Variety (Jan 1949)

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WeAmmiar, Jmmary 26j 1949 RABIO 27 RADIO FEARS W THREE' SHRINK Bii% Bags Another MOIion Hollywood, Jan. 2S. That $13,000,000 said to be lying around in the CBS coffers spoiling to be spent is now only $12,000,000. Bill Paley last week ' inade a million-dollar notation on bis checkbook stub after talking long distance to Bing Crosby up on the Monterey peninsula followfi ing a few days of conference with John G'Melveny* Bing's attorney and business intimate. The cool million went for 25% interest in one of the two Crosby corporations, which controls his radio and picture activities. It proved the "sweetener" that stirred the deal to a full boil. Al- though everyone concerned with the third big push by the Paley "raiders" have had their lips buttoned,* it is fairly well established that Bing's guarantee by CBS for a 39-week season is approxi- mately $1,500,000. This figure is said to be around $200,000 more than his current Philco-ABC seasonal take, the differential being in the nature of a bonus arrangement because of Columbia's greater collection of high powered stations which would necessitate fewer of the whistle stops now supplementing the ABC lineup. It is also fairly certain that Crosby will hold to the same 9 p.m. time on Wednesday, which both Philco and Crosby are said to have demanded, and which is okey-dokey. with Paley because it fits $0 snugly into his plan to build up another big night. He's Well satisfied with Sunday, Monday and Thursday. The big argu- ment of Crosby's that had to be batted down by Paley before The Groaner would say "I do," was the type and potency of programs to precede and follow him. Now it's up to Paley to make good his promise, so the-pressure is on again, with MCA running interference and doing the missionary work;.. After being the toast of' the town' and' regaled with red-letter social soirees, Paley and his missus blew the Coast for his Manhat- tan citadel where more spectacular deals are being brewed. While in Hollywood he talked to most of the toppers on NBC and just . about knows whose ear he can get the fastest. -4- Skelton Newest Star to Hitch On To Taley's Comet' as Web Rides High CBS has bagged another NBCf comiC'i—Red Skelton—for next fall,' and he's been pencilled in for the Sunday night 8:30 period. Procter & Gamble, which sponsors Skelton Friday nights at 9:30 on NBC, will continue to bankroll the show un- der the Columbia banner. Mean- while it's reported International Silver Is all set to move ''Ozzie and Ha^rriet" back to CBS from NBC, repapturing the Sunday 6:30 seg- ment it occupied a coupl^ seasons back. , • ■CBS announcement Monday (24) came on the heels of the web's acquisition of Bing Crosby, although In the case .of Skelton it's strictly a moving of program to another network sans capital gains . 01! other. intricate financial deals. Same for Ozzie and Harriet. Thus the Paley concept that one or two pivotal shows will in- vite a wholesale switchover in tal- ent is seen beginning to pay off for CBS. A couple of years back the situation was just the reverse. With Columbia losing a succession of comedy shows to NBC, leaving it practically stranded with Arthur Godfrey as No. 1 personality. With Jack Benny, Amos V Andy, Crosby and Skelton in the bag/ CBS' now has time periods re- served for Fibber McGee & Molly and Edgar Bergen. Pitcher Goes to the Well Shortly after bagging Bing Crosby as the third bigtime per- sonality to fatten the web's Hooper batting average; Paley called for time-out last week. From Pruden- tial Insurance Co. he borrowed $5,000,000 at 3>/4% annual inter- est for 15 years. ; CBS said the purpose was to in- sure continuation of strong cash reserves in view of expenditures for development of TV operations. CBS Seeks Rayve Acct. With 15-Minute 'Winner' CBS last week whipped up a presentation of "Winner Take All" as a 15-minute,, cross-(^e-board program when J. Walter Thomp- son s Chi office indicated that its Client, Rayve (Pepsodent - Lever jaros.) was s^^^^ eyeing day- time radio. J. ^BC, too, has been bidding for a ^ A account with its Eleanor ana Anna Roosevelt commentary program. Contemplated commer- cial is in connection with the com- pany snewly-launched Home Per- manent. hai^A*" °f «s present half-hour sustalner, Bud Collyer •Vised-fnil'^*^ "Winner" in its re- over *• ^^^""^ ^ mxA^m it September Song Here's how the CBS Sunday night lineup shapes up for next fall in the wake of new- est maneuvers engineered by board . chairman William S. Paley: 6:30, Ozzie & Harriets 7:00, Jack Benny. . 7:30, Amos 'n' Andy. . 8:00, Edgar Bergen. 