Variety (December 1954)

44 RADIO-TELEVISION Wednesday, December 15, 1954 Radio Still Boss in N. Y. on Italo (Etc.) Programming; TV 'Just a Promise’ One of the morsels that radio is not easily relinquishing to video, in New York particularly, is its powerful hold on foreign language programming, Italian most of all. For at least a year trade crystal- bailers have been proclaiming the “near at hand” status of special- ized appeal programs on tv, but in the metropolitan area matters have been just crawling along. Still on the agenda is WATV’s (Newark) oft-announced 28 hours weekly of Italio programming. On the word of Ferd Pettinella, of the Italo ad agency plugging for WATV telecast time, it would seem to be a fact that bankrollers who might have an interest in appeal- ing to Italians are currently logged at radio indie WOV, and give WATV exponents the brush or a “let’s wait until you get the tv shows on before we make a deci- sion.” And neither Pettinella nor WATV appears to be in a position to go on with even part of the 28 hours until a fair amount of adver- tising is assured. La Rosa spaghet- ti so far, and Medaglia d’Oro coiTee are inked, with two other potentials understood to be in “conversational” stages.” Another point, contributing to the inability of video to grab hold in Italian programming, is believed to be the fact that Pettinella is an agency as well as producer, and as such has difficulty “getting to” other ad agencies handling Italo ac- counts. A diagram of the WATV-Italian setup would show' that plans were stopped three times in a brief his- tory; first, Oct. 15 was the start- ing date. Then it was Nov. 1, with Nov. 15 following in short order. Pettinella cautiously declares now that it’s “tentatively” set for Jan. 10. , Also understood to be a problem is difficulty of finding enough Italo film material. The vidfilm (prob- ably in the form of foreign pro- duced features) would constitute a major portion of any low budgeted foreign language vidcast, but there’s been some money hurdles In converting from 35 to 16m. prints. WATV is the only N. y. tele out- let that has established any reason- ably strong identification with spe- cialized programming. It has late- ly gotten two half-hours for the Latino viewers (one inherited from WOR-TV) and has also con- tracted to do some Anglo-Yiddish stuff through the Joseph Jacobs organization. There are now, and have been from time to time, limit- ed attempts at Negro showcasing, but nowhere in N. Y. has there been an attempt to do more than one specialized show at a time, ex- cept at WATV. Of course, the south has shows with Negro appeal; the southwest goes in to a large degree for Latino telecasting. Major markets, how- ever, don’t seem to have gone too much beyond N. Y. in foreign and/or specialized exposures. N. Y.’s slowness is believed to hinge on the fact that Gotham mi- nority groups do not own substan- tially enough receivers to make tv expenditures worth while—this de- spite trade reports of “greatly in- creased” numbers of receivers among them. Phenix City —^ Continued from page 1 bama House of Representatives, and then sent telegrams, asking for a “full and complete retraction of the charge by innuendo that I killed Sen. Patterson, such retrac- tion to be made over the same net- work and the same program.” “I feel that I have been libeled, along with the rest of the Russell Betterment Assn.,” he said. He also sent telegrams to WBRC-TV in Birmingham and WAGA-TV, Atlanta. CBS in New York said the script was fictional. It could not be determined whether the author Carey Wilbur is related to Crane Wilbur, who spent some time irt Phenix City this past summer working on the screenplay, “Phe- nix City” for Sam Bischoff of Al- lied Artists. The day after Bentley made his charges at CBS and “Studio One,” Arch Ferrell, deposed Circuit Soli- citor of Russell County, and ex- chief deputy Albert Fuller were arrested and charged with first de- gree murder in the slaying of Al- bert Patterson, attorney general elect of the state. A third indict- ment remains unserved. CBS Disclaimer Monday night's (13) “Studio One” tagged a disclaimer to the tail-end of the show, via voice over a slide showing “CBS.” Text follows; “All dramatic material present- ed by CBS-TV on ‘Studio One’ is intended to and does represent the portrayal of creative, fictional writing of its authors. No events or characters are drawn from or modeled upon actual events or ac- tual living persons. Anything to the contrary unless otherwise an- nounced is coincidental. Last Monday evening’s play, “Short Cut,” was an original work of fic- tion and its dramatic production was not intended to represent by events or character portrayals, in- ferentially or otherwise, that Mr. Hugh Bentley of Phenix City, Ala., had any connection with the death of Albert Patterson.” For Lovers Only Miami, Dec. 14. Miami’s (Fla.) newest audio indie, WAHR, is airing a mid- night-to-2-ayem stanza, “ex- clusively to those who are in love.” . A masked deejay holds forth, spouting romantic verse and philosophy between soft musical numbers. Show, called “Midnight Masquerader,” hopes to follow other resort town programs into a local bistro or hotel lounge. CBC Alerted To Revenue Squeeze In Annual Report Ottawa, Dec. 14. Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s annual report (1953-54) showed a surplus of $6,567,862 and held a threat that the govt.-backed radio and television system would have to look for upped revenues soon. CBC’s revenue increase in the year covered by the report came mostly from excise taxes on video receiving sets. The corp. points out that those revenues will de- cline as the Canadian video public reaches a saturation point in- buy- ing while costs of tv operation will continue to soar. The report indicated jobs immediately ahead for CBC included increasing qual- ity and quantity of Canadian shows in French and English, developing program production in regional centres (CBC tv shows originate chiefly in Toronto and Montreal now ), providing national web serv- ice to seven CBC and 16 privately- owned stations with more to come, commitments for a coast-to-coast video network, and planning for color television. Formerly, CBC revenues came from a tax on each radio set, levied annually. Current revenue from tax on sales of tv sets will decline as sales decline and CBC doesn’t expect commercial reve- nues will meet main production and distribution costs even if the commercial take increases. CBC television reports a $5,283,000 sur- plus, radio a surplus of $1,283,895. Corp. got $11,306,745 for sound airing and $11,703,149 for televi- sion from the federal govt. Largest expenditures (programming) were $7,575,176 for sound and $4,128,- 139 for tv. Video surplus will go to financing capital projects al- ready under way, and radio sur- plus will be used for replacements. Television revenue, slightly more than $13,000,000, got its principal use in providing basic national pro- gram service to affiliated non-CBC stations, and nearly 25% went to general talent expenditures. WCAU Big Push Continued from page 32 ; fad nor a passing fancy. Viewing hours have increased yearly, ris- ing to an average high of five hours, six minutes a day in 1954, as compared with four hours, 25 minutes daily spent by the set owner of 1950. Popular acceptance of television as a fundamental of every day life is pointed up in the presentation. In just seven years there are as many tv sets in use as there were automobiles after 39 years; as there were electric refrigerators after 31 years, and as there were radios after 22 years. Television has affected consumer purchasing habits to the extent that advertisers must alter their marketing philosophy. TV pro- vides an opportunity for exploiting new markets and introducing new I products into established markets, i I How this has created a new way of business is demonstrated by WCAU-TV case histories, graphi- cally presented, showing how tv is making the home the point of sale. “A New Way of Life—A New Way of Business” was developed by George Goldman, station pro- motion jnanager, and Frank Elliott, sales development director, with McGredy. Presentation will be shown to advertisers, business groups and at national sales meet- ings,around the country. TV Cycle No. 3 Continued from page 31 trade—that it’s not only a case of how good you are but "who is your competition.” When Berle had the tv- field to himself for nearly half a decade, Tuesday 8 to 9 was ana- thema for anyone trying to com- pete. Then along came Bishop Sheen as the DuMont 8 to 8:30 en- try with its formidable station line- up, cutting into the Berle ratings and paving the way for the “I Love Lucy” ascendancy into the No. 1 slot. For “Lucy” is was clear sail- ing, for Monday 9 to 9:30 on NBC and the other rival networks of- fered nothing to stand in the way —that is, until the emergence this season of “Medic,” which is becom- ing just strong enough to make the “Lucy” time period vulnerable. In Gleason’s favor as the likely successor to inherit the Nielsen crown are two major factors; (1) he’s probably the hottest comedy commodity around at the moment; (2) Saturday 8 to 9 on CBS-TV is less vulnerable to major compete tion than most any other hour on the tv spectrum. NBC had hoped the Mickey Rooney series (8 to 8:30) would help turn the trick, but stacked up against Gleason’s popularity the Rooney show is a | weakie. Toni (in the 8:30 to 9 peri- od) is pinning its hopes on the new Mitzi Green “This Is Hollywood” series, which bows next month as replacement for “Place the Face.” But until such time that, like Berle and “Lucy” before him, the com- petition begins to get rough, Glea- son stands the best chance to rule the Cycle No. 3 domain. Ham Shea Continued from page 32 and-ten” news pitches through the morning line, with here and there an on-the-spot pickup inserted via Gabriel Pressman, the station’s re- cently installed roving newsman. Kenneth Banghart will start