Broadcasting (Jan - Mar 1950)

March of Dimes (Continued from page 25) quests and pledges on behalf of the ilarch of Dimes to the station. On the air through the night until 3:30 a.m., the program collected $302. Merchandise was awarded by local merchants to the largest contribution in each 15-minute period, and hats belonging to radio and motion picture stars were offered at auction. KFAB: Listeners in 12 states and Canada responded after a March of Dimes jamboree over KFAB Omaha with all of KFAB's entertainers participating, station reports. Originally planned for 10:30 p.m. to midnight, the show evoked so much telephone and telegraph response that it was still going at 4 a.m. Over ?800 was reported collected. WAGE: Kris Martin, disc jockey on WAGE Chicopee-Springfield, Mass., brought in over $3,000 in the 1950 March of Dimes drive as a result of phone pledges in exchange for requests. For the third year, WAGE cancelled all scheduled afternoon shows to air a daily disc show accepting $5 pledges over the phone. Pledges sent from listeners in six states brought the total over the $3,000 mark, according to WAGE officials. KLWT: A public service program lasting over five hours helped KLWT Lebanon, Mo., give the March of Dimes a big boost by giving the local fund over $600. Drive officials appealed to KLWT on the last day of the campaign when the goal still was not in sight. With merchandise donated by 40 merchants. Announcers Bob Shornick and Ken Gorbett held a Radio Auction. Listeners phoned in bids and when the program ended, the entire lot of merchandise had been auctioned off. ST. LOUIS STATIONS: In St. Louis, disc jockeys from six stations in the area joined in a special two-hour broadcast over KXLW. The jockeys' appeals for telephone pledges brought in more than $400 from 150 individuals and companies. Former Mayor of St. Louis Aloys P. Kaufman, vice chairman of the local campaign, opened the broadcast with a tribute to the disc jockeys for their generous help. Stations also represented were KMOX KST WEW KSD-TV, and WTMV E. St. Louis. KENO: In Las Vegas, Nev., highest bidder on Si W'illing's nightly recorded Cake Sweepstakes "took the cake." Listeners were requested to phone in their bids, and Mr. W'illing went to the winner's home the following day to bake the cake. All cash pledges made during the broadcasts were turned over to the March of Dimes, with sizeable donations being collected nightly. W'TWX: For one night, from 9 p.m. until midnight, the entire staff of WTWX St. Johnsbury, Vt., contributed their time and talent to produce a show for the March of Dimes. Along with the staff were five orchestras and 15 acts featuring local talent. All sponsors whose time was taken up by the special broadcast were billed as usual by WTWN and this money was in turn donated to the March of Dimes. Sponsors were yiven a courtesy announc^-ment. KRNT: As 1,500 people cheered, 59,597 pennies were dumped onto a Des Moines stage in a "Polio Parade of Pennies," feature of the weekly broadcast of the Hey Boh Safety Shoiv on KRNT. Many of the coins were contributed by Hey Bob Glub membership, now totaling 12,500 youngsters, while other contributions were mailed to the KRNT show m.c. Bill Riley. The new Notre Dame football captain, Jerry Groom, a surprise guest on the broadcast, showed up with a sackful of coins from his teammates. WMMW: The annual March of Dimes program in Meriden, Gonn., got an opening kickoff from WMMW with an hour and a half of local entertainers and speakers. Mayor Howard E. Houston emceed and introduced both talent and speakers on the program. The annual WMMW auction for the campaign was held throughout the afternoon with listeners asked to phone in their pledges. Seven hundred dollars was taken in. KYA: Almost $3,000 was poured into San Francisco's depleted March of Dimes fund a fortnight ago by Disc Jockey Del Gore of KYA. Money was contributed by listeners to an all-night Discs for Dimes show. Conceived by Mr. Gore, the session ran from midnight to V:30 a.m. WKDN: In Gamden, N. J., Announcer Harry Smith of WKDN promoted the March of Dimes on his Monday-Saturday disc show. Polka Patch, drawing a daily average of 60 letters midway through the drive. With a 10-cent minimum set, individual contributions went as high as $5. KVOR: Drawing on its experience during the war, when KVOR Colorado Springs, Col., sold over $3 million in War Bonds in auctions, the station ran a half-hour auction of merchantdonated items for the March of Dimes campaign. According to Everett Shupe, station and commercial manager, total raised was $750 which, together with contributions from another program, y umber Please, accounted for about 10% of county's quota of $25,000. KXOK: A white elephant auction sale, with all proceeds to go to the March of Dimes, was promoted on KXOK St. Louis by Charley Stookey and Hal Fredericks on their respective shows. Song and Dance Parade and Town and Country. WDZ: During the March of Dimes fund campaign in Decatur, 111., WDZ conducted a contest on the air between two of its staff members. Marty Roberts, the station's farm director, and Hugh Gray, staff announcer and disc jockey, competed with each other to determine which one would raise the larger amount of contributions for the Infantile Paralysis