Variety (December 1954)

* 32 RADIO-TELEVISION Wednesday, December 15, 1954 ‘NEWSREEL’ DRAINING CAMEL DRY IN INVITATION FOR CO-SPONSORSHIP f Deal is currently being nego- tiated for joint sponsorship of the “Camel Newsreel,” with another Client picking up the tab for at least one evening a week. Camel (R. J. Renyolds) which until now has had exclusive identity with the five-times-a-week John Caremon Swayze stanza, has served notice that the tab is getting w'ay out of hand and wouldn’t be averse to another bankroller pitching in with coin. Cost of “Camel Newsreel” has gone up 30% over last season and, as the most expensive news show in tv annals, now runs somewhere in the neighborhood of $8,000,000 annually on a time-and-production basis. (News clips for the show are shot all over the world.) While NBC acknowledges that there’s a. “priority list” of potential clients to get Camel off the hook for at least one and perhaps two eve- nings a week, it’s understood Ben- rus already has turned down the offer on the basis that Swayze is so indelibly stamped as a Camel salesman as to dissipate the show’s value for any other client. None- theless, NBC is proceeding with plans for the shared sponsorship arrangement. Situation parallels that of Lucky Strike and its "Hit Parade,” with show and client over the years be- coming practically synonymous. Last year Lucky Strike, in a bid to retrench o n th e _£piraling cost of the show, agreed to dual sponsor- ship, Crosley tried it for one season and then bowed out. This season Wamer-Hudnut stepped in as the alternate-week sponsor. Thus far it’s been sticking. Camel move comes on the heels of still another ciggie outfit—Philip Morris—appealing for help and agreeing to shared sponsorship to get relief from tv’s high cost, re- sulting in Procter & Gamble step- ping into the “I Love Lucy” pic- ture. In the case of “Lucy” it’s no secret that PM never achieved a sales story commensurate with the show’s No. 1 Nielsen status. Crime Payoff On last week’s “Studio One” Jackie Gleason played a state senator named prosecutor in a crime cleanup. On Jan. 6, Art Carney, fea- tured comic in Gleason’s CBS- TV Saturday nighter, will play a private eye on the web’s “Climax.” Big 10 Straddles On Bolting NCAA Detroit, Dec. 14. The Big Ten football conference, winding up its annual meeting here, strengthened its demand for regional football tv but straddled the fence on whether it will bolt the NCAA which has controlled college football tv up to now. Big Ten statement said: "This joint group (athletic directors and faculty representatives) declares that an NCAA television program of the character in operation this season is entirely unacceptable to the Big Ten. The joint group af- firms its belief that a program of nationally controlled regional tele- vision, such as the conference has proposed in the past, is the most suitable plan for NCAA controls and the conference will strongly urge such a plan upon the NCAA. The conference is proceeding to investigate the procedure neces- sary to implement the conclusion stated above prior to the national convention in January.” Bill Reed, assistant commission- er of the Big Ten, said “We are facing up to the possible necessity of the Big Ten taking independent action, but we can’t say at this time we will go independent if the regional program is turned down again.” Reed said the conference ath- letic leaders expect to decide on a possible walkout before the NCAA meets next month in New York. Look to AFTRA’s Chi WGN Dickers As New Pattern Chicago, Dec. 14. As happened two years ago, Chi- cago has again become the focal point in the finalization of the new American Federation of Radio- Television Artists contracts gov- erning radio-tv talent at the na- tional and local levels. Although agreements have been reached with the networks, final signing is pending completion of the Windy City bargaining. AFTRA and WGN have again locked horns, this time over the pension and welfare plan which has been okayed by the tv webs. In 1952 the stalement with the Chi Tribune station and WLS resulted in a walkout. In place of the p&w formula for tv talent, WGN has offered a 10% hike in scales which apparently has the support of a majority of the station’s staff- ers. As the only network-affiliated indie, WGN-TV has been negotiat- ing individually, while the other three web-owned stations have been meeting jointly. In the face of the WGN-TV oppo- sition to the p&w setup, the NBC, CBS and ABC bargainers who have come to terms with the union on all significant issues, are now seeking a so-called “favored na- tions” clause which would open their pacts to arbitration should AFTRA sign a basically different contract with another manage- ment. The p&w principle was es- tablshed for the Chi o&o’s by their parent companies during the na- tional talks in New York. At a meeting last week the AFTRA membership ratified the national agreements and author- ized the local board to order a strike if necessary. A joint session of the local and national boards has been called this week to plot the next moves. Sullivan Taking No Chances on Colgate’s Martin & Lewis Bow CBS and NBC playech it the “Come-On-A My