Broadcasting (Jan - June 1936)

Elliott Roosevelt Joins Hearst Radio Becomes Executive of Publisher's Interests, Heading KTSA, KNOW; Many Offers for Rest of SBS Group PRESIDENT'S SON NOW HEARST EXECUTIVE ELLIOTT ROOSEVELT, son of 1 the President, who since last September has been vice president and sales promotion manager of the Southwest Broadcasting System, on 1 March 10 became vice president of Hearst Radio Inc., operating company for Hearst-owned broadcast ! ing stations. At the same time the 28 year old broadcaster became j president of the KTSA Broadcasting Co., licensee of KTSA, San ; Antonio, and the KUT Broadcasting Co., licensee of KNOW, Austin, Tex., personally filing formal ap ' plications with the FCC in Washington for voluntary transfers of I the ownership of those two sta i tions to Hearst interests. j As exclusively reported in the ' March 1 issue of Broadcasting, sale of the two units of the Southwest Broadcasting System to Hearst, subject to FCC approval, was consummated late in February for a combined price of $225,000. KTSA was purchased for $180,000, and will be operated in connection with Hearst's San An ' tonio Light. KNOW was pur t chased for $45,000, the first sta " tion to be acquired by Hearst in a city in which he has no news i paper. j| Besides having his name on the ,1 FCC applications, young Roosevelt's name also appeared as one of the five directors of the KTSA Broadcasting Co. in a charter granted March 9 at the state capitol in Austin, Tex. The other directors named are W. M. Mcintosh, publisher of the San Antonio Light; Emile J. Gough, general manager of Hearst Radio; R. F. McCauley, New York, and W. L. Mathews, attorney for the San AnLj tonio Light. I'l Young Roosevelt informed Broadcasting that he will continue to make his headquarters in Fort Worth, and that he is still vice president of Southwest. He declined to verify or deny reports that he, in company with William P. Day, executive vice president of Lambert & Feasley Inc., New York agency, has secured an opj j tion to purchase the remaining ! I three units of the Southwest netI work— namely, KTAT, Fort Worth; j WACO, Waco, and KOMA, Oklai homa City. He admitted, however, \ that Mr. Day is definitely "interi ested in the radio business genI erally" and from other sources it ( was indicated that such an option, j or at least a sale agreement, ex1 ists. |i, Ofifers for Others [lee H. ARMER, president of i Southwest, who was also in Washj ington March 9, sa d the other ' Southwest stations were not for sale, although he asserted that offers from various interests for the whole group and for the individual stations have been received. The sale of the two units to Hearst interests naturally was admitted, since the applications became a matter of record at the FCC. Mr. Armer asserted, however, that Southwest will continue to operate as a network and will carry out its commercial commitments, though it was evident that, assuming the MR. ROOSEVELT FCC grants the transfer, the maintenance of the network depends upon Hearst plans. Whether Hearst will acquire the other three stations either directly from the present ownership, represented by A. P. Barrett of Fort Worth and Mr. Armer, or through the intermediary of Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Day, remained in doubt as Broadcasting went to press. "Not on the Market" MR. ARMER asserted that the stations were "not on the market" but he admitted that various offers have been received not only from Hearst but from the publishers of the Oklahoma City Oklohoman, operators of WKY, Oklahoma City, and KLZ, Denver, seeking KOMA; from the Griffin wholesale grocery interests, operating KTUL, Tulsa; from the publishers of the Amarillo (Tex.) Globe-News, operators of KGNC, Amarillo, and prospective purchasers of KFYO, Lubbock, Tex., and from interests believed to be acting together in behalf of the Jesse Jones radio and newspaper interests (owning all three Houston stations) and the Amon Carter radio and newspaper interests (WRAP, Fort Worth, and KGKO, Wichita Falls). None of these offers, however, has been seriously entertained, he said. Mr. Day's entry into the picture is believed to have been prompted by young Roosevelt, a close personal friend. Knowing that the Southwest stations might be procured, it is believed that Mr. Roosevelt approached Mr. Day to interest him in going into the radio business. Mr. Day is also an intimate friend of T. J. White, general manager of the Hearst enterprises. In some quarters it was stated that