Radio daily (Feb-Mar 1937)

VOL. I, NO. 29 NEW YORK. MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1937 FIVE CENTS Engineers on 40-Hr. Week Technicians of NBC and CBS Work Out Five-Day Week to Start on or Before Sept. 1 FORD MOTOR RENEWS TWO WEEKDAY SHOWS Ford Motor Co., Detroit, has signed 13-week renewals on both of its weekday shows on NBC and CBS. NBC renewal goes into effect on April 10 along with the new spot for Rex Chandler's orchestra, Saturdays, 7-7:30 p.m., with repeat to the West Coast at 11 p.m., on 60 NBC-Red stations. The last program on the NBCBlue for this show will be heard on April 2. CBS program, "Watch the Fun Go By," featuring Al Pearce & His Gang will be renewed on April 6 on 82 CBS stations, Tuesdays, 9-9:30 p.m., with rebroadcast at 12 midnight. Two stations WSPD, Toledo, and WOWO, (Continued on Page 2) Mrs. Roosevelt Series Will Begin on April 21 Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt will begin her 13-week series of talks on April 21, 7:15-7:30 p.m., over a nationwide network of 29 NBC-Blue stations. Program will be under the sponsorship of Lamont Corliss Co., (Pond's face powder) and was placed by J. Walter Thompson Co., New York. Radio News Ass'n Gets Members in Maryland The recently organized Association of Radio News Editors and Writers has acquired good representation in Maryland. Bob Hurleigh, WCAO, and Charles Roeder, WCBM, represent the Baltimore membership of ARNEW, while western Maryland has H. B. McNaughton of Cumberland's WTBO. Aids In Disaster Henderson, Tex. — A small radio station, opened in the Randolph Hotel here by Ted Hudson only a day before the New London school disaster last week, immediately went into service in summoning aid and helping bereaved parents in getting information about children who were victims of the explosion. In Costume Ft. Worth— Handling as many as 19 daily remotes, including the World's Championship Rodeo from the grounds of the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show, all KTAT announcers dress in cowboy regalia to be in character with the events broadcast and to carry out the atmosphere of the show. SINCLAIR CBS SHOW HEADED BY BABE RUTH Babe Ruth has been signed to head an all-baseball show to be sponsored by Sinclair Refining Co. Program will be aired Wednesday and Friday over CBS, 10:30-10:45 p.m., with the first program set for April 14. Broadcast will be heard over a hook-up of 59 stations and will originate from WABC, New York. Federal Advertising agency has the account. John Reed King will be the announcer. IGA Stores Renewing Disks on 11 Stations Independent Grocers Alliance Distributing Co., Chicago (IGA grocery stores), on March 28 will renew its WBS transcriptions entitled "One Girl in a Million" over 11 western stations (WCCO, WDAY, KFYR, WHO, WIBW, KOA, WKY, WMBH, WIND, KFI, WTMJ). Schedule calls for quarter-hour disks three times weekly. KJR, WCSH, WOWO have recently been added to the schedule 'Continued on Page 2) AT THE 17th Annual convention of the Motion Picture Theater Owners of America, held last week in Miami, radio came in for another slam as the deadly enemy of the box office. Every gathering of this sort always has its bogey; the counterpart may be found cut and bleeding wherever and whenever a trade organization expects to collect dues. ... No one mentioned the millions of dollars of free spot advertising that the picture industry receives, BACHEN IS APPOINTED AIDE TO ROY WITHER John H. Bachem, eastern division sales manager of NBC, has been made assistant to Roy C. Witmer, vice-president in charge of sales, effective April 1. Bachem's new duties will include supervision of sales operations in the Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh divisions and other special assignments. Bachem came to NBC on Nov. 14, 1932, after 14 years in the magazine field. New Studios of WHBF Have Gala Dedication Rock Island, 111. — Public officials and civic leaders joined with the management and staff of WHBF in dedication ceremonies Friday and Saturday in connection with the opening of the station's new studios and offices in the Safety office building in downtown Rock Island. WHBF, which serves the metropolitan district comprising Rock Island and Moline, Illinois and Davenport, la., now has modern studio facilities in each of the three cities. The opening, which was postponed because of the death of James L. Hughes, station manager, who died (Continued on Page 8) nor the same amount in free spot announcements for individual pictures when song sources are credited. .. . Electrical transcription biz continues to flourish, the NBC Thesaurus division showing an increase for February of 113 per cent over the same period a year ago. . . . Lucky Strike cigarets set its CBS noon program for femme edification, rather (Continued on Page 2) The two "inside unions" representing the engineering personnel of all 15 NBC owned and operated stations and the nine CBS owned stations, namely, the Association of Technical Employees of NBC and the Associated Columbia Broadcast Technicians, have completed arrangements with their respective managements whereby on or before Sept. 1 all CBS and NBC operating engineers will be working a five-day 40-hour week and at no reduction in wages. Heretofore engineers have been working on a six day 48-hour week. Question of reducing the hours for engineers arose over a year ago, but because of the unsettled business conditions at that time the question was tabled. Delay in putting the plan into immediate effect is due to the selection of new employees that will of necessity have to be added and the summer vacations which will begin shortly. There are approximately (Continued on Page 3) Senators to Confer On Radio Probe Bill Washington Bureau of THE RADIO DAILY Washington — Senator Wallace White (R., Me.) expects to confer with Senator Burton Wheeler in the next few days regarding the latter's proposed bill calling for an investigation of the entire broadcasting industry. Wheeler, who favors classifying radio stations as public utilities under government regulation and who attacked the radio chains last week, told Radio Daily he does not intend to introduce a measure of his own. CBS Announcers' I.Q. Chicago's CBS announcing staff has issued a challenge to the Gotham bunch for a battle of wits which was immediately accepted here. So "Battle of Wits" will be aired via the CBS network April 1, either 2-2:30 or 2:30-3 p.m. Wordslingers will engage in a contest whereby they'll be questioned on spelling, knowledge of music, pronounciations, and ad libbing. * TEE WEEE IN EAEIC ... A Movie Man's Bogey — By M. H. SHAPIRO '