House” television way on Sunday (12) to build up their upcoming Sabbath exposures in the 8 to 9 p.m. slot. Ed Sulli- van’s “Toast of the Town” took the unusual route of ballying next Sunday’s array of 14 stars (some of ’em in film clips) in the next-to- closing spot. Sullivan show appar ently feared that the house trailer in the regular sequence (at closing) might be shut out by the time element, as often happens. The Lincoln-Mercury program had in mind, of course, the fact that the competitive Colgate “Comedy Hour” will bring in Mar- tin & Lewis for their first appear- ance this season. The Colgate show had a trailer of its own, of course. DuM’s Tor Sale’ Tag In N.Y„ D.C. With DuMont having unloaded its most valuable telecasting prop- erty, Pittsburgh’s WDTV, in a $9,750,000 deal with Westinghouse last week, it’s now reliably reported that the for-sale sign is up on the two other DuMont o&o’s, WABD in New York and WTTG in Washington. Although there’s no deal for either outlet imminent, DuMont has let it be known that the stations can be had, and talks are scheduled to begin this week with at least a couple of pros- pective buyers. Web stands a better chance of unloading WABD than WTTG. New York outlet has the best dial position in the Gotham market, with the exception of WCBS-TV and WRCA-TV. On Channel 5, it’s the next spot up the dial from the latter two stations, which dominate the Gotham satings. Trade has traditionally looked upon WABD as the strongest potential challenger to the supremacy of NBC and CBS in the market, and as an independent, it’s viewed as a likely emulator of KTTV in Los Angeles. Station moreover has operated in the black, which only three others of Gotham’s outlets can claim to have done. Believed that the asking price for the outlet will be somewhat above $5,000,000. Sale of WTTG is viewed as a more difficult project, since Washington’s 500,000-odd setowners are deemed inadequate to support four profitable sta- tions. WMAQ’s ‘Bootlegged’ Council Airing Chi NBC Station Pulls Off a Surprise, But Nobody’s Tippin’ How It Was Done DuM’s ’55 Iffy’ Pro-Grid Status, But Giants Sure It isn’t expected that DuMont will do much pro football next year, especially after the way the web was singed this season when the whole of each nationally-tele- vised game wasn’t sponsored. A little known fact, however, is that when Tom McMahon ankled as Du- Mont sports director last week, he left the new sports head, Jimmy Dolan, a legacy of at least some pro grid in ’55—probably to be seen on a regional N. Y.-New England basis: The N. Y. football Giants inked at the beginning of this season with McMahon through ’56. Exactly what DuMont lost this year in its arrangement with nine of the 12 National Football League clubs through its other coin com- mitments, including line charges for the complex grid coverage, won’t be known definitely, accord- ing to one source, until Booz, Allen & Hamilton accountancy (in to check on the web’s overall “to be or not to be” status) gets into the matter more deeply. Web had only Schick for a quarter-sponsor- ship and several regional ties this year. Dolan stepped up to replace Mc- Mahon (who ankled to become ex- ecutive of a family business) Hoops, Sorry! CBS-TV’s Big 10 basketball | preem on Saturday (11), slotted 3 to 4:30, drove “Camera Three” off a local floor by running some nine minutes past its spotting. “Camera” is the widely kudosed cultural stanza on WCBS-TV, N.Y. As a result of the not unexpected conflict, the station has switched “Camera” to a Sunday berthing at 11:30 to noon, with “Space Fun- nies” vacating 11 to 12 to go 9 to 10. To cover the flexible basketball situation, the CBS flagship will an- chor a sports session under Jim McKay at the finish of the hoop-la. McKay, incidentally, was not re- newed by Dutch Masters Cigars for the M-W-F days of his cross- board “Six O’Clock Report” seg- ment, but Palmolive stepped into the breach for its Rapid-Shave, via the Esty agency. Tuesday and Thursday are held by Plymouth. Ham Shea’s ‘Accentuate the Radio’ Steps Up Hot WRCA-WCBS Rivalry L-M Renews Lombardo Guy Lombardo’s New York tele- show has been renewed by Lincoln- Mereury Dealers, although only a couple of weeks back it looked like it wasn't getting the nod. After a series of huddles be- tween the client and Kenyon & Eckhardt agency, they agreed to continue the Friday at 7 p in. musi- cal stanza over WRCA-TV. As his first major activity since being elevated to a veepee of NBC, Hamilton Shea, general manager of the web’s New York stations, is setting the WRCA (radio) side of the house in order, planning against the day when more and more network slots becomes avail- able. Shea didn’t put it that way last week, his first exposure under the new v.p. chevrons, but from the “planned commotion” at his station and elsewhere in the bit- terly contested Gotham rivalry for aural supremacy, it’s obvious that toppers are leaving no “ear’* un- tuned to reshuffle their scheduled against “der tag.” Last week, for instance. WCBS, the Columbia arm, realigned a sub- stantial part of its log, most of it | early morning and late-night pro- gramming. and WRCA, too. has made some alterations in the