Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1941)

12 Motion Picture Daily Monday, December 1, Off the Antenna WITH other independent stations in the New York area increasing their wattage, WMCA is preparing a campaign based on FCC engineering data to prove the importance of dial position. Based on these figures, WMCA will urge that the "progressive loss of power through ground absorption of signal strength among stations higher up on the dial" gives WMCA's 5,000 watts, the equivalent of much greater strength at higher frequencies. Using statistics for non-directional antenna, WMCA points out that 5,000 watts at 570 kc, the WMCA frequency, is the equal of 480,000 watts at 1,600 kc. • • • Purely Personal: Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt will be featured speaker on "America's Town Meeting of the Air" over N'BC-Blue Thursday. . . . Lily Pons will be guest on short wave stations WRCA and WBOS Wednesday during a Metropolitan Museum of Art lecture program devoted to opera. . . . Alfred W allenstein, IVOR conductor, has selected three of his musicians tO' lead the IVOR Symphony Orchestra as guest conductors for programs in January. They are Milton Katime, Harry Farbman and Frederick Dvonch. . . . Joan Edwards lias been chosen as vocalist on the CBS "Your Flit Parade." • • • An analysis of program material on W71NY, WOR's FM station, released over the weekend, reveals that only 5.4 per cent of its programs are the same as those of its parent station, WOR. The bulk of the material, 45.3 per cent, is high fidelity transcriptions. Mutual network programs not carried by WOR make up 29.6 per cent and W71NY originates 9.4 per cent on its own. The remaining 10.3 per cent is made up of recordings. • • • David O. Selznick will be guest on Kate Smith's noonday show tomorrow over CBS to receive the N . Y . Daily Mirror award as the "outstanding producer of motion pictures." Kenneth McCaleb, Sunday editor, will make the presentation and Selznick will be introduced by Miss Smith and Ted Collins, producer of the program. • • • Program News: Edwin C. Hill will take his program, "The Human Side of the News," heard over CBS, to the cmnual convention of the National Association of Manufacturers Wednesday and Friday for interviews with business men. . . . A series of six sustaining programs, "Defense and Your Dollar," prepared by the 20th Century Fund, will start over NBC-Blue Saturday 3-3:15 P.M. . . . Bristol-Myers has renewed for another 13 weeks the news commentary by Frank Bingman over the NBC-Red Pacific Coast and Mountain networks. . . . Arthur Tracy, whose "Street Singer" program was notable on the networks, will return to the air Jan. 5 on 23 NBC-Blue stations 4-4:15 P.M., sponsored by Ex Lax. . . . Dogs will be offered for adoption over NBC television in a new weekly series starting Wednesday at 8 :45 P.M. • • • Rita Hay worth and Bob Hope will receive awards tonight from the Hollywood Photographers Association as the most cooperative screen performers of the year. Cecil B. DeMille will make the presentation over CBS during the "Lux Radio Theatre," 9-10 P.M. Theatre Changes U.S. Considers Priorities on Television Sets (Continued from page 1) the priority ratings, declared that reaction to the request is quite favorable and that he is "very hopeful." The plan calls for the release of materials to manufacturers for about 2,000 sets monthly. Additionally, there is a move afoot to induce the Government to purchase outright 10,000 receivers and to place them in strategic points in this city and other localities which have television transmitters. Would Aid in Training With telecasters cooperating by transmitting special defense programs, groups of civilians such as air raid wardens and similar defense organizations could gather at places where sets are installed and learn their duties en masse, it was stated. Loewi places DuMont receiver sales since July 1, the date television was commercialized, at "slightly under 200." Recently, however, set sales have increased somewhat, Loewi said. He pointed out that many who would normally have purchased sets have refrained from doing so because they feared television would be forced off the air "for the duration" or that sets would be altered in the near future. The granting of priorities for television, however, would restore confidence and create a demand, according to Loewi. Average 14 Hours Weekly DuMont, which operates W2XWV as an experimental station, for the past two months has averaged about 14 hours of transmission weekly, he said. This has been on an irregular schedule, however, and has consisted mainly of test patterns and films. Last Thursday, a feature film was televised and Loewi is hopeful of setting up Thursday evenings as a regular night for programs as the first regular schedule for the station. The station still operates on a temporary antenna and hopes for delivery from the manufacturer of a permanent antenna have just about disappeared, he said. DuMont will probably build