Variety (Jan 1949)

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42 TEUSVISION « RADIO ^ Wednesday, January 26, I949 TV Fluffs Inaugural Continued Iroin page 3S { President and let the show ride from there. The reels bettered even that, _however, by spotting their cameras over the crowd dur- ing the President's speech to pick up reaction from the Govern- mental biggies in the audience. And the reels' establishing shots, such as that showing a newsman stamping his feet in the cold, were much more dramatic and human- interesting than the TV announ- cers' flat statements about the temperature. Video did an adequate .job on the "gala" celebration the night preceding the. inauguration, Ham- . pered by the 'wide- reaches of the National Guard Armory, site of the mass parade of: talentv they could Ao little more than train their best closeup lens on the per- forming stars and hope for the best. Coverage of the President's Ball Thursday night was also okay, ceremony film with money into advertising. The me- dium, consequently, won't affect too much radio, newspapers' or magazines. <• CBS-TV sales manager David Sutton revealed the willingness of top-spending national advertisers to sink new money into ' TV advertisers, he said, charge' up tele's costs to such other budgets as sales- or demonstrations^ Sutton also pointed to the local adver- tisers now using' tele, which rep- resents the largest single group of advertisers today. ' sweanng-^in video,?'^'^ v-.'^J-;/,';,' The sound-sight coverage of the events set some new records: ; ■ An estimated 16,000,000 persons saw the Inaugural cerempriy, pa- rade, gala show and ball while the events were taking place, in addi- tion to ssjveral 'niillibri more in cities- off .the east-tnidwest fcoaxial' who saw it later by film. ;. Appi^oxiftiately 10 hoUfs in • all Were televised ffoni.'the gala,' -the Inaugural and the ball (although hot all stations carried the full coverage); making for the greatest amount of time ever given via video to a related series of events. It was the first Inaugural to be carried to FM stations, through Possibility of an early television duplication by AM affiliates and dimb into the ultrarhigh irequeri- through direct broadcast by an FM cies was spotlighted last week by network (Continental). iFCC chairman Wayne Coy v/ith the It was the first Inaugural to be ' declaration that the Commission broadcast by so many sound sta- ■ hopes to be able to provide for the under the same adverse conditions, i tions—probably the bulk of the utilization of the UHF "before the Radio Reviews Continued from page 30 j the assignment, limited to the first part of the quarter-hour. „ - , , Commentary "caught had Healey money which doesn't come out of [ trea'dlng a, middle-of-the-road path any current budgets. Most such i on politics and economics. Healey Coy Predicts Early Lifting of Tele Freeze, Move Into Higher Band possesses a clear, firm voice/ and a persuasive delivery. Prounuciation and enunciation at times sound a bit over-meticulous. He added a personal endorsement to the Save- the-Baby plugs delivered by the deep-voiced Bosley. Both men fluffed once on initial shot. Com- bination of Healey and the week's analysis should sell the sponsor's strongly pushed product. ' Jaco. sm. Radio-TV Coverage Sets Flock of New Records Washington, Jan. 25. Radio and television coverage of the Inaugural, one of ttie biggest two-medium broadcast jobs on rec- ord, brought practically the whole roster of top news commentator talent to Washington and combined for the first time in a. Presidential 2,700 AM arid FM stations now in end of the year." "Music," the sage Longfellow remarked, "is the universal language of oiankind." And good music, programmed always over WQXR and WQXR-FM. is the langua'ge that keeps more than half a million New York families constantly tuned to these stations. So constantly, indeed, no other station can reach them so effectively. These families love good things as they love good music , and can-afford to buy them, too. Advertisers regard them aS the most inviting seg- ment of this biggest and richest of all markets. Whatever language lyou speak '...may we help you speak it more prof- itably through music? operation, through network, re- cordings, and direct transmission. An important phase of the tele- vision coverage was through film, with three video newsreel .compa-; nies—NBC, Telepix and Tele- news—serving via air freight about 15 stations not connected by co- axial. All four video networks joined in plans to bring film re- cordings of the Inaugural to every television city in the country. The nets recorded two negatives ! insure a vigorously of the telecast, one a master from television system.'i' Speaking / at the GBS television clinic at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y., Coy predicted the lifting of the current FCC freeze on tele ap- plications by April or early May, with the probability that .many pending allocations'f or space in the present frequency band would be shifted to the UHF. Opening of the higher band. Coy said, is the "only practical method of providing enough space in the spectrum to coippetitive which prints were made and of- fered at cost to. all affiliated sta- tions. _ There were approximately 550 radio and television staffers who came to Washington for the In- augural coverage. NBC sent down a contingent of more than 200, under