Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1955)

ALASKA'S COLDER THAN N. M. TO SHOW the situation could be worse when snows and winds hit most of New Mexico late last month, Dave Muhlstein, news director of KSVP Artesia, N.M., placed and recorded a person-to-person telephone call to Stephen Anderson, mayor of Nome, Alaska. The mayor reported to Mr. Muhlstein that Nome was having a mild day of —25° and that skies were clear, with only four inches of snow on the ground. A —36° day has already been recorded this year in Nome, Mayor Anderson said, and, on rare occasions, the temperature dips to — 40°. The recording was aired on a KSVP evening news show. BOSTON, PAST AND PRESENT BOSTON was discovered over 500 years before Columbus came to America, intimates "Who's Who in Boston (Past & Present)," a brochure distributed to agencies and advertisers by WEEI Boston. The man was Bjarni Herjulfson, a Norselander, one of the many past characters who are integrated with the present in the booklet. The present-day Boston historymakers, of course, are WEEI personalities. Boston's "most listened-to station" says that rather than recite its accomplishments of the last thirty years, "let us consider . . . some of the most colorful personalities in all history (which) are part and parcel of Boston tradition . . .", adding it will not let itself go entirely unnoticed, since "our WEEI personalities play no small part in molding the character (and purchasing habits) of present-day Boston." The 12-page brochure is presented PROGRAMS AND PROMOTION 90* NO MORE ■ RECORDED BY ill DE JOHN SISTERS Epic p| MCGUERE SISTERS Coral jj GUY LOMBARDO Decca ■ PUBLISHED BY PUBLISHING CORP. MAPLE LEAF MUSIC ROADCAST MUSIC, INC. 3 FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK 36 HEW YORK • CHICACO • HOLLYWOOD • TORONTO ■ MONTREAL all the way through in an early American motif and contains drawings of each "who" and sketchings of the Boston scene on the cover. FARM DIRECTORS ON FILM FARM DIRECTORS are appearing in a segment of a motion picture which has been prepared by the Reynolds Metals Co. and devoted to irrigation factors in agriculture. The series will be made available to tv and be distributed to Reynolds dealers throughout the county. Among farm directors participating were Dix Harper, WLS Chicago; Jack Jackson, KCMO Kansas City, and Bill Adams, KGO San Francisco. Mr. Harper described the results of a demonstration at the WLS Farm Progress Show in Carroll County, Ind., Oct. 7. ATOMIC ENERGY TODAY' NEW SERIES of public service films for tv and general distribution will be produced by Sam Orleans & Assoc. of Knoxville and Oak Ridge, Tenn., Mr. Orleans has announced. Production headquarters for the series, to be called Atomic Energy Today, will be set up in New York. The 28-minute films, presented by leading American industries and the Atomic Industrial Forum Inc., made up of more than 200 top industries and other organizations active in the atomic energy field, will be photographed in 35mm Eastman color with 16mm black-and-white prints made for tv. Distribution will be handled by Sterling Television Co. Mr. Orleans said he anticipated an audience of 7.5 million with 300 telecasts to be made in 125 markets. The series, which will cover atomic energy from ore mining to nuclear reactions, is being presented to tell the public of the work of competitive free enterprise in atomic energy development. NBC-TV 'MOTORAMA' PREVIEW GENERAL MOTORS' "Motorama of 1955" will be previewed Jan. 19 on NBC-TV, 10-11 p.m. EST. The telecast will be on some 100 stations. Comedian Bob Hope will lead tv viewers on a visit to the GM auto show, which will originate at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. The Motorama will be open to the public Jan. 20-25 and then go on a four-city exhibition tour. KMOD HAS TNP PROMOTION plan of KMOD Modesto, Calif., to build its nighttime audience started Dec. 23 with the airing of IDs which said, "KMOD 1360 on your dial Modesto. Beginning January 3. with TNP." The announcements were changed Dec. 30 and thereafter to say "KMOD 1360 on your dial Modesto. Starting January 3, (now) with TNP. TERRIFIC NIGHTTIME PROGRAMMING." In the revised 6:30 to midnight format, to block ". . . family interest programs which will compel local listenership — tv not withstanding," youth interest, radio bingo, mystery, phone-in and dancetime programs are interspersed with network newscasts. KMOD also is using direct mail and newspaper ads in its promotion campaign. SHELTER IN A STORM UNSCHEDULED tour of KWTV (TV) Oklahoma City was conducted Dec. 28 when 1 1 inches of snow and 60-mile winds struck the city. Drifts blocked all highways and those bogged motorists seeking shelter at KWTV studios were given a hot cup of coffee and a tour of the building. Al Hazelwood, sportscaster marooned with other employes at the studios 10 miles from downtown Oklahoir, City, led the red-eyed group through the su tion at 3 a.m. State highway crews opened th roads early in the morning and traffic and tel< vision talent moved normally. WJAR-TV BROCHURE EIGHT-PAGE brochure calling attention t I its increase in power (3 16 kw) and its new highe I tower (1,049 ft.) has been released by WJAR I TV Providence, R. I. The book includes gallery of station personnel and shows th I various phases of station operation. The stt I tion's identification symbol, the Rhode Islan I red rooster, is displayed on the front cover an I the back cover carries a map of WJAR-TV" I new predicted contours. WNNJ CELEBRATES FIRST YEAR WNNJ Newton, N. J., celebrated its first year o I operation last month with a special hour broad cast from the city's Newton Theatre. Bol Hamilton, station program director, wrote am I produced the show, which filled the theatre a 1 9 a.m. Most of the station's talent was featurei in the program and it continued to entertaii the audience after the show was concluded. / special talent contest also highlighted the event WNNJ, "The Voice of Sussex County," report' nearly tripling its personnel from a year age and being in good condition, both financiallj and in the public opinion. 'SPEAK TO THE STARS' NEW midnight show, Speak to the Stars, ha; been started on WHAM Rochester, N.Y.. bj Dick Doty. Top people in show business and the music world are interviewed by telephone by Mr. Doty and recordings are made and aired 4/10 of second after the interview's conclusion, he reports. The personalities wire Mr. Doty collect to inform him when they will call. The Monday through Friday program started Jan. 4. CHRISTMAS ON KGBC RELIGIOUS aspect of Christmas marked the Christmas Eve programming of KGBC Galveston, Tex., as the station successively broadcast the birth of Christ, as told by St. Luke; Christmas Carols by six outstanding Galveston County school choruses; a program of Christmas music by four Galveston church choirs with short talks on Christmas' meaning by two local pastors, and the community Christmas service of the First Lutheran Church from the city's Pleasure Pier. To emphasize the real meaning of Christmas, KGBC sent a check to the local Salvation Army equalling the amount spent on gifts for clients and agencies in previous years. Copies of the letter enclosed with the check were sent to the agencies and clients together with hand-written personal greetings. Both the programming and the charity check ideas provoked favorable response, the station reports. NO STOCK, NO SPOT STING of the cancellation by Kaiser-Frazer Sales Corp., Los Angeles, of participations in the KLAC Hollywood Peter Potter Show was eased somewhat for station executives by an accompanying letter from the automobile firm. The • letter, facsimiles of which were distributed to advertisers and agencies by KLAC. states in part that results of the Potter program "were little short of sensational," but that the home office had ordered the cancellation because the local firm will have no new cars to sell for at least 30 days, having sold out its previous stock. Page 88 • January 10, 1955 Broadcasting • Telecasting