night- owl slottings. The NBC radio flag- ship’s current concentration is pegged on fortifying the early a.m. stanzas, based on studies establish- ing that not only are the customers demanding more and more news programs in the early breakfast spots but that they want ’em “hard and quick,” in short, the shorter (five and 10 minutes) the better. The new approach to the news i is part of a national trend toward an upbeat in service skeds, mean- ing news, reviews, weather, market reports, etc., with a change of pace via music segments. Thus, starting in the New Year, WRCA will toss Bob Wilson into the 6:30-40 news spot, with Howard Reig’s five-min- ute news stanza coming in at 7 o’clock and the web’s fixture, “World News Roundup,” getting an exposure from 7:30 to 7:45. Wilson and Reig will operate their “five- (Continued on page 44) Terry Turner is an advocate of Air Built Titles for Theatre Pix on* of the many editorial features in the 49th Anniversary Number of Z'SkIety DUE SOON CBS The Winnah As Helene Curtis Buys Pro Father’ CBS has won out over NBC in the competitive jockeying for the Helene Curtis tv business. It was a case of CBS handing over the Saturday night at 10 segment, whereas the best NBC had to offer was Sunday afternoon at 5:30. Initially Helene Curtis was all for reviving the Jessica Tandy- Hume Cronyn “Marriage” series in the Sunday NBC period. But when Columbia announced that Ply- mouth was vacating the Saturday berth upon cancellation of “That’s My Boy,” Helene Curtis had a change of heart and grabbed the latter. At the same time the cli- ent bought a new CBS-TV situation comedy series. “Professional Father,” which will originate (via film) on the Coast. "Father” will be stacked up against the George Gobel show in the Saturday at 10 slot. Meanwhile, NBC may go ahead with the “Marriage” slotting in the Sunday 5:30 period, but this is contingent on whether Sunbeam takes the time to retain “Ethel and Albert.” Chicago, Dec. 14. Members of the Chicago City council who happened to tune in WMAQ, NBC’s Chi station. Sunday night (12) got a big, fat surprise. The station was airing an hour of taped highlights of two council sessions of the week before. At one of the sessions the city fathers were voting 29-14 to continue their ban on radio and tv coverage. Nobody at the NBC plant is giv- ing out any details on how the coup was pulled off in defiance of the latest council redlight on elec- tronic coverage. Since the meet- ings were open to the public, it apparently was done by smuggling in a tape recorder and a battery pack. The bootlegged WMAQ airer is the latest development in the 10- year battle by the radio-tv news- men to crack the City Hall aver- sion to mikes and cameras. Ex- cept for a few okays on specific meetings, the council members have consistently refused a blanket approval of regular coverage. Chi NBC news director William Ray has played a leading role in trying to convince the council that radio-tv should have an entry into the sessions. It was his latest in a series of petitions that resulted in last week’s renewal of the ban. In his remarks introducing 'the Sunday night broadcast, Ray point- ed out there is no law against re- cording and broadcasting city council meetings. “The council merely refuses to allow us to bring our regular recording equipment into its chamber or to attach it to its public address system—which would assure a broadcast of the best quality,” he asserted. He added: “To us, the council’s actions were exactly equivalent to excluding newspaper reporters from its public sessions. Should the council attempt that, every newspaper in Chicago would find a way to learn what was going on inside that chamber, and would re- port it fully despite all attempts to bar its reporters. Democratic governments cannot long survive unless the people Jtnow what their elected representatives are doing. Acting on the same principle, I have obtained a recording of last week’s council sessions.” TEX BENEKE’S PHILLY NEW YEAR’S EVE AIRER Philadelphia, Dec. 14. Tex Beneke and his orchestra have been signed by WCAU-TV to originate a “live” New Year’s Eve program from the WCAU Televi- sion Center. Program will be tabbed “Tex Beneke’s New Year’s Eve Dancing Party” and will run from 11:30 p. m. to 3 a. m. By special ar- rangement with the United Service Organizations, a group of 50 serv- icemen and 50 USO hostesses will be guests at the party and dance to the Beneke music. Refreshments for the service guests will be served by station execs and civic leaders. WCAU Big Push: ‘Ain’t TV Grand’ Philadelphia, Dec. 14. Rapid rise of television to the No. 1 mass medium is the theme for a new WCAU-TV oral and vis- ual sales presentation. Titled “A New Way of Life—A New Way of Business,” 30-minute presentation was unveiled last week, before an audience of CBS-TV spot salesman by Robert M. McGredy, WCAU-TV sales director. Primary purpose of the presenta- tion, which charts the great ad- vances made by tv in the last seven years, is to acquaint non-television advertisers with the tremendous possibilities offered by the .me- dium. Principal message in the presen- tation is that television is not a (Continued on page 44)