the supervision of William F. Brooks, network veepee in charge of news and international relations. Aiding him were Fran- cis C. McCall, director of news and special eventSi and Adolph Schnei- der, news and special events video director. . NBC commentators Ben Grauer and John Cameron Swayze acted for the television pool in describ- ing the Inaugural swearing-in and the address at the Capitol building. Others: from NBC covering for ra- dio included Robert Trout, H. V. Kaltenborn, Morgan Beatty, Rich- ard Harkness, Robert McCormlck, Ned Brooks and Leif Eid. ABC brought down about 50 for Again emphasizing that such a move will not render present sets obsolete. Coy indicated that sta- tions now on the bir would con^^* tinue on their present frequency assignments or else transmit simul- taneously on both bands. "The LET'S HAVE FUN With Hank Grant, Holland Engfle Producer: Hunt Downs : . • 30 Mins., Mon.-Thtu-Fri., 12 noon GOLDBLATT DEPT. STORES WGN, Chicaeo : Since open season hasn't been declared on audience. participation shows as yet, this one will prob- ably be around for some time. Geared on a strictly local level, format includes zany stunts, games, penalties and shrieks from its awed and coy female audience. Naturally there's a prize in each and every patk, with hefty com- mercials thrown in for good meas- ure with each presentation. Hank Grant, as ; emcee and singer, handles wordy chore with ease, putting contestants in happy frame of mind with corny jokes, and carries off interview with gueist star (usually a celeb appear- ing in. Chi bistros) via adlibs and friendly ribs. Holland Engle does away with routine commercials as much as possible by clowning through them with Grant. All in all, participation-type show is kept lively and appeals to followers Of this type of airlane activity.. GrTcg; .... , SHERLOCK HOLMES manufacturers," he said, "can build I With Morry Powell, Peter Bathurst a set that will receive both bands and give us as good or better recep- tion than we are receiving today;" UHF Boom to N. Y,. L. A. Washington, Jan. 25. Television move into the upper frequencies may permit the alloca- tion of more television channels to big cities such as N. Y. and Los Angeles, according to FCC spokes- men here this week. Director: Lawrence H. Cecil 30 Mins., Wed., 8 p.m. PENFOLD'S WINES % G. B. SYDNEY Oldtime series of whodunits by the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle carries plenty of appeal for Down Under radio fans. Should do okay and build biz for the sponsor. Morry Powell in the name part overplays somewhat. Should tone down though before the series gets underway very far. Top player is Peter Bathurst as Dr. Watson. no more than seven station grants because of the over-crowded spec- trum. FCC emphasized, however, the pressing need for more stations in these key metropolitan areas, the events, including Gordon Fra-, pointing out that there's ho reason ser, Pauline Frederick, Ted Ma- for confining TV to only Seven sta- lone, Taylor Grant, George Hicks, i tions, when N. Y. can support as Van De Vries, and Walter Kieman. many as 30 AM outlets In addition, the network's Wash GEORGE FOX HUES R-R TV SYSTEM ON COASt Hollywood, Jan. 25 George Fox Co. will be the first ,west coast video production outfit to put Remington-Rand's television communication system into opera- tion for the shooting of teevee pi^. System allows producers to view 'picture on tele receiver as It is being recorded by the motion pie. ture camera. This eliminates view- ing the rushes and allows immedi- ate refllming of rough shots. R-R's camera chain also allows cameras to be wired into all parts of the exec offices, thus permitting stage activities to be followed by any production or administrative : staffer not on shooting site. Chi Television Council Skeds 3-Day Conference Chicago Television Council, headed by WENR-TV's James l! Stirton, has scheduled a National Television Conference at the Pal-' mer House, March 7-9. In the east, Television Broadcasters Assn. has held several one-day: video semii nars, but this is the first compre- hensive three^day session. Speeches and panels are sched- uled on production, sales, manage* ment, programming, agency and sponsor relations,, engineering, re- search and trends. The Tables Turn The tables have been turned on video's buccaneering of AM talent. The other Sunday (16) Ted Cott, WNEW v.p., was viewing WCBS- TV's "Scrapbook" when he spotted singer Scotty MacGregor and said "That guy would be good on radio." So now MacGregor has been pacted for a cross-the-board stanza on the N Y. indie, 9:35-10 a.m., preced- ing Martin Block's "Make Believe Ballroom:" Tentative preem date is Jan. 31. Besides singing pop ballads and folksongs, MacGregor accompanies himself on the guitar and does chatty intros. A tele "vet," he has been on CBS video for more than a year: He had never had his own spot on an AM outlet. Under the present channel alia „„ „^ cations, the biggest city can receive I Show is done "before an audrenc'e *u„„ .... . Lawrence H. Cecil, in charge of the series, is a well-known local radio producer. He's doing a good job with this one. Ricfc. ington regulars H, R. Baukhage, Elmer Davis, and Bryson Rash par- tieipated in the coverage. AND VII(}XR-FM !llADIO STATIONS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES Radio Fears Continued from page 27 Only way to get those additional channels, which