Radio daily (Oct-Dec 1949)

Section ol RADIO DAILY. Monday. October 3. 1949 — TELEVISION DAILY is fully protected by register and copyright NBC UPS RATES, OTHERS TO FOLLOW TELE TOPICS TWO BIG NEW SHOWS bowed on CBS last Thursday nite. Both were good; both could, and probably will, be better. The main fault of both was the same, writing. In both cases the material was not on a par with the performances and production. . . Taking the two chronologically, we'll start with "The Front Page," the World Video package based on the famous Hecht-MacArthur play. A farce in the same pyrotechnic manner of its parent, the TV version began at the point the play ended, with editor Walter Burns kidnaping the future mother-in-law of star reporter Hildy Johnson to prevent Johnson from leaving his employ. There followed in rapid succession an unsuccessful attempt at assassination, a murder, the arrest of the mother-in-law for the murder, and finally another attempted assassination foiled by the two intrepid newshawks. Intermixed with these events were manifestations of Hildy's two great struggles, one with his editor and the other with his financee. . . . There was plenty of frenzied action, and Mark Roberts (Hildy) and John Daly 'Burns' played their roles to the hilt. Daly especially milked every line, but the dialogue was not strong enough and at times it seemed to fall apart completely. . . . Produced by Donald Davis, program was directed by Franklin Heller from a script by Alvin Sapinsley. • THE SECOND SHOW, "Inside USA With Chevrolet," with a budget reportedly in the neighborhood of $20,000, revealed a lineup of bright new talent, some excellent camera work for dance ensembles and two totally unfunny skits. One was a switch on the overworked theme of college football recruiting practices, and the other an obvious bit on the home life of a child movie star, played by Margaret O'Brien with the same lachrymose attitudes she employs in her screen tragedies. In the comedy department, Peter Lind Hayes, Jim Kirkwood and Lee Goodman were far superior to their material, while the musical portions were very ably handled by singers Mary Healy and Marion Colby and dancer Sheila Bond. ... On the plus side was the attempt, successful for the most part, to get away from the curtain and proscenium and build the show solely for the cameras. Between acts film clips of Hayes scooting around in a snazzy Chewy convertible will have to be changed in future installments. Dance ensembles shot the chorus of ten vertically instead of horizontally, providing effective depth and allowing very interesting movements in relation to the cameras. . . . Produced by Arthur Schwartz and directed by Sherman Marks, program featured skits by Sam Taylor, choreography by Paul Godkin, with ork conducted by Jay Blackton. Campbell-Ewald is the agency. Tele-Set Production At New High In Aug. Washington Bureau of RADIO DAILY Washington — A new high in TV set production was achieved in August, according to RMA figures released over the week-end. More than 200,000 home receivers were made, it was said. With RMA companies reporting 185,706 sets — a weekly average of better than 35,000 sets for the five-week period covered in the survey. An average of better than 41,500 sets per week had been reached by RMA members in March, however, with April output nearly as high. Production of other set types was also healthier than during most of the Spring and Summer. The number of FM-AM and FM-only sets went to 64,179 — highest figure since March, FM bands were included on 38,790 TV sets. There was a turnout of 559,076 AM-only sets— also the highest figure since March. These totals bring the year's turnout of TV sets by RMA companies to 1,178,308, with 512,403 FM sets and AM-FM combinations and 3,934,657 AM-only sets. 