Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1942)

Motion Picture Daily Monday, January 12, 1942 Mark Woods Separate Blue FromNBC-Red On February 1 By EDWARD GREIF NBC-Blue will start functioning as an independent network Thursday and all connections between NBC and the Blue will be severed by Feb. 1, it was disclosed over the weekend after RCA had filed incorpora t i o n papers Friday in Delaware for Blue Network Co., Inc. The new company will be a whollyowned subsidiary of RCA, just as the National Broadcasting Co. is, but NBC will operate the only Red network. Niles Trammell will continue as NBC president but will also occupy the post of chairman of the executive committee of the Blue. Mark Woods President Marks Woods resigned as NBC treasurer to become president of the Blue. Edgar Kobak, formerly NBC vice-president in charge of Blue sales, will be executive vice-president and general manager. Other officers of the Blue will be: E. R. Borroff, vice-president in charge of Chicago; L. P. Yandell, vice-president and treasurer ; Keith Kiggins, vice-president in charge of station relations ; Phillips Carlin, vice-president in charge of programs ; L. MacConnack, secretary ; C. E. Pfautz, assistant secretary. Directors include Woods, Kobak, G. S. De Sousa, J. V. Heffernan, C. B. Jolliffe, and John Hays Hammond, Jr. David Sarnoff, RCA president, declared that the Blue will continue to function with the same programs and the same business. The first step will be to ask the FCC to transfer licenses for WJZ, New York; WENR, Chicago, and KGO, San Francisco, to the new company. The licenses for these stations were transferred temporarily from NBC to RCA. Sequel to FCC Order The action was in consequence of an FCC order issued last year requiring NBC to divest itself of one of its networks. _ The FCC suspended the order indefinitely to permit NBC to find a buyer without the pressure of a deadline. Blue affiliates will meet in Chicago on Thursday to ratify the new setup. NBC will aid in the operation of both networks until Feb. 1. Meanwhile, NBC officially denied that any negotiations had been conducted for the disposal of stock of the new company. In trade circles it was pointed out that the Securities & Exchange Commission would probably refuse permission for floating a stock issue at a time when the whole network framework under FCC rules is so uncertain. Other factors which Local 306 President Sees Union Peace in N. Y. Soon (Continued from page 1) is counter-picketing Loew's Delancey. Gelber said the picketing would continue for the present. Gelber declared that he was committed to 100 per cent organization of the New York City housesj and that after the Empire situation was disposed of, other operator unions will be considered. He said that every effort to avert strikes would be made but refused to state flatly that no strikes would be called in view of the war. He said, however, that if the industry should set up machinery for avoiding strikes by conciliatory methods, Local 306 would abide by it. Local 306 officials are "studying" the Loew's situation which led to that company's suit against the union, Gelber said. He refused to commit himself on what the local's policy would be toward the demand that Loew's cease deliveries of films to all independent houses not employing 306 projectionists and that members not be required to handle any film not delivered by IATSE members. Meanwhile, the suit has been postponed to February. Gelber said that Matthew M. Levy, the union's attorney under the regime of Joseph D. Basson, had been discharged but had refused to deliver papers in the suit because of alleged unpaid fees. The new attorney, Nathan Frankel, succeeded in obtaining copies of the papers from Loew's on Thursday and there had been no opportunity to study them, Gelber said. Frankel will receive a $10,000 annual retainer, inclusive of all fees and disbursements, Gelber said. Two hundred of the union's 2,155 members are unemployed, Gelber said. Union dues have been standardized at $50 a year. would make a sale at this time impractical, it was said, are the war /situ-' ation and the fact that without separate bookkeeping systems it would be impossible to judge the Blue's earning power or value. Stations which now operate as both Red and Blue affiliates will continue in the same capacity, it was said. Approximately 500 employes of NBC will be transferred to the Blue. Borroff Heads Blue in Chicago Chicago, Jan. 11. — Appointment of E. R. Borroff, sales manager of the NBC Central Division as a vice-president and Chicago manager of the new Blue Network Company, Inc., was announced here. Word as to how the 300 staff employees here will be divided between the Red and Blue networks is awaited. WENR, transferred from NBC to the new firm, is expected to continue to share time with WLS as a Blue outlet. Mutual Sues NBC, RCA on Trust Charge Permission Sought For 4 New Stations NBC Opposes FCC Move to End Suit Declaring that "substantially all" independent affiliates of NBC will cancel their contracts with the network or refuse to adhere to