Variety (November 1954)

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RADIO-TELEVISION By ART WOODSTONE Educational; broadcasters never got much attention from their commercial counterparts than dur- ing the convention last week of the National Assn, of Educational Broadcasters. Neither did they ever before have a convention of such magnitude and significance nor one of such sharp controversy. Chief interest centered about, the, FCCv its new chairman, Frank C. McConnaughey and the standard- bearer for most minority causes, 'Comr; Frieda Hennock. By the time the hew FCC head had finished his address last Thursday (28) before the combined Radio-Television Exec Society and NAEB conven- tioneers, commercial tradesters were fairly assured of McCon- naughey’s laissez faire attitudes, but educational video’s supporters Were in a quandar as to their future safety. The academic group, by and Frieda Freeze After new FCC Chairman Frank C: McConnaughey com- pleted his talk at the National Assn, of . Educational Broad- casters luncheon last Thursday (28), guest David Sarnoff, RCA board chairman, turned to Comr. Frieda Hennock on the dais and. commented, “Pretty good speech?” Her ply was biting: “Yes, he gave away all the educational chan- nels and all he left was a phonograph- and a record for the classroom.” Miss Hennock’s after-thought was “RCA no doubt, with Sar- noff teaching French,” large, felt that the chairman's speech augured a suppression of their aims, in educational tv. Others felt that McConnaughey wasn’t aware of the implications of his re- marks re educational video,, fori were he, it was argued, they never Would have been "made;. The chair- man, a self-admitted novice in broadcasting matters, reportedly had his speech penned by a regu- lar FCC employee,..and toward the end, with each succeeding remark, the educators took more and more exception. It was argued in his be- half that McConnaughey's chief concern—and the main reason he W’as brought into office—“are the common carriers and a host of other non-broadcast communication cervices” that'he described in his address. McConnaughey. repeatedly re- called educational broadcasters’ (Continued on page 36) Lots of Brass Heads of the five networks, In one. of the “few times ever” assemblage, were collected at the same table last week. A dazzling array of, commercial broadcasting execs, including Gen. David Sarnoff, Leonard Goldenson, Allen B. DuMont,. Tom O’Neil,.. William S. Paley and Frank. Stanton r . were on hand at the combined NAEB- RTES luncheon to hear new FCC chairman Frank C. Mc- Connaughey. In all, 550 people attended the meeting. The dais was of a “strange bedfellows" compo^ sition,. boasting as it. did, the aforementioned petwork chief- tains,: FCC Cprrirs. Edward Webster, Frieda Hennock and Rose! Hyde; educators : Dr. Buell Gallagher, Sy Siegel and Dr. Armand Hunter; UNer Benjami Cohen, -plus other : commercial broadcasters. Jerry Vernon Gets Chi Nod Vice Jim Stirton Jerry Vernon this week was. named director of ABC-TV’s cen- tral division, replacing James Stir- tori, who moved over to MCA last week. Announcement was made by John Mitchell, v.p. in charge of the ty network, in his first official ac- tion since, taking his . new post. Vernon, who. joined ABC when it became the Blue Network, was sales manager of the division un- der Stirton. Wednesday, November 3, 1054 Toast* Tops ‘Lucy* on ARB October ratings of American Research Bureau puts “Toast of the Town” in the No. 1 rating spot with a whopping 52.3, edging out “I Love: Lucy’s” 52.1. The NBC-TV specs are conspicuously absent from the Top 25 lineup, with CBS-TV’s “Best of Broadway” one-a-month tinted dramas bringing up the Tear in the No. 25 position (although its competition, “This Is Your Life,” grabs off 12th). Cleveland,; Nov. 2. Stepped-up, on-the-spot; radio-tv coverage of the. Sheppard, murder case has brought recognition by prosecution and defense to news coverage ability of the broadcast- ing industry. Previously, defense and prosecu- tion, as -well as court, stressed newspaper highlighting of the case; but gradual recognition of broadcasting's, know-how became evident as attorneys more and more asked prospective jurors their reaction to radio-tv. Case opened with broadcasters forced to take back row to scribbler coverage of the trial with newspapermen . getting front row desk space. Broadcasters, with Ed Wallace d i r e c t i ri g recognition rights, prevailed upon . Judge Ed- ward Biythin to give broadcasters equal coverage and assigned bench space. Judge, however, refused to allow direct courtroom broadcast- ing or tv picture taking. He also barred still photogs. Interest in the case is mounting with WDOK scheduled to do a staterwide indie feed with Ken Bichl at the mike. At least 10 Cleveland and Akron stations are on-the-spot with additional radio coverage. Minneapolis, Nov. 2. Fohowing the CBS withdrawal of its connection with WCCO tv and radio here, the local station and AFL Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are, at