Variety (Apr 1949)

Wedneafiajr, April IS, 1949 BA0IO 8S NAB Starts Drive to Correct Customs Abuse on Imported Recorded Shows Chic«ti6f. April 12. *■ ' The National ASsn. of Broadcast- ers at its annual invention here has initiated a drive to xid the in- dustry of a serious customs .in- equity involving the shipment into this country of transcrii.-.ons and tape-recorded shows made abroad. With such programming assuming more arid more importance in the U. S. broadcasting picture (partic- ularly Since radio is being enlisted to hielp solidify relations with the- Westem European powers), the customs problem is becoming of vital significance to American broadcasters. Whereas, it's pointed out, in the case of newsreel film or motion picture film of any kind, U. S. customs officials are guided by a clear and specific set of regulations and tariffs, in the case of radio programs transcribed on- tape, there are no provisions whatever oh tlie books. The result has been that broadcasters have to pay sub- stantial duties on the simplest kind of news and special events broad^ casts and to suffer delays which have often robbed the broadcasts of their timeliness and value. A result has been that the broad- casters have been obliged to Itiring the broadcasts in under bond, which means that the tapes must be returned abroad or destroyed within six months' time. Situation becomes all the more paradoxical, . when it's realized that the tapes are made in America and recorded on American equipment by corre- Bpondcnts in the employ of Ameri- can radio stations. . Sparking the drive for customs equity is Arnold Hartleyt program manager of WOV, the New, ITork indie, which .has estaUished a taperrecorded series from^Rome. (The new Maurice Chevalier se- ries on Mutual, taped abroad, called "This Is, Paris," presents a similar problem). AK's on a Binge Chicago, April 12. Innovation at this year's NAB meet was the shindig tossed by BMI for industry "Oldtimers"—representing all NAB and BMI board members, past and present. About 80 showed up for the Saturday night aifair, held at the Ambassador East hotel, and it came off such a solid click that it's been put down on the permanent agenda. Weil, Hartley Facing 'What Goes with WOVr Barrage at NAB Meet! Chicago, April 12. | Invariable I greeting with which ! Ralph Weil and Arnold Hartley i are' being accosted at the NABj meet-is: "What goes with WOV?" The general manager and program manager of the New York indie have been sitting on the edge of i their kilocycles for weeks, waiting for that elusive :decision on wheth-i er the FCC will permit them to buy the Arde Bulova bilingual sta- •tion..'., ■ , ■ A flock of NAB conventions— and four FCC chairmen •— have come and- gone since the WOV- WNEW duopoly , case was initially projected, but the FCC has still to hand down its decision. It's probably the longest and most pro- tracted case of its kind in radio annals, hence the bombardment s of "What gives?": tossed at' Weil and Hartley. It's also the first known case where an investigation of a seller, rather than a buyer, has held up a decision of station ownership transfer. (FCC examiners have been probing Bulova and his whole radio setup, but even that investi- gation terminated about six months ago.) N.Y. Times' WQXR Keeps Stepping, on Alert Vs. ' Signal Interference Washington,' April 12. New stations planning operations and old ones stepping up ' their power are keeping the New York Times outlet, WQXR, on the alert to protect its signal from interfer- ence. Last week The Times peti- tioned the Fedeiail Communica- tions Commission to hold hearings on applica'nts for stations in: Pat- chogue, N. Y., and to - include WQXR in the proceedings for tes- timony on the effect a grant would, have on its operation. The Times claims that either of two competing applicants in Patchogue, desiring do establish daytime outlets on the 1,580 kc frequency, would be close enough, to its 1,560 kc station to take away some of its audience,- This would happen, said the Times, under its present Ipkw operation . or under its proposed increase to 50kw, which has been pending for some time. ; ■ WQXR Submitted an affidavit by George P. Adair, prominent Wash- ington consulting engineer, de- claring that many listeners in the: New York area purposely use non- selective receivers' to take advan- tage of the ' high fidelity audio quality of the- station's broadcasts. Establishment of a station at 1,560 kc in Patchogue, Adair said, would prevent listeners in the outer i fringe of WQXR's primary seivice area from tuning