contract terms unless an injunction against the new FCC network rules is granted, affidavits were filed over the weekend on behalf of NBC in Federal court here asking that the FCC motion to dismiss the suit be denied. A hearing on the NBC and CBS request for an injunction and the counter-motion for dismissal of the suit will be heard today by a threejudge statutory court. Frank E. Mullen, NBC executive vice-president, in his affidavit, revealed the possibility of wholesale cancellations, and attached letters from 15 affiliates to prove his claim. Sidney N. Strotz, formerly NBC vice-president in charge of programs and now in charge of the West Coast, asserted that the new rules threatened the news services of radio which he termed an "imperative necessity" during war. Philip J. Hennessey, Washington attorney, attacked the hearings on which the rules were based as legislative rather than judicial and contended that no evidence was taken during the hearings on the economic effect of the rules. Washington, Jan. 11. — Applications for construction permits for four new broadcasting stations have been filed with the FCC. The projects were proposed by the American Network, Inc., New York, planning an FM station to operate on 47,900 kilocycles to serve a population of 12,526,151 ; Green Mountain Broadcasting Corp., Inc., seeking a 1,490kilocycle, 250-watt station at Brattleboro, Vt. ; J. A. Eisele, asking a 1,400-kilocycle, 250-watt station at Forth Worth, Tex., and W. J. Harpole and J. C. Rothwell, planning a 1,400-kilocycle, 250-watt station at Plainview, Tex. Applications also were filed by Stations WCBM, Baltimore, for change of frequency from 1,400 to 820 kilocycles and increase of power from 250 to 5,000 watts, and KFMB, San Diego, Cal., for change of frequency from 1,450 to 1,170 kilocycles and increase' of power from 250 to 5,000 watts, with move of transmitter from San Diego to Berrytown, Cal. Labor Representation On DCB Committees Washington, Jan. 11. — The Defense Communications Board has announced that labor in the communications industry will participate in the planning work of its various committees, including those dealing with domestic and international broadcasting. The action was taken in response to a request by the unions for representation. WBRC Moves Studio Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 11. — Station WBRC has moved into new studios in downtown Birmingham. The studios are complete with the latest improvements in sound treatment. Open Carolina House Charlotte, N. C, Jan. 11. — Benner Bros, have opened the Sunrise Theatre at Southern Pines, N. C. The Benners also operate theatres at Carthage and Hemp, N. C. (Continued from page 1) Blue yet Mutual is barred. Fifteen cities were cited where there are three or fewer stations and where NBC controls two. These are Toledo, QjjB Miami, Fla. ; Jackson, Miss.; Houra ton, Tex. ; Birmingham, Ala. ; Tulsa/ Okla. ; Salt Lake City, Utah ; Des : Moines, la. ; Charlotte, N. C. ; Columbia. S. C. ; Manchester, N. H. ; Mem1 phis, Tenn. ; Spokane, Wash. ; Provi p dence, R. I., and Richmond, Va. Stations joining in the suit with Mutual were WGN, Chicago; WOR, New York; WOL, Washington; WGRC, Louisville; WHBF, Rock Island, and KWK, St. Louis. WBBM Free Course For Air Technicians? Chicago, Jan. 11. — In response to the National Association of Broadcasters' plea to radio stations to aid in the defense effort, H. Leslie Atlass, vice-president of CBS and head of the network's Chicago outlet, WBBM, has set up a tuition-free school to train radio technicians, telegraphers and operators. "Two types of trained men are becoming increasingly important, radio telegraph operators and broadcast technicians, for the armed forces, for home defense and to maintain the broadcasting industry," Atlass said. "Already our Army and Navy are asking for more radio technicians and operators than can be supplied." More than 1,000 applications have been received for instruction in the 13-week course, which will be given by members of WBBM's engineering staff. it Associates Induct New Officer Slate (Continued from page 1) of Internal Revenue for the New York district. Higgins was advised by Walker;*that the Associates will invest $5,000;f?c in defense bonds. The new officers in addition to; Buxbaum are Jack Ellis, first vice president; Matthew Cahan, second vice-president ; Moe Fraum, record ing secretary ; Charles Penser, finan cial secretary ; Saul Trauner, treas urer; Louis Kutinsky, sergeant-atn" arms, and Seymour Schussel and: Moe Kurtz, trustees. Acquire Buffalo Theatre |i Buffalo, Jan. 11. — The Twentieth Century Theatre, first run downtown house, is now under the management of a new corporation with Robert T.' PC Murphy as president and general manager. Nikitas D. Dipson, owner and operator of 24 other houses is' understood to have withdrawn. 'id Confirms Hakim Award N. Y. Supreme Court Justice Edward R. Koch has confirmed an arn bitration award in favor of Raphael Hakim, producer of the French film, "The Baker's Wife," against the distributor of the picture, The Baker's Wife, Inc. til.