are drastically needed to prevent the industry , , . . from becoming monopolistic, is to More than 100 technicians and move into the ultra-high freouen- commentators joined in the tele- cies. vision pool coverage of the Inaugu- ral, with 14 cameras in use. An additional 30 technical people were , employed . by the telephone industry in connection with the co-' axial feeding of the programs out of Washington. A battery of moni-' gram on NBC. Other meat packers l«n T.iPnh1fnf r'"rMH- ^ '^^^^ P"»«d ^^e radio advertTs- tomac Telephone Co. building pro- ing reins vided the choice from which the .ci„,.ii„L r,...,„ \ best pictures were chosen. ''tei^""/ Drugs has gone into ac- The Continental FM network and nbC ?h"at it I dSnJ^Jhl^nn" WASHVl'Li^th*';-. ^'^''t S "Man&yerry^Go: WASH-FM, claimed that it brought Round " one of thp fir«f t«iii«<, more of the Inaugural to its listen- blovv" in an "ndustrv now nnn® ers than any other station and any fronted with fierce comnPtitZ" ?^!!:^r^r":L ?°?.l-i'fi ni-.'? The"1oVmanu1:^?^re^ra?:*S: ing up short, disturbed over the Bob Hope Continued from page 28 □ throughout the entire gala, Inau gural, parade, and ball for a total of nearly 12 hours. In addition, scores of commen- tators came to Washington for spe- cial recording pickups for individ- ual stations can show there is no substantial overlap, it may well be disquali- fied as a bidder since FCC rules prohibit an owner having two sta- tions covering the same area. Another issue is directed at Fort Industry's interest in acquiring ah eighth AM and a seventh FM Out- let, which is one more in each service than FCC permits. The firm vMuld be required to sell one of its AM and FM stations if it gets the Louisville properties." The commission also will inquire into Fort Industry television prop- erties since it now has three video stations and has applications pend- ing for two more. It would have to give up one of these applications, to stay within the video quota of five stations per owner, if its bid for Louisville is preferred over the others. Hope is expected tb take the stand at the hearing to prove that his qualifications to operate the sta- tions will be in the best interests Running story of the Inaugural: ^I"tua'. with its wide open .spaces and parade was also broadcast in . • with CBS board various languages by the Voice of chairman William S. Paley wrap America and relayed by the BBC. approaching signs (those free of- fers of soap powder as a come-on is a tipoff as to what's happening.) Jl^k^ih^^^^^e ^tA^t^^A \ the Louisville community Wjuie the commission inquires 1 into qualifications of the WHAS bidders, it will also look into the: 'Big Brother' Continued from page 31 ; ping up all available top talent I to make Columbia pre-eminent among networks, the questioil, too, is being asked: "What top bank- rollers are going to he around to pay for it?" Here's The PAYOFF on 'FASHION FLASHES' Attn Six WMkt on lh« Air • GLENN KILL ADV. AGENCY. Denver: "A sharp upturn in client's December tales was developed through' a special offer advertised only, on Mist Mawley'i program." • WHIZ, ZANESVILLE, O.: "Spon- sor enthusiastic . . . Feels it will prove the best thing they have used in radio in fen years." • WiRK, Piftsfield. Mass.: "FASH- ION FLASHES Hooper here is 12.6 . . . 57.8% of audience." A New Idea in Daytime Radio ADELAIDE HAWLEY'S "FASHION FLASHES" "* Transcribed 5 Minufes Doi/y AVAILABLE FOR NATIONAL OR LOCAL SPONSORSHIP Produced by Murphy-Lillis, Inc. For information write Mortimer Frankel, producer, 59 Park Ave.» New York 16, N. Y. reasons why the Courier-Journal: has not been going ahead with con- struction of its video station. An application for extension, of time to construct the station was sched- uled for bearing together with the matter of transfer, ■ Since the permit for the station was granted more than two years ^go, FCC will try to determine whether the licensee (the Bingham Conversely, the economists find, pected to serve as complementary the tobacco and auto industries parts of a whole broadcasting are coming back strong. But not industry. : into radio. Both are eyeing the 3. Television shows cost a lot television horizon. Which leaves ^ ... ^ - more to produce than comparable radio holding the bag, and predic- ^^'"iy' "^^ "«en diligent in pro- AM programs. Thus web service, tions are that it'll be an empty i"?,,?'**^'* J'^* construction" of, made economical by spreading tlie one unless they can invite fresh costs on a network basis, is the business. quickest and safest way to bring | But it's conceded that as TV TV broadcasting out of the red. I expands, the new advertisers too «oodfl^hl"?*****^„*1^ are destined to emE Ight-and- goods and services will bring new, sound rather than AM. ' the facility. The commission could deny the application, in which case it would take back the frequency and make it available to applicants and all deals to buy the properties called off. Bets are It won't hap- pen. Douglas Manor DOUGLASTON, LONG ISLAND Beautiful 2Vi-8torr houND. Built for KrAclouK ilvlnir »n plot, 180,'xliei'. 9 rooms, S . Mtlii. 40' 'living room, en- ' bloMd porches, New oil burner, not-water hent, 3- cnr itnrase. AU In perfect condition, Xoonted on North Shore — %S minuteii from Nftw York. ItoalInK lUid buthlnir facllltlefi Within 9 hlockH of house. Price $38,500 Mrs. Smyth Wm. A.White & SONS SI East 42nd St., N. Y. MU 2-2300