his capsule kick at 1 p.m. and Ben Grauer will contribute to the ab- breviated sessions at noon and 2 and 3 o’clock. The Pressman coverage will go into upswing as of this week via a mobile unit encased in a station wagon equipped with police phone, tape and a special amecne for the ex-World Telegram & Sun staffer. Pressman is charged with turning out an “around the city” documen- tary every six weeks as added chores to his daily beat. Upbeat extends also to sports, with Jimmy Powers’ “Powerhouse of the Air” a crossboard quarter- hour at 6:15 p.m. (understood Pow- ers will quit his WPIX telecasting shortly, though continuing with the NBC-TV Gillette fights on Friday). In addition, Lindsey Nelson, assist- ant sports director of the web, will do a local athleticast capsule at 11:15 nightly. Highly competitive also is the disk jockey side. With Bill Randle drafted by WCBS from his Cleve- land platter post for a 205-minute Saturday afternoon spin session, WRCA countered with its coup d’wax, grabbing A1 (Jazzbo) Col- lins from WNEW for a cross-the- board deejay kick launched Mon- day (13) in the 12:05 to 1 p.m. slot. Starting Jan. 8 Collins will gel a three-hour (9 to noon) Saturday stanza and will also operate five-a- week nighttime for a half-hour at 10:30. Also in line for building up Saturday (with the competing grid season over) is a four-hour (2 to 6) grouping involving newscaster John Wingate as anchorman, disk jockey Bill Hanrahan, Pressman, Powers and Phil Alampi, the out- let’s agricultural and “do it your- self” authority. This one will also be launched Jan. 8 with Bill Berns and Steve White as the production masterminds (Berns is WRCA and WRCA-TV’s news and special events chief; White is WRCA pro- gram bossman). KANG-TV Sale Okayed Waco, Tex., Dec. 14. Federal Communications Com- mission has approved the sale of KANG-TV, operated by the Cen- tral Television Co., Inc., to the Texas Broadcasting Corp. of Aus- tin. KANG-TV operates on Chan- nel 34. Sales price was reported as $134,000,000 of which $115,000 was cash. The Austin group is headed by Mrs. Lyndon Johnson, wife of the senior Texas, Senator, and operates KTBC and KTBC-tV. WSAZ-TV CHANNEL 1 BASIC NBC NETWORK WATTS ERP HUNTINGTON CHARLESTON ■but salesmen INDUSTRIAL uniimmw J : . * * ♦ I I TV Code Lauded By Juve Probers Washington, Dec. 14. Senate Juvenile Delinquency Subcommittee lauded the video in- dustry code last’ week and indi- cated it will not have time to do anything about motion pictures in its study unless the next Senate, commencing in January, authorizes a continuance of its work. The term of Sen. Robert C. Hen- drickson, subcommittee* chairman, ends the beginning of January and the committee is slated to expire Jan. 31 unless it is given a new lease on life. Its final report must be submitted before the end of January. In the event the next Demo- cratic-controlled Senate extends the committee’s life, there is a good possibility of hearings on whether motion pictures contrib- ute to juvenile delinquency. There were two days of hearings on tele- vision. Hendrickson commented in a statement that ‘despite blanket denials of our criticism,” the "great weight of the major portion of the television industry shows both intelligence and responsibility by its forthright statement.” Ref- erence was to a statement by the Television Code Review Board of the National Assn, of Radio and Television Broadcasters, admitting code violations in some of the tele- vised films shown during juvenile hours of watching. Packard-Studebaker Buys ABC News Capsules Packard-Studebaker has bought into the ABC Radio new» capsule operation for an 11-day period be- ginning Jan. 10, when the new models for the firm appear. Sched- ule calls for 12 nighttime news- casts a week, Mondays, Wednes- days. Thursdays and Fridays, at 8:25. 9:25 and 10:25 p. m. ABC originated the capsule set- up last month for a three-week new model splurge by Oldsmobile, and has been carrying the quickies sustaining since. News segments will stay on after the Packard-Stu- debaker exposure as a shortterm saturation buy for any and all takers. Utah Symph’s Sponsor Salt Lake City, Dec. 14. Utah Copper Division of Kenne- cott Copper has inked to pick up the tab of 12 hour-long broadcasts of the Utah Symphony Orchestra. This is the fifth year the copper company has sponsored the show, which will be aired Tuesdays at 8:30, starting Jan. 11, over KSL, local CBS outlet. Allen Jensen will be back as commentator and Joe Kjar will handle commercial pitch. WMGM S TEENAGE BENEFIT N. Y. radio indie WMGM is teaming up with the Park Sheraton Hotel on Dec. 26 in a teenage benefit for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund. Outlet has deejay Bill Silbert emceeing the affair, which runs three hours that Sab- bath afternoon in the hotel’s main ballroom. Aim is to line up as many disk faves as possible, with teenage ad- mission price (of a dime and up) going to the Fund. 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