Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1958)

CBS STRIKE continued TECHNICAL CREW on Love of Life takes a breather after an epi search director (cameraman); Al Schneider, assistant to CBS-TV sode of the daytime serial last week. Seated (1 to r) : Leonard Sero President Lou Cowan (cameraman). Standing (1 to r): Robert witz, artist in sales promotion (on duty as utility man); Clifford B. Martin, casting director (cameraman); John W. Wiedmer, sales Mandell, press representative (cameraman); Robert Arthur, as man, CBS-TV Film Sales (boommike) ; Larry Lowenstein, director sistant to producer of Ed Sullivan Show (audio engineer); Emil of press information in New York (boommike) and W. Hiane Poklitar, mu;ical clearance department (video man); Tom Need meyer, operations supervisor (control room). The variety of occu ham, music clearance (sound effects); Robert Davis, Spot Sales re pations on this show was typical of last week's CBS-TV operations. AMATEUR NIGHT (AND DAY) AT CBS CBS "technical crews" last week looked like a volunteer fire company with a whole town full of fires. As manfully as they could they merged the skills of salesmen, publicity men, accountants and a dozen other non-engineering occupations, hopping from one place to another to keep the shows coming off on schedule from more than a dozen studios. That was the situation in New York, where for the duration of the IBEW strike (see page 31) some 300 CBS television and radio executives and supervisory personnel were doing the work of approximately 800 striking engineers. On varying scales the scene was duplicated in Hollywood, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Milwaukee and Hartford, where 500 other IBEW members also were out. The crews of non-engineering engineers had been on emergency alert for two days when the strike broke last Monday. When negotiations with the union's headquarters in Washington began crumbling the Friday before, assignments were made up and the supervisory people were told to stay within telephone reach from Saturday on. The break came at 1 p.m. Monday. News of it reached CBS-TV's new president, Lou Cowan, at a luncheon the network was putting on to enable him and newsmen to become better acquainted. Though not by design, it probably was the plushest setting a network ever used to announce that it had just been struck. The announcement didn't break up the luncheon, but it sped several members of the CBS-TV press department to the waiting buffet to pre-fabricate quick sandwiches before they scurried off to pre-arranged assignments as mike boom operators, utility men and whatnot. The substitute engineers were not entirely unprepared. As all networks do from time to time, CBS sent some 300 of its executive and supervisory people to "school" last fall to learn about camera work, audio work, switching, handling boom mikes, cables and the like. The teachers were CBS supervisory technicians. But the students had to fit their schooling into their regular duties, and many got considerably less than the maximum 18 hours of instruction they were supposed to get. Authorities estimated last week that the average got 12 hours or less. Fluffs were to be expected, and fluffs there were — although not nearly so many as officials apparently had expected. Cameras didn't always pan exactly on cue; when an announcer was supposed to be on camera, ready to display the sponsor's product, the camera brazenly exposed a helper on the floor handing the product up to him. At least one commercial, on a New York local show, was run twice without interruption. One director told of the difficulties of having a still photographer acting as a tv cameraman. Out of a professional lifetime of habit he insisted on composing his shots the way he thought they ought to look and only reluctantly would pan according to cue. Another cameraman, told to pan to one side, reportedly waved at the actor instead, signalling him to move in front of the camera. The makeup department, according to an Page 32 • April 14, 1958 Broadcasting