NBC Transmitter (Oct-Dec 1944)

November 1944 11 Employees and Families Get NBC Medical Advice NEW YORK.— Dr. Bernard J. Handler, medical director of NBC, looks forward to the day when all prospective employees will receive a thorough medical examination before joining the staff and subsequently will have check-ups at six-month intervals. At present, pre-employment examination applies oidy to men. This will be a long stride forward in the important field of preventive medicine, Dr. H andler feels. During his two and a half years at NBC, the number of company patients seeking advice or treatment has been more than tripled. Dr. Handler attributes this to a combination of circumstances: an increased staff, loss of family physicians to the Armed Forces, physical and emotional disturbances arising from war-born problems, and the increased confidence of NBC employees in the medical service provided by NBC. Dr. Handler works closely with the personnel department. When he finds a patient on the verge of a mental or physical crisis from worries or ill health, he talks it over with the personnel department. who may then arrange for a vacation or leave of absence for the patient. Most important project afoot for Dr. Handler at the moment is advising placement of medically discharged war veterans whose whole future depends on their adjustment to their first civilian jobs. Another aspect of Dr. Handler’s work which keeps him busy both during NBC office hours and on his daily rounds is maintenance of a vast list of contacts with other medical men in order to advise medical care for employees. Often they come to him with cases requiring special treatment and he is able to recommend reliable physicians within their means. This service is particularly helpful to employees who are new to New York. Dr. Handler is available, too, to employees who consult him about other members of their families, for he considers harmonious family relationships essential to efficiency on the job. Dr. Handler was graduated from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and is a specialist in internal medicine. He interned at Bellevue Hospital where he now is director of the First Cardiac Clinic. NBC PHYSICIAN -Dr. Bernard Handler, head of network's New York medical service, examines an employee. (Story at left). TRIAL BY JURY CHICAGO. — Thundering proof that radio listeners take their heroines seriously was provided during the murder trial of Bertha Schultz in recent episodes of NBC’s “Today’s Children” serial drama. Nearly 200,000 persons from Mackenzie Bay almost down to the Panama Canal took pen and pencil in hand to vote Bertha's acquittal. It was the largest jury ever assembled for any murder trial anywhere. A geographical survey of the ballots showed that each of the 48 states was represented, as was every Canadian province and Mexico. Neither prizes nor giveaways were offered. Letters were symbols of pure admiration by the audience for a microphone favorite. It w as estimated 971/2 per cent of the vote was in favor of Bertha, who had been charged with the murder of her script fiance. The mail rush “caught short” the agency and sponsor of the program, who had placed an original order for oidv 50.000 souvenir “newspapers,” which were sent to all those who registered votes as jury members. The trial itself was unprecedented in radio production technique. It was opened in the NBC Chicago studios with a full-fledged judge, Robert A. Meier, acting circuit judge of Cook County, presiding. Listeners were invited to act as the jury and attend daily sessions of the “court.” A typical courtroom scene was set up in Studio A. largest of the NBC Chicago studios. Special Retail Unit Set Up by Baltimore Station BALTIMORE, MD.— Reorganization of its local sales staff w ith a separate department devoted exclusively to retail sales, service and promotion was announced recently by Leslie H. Beard, sales manager, and Harold C. Burke, manager of WBAL. Harry H. Wright is WBAL’s assistant sales manager in charge of retail activities. Kenneth Carter is account executive and Lewis Calm, advertising counsel. “WBAL’s thought.” said Wright, “is that retail advertising is now so important to a station like ours that we feel we should have a much greater know ledge of the retail business and perform much greater services for retail accounts than has been the practice in the past. “Then again,” continued Wright, “retailers in Baltimore are intensely interested in television which will probably be in operation along the East Coast a short time after the war. One of the services of our retail department will be to keep Baltimore retailers informed on the latest developments in television. We recently had a demonstration of television in our studios which offered the first opportunity for Baltimore retailers to experiment with this new medium. Through our station, the Advertising Club of Baltimore brought Phil Merryman. director of facilities development and research for NBC. here to address their luncheon-meeting on October 18 on the subject of television. “Before establishing our retail department, we surveyed the situation in many of the larger cities. That survey showed clearly that we could perform a greater service to Baltimore retailers if we had a sales service and promotion department concentrating on this class of business. V-Disc Anniversary NEW YORK.— Major General Joseph W. Byron, director of the Special Services division of the Army Service Forces: Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick M. Warburg, chief of the entertainment and recreation branch of the Special Services division, and other officers and enlisted men of the Army Service Forces were guests of the NBC radio-recording division September 26 at a dinner held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to mark the first anniversary of V-disk production.