Hearst also is seriously contemplating purchasing the other three stations and himself maintaining the Southwest network, but the price factor may be balking the other purchases. Lambert & Feasley's biggest account is the Lambert Pharmacal MR. HEARST Co., St. Louis (Listerine), which in the past has used radio considerably, having for one season sponsored the Metropolitan Opera over the NBC networks. Mr. Day's agency also handles such radiousing accounts as Phillips Petroleum Co., Bartlesville, Okla., and Pro phy lac tic Brush Co., Florence, Mass. Mr. Roosevelt's personal acquaintance with Mr. Day dates back to the time when the President's son, newly graduated from Harvard, went to work for the Albert Frank advertising agency in New York. New Lucky Strike Series AMERICAN TOBACCO Co., New York (Lucky Strike cigarettes) on May 2 will make its maiden appearance on a network of 93 CBS stations. The Saturday night program on NBC is signed to run until late in April. The new CBS program, Saturdays, 10 11 p. m., will also be titled Your Hit Parade, and Carl Hoff , at present on NBC for Luckies, may be given the spot. The sponsor has started a new series of Wednesday night programs on an NBC-WEAF network, 8-9 p. m. Ray Sinatra's orchestra was selected after numerous bands had been tried out in the Saturday night spot to get audience's reaction. Lord & Thomas, New York, is the agency. New Ohio Network A NEW hookup of Ohio stations, linked to carry both commercials and sustainings, is reported under way, with tentative plans to begin operating by April 1 and with Mrs. Edythe Melrose, manager of WJAY, Cleveland, as its general manager. It will be known as Ohio Network Inc., and besides WJAY it will link WSPD, Toledo; WKBN, Youngstown; WBNS, Columbus, and an unnamed Cincinnati station. National representatives for the group will be Aerial Publicizing Inc., New York. Warners Consider Own Network Plan Threat to Compete With Major Nationwide Chains Issued WARNER BROS., giant motion picture concern which is figuring prominently in the music copyright turmoil, is contemplating a "third network", according to Harry M. Warner, president. At the time of his departure from Hollywood March 4 for New York, Mr. Warner said he was working on such a plan, but details were lacking. Herman Starr, vice president of Warner in New York, conferred with his chief upon his arrival March 9 upon the broadcasting "plan". He informed Broadcasting afterward that there would be no enlargement upon the statement originally made by Mr. Warner. The announcement was greeted by the broadcasting industry with skepticism. The only possibility of setting up another major network enterprise of the scope apparently envisioned by the Warner official would be to use Mutual Broadcasting System as a nucleus, and that development is discounted at once for obvious reasons. Physical station facilities are not available for another network on anything approaching a nationwide basis. Music Performance THE WARNER idea for a network evidently grows out of a desire to perform Warner music over the air on large scale. The major networks and about 75% of all stations, since Jan. 1, have been doing without Warner music, with the result that the value of the Warner catalogs has been sharply diminished. It is said there has not been a Warner hit since the new year began. The Warner statement was that if networks and stations do not sign for performance of the Warner catalogs, then Warner will go into competition with the networks and in that way insure performance of its music, so vital in the advertising of Warner pictures. It was asserted also that Warner houses would not return to the ASCAP fold and that the network plan would be worked out in a "few months" with the idea of approaching agencies for next fall's business. Mr. Warner asserted that songwriters on the Warner rolls, who have been chafing over non-performance of their works, would get rich returns from the network operation. General Electric Discs GENERAL ELECTRIC Co., Schenectady (refrigerators) on March 19 will begin a WBS transcription series, Tuesdays and Thursdays, during morning hours, on about 50 stations. Contracts are for 13 weeks. Eddy & Ralph will be the talent on the 15-minute programs. A partial list of stations follows: WOR, WKBO, WLAC, KSL, WIS, WGY, WBEN, WDAF, WFBR, KGHL, WJR, KMOX, WAIU, WAVE, KOMO, WRAK, WTAM, WTIC, WCAU, WKY, KGO, KOIN, WTMJ, WBZ, WGST, WWL, KDKA, WGAL. Maxon Inc., Detroit, handles the account. Page 9 March 15, 1936 • BROADCASTING