loggerheads over the wage scales of 11 WCCO radio technicians and the disagreement threatens; to result in a strike; At the same time, the contract with 50 other WCCO and WMIN union tv employes in other classi- fications has expired and, after sev- eral months’ negotiations, those involved have been unable to agree on a new pact. The CBS network pay for the il WCCO radio technicians’ ran to $150 a week top. But now that WCCO is no longer a CBS network member, the station is seeking to bring'the employes under the lo- cal rate, or $20 a week less. Origi- nally, the station demanded a $26 week slash. In other classifications, unions are seeking to pay boost of approx- imately $16 a week to a range of from $119 to $135, but the stations involved are resisting the demand. ABC TAPS RENAULT TO HELM N. Y. RADIO ABC last week temporarily filled the post of general manager of WABC, the Gotham radio flagship, by naming commercial manager Michael J. Renault to succeed Ted Oberfelder. Renault, who takes over immediately, carries the. title “acting general manager and sales manager,” and in light of the fact that the topdog post at the o&o has traditionally carried a v.p. title, Renault is apparently in on. a tem- porary basis. Oberfelder has already taken over his duties as v.p.-general man- ager of WABC-TV, the sister flag: Ship in N. Y., with v.p. John. Mitch- ell haying moved into his new post aS v.p. in charge of the ABC tele- vision network. Oberfelder plans no immediate changes in the video outlet, but will spend at least a couple of months familiarizing him- I self. With the workings of. televi- sion, a medium-to which he’s new. San Antonio, Nov. % Charles D. Johnson has been tapped to head up the operation of RGBS and KGBS-TV here as soon as the transfer of the prop- erties from Storer Broadcasting to Express Publishing Co. of Sin Antonio takes place, probably in a week or two. Johnson, who moves over from his post as general manr. ager of KOY and KOY-TV in Phoeriix, will be general manager, with Wayne Kearl, formerly assist- ant general manager of: KGMB-TV in Honolulu, stepping in as tv « tional sales chief, Otherwise, the KGBS and KGBS-TV staffs will remain in- tact, according to Frank Huntress Jr., president of Express. Huntress said the two posts were made va- cant by the Storer intention to transfer his execs to new video properties. Express, which pub- lishes the San Antonio Express and the San Antonio Evening News, also ow*ns KTSA, an ABC Radio affiliate here, but is selling the outlet to a local automobile dealer. Hogg’s New Status Phoenix, Nov, 2. John L. Hogg, president of KOY and KOY-TV, is taking over the additional duties of general manager to fill the vpid left by the departure of Albert D. Johnson to San Antonio. Hogg is also com- mercial manager. He said there would be a gen- eral realignment of exec respon- sibilities/but no policy changes as a result of the shuffle. DOW ALSO SPONSORS ‘MEDIC' IN CANADA NBC-TV’s “Medic” series will re- ceive more frequent exposures in Canada than in the U. S. Dow Chem- ical, the sponsor, has arranged to carry the yidpix show over the full tv network (17 stations) of Canadian . Broadcasting Co., but whereas the U. S. edition is pre- empted : every four weeks as a curtsy to the Web’s Monday night spectaculars, the. neighbor version canhot be subjected to such shut- out. Canadian “Medic” kicks Off tonight (Wed.) in the 10 o’clock slot, With Satan Wrap continuing as the plugged product. Deal is for 30 weeks under Dow Chemical of Canada, Ltd. Here’s how ARB (as opposed to picture: Program Toast of the Town I Love Lucy Bob Hope .. — You Bet Your Life Dragnet ....... Jackie Gleason ,.....,.... Godfrey & His Friends I’Ve Got A Secret G, E. Theatre .... Godfrey’s Talent Scouts What’s My Line This Is Your Life Two For The Money Private. Secretary Ford Theatre Burns & Allen Life Of Riley ;,.... Your Hit Parade Fireside Theatre Texaco Star Theatre—O’Connor Studio One ... December Bride Justice Big Story ;;. Best Of Broadway Nielsen) helps to confuse the Network Rating CBS 52.3 CBS 52.1 NBC 47.7 NBC. 46.4 NBC 44.0 CBS 410 CBS 36,9 CBS 35:5 CBS 35.4 CBS 353 CBS 34.8 NBC 34.4 CBS 33.6 CBS 33.2 NBC 33.0 CBS 32.5 NBC 31.5 /■;........... . NBC 31,2 ..... NBC 31.1 NBC 29.1 CBS 28.8 CBS 28.7 NBC 28.7 NBC 28.6 CBS 28.4 The first effects of the new George BarenBegge regime at WABD, N. Y., have: been felt. First, Bill Crawford fills a vacancy of several months by becoming: sales boss, and next, ; Norman Ginsburg is ankling as advertising and pro- motion manager; This all happens in the wake of Norman Knight's official departure as topper on Monday (1)—_ Ginsburg, with the DuMont o&o since '50, is taking that “short va- cation” route before announcing his future plans. Crawford joins WABD after a short haul several weeks ago in a similar sales job with WATV, Newark, and until last January in one with WQR. Nielsen’s second September re- port on the top radio programs shows the Marciano-Charles boxing bout not only at the apex but so far up in the “homes