its own. Outdoor mobile equipment is ready, Loewi said, although it will not be used until a full program schedule is begun. RCA to Form New Firm for Blue Net (Continued from page 1) by the commission. However, the order may be reinstated at any time, and if that is done, NBC would be compelled to dispose of the Blue Network within six months thereafter. The new corporation set up for the Blue web is expected to make a sale easier, as all assets and liabilities of each network will be completely separated. When CBS disposed of its Artists Management Corp. recently, the fact that it was operated by a separate corporation made the sale easier to handle, while NBC, which had no such separate corporation, encountered many difficulties, and to date has failed to dispose of its artists bureau. Loew-Poli Men Are Shifted New Haven, Nov. 30. — Harry F. Shaw, Loew-Poli division manager, has appointed Nat Rubin, former assistant at the Poli here, to manager of the Lyric, Bridgeport following adoption by that theatre of a full-week policy. Frank Manente, former student at the Poli, New Haven, has been promoted to assistant at the Globe, Bridgeport, while Tony Masella of the Globe has been transferred to assistant at the New Haven house. Buys Out Philadelphia House Philadelphia, Nov. 30. — Henry Freedman becomes the sole owner of the suburban Lawndale, having bought out the interest of Harry Fried, who operates a group of independent suburban theatres. Freedman recently leased his suburban Lansdale to Warner Theatres. Open Miss. Drive-In Jackson, Miss., Nov. 30. — The new Drive-In Theatre, located east of Jackson, has opened. The new theatre will accommodate 350 cars. Under the management of the Kennington-Richards Enterprises, it is the first of its type in the state. Commonwealth Acquires Three Kansas City, Nov. 30. — Commonwealth Theatres has taken over the Baxter and Ritz theatres, Baxter Springs, Kan., from J. W. Grantham. Commonwealth also has acquired the lease on the Elite Theatre in Baxter Springs, owned by Homer Garber. Shift Milwaukee Managers Milwaukee, Nov. 30. — Fox has named new managers for its Wisconsin and Palace, local first-run houses. Joseph Rosenfield, former manager of the Modjeska, heads the Wisconsin, and Louis Lutz, former manager at the Oriental, is the new Palace manager. Oakland Managers Moved Oakland, Cal., Nov. 30. — George Yost, former manager of the Dimond, has been named manager of the Palace. Replacing him at the Dimond is Frank Hayward. Rebuild Burned Theatre West Point, la., Nov. 30. — Ben Brinck will have a new $12,000 theatre building to replace the one recently destroyed by fire, construction to be completed for opening at Christmas. WHN Gets Exclusive* Rights on Dodgery WHN announced over the weekend that it has obtained exclusive rights to all Brooklyn Dodger baseball games-r next year. Old Gold Cigarettes will sponsor, through the J. Walter Thompson agency. | Red Barber will be the an1 nouncer. The broadcasts wi^J i start with the pre-seas^ games about March 15, afl the schedule will include an home and away from home I games. This is the first big WHN J contract announced since the station increased its power to 50,000 watts. House Hears FCC Official Pro-4Re< Washington, Nov. 30. — Carryl his anti-Communism campaign to t floor of the House, Rep. Martin D of Texas asserted Friday that Fi Chairman James L. Fly had evau the issue raised by the charge tH Goodwin Watson, chief FCC bro; cast analyst, is a "propagandist j Communism." "I hold in my hand unimpeacha j documents to establish the charge, si I intend to have a showdown w.J the chairman of the FCC as to | truth or untruth of this charge," D told the House. "I further charge, and I now rep'] it, that Goodwin Watson has beer propagandist for Communism and 1 Soviet Union. I have Watson's i disputed writings to prove tl charge." Fly "absolutely ignored" an offer I show him the evidence, Rep. Dies ; : serted, but replied to the charge saying that he had made an inqu i and had found the charge basele . "Instead of looking at our eviden 1 Chairman Fly wrote to me flj Goodwin Watson is a man of 1C generation American ancestry," commented. Cast of CBS Temple Holiday Series St< Warner Baxter, Robert Your Lionel Barrymore and Humphrey B. gart will be heard with Shirley Tei I pie in her series of four Christm plays Friday nights at 10 P.M., whi| start this week over CBS. The schedule follows : Dec. 5, ' Bonnet for Joan" with Baxter ; D< 12, "Mr. Ideal" with Young ; Dec. 1 "Christmas for Two" with Barr more, and Dec. 26, an unnamed pi with Bogart. Billy Artzt and a ha mony quintet, "The Quintones," w] furnish the music. Cast in *U* Serial Hollywood, Nov. 30. — Kent Ta' lor, Peggy Moran and Robert Arr strong were set today as the first ! the cast for Universal's serial bas on the "Gangbusters" radio prograi! Lupino in W. B. Picturi Hollywood, Nov. 30. — Ida Lupii: has been assigned to star in Waj ners' "The Damned Don't Cry." Tl; part originally was announced f Bette Davis.