Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1953)

Harry Abbott Station Manager Raymond Ruff Sales Manager JOHN ft ESAU -1 AND ALL THE GANG Bill Sadler Program Director SAY W§L£OME to KT VQ TELEVISION CHANNEL 25 OKLAHOMA CITY NOW! LIVE CLEARANCE for your programs in the Oklahoma City market, one of America's richest markets! Watch Oklahoma City . . . Watch KTVQ Television INTERCONNECTED ABC ODuMONTO CBS INTERCONNECTED To Reserve Time on KTVQ, Write, Wire or Call John Esau, or — H-R TELEVISION, INC. NEW YORK 17, N. Y. Chrysler Bldg. MUrray Hill 9-2606 CHICAGO 1, ILLINOIS 35 E. Wacker Dr. RAndolph 6-6431 SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 110 Sutter St. EXbrook 2-3407 HOLLYWOOD, CAL. Equitable Bldg. GRanite 1480 IN REVIEW WEEKEND Network: NBC Radio. Time: Sunday, 4-6 p.m. EST. Producer: Merrill Mueller. Assistant Producer: Arthur Wakelee. Editor and M.C.: Ed Herlihy. Staff: Earl Godwin, Earl Wilson, Igor Cassini, Tex McCrary, Jinx Falkenburg McCrary, Florabelle Muir, Elmo Roper, Leon Pearson, Mel Allen, Allen Ludden, Charles Laughton, Mary Martin, Duncan Emrich, NBC correspondents, and others. THIS "Sunday newspaper" of NBC Radio, a two-hour production with a newspaper format (4-6 p.m. EST), was launched Oct. 4 under the most trying circumstances: The World Series was on another network during half of Weekend's inaugural. There is no question that Weekend follows the newspaper format, including the magazine section. It has some of everything (except the ads, a condition which NBC is trying to correct by offering participations totaling up to eight per hour). To start with, on the opening Weekend, there was the index, a rundown of the subjects of top features to come. Then came a recapitulation of the news of the moment (the Yankees were leading the Dodgers 6-1 in the sixth). Following this, columnist Earl Wilson did a "column" dealing with such assorted topics as a new Broadway play, Frank Sinatra and wife Ava Gardner, and the fact that Rita Hayworth, newly become Mrs. Dick Haymes, had miffed newsmen by failing to show up at a party in Philadelphia. Next page of Weekend was the women's page, conducted by Jinx Falkenburg, who to a male reviewer in World Series time was hard put to make her accounts of Mrs. Eisenhower's dresses or Madame Pandit's United Nations activities as compelling as the reports from Ebbetts Field. Falkenburg to Allen Miss Falkenburg was followed by a sports column by Mel Allen which on practically any other Sunday would have held the reviewer. Then came the "feature article," this one by Fannie Hurst. Miss Hurst has engrossed us with many a novel, but her Weekend discussion of "security" was not up to her expected standards. Followed next a section called "folklore," prepared by the Library of Congress and including a folk song and an invitation to submit queries about American folklore. Then the "young America" section, in which a panel of youngsters appraised the pros and cons of necking, the establishment of smoking rooms in high schools, and the use of lipstick in a good-sensed discussion. A series of sections followed, including a music column, the "overseas news ticker," Washington news, and one called "ideas," after which came the "cover story." The subject was Mary Martin, the "author" was Tex McCrary, and this was easily the most listenable part of Weekend, featuring tapes of Miss Martin's performances. Mary Martin would have prevailed even if the Yankees had not already finished clobbering the Dodgers for the day. Researcher Elmo Roper reported on a study of what people are concerned about in local elections, and, among other features, Florabell Muir produced a Hollywood gossip column, and Leon Pearson, in another Weekend standout, reviewed Broadway plays, books, and magazine features. At the last there was a "forecast" depart Page 16 • October 12, 1953 Broadcasting • Telecasting