Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1962)

BOB BOOKER AND EAJBUUE 1M»I I» THE I IAMIL1 KABJUB BOID -v \AO»l RRHSSVKI' "'«">!! BOOKIH \ Oil MA MAI Mil Friends of the first family rally round MINOW, SALINGER QUEER USE OF MEADER PROMOS The vigah of the New Frontier has been unmistakably asserted to discourage radio stations from using Vaughn Meader's imitations of John F. Kennedy in station promotions. Mr. Meader, whose album, "The First Family," is selling at a historymaking rate, suddenly found everybody in Washington getting into his act. It started on Saturday, Dec. 8, a dull news day, when a reporter for the Washington Evening Star heard what sounded like the President's voice, but was clearly identified as Mr. Meader's, in the following announcement on WWDC Washington: "This is Vaughn Meader. In Washington— Jackie, Bobby, Caroline and Eunice — we all listen to WWDC with great vigah." The Star reporter telephoned FCC Chairman Newton Minow who was prompt in denouncing the commercial use of an impersonation of the President — although Mr. Minow had not heard the WWDC announcements. Mr. Minow then telephoned Pierre Salinger, the White House news secretary, who was with the President in Palm Springs. Mr. Salinger, who had not heard the announcements but took Mr. Minow at his word, placed a call to Ben Strouse, WWDC president. Collins Comment ■ Meanwhile, the Star reporter telephoned LeRoy Collins, NAB president, to get his views. Gov. Collins also was able to speak without prejudice, having heard none of the announcements. He told the Star man: "If they are misleading, if people are led to believe the President or any of his family are endorsing anything or anybody, then they violate our NAB code, are wrong, and should be discontinued forthwith." The Salinger call to Mr. Strouse reached Mr. Strouse at his home in Baltimore Saturday evening. That afternoon the WWDC president had attended a football game. En route home he had heard one of the Meader spots in his car radio and, he told Broadcasting, "I had my doubts." He telephoned the station to cancel the spots before he talked with Mr. Salinger. At his regular news briefing Dec. 11 in Washington Mr. Salinger said that Mr. Strouse had advised him the spots had been withdrawn before the Palm Spring-Baltimore call was completed. The White House news secretary also reported that Mr. Strouse had volunteered to advise Cadence Records of the problems stations might face in the use of Mr. Meader's imitation for promotional purposes. At least a dozen stations, including WWDC, had acquired custom promos featuring Mr. Meader, Cadence later reported. Mr. Meader than for any comparable number of features sold over a corresponding period, and is running 55% ahead of last year. The advantages to stations, Mr. Ezzes pointed out, are that first-run, off-the-network features can be priced more reasonably, and word-of-mouth promotion can help boost an audience for the station's late evening feature, film period. The latest Showcase sales, he said, were made to WPRO-TV Providence; KENS-TV San Antonio; WOKR (TV) Rochester, N. Y.; WFBM-TV Indianapolis; WEAT-TV West Palm Beach, Fla.; WDEF-TV Chattanooga; WALA-TV Mobile, Ala.; KSWO-TV Lawton, Okla.; WCTV (TV) Tallahassee, Fla.; KAVE-TV Carlsbad, N. M.; WCNYTV Watertown, N. Y., and WMTW-TV Poland Spring, Me. Program notes... Public works feature ■ A new film documenting the development of a public works project, 100 Miles to Atoka (near Oklahoma City), has been released by Sterling Movies U. S. A. Inc., New York. The 16mm feature is 27 minutes long. It was produced by Lewis Studios for the International Pipe & Ceramics Corp. Wolper segments set ■ Two documentaries for Wolper Productions' The Story of series for UA-Tv are scheduled for production in West Germany: The Story of a Foreign Correspondent, with George Bailey of Reporter magazine as the title subject, and The Story of a Heidelberg Student. Alex Grasshoff will direct and produce both programs under the supervision of Mel Stuart, series producer. Rights Day concert on tv ■ WRC-TV Washington and WNBC-TV New York carried a live feed of a United Nations Human Rights Day concert performed by the National Symphony Orchestra at Constitution Hall in the nation's capital last week (Dec. 10) at 10:30 p.m. Ambassador to the U. N. Adlai Stevenson was host; Bryson Rash, 74 (PROGRAMMING) BROADCASTING, December 17, 1962