Broadcasting (July - Dec 1937)

PICK FEMME TALENT— Gone from radio's often quaint idiom will be the phrase "casting couch" when stations have a committee of women audition all girl singers and actresses, a plan recently started at WBBM. The Chicago CBS key is banning male production men from the control booths when women display their talents before the microphone, entrusting all decisions on employing women staff members to a newly-created "women listeners board." Members (left to right) are Carroll Mountjoy, director of WBBM's women's programs; Chairman Kave Brinker, director of program production research in the Chicago CBS studios; Gertrude Dyer, publicity contact woman; and Helen Keppler Brooks, music librarian. Miss Dyer watches prospects from the control room to appraise their movie possibilities, publicity picture prospects and the general nature of their audience personality. 'BCHINDt&MIKt LESTER E. GOTTLEIB, publieity coordiuator of Mutual, returned to New York Nov. 22 after a two-week swing around the Mutual circuit, exclusive of the West Coast. He visited a dozen cities as far west as Denver and discussed network publicity and special features with the managements. ROBERT WHITE, former manager «f WBZA, Springfield, Mass., and now an announcer of WBZ, Boston, married Josephine E. Tiernev. acting manager of WBZA, Nov. 25. SPENCER ALLEN, program director of KOAM, Pittsburg, Kan., was married Nov. 18 to Miss Deane Steger, of St. Louis. KOAM has engaged Romelle Fay as staif organist and has installed a Hammond organ. BILL PALEY of the WBBM. Chicago, transcription department is a patient in St. Luke's hospital, Chicago, following a sudden illness. t ED PEARSON, former press agent for Houdini, is writing continuity for WCOP, Boston. JAMES 0"HARA, formerly of WCOP. Boston, has joined the announcing staff of WHDH, that city. JOHN HAYES, assistant production manager of WOR, Newark, and former program manager of WIP, Philadelphia, is writing a book on radio in collaboration with Horace Gardner, Philadelphia, to be released Jan. 20. The publisher is Lippincott. ARTHUR Q. BRYAN, continuity director of KHJ, Los Angeles, has resigned to engage in freelance writing for the movies. He was formerly on the staff of WIP. Philadelphia. ' RUTH WENTWORTH, who waa the original Martha Logan for Formay, is the new Polly the Shopper on KSTP, St. Paul. She formerly was with KFRC, San Francisco. Edith Shedlove. the former Polly, is now in New York planning to free lance. HAL CHAMBERS, KFWB, HoUywood announcer, has been appointed commercial copy editor. DON LAWRENCE recently joined the announcing staff at KOIL, Omaha, after a period with KSO and KRNT, Des Moines. MAX KNEPPER has resigned as publicity director of KFVD, Los Angeles, to produce a play. FRANK BIGNELL and Cecil Hubbard have joined the announcing staff of KTUL, Tulsa. REID KILPATRICK, KEHE, Los Angeles, sports announcer, has taken on the additional duties of night supervisor in charge of production. Station has also added Sylvester Gross as announcer-producer. He was formerly chief announcer of the Southwest Broadcasting Co., Texas. LYLE FLANAGAN, head of the continuity department of WHO, Des Moines, has been named president of the Des Moines Poetry Society. H. R. GROSS, news editor of WHO, Des Moines, is the father of a baby boy born Nov. 10, his second child. GEORGE H. COMBS, Jr., former Congressman and New York attorney, has joined WHN, that city, as news commentator in a thrice-weekly series called The Editorial Slant on the News. FRANK BLAIR, program director of WFBC, Muncie, Ind., has returned to his duties after an appendectomy. Mason Dixon, formerly of WRVA, Richmond, has joined WFBC as continuity writer and announcer. TED HUSING, CBS sportscaster, was guest of honor Nov. 17 at a testimonial banquet given by the New York Athletic Club. Sports writers and prominent athletes were among the guests and a portion of the banquet was broadcast on CBS. JEANETTE SPIEGELMAN has been shifted from the music rights to the program department at NBC, San Francisco, and Florence Crowell of the music library replaced Miss Spiegelman in music rights. JACK LYMAN, formerly with the radio staffs of the Dallas and San Diego expositions, joined the production staff at NBC, San Francisco, on Nov. 24. EDNA FISCHER, NBC. San Francisco pianist, recently sold four popular tunes to Paramount Studios for use in films. HOW THREE CAN GET TOGETHER MILES • An agency man, a station representative and a station manager had a last-minute problem of time clearance. No two men could settle the matter without the third. They were miles apart. One of them picked up the telephone and asked Long Distance for "Conference Service." APART • Quickly, the three men talked together, as if in the same room, by telephone. Each one could hear and be heard. The problem was settled immediately. Much valuable time was saved. Telephone Conference Service is fast, adaptable and useful in a business where minutes count. BELL SYSTEM CONFERENCE ( TELEPHONE SERVICE Fage 44 • December J, 1937 BROADCASTING • Broadcast Advertising