8:30, Red Skelton. Status of Coca-Cola's Spike Jones 'show in the 6:30 seg- ment is still in doubt come next September, in view of the coke company acquiring Bergen for 8 o'clock; but it may be shifted to- another night. Paley Plugging Wednesday Nite All-Star Parlay Now that Bing Crosby is flying the Columbia colors, the Bill Paley strategy encompasses a Wednesday night lineup for his CBS network matched only by the Sunday Jack Benny-Amos 'n' Andy • (plus Edgar Bergen and Ozzie & Harriet next fall) parlay. Paley is shooting for a Cro.sby- Fibber & Molly-Bob Hope back- to - back Wednesday sequencing. There's lots of open time kicking around on the CBS Wednesday sked and in the process of: filling it Paley wants to out-Hooper NBC's top drawing card of "Duffy's Tavern" and "Mr, District Attor- ney." The Fibber-Molly negotiations •have variously been reported as hot. There's some doubt, though, Whether Paley can' maneuver a Bob Hope switchover in view of Charles Luckman's (Lever Bros.) concept on network programming. When a move was initiated last year to switch CBS' top-rated "Lux Radio Theatre" over to NBG, it's recalled, Luckman expressed him- self as "not wanting to put all his eggs in one basket" , At that time Amos 'n' Andy was still bracketed on NBC With Hope. And should the latter move over, it would give CBS a complete five- way Lever spread on all. its top- rated shows. ("My Friend Irma" and "Godfrey's Talent Scouts," the other two audience-pulling Lever programs, are also CBS properties.) ■ F By GEORG& ROSEN A few top economists have been at work on behalf of some seg- ments of the industry>re-apprais- ing the radio picture in terms of the future. It's being done on the qit, and no official report is con- templated, but what they've come up with, is anything but heatening. Their findings are destined to have a Vital bearing on the future of all radio and particularly the net- works. In the opinion of these experts, the sales peak has passed for the three major industries that through the years have been the mainstays of commercial radio—^ food, drugs and soap. These three industries .alone have been-; re- Trotect Radio' Stance Same situation that cropped up at the NBC convention in Sun -Valley last September was evidenced over the past week- end at the CBS Television Clinic in New York. It's re- called that the affiliate mem- . bers of NBC translated their apprehensions and fears over video's costs (and what it might' conceivably do to their . radio operations) into a re-, sounding endorsement of the status quo in AM. The whole thing got a re- peat performance at the CBS Clinic. The "protect radio" stance that highlighted the talk by William Gittinger, CBS veepee in charge of sales, probably got the biggest hand of the three-day meet. Trade Ponders Future of ABC In Radio m Wake of Talent Shift, Stock Unloading^ Noble's De»re to Sell NBCi New Thinlcing NBC from all indications doesn't intend fighting . AM with AM. Network toppers are pretty'well. convinced now that tele has moved into the big- time" and will throw its Sun- day night at 7 heavy artillery against the Jack Benny oppo- sition via video rather than radio, (They're pretty: much reconciled to the Horace Heidt drubbing on AM as stacked up against Benny's Hooper.) NBC is getting set to spring its Sunday ' at 7 TV surprise. It'll be a strictly bigtime spread, but otherwise the web is keeping it hush-hush. ; Bergen-Coca-Cola Join CBS Sunday Lineup Next Fall ♦ ABC network and its future in the radio-TV pattern has been I sharing almost equal prominenc» I with William S. Paley-CBS in Man« hattan trade talk this past week. The events of the past few weeks have, only served to heighten ten--' sion among the network person^ ; nel at Radio City headquarters, and many are asking out loud: "Wonder what'U happen to us?'' No one around the network is denying that the loss of Bing Crosby to CBS is a hard blow. For ..itpractically . eliminates the web' from Wednesday. night com-' petition with NBC or CBS and leaves the web's brace of: Sunday night attractions, Walter Winchell and "Stop the Music," as prac- tically the lone ABC contenders for the bigtime Hooper sweep- stakes:^ .. ■ . ■ ■ The FCC may soon determine the ultimate fate of the "Stop the Music" giveaway. And Paley has his eye and bankroll on the top Hooper draw of them all, Winchell.. WW, however,- Is under contract to ABC, which presents a com- plication for Paley & Co. in any attempt to woo him. over. (When NBC's Sunday time started open- ing up, the web thought it would be :a good' idea to bracket WW and Drew Pearson in a halt-hour seg- ment to fight off the CBS herd, but: when everybody concerned: was reminded that Winchell is ABC's contractual* ''baby" the sponsible for about 75% of annu- al network billings. It's no secret, of course, that the three vital industries, which bought up large inventories on products, are now taking losses on these Inventories. Prices are com- ing down; Advertising budgets are being re-appraised in the face of an uncertain sales future. Some have already gone into action, with radio taking the rap. Strain On Food Front On the food front, for example. Standard Brands dropped a full hour of Sunday night network time (Edgar Bergen and Fred Al- len) to effect a saving of several million dollars. The American Meat Institute has cancelled out of the Fred Waring morning pro- (Continued on page 42) Edgar Bergen's return to the airlaneff: next fall will be under. Coca-Cola's auspices, with Bergen joining Jack Benny and Amos 'n' Andy in the Sunday night lineup. However, Bergen is detouring capi- . ^ ^ . .v , tal gains, a maneuver which scut- ^'""S was forgotten), tied his negotiations with the' The ultimate fate of ABC will soft drink compatiy a couple the determining factor in WW's months ago. ■■■' 'Benny Coattail?', Nuts, Sez Harris Phil Harris let his hair down at a "brunch" tossed by NBC-BBD&O agency last Saturday (22) at 21 Club. N. Y., day after his sponsor, Rexall, clinched the show's contin- uance on NBC for another. 