'Dollar' To Buy TV The second CBS television show to originate in Hollywood will be a mystery adventure series titled "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar," a radio version of which is heard on CBS Saturday night, 7-7:30 p.m. The network has not yet set a starting date for the new video show. Switchero© Cincinnati — WCPO-TV became an unwitting booster ior rival WLW-T last week. Astounded pedestrians witnessed the spectacle of a WCPO station wagon driving around town with a red back-bumper sign which read "Best in TV — WLW-T — Channel 4." Grinning WLW-T officials disclaimed knowledge of how come. One guess was the sign got accidentally "transplanted" at a Cincinnati Reds game being covered by both outlets. To Air Live Drama From Streets Of N.Y. An hour long dramatic show, aired live at 11 p.m. from the streets of New York, will bow on WNBT Oct. 25 under sponsorship of Bedford Stores, Inc., through Elliott Nonas agency. Titled "City At Midnight," program is said to be the first drama series to be presented directly on location. Initial airer will originate at the intersection of Orchard and Rivington Streets in Manhattan's lower east side. Action will take place inside and outside a synagogue, in the hallway of an apartment house, the exterior of a religious article show, an optical store and the interior of a bar. Program is a United Productions package, produced by Lou Dahlman. The Week In Television Commission Begins Hearings On Color. UHF The FCC hearings on color and UHF got under way in Washington, with the question of polychrome in the spotlight throughout the week. RMA and JTAC urged that black-and-white be reaffirmed as standard, but with the door to color left open. Their opinion was that no system of color has been proved ready for commercial use and they advised extensive field tests and experimentation before the adoption of polychrome standards. DuMout also supported monochrome and urged that comparative tests between black-and-white and color be ?nade as part of the hearings. RCA asked authorization of color on both UHF and VHF bands, and estimated that converters would cost from $125 to $175, with color sets ranging from $400 to $1,000. CBS unveiled a small hand-sized converter which might cost no more than $5. . . . DuMout opened "the world's largest and most modern television assembly plant" in East Paterson, N. J. Capacity of the factory, it ivas said, is one set every 22 seconds. . . . Conferences between the AAAA and SAG and SEG to discuss union organization in the video field opened in New York. . . . R. J. Reynolds placed on CBS a new mystery series, "Man Against Crime," starring Ralph Bellamy, to begin Oct, 7. . . . ASCAP extended its TV agreement to Oct. 15 pending definite agreement on use of music on a per program basis. Audience Increase Lowers TV Cost Per Thousand (Continued from Page 1) pared with a 78 per cent rise in the number of sets in these cities. In a letter to agencies and advertisers explaining the new rates, all of which are effective Nov. 1, Harry C. Kopf, NBC veepee in charge of sales, said that at the new rates, the NBC inter-connected web "will deliver nearly four times as many television homes and at a cost per thousand 26 per cent less than one year ago — a decline in cost per thousand unmatched by any 'other advertising medium." Kopf continued: "In the past year, the interconnected network alone has grown from 14 to 25 stations and the available television audience from 603.000 to 2,225,000 families. By April 30, 1950, the audience will number over 3,000,000 families." During .the two-year period from November. 1947 to November, 1949. the cost per thousand on the NBC interconnected network, it was pointed out, will have dropped 50 per cent. Current advertisers and those placing orders accepted before Nov. 1 will be protected at old rates through April 30, 1950. New rates for the 22 stations follow: Interconnected WBZ-TV Boston $ 750.00 WRGB Schenectady .... 325.00 WPTZ Philadelphia .... 1.000.00 WBAL-TV Baltimore 550.00 WNBW Washington 500.00 WNBT New York 2.000.00 WTVR Richmond 250.00 WBEN-TV Buffalo 325.00 WNBK Cleveland 600.00 WSPD-TV Toledo 300.00 WWJ-TV Detroit 600.00 WNBQ Chicago 1.000.00 WTMJ-TV Milwaukee 350.00 KSD-TV St. Louis 425.00 WGAL-TV Lancaster 200.00 WLWT Cincinnati 350.00 W DEL-TV Wilmington 200.00 Non-interconnected WSB-TV Atlanta 250.00 WBAP-TV Fort Worth 250.00 KNBH Los Angeles .... 900.00 KSTP-TV Minneapolis 325.00 WBTV Charlotte 175.00 Sennett Reels Withdrawn As Result Of H. D. Suit NBC has withdrawn all Mack Sennett comedies from participation in its "Howdy Doody" program pending settlement of the suit filed last week by Joseph Balabar. owner of the Canadian rights to the pictures. Plaintiff maintains that television receivers in the Dominion pick up the domestic broadcasts and violates his agreement with the network which involves only the latter rights.