Fund. Galled "Dollars for Discs," the plan called for Mr. Roberts and Mr. Gray to dedicate musical selections and announce the names of donors. WATR WBRY WWCO: All three Waterbury, Conn., stations cooperated in the drive for funds with a fivehour long disc jockey dance jamboree at the Waterbury State Armory. An admission charge of three dimes was collected by eight disc jockeys working in half-hour shifts. The eight were Wally King, Al Vestro and Charlie Bengston from WATR, Al Dary and Bob Holczer from WBRY, Bob Grager, Gene Valentino and Jim Logan from WWCO. WERE: In an opening day drive, WERE Cleveland kicked off "the 1950 Cuyahoga County March of Dimes campaign with a collection of $10,365.12. From sign-on to sign-off, the station's talent "auctioned off" rare records, personally autographed discs, a pedigreed dog, tickets to a hit Broadway show and many other items donated by the listeners. The Cleveland March of Dimes headquarters designated WERE as the official local "kick-off" station. WFMY'-TV: When John Payne, motion picture star, appeared in Greensboro, N. C., to open the city's 1950 Infantile Paralysis Fund drive, his busy schedule didn't allow time to appear before WFMY'-TV cameras. So Ted Austin, program director, and Bob Currie, production manager, equipped themselves with a Polaroid camera and flash attachment and caught up to Mr. Payne at the Central Carolina Convalescent Hospital, Greensboro's own con SCROLL is awarded to Edwin R. Borroff, who resigned as president of Taylor-Borroff (now Taylor Co.), to manage KPHO-TV Phoenix. At luncheon given in his honor by Chicago Radio Management Club are (I to r): Kay Kennelly, media director, Olian Advertising; William McGuineas, commercial manager, WGN; Gil Berry, Chicago sales manager, DuMont; Mr. Borroff; Art Harre, general manager, WJJD; Roy McLaughlin, president of the club who presented inscribed scroll; John Blair, president, John Blair representative firm; Jane McKendry, timebuyer, Needham, Louis & Brorby; I. E. Showerman, NBC Central Div. vice president; John H. Norton Jr., ABC Central Div. vice president; Harold Safford, program director, WLS, and Tom Peterson, Chicago manager, Taylor Co. tribution to the anti-polio fight. There, they took a picture, and within half an hour, the camera print was viewed on WFMY-TV. WMT: In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, WMT raised $6,300 the last week of the March of Dimes Drive when the CBS outlets ran a contest pitting the morning and daytime announcers against the evening shift. The night side proved to be the better team and succeeded in drawing contributions of $1,500 more than their co-staffers, WMT reports. * * * WEEI: Larry Homer, WEEI announcer, was appointed by Craig Lawrence, radio chairman of Boston's March of Dimes campaign, to head the disc jockey committee of local radio stations. The jockeys operated out of the Army booth on Boston Common. Recording equipment was set up and the announcers took turns conducting programs similar to their air shows. Models circulated through the crowds with containers collecting dollars and dimes for the fund. WLDY: The lagging polio fund at Ladysmith, Wis., was spurred when WLDY' was asked by local March of Dimes officials for aid in reaching the county goal of $5,000. Disc Jockey Tom Anderson opened his Platter Parade program with mention of the polio crisis and said four radioequipped cars were stationed in various parts of the city, waiting for orders to proceed to various homes for contributions. By this and other programming aids, WLDY succeeded in raising close to $2,000 for the fund. W^HAY: After an all-night March of Dimes frolic at the local high school auditorium, WHAYNew Britain, Conn., reported doubling its goal for the polio drive, with proceeds amounting to over $1,000. WHAY also contributed to the campaign with solicitation of donations and pledges from listeners by Cart Clements on his Moonlight Matinee show. Many radio, stage and local personalities appeared on both programs. * * * WLOI: Contest with a first prize of an all-expense one-week trip to Florida, a $250 ladies wrist watch and daily prizes of a full year of automobile "grease jobs" helped spearhead the March of Dimes contribution by WLOI La Porte, Ind. WLOI officials report over $9,000 was collected. Listeners were asked to identify the "mystery voices" (movie stars Chester Morris and Sonny Tufts), and send an accompanying contribution with each guess. Mr. Morris spoke at a dinner climaxing the campaign. W'OTW: In Nashua, N. H., WOTW added its share to the March of Dimes when Sportscaster Ed Lecius and Colorcaster Vern Proulx pooled efforts on the broadcast of a local high school benefit game. Listeners were requested to phone in their pledges to WOTW or the local March of Dimes headquarters. By final whistle time, a substantial amount was raised, station officials report. KRIC: Starting on the opening date of the March of Dimes drive and continuing to its conclusion, KRIC Beaumont, Tex., each night invited a Beaumont celebrity to spin the platters and make with the chatter on the air in support of the campaign. Virginia Wade Ryder, KRIC program manager, reports the program created a lot of (Continued on page 36) Page 34 • February 13, 1950 BROADCASTING • Telecasting