NBC Transmitter (Jan-Nov 1942)

10 NBC TRANSMITTER "BB": A SUCCESS STORY Bertha Brainard's Colorful Twenty Years in Broadcasting • As jNBC manager of program sales, Bertha Brainard is one of the busiest women on the American broadcasting scene. She’s known throughout the industry as “BB,” but ballistically speaking, she packs the merchandising punch of a mammoth cannon. She’s blonde, petite and has the grace and charm of a Broadway leading lady. And she came close to being that because during her school days in her home town of South Orange, New Jersey, she took part in high school dramatics and, later, at the Montclair Normal School continued her pursuit of amateur theatricals. However, World War I interrupted her dramatic aspirations and she enrolled as an ambulance driver with the American Red Cross and was assigned to the New York area to drive wounded soldiers from transports to hospitals. Then, after managing a resort hotel at Greenwich, Connecticut, she joined the staff of The Daily News Record, New York trade paper of the garment industry. It was in April, 1922, that she entered radio, joining WJZ — then in Newark, New Jersey — with a Broadway interview and review column called “Broadcasting Broadway.” She speaks affectionately of the old days at “Z” — as she terms the station that is now New York key of the Blue Network Company. She has a file drawer full of nostalgic clippings and photographs which she eagerly displays to interviewers. Her file reveals the amazing scoops she achieved in the early days of broadcasting. Getting names of headline and marquee-light caliber on the air was no easy matter. Budgets for talent were practically non-existent in those days and broadcasters had to hie out to Newark for their programs. But Miss Brainard’s tact and charm won out and she recruited prominent names of the entertainment world to the Newark studio. Soon her staff activities included arranging programs, writing scripts and announcing. When “Z” opened a New York studio in 1923, she moved her headquarters to the big city to take complete charge of activities “across the Hudson.” With the formation of NBC in 1926 and the inclu BERTHA BRAINARD sion of WJZ in its station roster, Miss Brainard was named Eastern program manager of the network and, in turn, commercial program manager before assuming her present post. A glimpse at the charming executive makes it difficult to believe that she’s a full-fledged member of H. V. Kaltenborn’s Twenty Year Club — inner sanctum of prominent broadcasting "folks who have spent a score of years in the industry. She is the constant subject of feature interviews in newspapers and magazines, and noted by-line writers have admitted that they were refreshingly surprised by her charm and wit rather than the anticipated stern disposition they usually encounter in women executives. Miss Brainard realizes that the merchandising of programs calls for the same showmanship and salesmanship punch as any other commodity. She’s a shrewd program observer, a keen evaluator of talent and has the knack of knowing where , to offer shows that will bring home the results sponsors desire. Her fourth floor office has a door leading to the program board room where she regularly sits in on program conferences and auditions. A tiny upright piano in her office is decorated with the autographs of celebrities— all of whom Miss Brainard has met in her program-building and program selling tasks in the past two decades. One night an overzealous office cleaner took a damp cloth and wiped the signatures off the famous piano. But Miss Brainard started over, and once again the piano represents a priceless collection of autographs. Now, however, there’s a plate glass top to protect the rare signatures. And at night the piano gets dressed in a pair of green “pajamas.” There are numerous stories connected with the collection of the autographs, but one Miss Brainard is especially proud of is the fact that Paderewski sat down to play “The Moonlight Sonata” on it when he was asked to sign it. The piano is so tiny that it is occasionally sent to great artists backstage in Radio City studios for autographing. “BB” has gone a long way since those Newark days at “Z.” She maintains grace and dignity in her executive assignment. And she’s human, too, as all her fellow' workers know. She is modest about her success in the business world and pleads with newspaper and magazine interviewers to tone down the numerous success stories and achievement anecdotes connected with her twenty years in radio. DOCTOR OF MUSIC Roy Shield, NBC central division music director, recently received the degree oj Doctor of Music from the Chicago Musical College. Rudolph Gan: (left), president of the institution, is shown handing the honor to Shield for his pioneering achievement in the development of “music-keyed” radio drama.