in the New York outlet. I Recently, The Times filed a peti-1 tion .objecting to the grant: of,50kw poW<ir to WPTR, Albany, N. Y., owned by the Schine chain of thea- tres. WPTR operates as a daytime | station with lOkw power on l,540kc but will become a fuUtime station when its SOkw installation is com- pleted, The Times asked the Com- mission to reconsider its action -and hold a hearing' to enable it to prcr sent evidence on the extent of in- terference which would be caused. The Commission has not yet ruled on this petition. , ' Treasury DepL Multiple-Whirl Star Platters Raising Howls from AFRA To the Rescue Chicago, April 12. If the Gongresssional bo.vs in Washington intend to get rough with radio on the as- siimpton that there are too many. pro-Communist ele- ments riding the kilocycles, the cause of radio will at least 'be championed by the U:: S. Treasury Dept. The Government agency reps, attending the NAB meet to enlist continued radio. sup- port in selling U.S. savings :bonds, have already, tipped' their feelings to the D. C. brasshats, pointing out that ra- dio, alone of an the media, has been responsible for the sale of billions'of dollars in bonds by turning over $25,000,000 in cuffo time for plugs. The Treasury Dept. takes the position; "How can , any industry with this record be accused of Communist leanv ings?" Mutual Joins in to Help Defray $13,000 Expense On NAB Banquet Talent Chicago. April 12. Tab for non-radio talent layout which got a bigtime floor show production tonight (Tues.) in con- nection with the annual NAB ban- quet actually ran $13,000, although efforts had been made to keep the nut down to $10,000. However. Mutual agreed to "come in" and join with the other three webs in defraying the costs of the show, which is being produced-by CBS' Lester Gottlieb. Originally Mu- tual wanted out. Principal talent liick was for nitery comic, Joe E. Lewis, with Dorothy Shay also pacted as a last-minute substitute for Jane Russell, who begged off.:: <: ♦ Chicago, April 12. The Treasury Dept., which ha* : . parlayed a $130,000 a year radio , budgiei into $25,000,000 of free ; radio time, has revealed at the ; NAB convention here that it is ] making- available to stations j throu.6!hout the country a series of 1 five-minute show.5, featurins top ■ stars. Unusu:.! aspect of the Treas^ I iiry Dept. disks is that they will ; be offered free to the stations, but ! the stations in turn will be able ' to sell them .to local sponsors, with the shows thus carrying a regular:; commercial. In addition to the; plugs for U. S. Treastiry Bonds. /Ilowever, no sooner had the : Treasury bo-'S revealed their plans : here than repercussions set in I from the American Federation of i Radio Artists, who may stymie the I multiple showcasing of the pro- i grams. I While A RA doesn't mind Treas- m-y Dept. cuffoing the: transcribed shows to one station in a city, the union does insist that for each additional station in a city : cairy- ing the show the talent be. paid 1 the regular transcription- fee for: I each additional ride. Thus if 14 [ stations in New York City carr.v I the five-minute shows, AFRA ! wants the Treasury Dept. to plunk I down as many fees. I ' The Treasury Dept. maintains • that such, a plan would, of course,- , nix the whole project; that there j isn't that kind of a budget around, j. AFRA recently had. a similar ! run-in with the Navy platters: on - I some cuffo shows that were'given ' a multiple whirl among stations , in the same city. Si. liouiii-—Campaigning on an antivgambling platform, "H. V. Cal- houn, public relations director of: WIBV, the Belleville, 111., News- Democrat station, won the mayor- alty post from the incumbent Ernst W. Tierman, Sr. Before .loining WIBV, Calhoun was superintend'* ent of the Belleville grade: schools. the WOR program that didn't cost thrsponsorn cent! A NEW YORK ADVERTISER had a sci vice to Sell. He bought time on WOR, For every $1 he spent, $5 came back to him. That's advertising! WOR can do that sort of thing for you, too. Because WOR can reach the homes of 36,000,000 people in 18-states at the second lowest cost per thousand of any station of equal power. Because WOR's daytime rate has not changed since 1937, and its base time rate is the same as it was in 1939. Because ... But, Gentlemen, why go on endlessly. We say it, we say it, we say it — again and again: WOR's one of the greatest buys in radio circa 1949! —heard by the most people wfiere the most people are WOR WATCH FOR IT!...WOR-TV-^€hannel 9-kcy station in Mutual's growing television networli