HELP NEEDED IN FINDING A PUBLICATION

[stagecoach]

I am looking for a book which was an annual publication which showed which motion picture companies owned which films. The book was really a yearly annual for local TV stations to help them purchase movie packages for programing. The annual was produced from the 60's to sometime in the 80's. The annual would list the TV distributing company and all the titles that were included in the package. I would like to know the title of this publication and where I might be able to obtain a copy, i.e., eBay, Amazon.
Thanks much.

[rudyfan]

Might want to call your library to see if they know what the publicaton was called (failing an answer from someone more knowledgeable than me here on N-Ville).

I expect once you know what it is, it will not be too hard to locate.

That or call your local TV station.

[silentfilm]

http://www.amazon.com/Film-Superlist-Mo ... 0911370102

Here's an Amazon listing for one version.

[Jim Reid]

The superlist book was different. I put in a call to our programming dept. and they're scouring the offices to see if there's an old one down there. I think they stopped publishing that in the mid-90s. That stuff's all done on line now. It might have been called the TV and Radio Sourcebook. I used to dig through it all the time. I'll get back if they find one.

[stagecoach]

Thanks much for all your replies. Jim I think the one you were referring to as the TV and Radio Sourcebook is the one I am looking for. What I am trying to find out is which films the major film studios own especially the b westerns from the 1940s and early 1950s.

[Jim Reid]

There's a lot of well-informed people on this forum. If you post which ones you're curious about, I'd bet you'll get an answer.

[stagecoach]

Hi Jim, thanks for the suggestion so here goes:

The Ghost Rider; Drifting Along; The Fighting Ranger; Whistling Hills;
The Stranger From Pecos; The Haunted Mine; The Sheriff of Medicine Bow; Texas Lawmen;
Six Gun Gospel; Under Arizona Skies; Gunning For Justice; Texas City;
Outlaws of Stampede Pass; The Gentleman From Texas; Hidden Danger; Man From the Black Hills;
The Texas Kid; Trigger Fingers; Overland Trails; Dead Man’s Trail;
Raiders of the Border; Shadows on the Range; Law of the West; Canyon Ambush;
Partners of the Trail; Silver Range Trail’s End;
Law Men; Raiders of the South; West of El Dorado;
Range Law; Valley of Fear; Range Justice;
West of the Rio Grande; Trailing Danger; Western Renegades;
Land of the Outlaws; Land of the Lawless; West of Wyoming;
Law of the Valley; The Law Comes to Gunsight; Over the Border;
Ghost Guns; Code of the Saddle; Six Gun Mesa;
The Navajo Trail; Flashing Guns; Law of the Panhandle;
Gun Smoke;Prairie Express; Outlaw Gold;
Stranger From Santa Fe; Gun Talk; Colorado Ambush;
Flame of the West; Crossed Trails; Man From Sonora;
The Lost Trail; Frontier Agent; Blazing Bullets;
Frontier Fued; Triggerman; Montana Desperado;
Border Bandits; Back Trail; Oklahoma Justice

These all all Monogram b westerns starring Johnny Mack Brown.

[Bob Birchard]

I am looking for a book which was an annual publication which showed which motion picture companies owned which films. The book was really a yearly annual for local TV stations to help them purchase movie packages for programing. The annual was produced from the 60's to sometime in the 80's. The annual would list the TV distributing company and all the titles that were included in the package. I would like to know the title of this publication and where I might be able to obtain a copy, i.e., eBay, Amazon.
Thanks much.

What you're looking for is the BIB book (or B. I. B.). You might find there are some major libraries that have them

[Jay Schwartz]

As Bob noted, it's generally referred to as the BIB book. However, the 1990 2-volume set that I own, which I'm pretty sure is the same publication, was by that time titled TELEVISION PROGRAMMING SOURCE BOOKS, published by something called Channels.

One of many great bargains I picked up at Cinefest over the years!

[Richard Finegan]

Adding to what Bob and Jay have said:

B.I.B. stands for Broadcast Information Bureau.
The books were available for TV stations and those in the industry, not to the general public. So they were always hard to find, and older copies even now are still rare.
I have a few of the books and they have been very useful to me over the years. I have the 1971, 1978 and 1987 editions so they pretty much cover any period I need for researching a title.
I also have the 1981 version of book that lists TV series, shorts and serials, etc.

During my annual Library of Congress research trips I see the new versions (the books are still being printed) but as they look now I find them pretty useless.

I don't suppose it would be very useful now, but just in case anyone wants to try contacting the B.I.B. asking if they may have any extra copies they want to get rid of, here's their address as printed in my most recent (1981) book:

Broadcast Information Bureau, Inc.
100 Lafayette Drive
Syosset, NY 11791

Phone:
(516)496-3355

I did try writing to them back in the mid-1980's inquiring about purchasing old copies of the books, but never received a response.