Broadcasting (Jan - Mar 1949)

I Baltimore metropolitan area RADIO OWNERSHIP Baltimore (Continued from Baltimore 5) leading cities, U. of Maryland football, Baltimore symphony concerts, special Christmas music and other programs. Rice's Bakery places through Van Sant, Dugdale in Baltimore and Wilmington, using a good deal of spot radio. Large Baltimore meat packer, William Schluderberg-T. J. Kurdle Co. (Esskay), markets regionally. It has used a lot of radio in the past but is weak at the moment. Return to the medium is expected this year. When Esskay celebrated the fifth anniversary of It's Fun to Cook, heard on WFBR, it hired a theatre but ran out of tickets before it announced requests would be received. Variety of Business Handled by Van Sant Glenn L. Martin Co. buys radio to announce entrance of new planes into service. A national radio user is York Wall Paper Co., via dealer co-ops. Fram Corp., maker of oil filters, is buying the MBS Sports Thrill of the Week. Montco coffee, marketed in the Philadelphia area, will probably use radio this year. Mr. Loden subscribes to the theory of many other timebuyers that radio is not doing a good merchandising and promotion job. Radio salesmen often fail to give the basic facts, he says, making it difficult for radio buyers to sell account executives on use of the medium. Van Sant, Dugdale has used little TV but the new medium will appear in three or four budgets this year. The agency is studying video and has some campaigns in the planning stage. It's a bit concerned at the moment over the cost-perthousand. A new network show starting in late January is in the final planning stage. In supervisory charge of radio at Theodore A. Newhoff Adv. Agency is Marx S. Kaufman, vice president. A former Washingtonian, he now is a confirmed Baltimore resident and points out that the city is a leader in the field of new and space-annihilating industries such as aviation, electronics and plastics. He sees business benefits in the nation's defense program. Among Newhoff radio accounts is Food Fair Stores Inc. The Baltimore segment of the chain has sponsored Dialing for Dollars nine years. It is one of the early telephone programs. The agency handles local radio for the chain but does all of the national advertising in other media. Another Newhoff radio account is Better Ice Cream. Samuel S. Strouse is Newhoff radio director. WCBM is a Newhoff account. Head of the Ruthrauff & Ryan branch office in Baltimore is T. Hamlin Reese. Principal account is Gunther's beer, marketed in Maryland and District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Penn sylvania and California. The California angle, a sort of merchandising freak, stems back to Baltimore's shipping activity. A demand for Gunther's originated in San Francisco and Oakland marine circles and the beer is shipped by boat. Gunther's sponsors Baltimore Bullets and Washington Capitols basketball on AM and television. The football Colts ai-e sponsored in Washington on WINX and in Baltimore on WITH. Arch McDonald does a regular recordsports series on WTOP Washington. Special events and elections are telecast on WMAR-TV Baltimore and WTTG Washington. Racing was telecast on WNBW Washington and WBAL-TV Baltimore. Amateur fights and other sports are carried. A two-hour sports series has been carried nearly eight years on WITH Baltimore. The Washington Capitols basketball is sponsored on WWDC and WWDCFM and WTTG (TV) Washington. The Bullets basketball is carried on WITH and WMAR-TV in Baltimore. In its 11th year is the famed Gunther's Quiz of Two Cities, with Washington and Baltimore contestants connected by land line and appearing on the program simultaneously. The program is heard on WFBR Baltimore and WMAL Washington. Baltimore has developed into a fine television city, according to Mr. Reese. He believes TV will have a terrific advertising impact, perhaps cutting into the AM audience but not replacing AM. Frank L. Blumberg Adv. Agency is interested in television but Mr. Blumberg believes AM radio will remain strong. Television is opening up and will find its place alongside other media, he feels. "Television presents an active market to the advertiser," he says. "The TV business we have placed has not replaced any other medium." The agency broke into TV when WMAR-TV opened over a year ago, telecasting a football game for the local Crosley distributor. A five-minute package show is sponsored by a local Chevrolet dealer. 97.1% ^ — A 336,000 Radio Fomilies 10,000 Families without radios 2.9 % The Blumberg agency has the Klein Chocolate Co. account and used spots successfully to promote Nick-L-Nut candy bar. Horace J. Elias is radio director. The agency places WFBR advertising. Cahn-Miller Inc. handles a number of regional accounts, with George Gettman as secretary and media buyer. Louis F. Cahn, president, directs some of the accounts personally. The agency places spots for Central National Bank of Richmond. For Diamond State Brewery it places a sports show and playby-play baseball in Wilmington, Del. Fidelity Trust Co. of Baltimore, old-line financial house, uses FM only, catering to the Charles St. families. Jarman Motors uses spots and a 15-minute news series. Cahn Miller is agency for WCAO. The agency has used some special events television and right now is working on a TV series for a client. Another agency head who sees a bright future for both television and sound broadcasting is I. Harold Kuff, head of Kuff & Feldstein. Hecht Bros., a leading department store, sponsors televised news on WMAR-TV twice daily along with institutional AM broadcasts. Baltimore RADIO OWNERSHIP 80,000 sets 35,000 sets ( Metropolitan Area ) The agency buys TV spots for American beer, in cooperation with Elmer Free, radio specialist. Among other accounts are University Motors, R. C. Heller, bedding manufacturer, and WBAL and WBAL-TV. Mr. Kuff sees TV most effective at night and AM in the daytime. Women must stop work to watch television, he reminds, but they can do housework and listen at the same time. Many women plan their day around one or two AM dramatic programs, says Mr. Kuff. He is satisfied television won't replace AM. Baltimore, he claims, is one of the best radio cities in the country. Among national and regional agencies having branches in Baltimore are St. Georges & Keyes, New York; McManus, John & Adams, Detroit, servicing the Bendix account, and Courtland D. Ferguson Inc., Washington. Some of the other leading agencies are A W & L Adv. Agency, Azrael Adv. Agency, S. J. Lichtman Co., S. A. Levyne Co., Frank D. Webb Adv. Co. and Justin Funkhouser Adv. Department Stores ■ Watching Television Baltimore has its share of important department stores. They are not overly radio-minded but are watching television closely. Hutzler's is described as the most consistent' radio user, with Hochschild-Kohn showing interest in the medium. Hamburger's men's clothing store, buys spots and programs. The Hub likes announcements. The city's heavy industries are not radio-minded, as a rule, nor do the garment or liquor makers embrace the medium. In the field of consumer goods, however, the story is different. Emerson Drug Co. consistently sponsors nationwide radio for its Bromo-Seltzer, as does Maryland Pharmaceutical for Rel and Rem. Some of the manufacturing drug houses aren't radio minded, however, especially those not promoting brand names. This haven of freedom, where the national anthem's lyrics were spawned, hangs its municipal head in shame at mention of the "Baltimore Gag." The gag is a juridical freak traced to the city's English forebears. In essence it is a warped contempt-of-court rule laudably designed to protect indicted persons but maliciously ineffective in that < it operates as a cancer on the vitals of democracy. Several Baltimore stations face early trial for contempt because they carried press association reports that a suspect had confessed to the sex murder of two little girls, along with statements made by high police officials. The city's newspapers have quaked in fear of reprisals from the bench, but broadcasters are standing on their constitutional rights. If they lose in the local court, the fight will be carried to the U. S. Suprenie Court which long ago branded the antique common-law rule as out ■ moded and unconstitutional. Page 6 Baltimore • January 17, 1949 BROADCASTING • Telecasting