Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

the key station in MICHIGAN'S* MIGHTY MIDDLE MARKET with a 24 hour schedule and LIVELY WATTS r has over twice the number of listeners than all other stations combined in (March-April, 1957— C. E. Hooper, Inc.) r contact Venard, Rintoul & McConnell, Inc. * 17 Central Michigan counties with $1,696,356,000 spendable income. OUR RESPECTS to John Block Soell THE legal profession that beckoned to him during the depression still serves as the business bedrock for (1) perceptive planning and (2) well-grounded decisions by John B. Soell, vice president and manager of the WISN (radio-tv) Div. of the Hearst Corp. Gazing out his executive suite window in the new WISN Broadcast Center in Milwaukee, Jack Soell (pronounced Sell) tells you reflectively that the new $1.25 million building is "the result of something you build toward over the years . . . the visible summation of operational experience." Actually, he's had little time to muse since he arrived on the Milwaukee scene in March 1956 as manager of WISN. His successes over the past 21 months are a reflection of Mr. Soell's twin watchwords: Vigor and more vigor, coupled with a professional student's interest in the broadcast industry. "It hasn't been easy," he points out, however. Nor was it, for Mr. Soell was chosen by the Hearst Corp. last year to implement rather ambitious plans for rapid growth and expansion of WISN-AMTV. Formal dedication of the new center last Oct. 20 was a major result — and source of personal satisfaction to Mr. Soell. A native of St. Louis (born May 20, 1911), John Block Soell spent his prep school days at Western Military Academy, serving as business manager of its yearbook. Graduated from the military school in 1928, he enrolled at Washington U. in St. Louis, with ambitions in law. He worked with his father in a newly established polish-manufacturing business and studied at night school for 3V2 years. The enterprise collapsed and, John Soell, noting that his fellow law colleagues had opened offices but interested few prospective clients, decided to set out in another business direction. At 22, young Mr. Soell headed for Washington, D. C.,and got steady work with the National Recovery Administration (NRA), first in personnel and later in its apparel division. When the agency was declared unconstitutional in 1936, Mr. Soell returned to St. Louis as placement manager for Efficiency Service Co., a large employment agency, until 1939. Broadcasting lured Mr. Soell in 1939 and he landed his first sales position with KXOK St. Louis. He left in 1943 to enter the U. S. Maritime Service at Sheepshead, L. I., as an apprentice seaman and in five months was commissioned a warrant officer and assigned to the service's New York office to supervise information and recruiting radio shows. Mustered out in January 1945, he resumed his broadcast (and civilian) career at WJZ (now WABC) New York as account executive and from then on, his> sales experiences became diversified. He joined WMCA New York in March 1948, the DuMont Television Network in April 1950 and H-R Television Inc. in December 1953, resigning the sales representative firm in December 1955 to seek out a station manager's berth. Mr. Soell's capabilities caught the eye of D. L. (Tony) Provost, vice president of Hearst Corp.'s radio-tv division, and he was appointed director of WISN Milwaukee. He was elected vice president of the WISN Div. of the Hearst Corp. last Sept. 17. Under Mr. Soell's vigorous and discerning planning, both WISN and WISN-TV have assembled cohesive and well-integrated staffs and inaugurated programming innovations. Both are primary ABC affiliates located in the new 50,000 sq. ft. Broadcast Center (WISN-TV started telecasting there in August and WISN radio is scheduled to move in within six weeks). Broadcast, civic and business leaders attended the formal dedication, which was highlighted by a two-hour program. The center is a two-story building, accommodating complete color equipment, ultra-modern studios for day and night operation, clients' rooms and a unique lighting system [Stations, Oct. 28]. In a manner of speaking, the detailed planning of the center typifies an old Hearst credo: "Get it first but first get it right." AS a professional student of the industry, Mr. Soell has his own views on some industry practices. Says he: "Rate-cutting or barter deals are a short-sighted way to suicide, which only help the advertiser." He also feels the media should face up abruptly to the pay tv threat. (Speaking of his own market, he claims neither closed-circuit toll tv nor full-length movies are "right" for Milwaukee.) And it's known that his counsel is wisely heeded in network circles on a wide variety of problems. JVIr. Soell belongs to the Milwaukee Ad Club and Athletic Club. He has a deep interest in music (from Bach and Beethoven to Bartok and Ellington) and hunting (he directed pistol training for civil defense in Darien, Conn., while working in New York). His wife is the former Blanche Sisson, whom he married in 1937. They have two children, Barbara, 18, and John, 15. WILS 4?% s^s Page 24 • November 25, 1957 Broadcasting