reached” stratosphere that the others in the Top 10 were left as dead in the ring. With the prizefight shut out in tv but carried by CBSound, it rang up a total of 10,589,000 homes. Second was “People Are Funny” With 2,519,000. As one tradester put it, “all ra- dio needs is an exclusive heavy- weight title bout every week.” John Rust last week resigned from the television-radio staff of U.S. Steeh after nine years to go into business for himself as an indie packager. First project On tap is a Faye Emerson starrer, “Crossroads.” Series is based ori Travelers Aid ‘Society files, which involve stories of people “fleeing from reality,” and Rust has already signed Irving Gaynor Neiman as script editor for the series. Pilot on the series, will be shot as soon as Miss Emerson’s rehear- sal schedule is set on her upcom- ing Broadway legiter, “Running Mate.” Rust said the series will probably be filmed, but that hash’t been determined for sure yet. CBS-TV’s Daytime Clients A trio of clients have boarded CBS-TV’s daytime bandwagon. Simoniz is taking a quarter-hour Wednesday segment of the Bob Crosby show starting Jan. 5. A. E. Staley has put in for the Monday 10:15-30 period of the Garry Moore show beginning Jan. 10. Another Moore sponsor is Bris- tol-Myers,. replacing Pacific, Mills on the Monday quartet 1 at 10 o'clock, starting Dec. 6. It will share the period with Masland. Birmingham, Nov. 2. Alabama’s Educational Televi- sion Network, an all VHF Web de- signed to cover 95% of .the state, is* expected to get on the air by Jdn. 1, Commissioner of Education- al TV Raymond Hurlbert reported. Rudy Bretz, who is working as program consultant for the net- work, arrived .in September. It had been planned originally for the network to go on the air sooner, but the supplier didn't deliver the equipment in time. Gov. Gordon Persons, a broad- caster by profession, set up the state net with legislative approval and hired Ed Norton and Thad Holt of the Television Corp. to supervise the construction for him. Only a short time previously Holt and Norton, former member of the: Federal Reserve Board, had sold their AM, FM and TV properties here to the Birmingham News, Hurlbert, who is principal of the schools here, ws made com- missioner. ■ Importance of radio networks in the operation of Broadcast Ad- vertising Bureau is waning, and the webs themselves appear to be the chief, cause for current disi teirest. The: four . radio webs still con- tribute about $100,000 annually to the radio sales promotion outfit’s budget. This is just about what they contributed when BAB was started. At that time, however, it was better than half of the out- fit’s total yearly budget; now it represents less than one-seventh the outlay. Local radio seems to be taking an opposite tack toward promoting itself. All last week there were executive sessions in New York, populated chiefly by indie radi men, opt of. which came the report that by 1957 the annual budget will be increased to $1,000,000 from its current mark of $720,000 or so. It shapes up as though in- die audio operators aim to suggest at the BAB 30-man board meeting on Nov. 16 that the increase be taken care of largely by them. However, there’s no official w'ord on how it was proposed the im crease be taken care of; it prob- ably .won’t come until after the board sessions. BAB Will “increase local sales efforts, 1 ’ it .was learned after the week-long committee meetings. What that was reported to mean was that the promotion group in- tends carrying local and regional pitches into 70 markets instead of the current 27. Such a move (Continued on page 38) To Do Liebman Spec London, Nov. 2. Max Bygraves, British comic who made his fourth appearance in a Royal Command vaude show Nov. 1 this week at the London Palladi- um, has been inked to star in a Max Liebman spectacular in the spring. Bygraves will leave for New York in .April after his Pal- ladium pantomime stint. Apart from one or two guest ap- pearances, this will be Bygraves’ : U. S, tele debut. He was in the Palace package with the Judy Gar- land show and subsequently played with her in San Francisco. Chicago, Nov. 2. Motorola’s predictions that it would turn, out between 20,-25,000 color sets, this year’s model, have been, revised downward because of a bottleneck in component parts. In a letter to stockholders accompany-* ing. the firm’s third quarter finan- cial report, prexy Paul Galvin said it is impossible to forecast the color production during the bal- ance of the year because “delivery of certain parts is still somewhat uncertain.” Motorola’s tint receivers, using the 19-i,nch CBS-Columbia tube were introduced Sept. 30, a. month later than, was. previously planned, because of the production delays. . Firm’s net sales during the third period were $47,038,843, down slightly from the $49,070,159 regis- tered last year. Per share earning were 90c, compared with 79c in the 1953 quarter. Nine months earn- ings totaled $4,590,067, or $2,37 a share, compared with $6,176,837, or $3.19 a sharet for the 1953 period.