13 weeks. Comic-bandleader's re- marks indicated that, despite his pleasure 'over the Hooper upbeat which convinces him he's no longer "riding Benny's coattail," it still ^doesn't make sense (to either spon^ sor or listener) to slug it out in opposition to CBS's "Amo» 'n' Andy." Harris bluntly acknowledged he "doesn't know what'U happen" as far as the Harris-Faye and A 'n' A competition is concerned, but the shifting of the Rexall show into a new NBC Sunday time segment is considered by many within the realm of possibility. Harris' "Jackson" gags in tribute to Jack Benny and his longtime association with CBS' newly-ac- quired comic were strictly on. the level, but Karris' reemphasis of I the fact that his show can now I sland on its own Hooper has ' strengthened belief among inti- 1 mates that Harris intends check- I ing off the Benny show. Just where that leaves Spike Jones, who now occupies the pre- Benny 6:30 Sunday segment on CBS for Coca-Cola, is problematic cal. (Coke outfit is also cancelling out on the Friday night Jane Fro- man-rPercy Faith musical and drop- ping Morton Downey on NBC, al- though latter is getting a TV show- case for Coca-Cola). Jones has a contract which protects him for the balance of this season. As the cur- tain-raiser for Benny and A 'n' A, the show has a rating edge over the NBC opposition, "Ozzie and Har- riet."' And -'Ozzie & Harriet'' are moving back to CBS 6:30-next fall to precede Benny. Bergen did a disappearing act following his appearance at the In- augural "Gala" in D. C. last future affiliation, The fact that Ed Noble is'anx- ious to sell the web; the revela- tion of proxy Mark Woods and exec veepee Robert Klntber un- loading their stock, have had an undeniable effect on the morale around ABC headquarters. While Noble isn't talking, it's accepted that if he can get a good price from someone who could get past the FCC pearly gates on an okay, Noble would divest hbnself of ABC immediately. ' But the $64 question Intriguing the trade is whether the new buyer would grab-it off for its TV notentialifies alone and decide to .let the AM operation go by the boards. For some close observers say they wouldn't be surprised if, in the upcoming video era, ABC Wednesday and when next heard' would be the first to fade from from he was hunting and huddling with Coca-Cola top man, Robert W. Woodlraff, in -Atlanta. Although the WoodruffrBergen hunting rou- tine has become an annual cus- tom, the boys were gunning for bigger game this time out. Both I got what they wanted. I Indie Baseball Webs Protest Western Union Plan to Hike Its Rates Western Union's move to hike its rates on telegraphic reports of ball- games is meeting solid opposition from indie outlets. Many of the indies, organized into small base- ball pe;tworks covering schedules, of the .'local leagues, regard WU's move as sounding the death knell for their operations since it would: make costs prohibitive. Western Union is aiming its in- creased tariff at stations feeding a re-creation of the games to a net- work comprising other indies and thereby cutting wire charges. It's reported added toll would amount to $2.50 a station for the first five .stations in such a network and $1.50 each for additional outlets^ Before adding the charge, how- ever, WU must receive permission from the FCC. Edward Breen, NAB board member for small sta- tions and head of KFVD, Port Dodge, la., has wired the FCC for notification in event hearings on the radio picture.' Eversharp's leave It' To Stay Put in NBC Slot Although some reports had Eversharp's "Take It Or Leave It" headed for a switchback to CBS, the show stays put In its Sunday night at 10 segment on NBC. A - couple weeks back when Eyersharp introduced its tele- phonic gimmick on the show, NBC chimed in with a "no can do," with a resultant ultimatum from the sponsor that the network keep it in or it would move out. NBC decided to let it stay. Larmon's Life & Times Young & Rubicari staffers ha V e produced a 16m film short, for inter-office consumption, kidding the career of Sigurd Larmon, agency prexy. FUm was run all day Friday (21). Joe Moran, radio veepee and ex- actor, is producer, narrator; and played Larmon. Director is John Freese, and film editor is Pyrman Smith, both of the motion picture- TV dept. Tony Zaghi; business manager of the radio department, and other staffers are in supporting rdles. One scene, showing basket* balV team in dressing room, was played by' biggies of Y&R plans board. Gimmick in film is that: , „- Larmon is shown throughout wear- the increased rates are ordered, j ing a white carnation.