Broadcasting (July - Dec 1939)

NBC Shifts Aimed At Stronger Blue; Kiggins is Director Reports to Trammell; Station Relations in 3 Divisions APPOINTMENT of Keith Kiggins, formerly manager of station relations for NBC, as director of the Blue Network should not be interpreted as the first step in an eventual separation of Red and Blue activities by NBC, with separate personnel for each, according to Niles Trammell, NBC executive vice-president to whom Mr. Kiggins reports. While in his new position Mr. Kiggins will coordinate all activities of NBC's sales, program, promotion, stations and press departments as they effect the Blue Network and while certain members of each of these departments will be assigned by the department heads to work closely with him in this task, there is no intention of generally realigning personnel along Red and Blue lines, Mr. Trammell stated. Mr. Kiggins' appointment, he said, is another step in the program for strengthening the Blue Network and has no other significance. Hedges Makes Change Following the creation of the new post of Blue director, William S. Hedges, vice-president in charge of the stations department, announced the division of station relations into three sections. Red, Blue and Service. The Red division, headed by Sheldon B. Hickox Jr., will handle relations with stations affiliated with the basic Red or Red supplementary groups, all unparalleled groups and stations optional to the Red Network or to either Red or Blue. John H. Norton Jr. is in charge of the Blue division, which will handle relations with stations affiliated with the Basic Blue or Blue supplementary groups and with Blue optional stations. In this capacity Mr. Norton will work closely with Mr. Kiggins. Easton C. Woolley will direct the service division supervising all general office work of the station relations division, including the contractual relations for all NBC affiliates. For the present Mr. Kiggins' former position of manager of all station relations will remain vacant Hedges said. A. E. Nelson, who last fall was made sales manager for the Blue Network, will continue in that capacity, assisted by Robert Saudek and Paul Massman. The general sales staff will continue to function as representatives of all NBC facilities, according to Roy C. Witmer, vice-president in charge of sales, offering NBC clients and prospects whichever network or combination of stations best fits the needs of the particular campaign under consideration. The program department will likewise remain undivided along network lines, John F. Royal, vicepresident in charge of programs, said, adding that Phillips Carlin, manager of the sustaining program division, would serve as the department's contact with Kiggins. In Atlantic City July 9 for the NAB convention, Mr. Trammell announced that Mr. Kiggins, as the New Blue Network Chief KEITH KIGGINS WTMJ Also Blue WTMJ, NBC-Red outlet in Milwaukee, may now be used by Blue Network advertisers, subject to availability. A Blue advertiser must yield the station to a Red network client on demand, though the Blue sponsor has an hour program and the Red client only a 15-minute one. In such cases, if the Red program falls at beginning or end of the Blue hour, the latter sponsor may utilize the remaining 45 minutes on WTMJ, at the 45-minute rate, if he so desires. NBC Chicago Rise NBC-Chicago reports a 14% increase in its local and spot sales for the first six months of 1939 over the first six months of 1938 on WMAQ and WENR. National spot sales for the same period were up 13% on all spot sales for NBC managed and owned stations handled out of Chicago, according to Oliver Morton, NBC manager of local and spot sales division. Local and spots sales on WMAQ and WENR approximate $320,000 so far this year, while the total sales of national spot handled out of Chicago approximates $334,000, Mr. Morton said. BROADCAST of the Louis-Galento championship bout on NBC-Blue, June 30, sponsored by Magazine Repeating Razor Co., had a CAB (Crossley) rating of 53.1, highest of any boxing match to be broadcast over a single network, al Blue Network director, has been authorized to build a special staff of experts "for the intensive promotion" of the network. Mr. Kiggins promptly announced that Peter Zamphier, at present sales promotion manager of Red Book Magazine, who will join the company in August, and B. K. (Ben) Pratt, pioneer radio publicity man, and former NBC press chief in Chicago, have been retained on the Blue staff. LOTS OF PROMOTION Networks Vie in Stunts (or NAB Delesates NBC-BLUE, starting with the issuance of blue cards announcing that the recent Louis-Galento fight which it carried exclusively received the highest Crossley rating ever given a single network program, did some intensive promotion at the NAB convention under the tutelage of Keith Kiggins, newly-appointed director of the network. The