Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1960)

FANFARE 'First citizen' "This is your life, Mrs. A. Scott Bullitt." Those words were heard in Seattle, Wash., a fortnight ago, when the president of the King Broadcasting Co. (KING AM FM TV Seattle) was honored as "Seattle's First Citizen for 1959." A special closed-circuit This is Your Life program was staged by m.c. Ralph Edwards during the annual award banquet of the Seattle Real Estate Board. Mrs. Bullitt is the first woman honored in the 21 -year history of the Real Estate Board's "First Citizen" award. The This is Your Life show was produced by Otto Brandt and Lee Schulman of KING-TV. To make the show authentic, Mrs. Bullitt's daughters were flown from California and Florida to join in the festivities. NBC-TV star Steve Allen also participated. Also taking part, by film, in the This is Your Life feature were former U.S. Postmaster General James Farley and Harold Fellows, president of NAB. Mrs. Bullitt is also president of the Crown Stations (KGW-AM-TV Portland, KREM-AM-FM Spokane). • Drumbeats A full house • Clowns, ranging in age from three to nine-years old responded to one announcement on WTVJ(TV) Miami's Popeye Playhouse. The young viewers were told they'd be admitted free to a circus if they appeared for the Popeye show in costume. Result: 132 clowns. KHQ's new 'club' • There's no initiation fee to join a new club formed by KHQ-AM-FM-TV Spokane, Wash. It's the "KHQ Sidewalk Superintendents' Club." Membership cards and accompanying letters call attention to Zooming sales • WGMS Washington, registered a healthy 62% increase in paid subscribers with its monthly program booklet Guide to Good Listening, in 1959. A year ago, the booklet had 5,552 subscribers. Today there are 8,992. Available for $2 yearly, the 28-page magazine includes a complete schedule of WGMS programs and a calendar of live concerts scheduled in the Washington area. new studios and tower, now under construction. Fire aid • Everything, from a rag doll to a gas stove, was donated to an 11member family wiped out by fire for the second time in a year, in Denver. KTLN, that city, conducted a 24-hour campaign to collect clothing, furniture and appliances for the family. Two trucksfull of donations enabled the family to set up housekeeping again. Charity drive • Despite the economic setback the people of Pittsburgh were suffering due to the steel strike, they contributed $41,098 to the local Children's Hospital in response to a twohour show over KDKA-TV, that city. In cooperation with the Pittsburgh Press, the station donated time, staff, talent and production expenses to the campaign; the first hour was simulcast over KDKA. The show netted more than $3,000 above the amount pledged in 1958 and made a total of $817,000 raised by the station for Children's Hospital over a nine-year period. They're shopping 'downtown' Over 484,000 entries were turned in by New Orleans shoppers as the result of a 1 3-week "Shop Downtown" promotion on WWL-TV, that city. Object of all the entry blanks — a free trip to Europe. Approximately 100 merchants participated in the WWL-TV campaign. The program was so successful, the Retail Merchants Bureau is now planning a 26-week "Shop Downtown" promotion using WWL-TV as its basic medium. Advance promotion Giant Foods Inc. of Washington, D.C. (supermarkets), for two weeks prior to starting its "Pleasure Theme" radio spot series, had area stations play a two minute, twenty second instrumental waltz version of a new Giant commercial on disc shows. There were no lyrics or commercial message with announcers introducing the selection as "2:20 — Untitled." With the start of the campaign, commercial lyrics were used. Giant agency is Ad Inc. Series was written and produced by J.R. Productions, Washington. New PGW 'colonels' • The 11th Annual Peters, Griffin, Woodward, N.Y. "Colonels of the Year" awards have been made to William J. Tynan, PGW midwest tv sales manager and Alan J. Bell, PGW promotion-researcher. The awards are made by the agency to one man of the radio and tv staffs for "his personal growth within the company and to his contributions to stations and advertisers." A major financial consideration accompanies each award. On the distaff side, three "Colonelette of the Year" awards were presented to Miss Ann LaBruzzo, secretary to George B.J. Adkisson, Chicago radio account executive; Mrs. Dolores Marter, secretary to William J. Stubbs, Atlanta sales manager, Miss Margaret M. Heeg, secretary to Lloyd Griffin, vice president and director of television. BROADCASTING, February 1, 1960