NBC Transmitter (Jan-Nov 1942)

14 NBC TRANSMITTER i HOPE AND CROSBY IN GOLF DUEL FOR ARMY There were laughs galore when Bing and Bob clashed ivith quips as ivell as putts. • KOA I Denver ) broadcast a stroke-bystroke account of a golf match played for Army Relief by NBC stars Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, teamed respectively with golf professionals Lawson Little and Ed Dudley, when the foursome traversed the fairways of the Cherry Hills Country Club near Denver on Sunday, August 16, before a capacity crowd of some 7,000 spectators. The station also brought its Sunday afternoon listeners a specially-arranged half-hour broadcast featuring Crosby and Hope, which was staged near the clubhouse following the match, in which the Pepsodent Kid and the Kraft Crooner caused the crowd to shell out .|27,500 for the purchase of war bonds to swell Uncle .Sam’s war chest. Bill Day, KOA news editor and special events director, handled the mike assignment in describing the golf match. He was assisted by Lawson Little, former American and British Open Champ and NBC golf authority, who commented on the play between strokes. All told, KOA devoted two hours of air time to the affair. Arrangements for the broadcast were made in a hurry. Not until two days before the match did the Leyden-ChilesWickersham post of the American Legion in Denver receive word that Hope and Crosby would he available. KOA helped publicize the affair in advance through spot announcements inviting the public to attend the match and see the two famous stars in action on the links. Gagman Hope was at his sharpest, much to the delight of the gallery — and Crosby returned quip for quip during their golf round. It was Hope who won the match — sinking a birdie three on the final hole to enable him and Dudley to triumph over Crosby and Little. The gallery accounted for an approximate total of $2,500 for Army Relief. WSB Provides Food for Thought— and Speech • A new method of assigning announcers to programs has been uncovered at WSB ( Atlanta ) . It’s a method that depends upon the appetites and tastes of the hoys involved. When WSB broadcast the opening campaign speeches of gubernatorial candidates Gene Talmadge and Ellis Arnall, it was decided that Production Manager Marcus Bartlett would do the Talmadge pick-up — since all in attendance at Moultrie were to participate in a huge fish-fry, while Arnall supporters at Newnan were to be served Georgia barbecue. Mark dearly loves fried fish — but can’t take barbecue. Program Director Roy McMillian okayed that decision because he hates fish and can really go for real Southern harhecue. So Roy took the Arnall program— and everybody was happy. 36% of Legal Staff Serving Uncle Sam • The NBC legal department has given almost 36 per cent of its employees to the United States Services, according to A. L. Ashby, NBC vice-president and general counsel. The department’s honor roll includes: John Hurley, of the Washington office, commissioned in the Navy; Franklin Butler, of the New York office, commissioned in the Navy; Edward Hidalgo, of the Washington office, assigned to Government work in Uruguay, South America; E. Gardner Prime, of the New York office, commissioned in the Army, and Everett Deane, former junior clerk of the New York office, serving in the Federal Bureau of I nvestigation. 22nd Birthday of WWJ I { Has Modest Observance " | • “Just too busy with helping to win the war” is the reason WWJ ( Detroit ! gave for not celebrating the completion of 22 K years of broadcasting on August 20. In |M place of the elaborate programs of other , i i years, WWJ was content to add a phrase I to its regular standby: “This is WWJ — The Detroit News, 22 years old today.” ' The Detroit News ran an editorial, and some of the long-time sponsors offered congratulations during their programs. That was all. Absent for the first time on an anniversary was William J. Scripps, whose boyish interest in radio many years ago resulted in the establishment of WWJ on August 20, 1920. Scripps, general manager of radio for The Detroit News, is on active duty in the Air Forces as a first lieutenant. OWI Gets Miss Lorentz • Anne Lorentz, recently war service coordinator at WTAG (Worcester, Massa ! chusetts I , has joined the International Division of the Office of War Information. It was expected that she would be assigned to the program department of the New York branch.