Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan - Mar 1951)

Oklahoma City's Only 50,000 || Watt Station O f # agency CLEMENS F. HATHAWAY, executive SSC&B, N. Y., elected vic< president of agency. RUTH JONES, media supervisor on P&G's Tide at Benton & Bowles N. Y., promoted to assistant director of media for Procter & Gamble. W. A. CHALMERS, vice president in charge of radio and TV Kenyon & Eckhardt, N. Y., resignes. GARTH MONTGOMERY, succeeds Mr J Chalmers [Closed Circuit, March 12]. DAVID SMITH, Foley Agency, Phila., appointed assistant radio-TV di4 rector to FRANK KNIGHT. PHILLIP A. STREICH, vice president in charge of media, to handle TV and radio H. H. DuBois Agency, Phila. STEPHEN M. WEBB, Spitz & Webb, Syracuse, appointed vice president Richards & Webb Inc., same city. Agency formerly Wilbur 0. Richards Adv., changed name when Mr. Webb joined firm. LES WAAS, independent producer and freelancer, to J. Cunningham Cox Adv. Agency, Phila., as director of Radio-TV. on all accounts REPRESENTED BY ffy&iy^wds/, INC. THE ONE THING Curt Peterson dislikes," explained an executive at Marschalk & Pratt Co., New York, "is pretension." What the fellow left unexplained was that Mr. Peterson, partner and director of radio and television at Marschalk & Pratt Co., is not even pretentious about that dislike. He doesn't trumpet it or dramatize it; it just happens to be a fact, a serene condition of his existence. Consequently, Mr. Peterson would be the first to grimace at the description of himself as something as heroicsounding as "pioneer." Yet he is unquestionably that. In September of this year, Mr. Peterson will celebrate his 25th year in the broadcasting industry. He began his career in radio at WJZ New York in 1926 as a singerannouncer-copy writer. It was a period during which hordes of eager young men received their innoculations of the radio bug. Mr. Peterson was one of the compartively few on whom the innoculation "took." In 1927 he moved to WEAF, now WNBC New York, as supervisor of announcers for both the Red and Blue networks. In 1928 he became assistant commercial program manager. He remained with the networks until 1935 when he joined Marschalk & Pratt, as radio director to handle the radio news programs of the Esso account. In 1942 Mr. Peterson was drafted into the Army. He had served in the First World War as a second lieutenant. After a tour in Alaska and then at the Pentagon, Mr. Peterson finally was mustered out of the Army on April 1, 1945, with the rank of captain. He returned to M&P as radio director and in 1949 became a partner in the firm. Mr. Peterson still handles radio, and now television, for the Esso Standard 0 i 1 account. He has watched the advertiser grow from its sponsorship of a news program on seven stations in 1935 to the 52 station operation which it is currently. In addition Esso sponsors CBS-TV's Alan Young Show. The Peterson's — she is the former Ruth Matteson, an actress — have been married since September. As for hobbies, Mr. Peterson admits that Mrs. Peterson bought him some oil paints and a book on how to paint. So far, however, all he has done is read the book. He spends his spare time studying French and watching TV. He belongs to University Club and Beta Theta Pi. PETERSON Page 10 • March 19, 1951 BROADCASTING • Telecasting