first convention night Mr. Kiggins personally sent to each delegate's room a carton of Old Golds, with a note stating that "the Blue has started with Old Gold leading the push". Next day the delegates got bottles of Canada Dry ginger ale with Kiggins' card, preceded by telegrams announcing a forthcoming release on sales results of Information Please. Later that day Mr. Kiggins sent fishnet hats to each lady of the convention with his card, and the third day some 600 bottles of AlkaSeltzer were sent out. Network rivalry was humorously manifested after the Crossley ratine was announced when similar blue cards claiming a 153.2 rating and signed by "Wee Wee Wiggins" were distributed, suspected as an MBS promotion man's idea. Mutual during the convention's first day again distributed carnations pinned on the delegates by pretty girls, and this stunt was continued next day by WFIL, Philadelphia. GE to Resume GENERAL ELECTRIC Co., on Sept 17 will resume the Hour of Charm for 52 weeks on NBC-Red on behalf of its incandescent lamp department in Cleveland. The new half-hour proeram will be heard on Sunday nights from 10 to 10:30 p. m. instead of in the former Monday night spot, which is now occunied by Dr. I. Q., sponsored by Mars Inc., Chicago. Although the agency for the pi'ogram was unnamed, it is probable that BBDO and Foster & Davies, Cleveland, which jointly handle the department's general advertising and recently announced joint placing of radio for the department, will handle this program as well. though somewhat under the ratings for the fight broadcasts sponsored by General Motors Corp. for Buick on combined Red and Blue networks. While the number of stations used does not affect the Crossley ratings in the case of a single network, the use of two outlets in major cities naturally resulted in higher ratings. List of bouts broadcast and their ratings follows : Fight Ijouis-Schmeling Louis-Braddock Louis-Farr Louis-Schmeling Braddock-Farr Baer-Nova Louis-Galento Independents Ask , Blue Time Change Every-Other-Hour Option Plan ' Broached by Basic Stations j REVISION of the optioned time i requirements of basic station affiliates of the NBC-Blue network was discussed in a preliminary way July 11 at a meeting of independent stations on the network with officials of NBC held in Atlantic ' City during the NAB convention. After NBC executives — including President Lenox R. Lohr, Executive Vice-President Niles Trammell, Vice-President William S. Hedges, Blue Network Director Keith Kiggins and the Blue sta i tion relations manager, John Norton — had outlined plans for , vigorous promotion of the Blue, it was agreed the groups should confer in New York beginning Aug. 29. Meanwhile the basic Blue outlets and network officials will study means of meeting the issue. Every Other Hour The Blue affiliates at a meeting the preceding day called by Samuel R. Rosenbaum, president of WFIL, Philadelphia, and chairman of Inde j pendent Radio Network Affiliates, ' tentatively discussed an arrangement whereby every other hornaround the clock would be optioned to NBC in lieu of the present arrangement covering a little less than half of the station operating ' time. The theory was that idle time now under option to NBC-Blue could well be converted into revenue-producing periods if available for schedules rather than subject ' to cancellation by virtue of NBC's prior call. Most of the stations also are MBS outlets. The affiliates were assured at the dinner meeting July 11 that the outlook for the Blue is brighter, and that the concerted drive for business was expected to yield worthwhile results. Mr. Kiggins and Mr. Norton were expected to handle the preliminary conversations with the independent affiliates. In addition to network officials, those who attended the July 11 dinner included Mr. Rosenbaum and Roger W. Clipp, WFIL; Gardner Cowles Jr., Luther L. Hill and Craig Lawi-ence, WMT, Cedar Rapids, and KSO, Des Moines; Fred R. Ripley, WSYR; E. N. Stoer and Loren Watson, Hearst Radio, for WBAL, Baltimore; John Shepard 3d, Yankee Network; V. E. Carmichael, KWK, St. Louis; C. T. Hagman, WTCN, St. Paul; H. K. Carpenter, WHK WCLE, Cleveland. NBC SpUts at 10 p. m. BASIC BLUE network and Blue supplementary groups are now available on a split basis between i 10 and 11 p. m.. New York time.'i daily except Saturday, subject to the usual split network removal clauses. Special discounts given to Blue network advertisers do not apply to these split networks. Date Network Rating June 19, 1936 Red & Blue 57.6 June 22, 1937 " " " 57.6 Aug. 30, 1937 " " " 56.9 June 22, 1938 " " " 63.6 Jan. 21, 1938 Blue 35.9 June 1, 1939 " 32.2 June 30, 1939 " 53.1 Highest Rating for Broadcast of Fight On One Net Given Louis-Galento Match Sponsor General Motors (Buick) Adam Hat Stores RCA Magazine Repeating Razor Company Page 20 • July 15, 1939 BROADCASTING • Broadcast Advertising