannon and Sailor in intrigue when they're hired to deliver a yacht to Batabano and deliver a letter to Emilio Lopez. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Barton Yarborough, David Rose (composer, conductor), Jester Hairston, Henry Hayward (director), Morton Fine (writer), David Friedkin (writer). 28:38. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.