Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1952)

We Pay Our Respects (Continued from page 50) when you buy K-NUZ you buy plus values! •k K-NUZ places a regular advertising schedule in the HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Texas' largest daily. Four ads weekly on radio page plug individual K-NUZ shows, personalities, and sponsors. ■*r Quarter-page ads monthly in grocer's publication, the Checking Counter, plugging sponsors' products. These ads have brought increasing response from food brokers throughout lhe greater Houston market area. Over 90,000 people each yeor see K-NUZ-advertised products in a giant display at the Houston Home Show held in April. Samples and promotional literature on your product can be made available. Regular schedule of trade magazine ads, with frequent listing of sponsors. -ff Point-of-broadcast displays of your products — in the showcases and on the billboards at K-NUZ Radio Ranch. Many hundreds of visitors are received daily. For Information Call FORJOE National Representative, or DAVE MORRIS General Manager at KEystone 2581 P. O. Box 2135 T.W.X. HO 414 latter attended Central High. After graduation from Baylor in 1920, Mr. Winger returned to Marietta College and then attended the U. of Chattanooga. The formal schooling of the pair came to an abrupt halt, however, in due course. Having settled in Chattanooga, they rented a oneroom downtown location and set up a radio shop to repair sets and sell crystal sets. It may be safely reported that this fledgling enterprise made little or no impression on the business or financial leaders of the city. But the boys continued to stick it out. Then a rather daring thought occurred to one of the youths (it has never been established which one) : Why not put up a little broadcasting station to run a few hours a day and thus stimulate the sale of radio receivers — strictly as a hobby or sideline, of course. Without question, the advertising potentialities of radio — and their mutual career pattern — were undreamed of by the two young promoters. They soon rented a 20 by 20 ft. room to house a combination studio and office, with additional space for a transmitter. Slim and agile then, by their own admissions, they shinnied up the outside walls in the manner of Peck's bad boy and installed a tower from instructions gleaned from a book. Debuts as 50 w Outlet The public took the youths to its heart from the outset, manifesting an eager interest in the early operation of what was to become WDOD. Those facilities represented the "lock, stock and barrel" investment of WDOD when it took the air April 13, 1925, with 50 w, the co-owners fondly recall. The original schedule called for three broadcast hours three evenings per week, starting at 8:30 p.m. But listeners clamored for more. Demand for receivers exceeded supply. The schedule was stepped up until day and night broadcasting became firmly established. WDOD moved to the top floor of the Patten Hotel in November 1925 and boosted its power to 500 w. Radio fans were treated to available local talent. Four years later, power was jumped again, this time to 5 kw daytime and 1 kw night. In 1930 WDOD counted itself in among the first seven stations to affiliate with CBS. Another power increase (to 5 kw nighttime) was granted in 1941, making WDOD the mo^t powerful voice in the Tennessee Valley area. Studios were moved to the Hamilton National Bank Bldg. and the transmitter to its present location near Baylor School. FM emerged as a reality for WDOD in 1949, with location atot) nearby Signal Mountain — today the only FM outlet in the area with network affiliation. Norm Thomas and Earl Winger embarked on a training program for personnel as the station grew and progressed and assumed a voice in community affairs. Among the alumni who got some of their training under Messrs. Winger and Thomas were Gene Wilkey, WCCO Minneapolis; Arch McDonald, Washington sportscaster; Frank Lane, KRMG Tulsa; Wayne Cameron, ABC network; Carter Parham, WDEF Chattanooga; Bob Sherry, CBS New York; J. W. Birdwell, WBIR Knoxville; Joe Eislein, RCA Electronics Div. Others include Allen Stout, WROL Knoxville; Bill Davies, WBLJ Dalton, Ga., and Bill Corley of WBNS Columbus, Ohio. The two owners kept pace with the station's growth through the years, taking an active part in business and civic activities. TAB Re-elects Winger Mr. Winger recently was reelected for another term as an officer of the Tennessee Assn. of Broadcasters. A past president of the local Rotary Club, he is a trustee of Baylor School and U. of Chattanooga and a member of the board of the Chamber of Commerce. He also is active with the YMCA and Boy Scouts of America. Mr. Thomas belongs to the Kiwanis Club and is interested in agricultural development of the area. He also heads a housing development for Negroes and was instrumental in making possible several aviation programs. Both Mr. Thomas and Mr. Winger are members of the Mountain City Club and the Radio Pioneers Club. By strange working of fate, both also have parallel personal lives. Each has five children and is a grandfather. Even their hobbies are similar, with Mr. Thomas preferring farming and fishing and Mr. Winger gardening and golfing to supplement his fishing activities. They both pointed out that the Valley would hold a great potential for television in a city now much in the national spotlight. Aside from TVA and the Atomic City, the Arnold Engineering Development Center also is very much in evidence with its wind tunnels and supersonic jet machines. "What marvelous opportunities for growth await this area?" they both ask, full well knowing the answer. Strictly Business (Continued from page 16) remained at Headley-Reed until the fall of 1946, except for a year's stint in the Army Air Force, and then joined John Blair & Co., representative firm which at that time handled only radio stations. In February 1951, shortly after the firm established a completely separate television company. Jack Davis became Chicago manager of Blair-TV. He supervises sales for nine TV stations in most of the Midwest, working with two salesmen. Convinced that television long ago proved it sells merchandise, he believes the "only reason a lot of advertisers are not going into TV is because they need to be educated." Mr. Davis points to the increasing number of 52-week contracts in TV, rare in radio, so buyers can keep their time franchise. He sees a continuing need for film spots and shows because of their flexibility, enabling them to "hypo" sales in specific areas. A sporting enthusiast, Mr. Davis is an ace golfer, swimmer and sailor and is currently teaching his nine-year-old daughter. Dale Ann, how to dive. Her brother, John Will, is seven. The Davis family lives in north suburban Glenview, where Mr. Davis heads the maintenance division for their ranch house and for the brook in the backyard. His wife is the former Eleanor Winter of Evanston, 111. A unique suburbanite, Mr. Davis is actively interested in village affairs, working on zoning and political committees and attending most of the village board meetings. He is a member of the Chicago Television Council and Westmoreland Country Club. GATES QUINCY, ILLINOIS THESE OFFICES TO SERVE YOU , QUINCY^ ILL. . . . . TEL 8202 HOUSTON, TEXAS . . . TEL. ATWOOD 8536 WASHINGTON, D. C. . . TEL. METROPOLITAN 0522 MONtREAL, QUE. . . . . . TEL. ATLANTIC 9441 NEW YORK CITY . ... TEL. MURRAY HILL 9-0200 Page 54 • February 4, 1952 BROADCASTING • Telecasting 8