Radio annual and television yearbook (1939)

"Covering" the Opera WHK will cover the appearance of the Metropolitan Opera Company in Cleveland from April 4 to 9, extensively. In advance of the opera season WHK has conducted a series of contests which offered pairs of $5 and $4 tickets to adults and $4 and $3 tickets to senior high school students who submitted letters of fifty words telling why they enjoyed the opera from which music was presented by Louis Rich and the U.B.C. Concert Orchestra. When the troupe arrives in Cleveland at 11:00 P.M. Sunday, April 3, Nicky Burnett, who has produced the opera contest series will be aboard the train. Engineers will set up remote equipment on the concourse of the Cleveland Terminal, where the arriving celebrities will be interviewed. Homecoming celebrations will be in order for Helen Jepson, Thelma Votipka and Donald Dickson who are Clevelanders. Before "La Traviata" is presented in Cleveland's Public Auditorium at 8:00 Monday night, WHK will have Ellen Cornell, style expert from the Higbee Company and sponsor of the station's oldest unbroken commercial series, describing the arrival of society, and the formal clothes being worn by the ladies. Les Biebl will don top hat and tails to announce the remote from the Foyer of the Public Auditorium. TIE-UP Kiddie Revue Tie-up Added build-up is being given youngsters starred on the "Kiddies' Revue," KLZ-KVOR amateur variety show, through a personal appearance tie-up completed with managers of Denver's Fox Theater chain by Howard R. Chamberlain, KLZ production manager. After the show, sponsored jointly by Old Homestead Bread Co. of Denver and Star Baking Co. of Colorado Springs, is aired on Saturday morning, the entire cast presents a variety show from the stage of one of the theaters. Picture house managers cooperate by exhibiting "shorts" designed to attract a juvenile audience. Buy Time for Schools Local stationery and office-supply store in Grandjunction, Col., has bought time on KFXJ for program devoted almost entirely to school activities. Station sales department arranged with local school system and Mesa College to handle broadcasts, and airings feature talks by faculty members and various offerings of the different school departments. Brief introductory and commercial plugs satisfy the sponsor. And he sells school supplies. Cigar Band Tie-up Tie-up between a kid show and the advertising of cigars is made over KCKN, Kansas City, by using cigar bands (received from fathers) as the admission price for the studio audience. Show consists of a community sing and 'mpromptu stunts by the juvenile audience with Owen Balch acting as the ring master. Candy bars are distributed to those in the audience presenting five or more bands and a grand montly prize of a bicycle is given to the boy or girl scoring the greatest number of points in a cigar-band collecting contest. "Willie Talks" Willie is a ventriloquist's dummy, but no Edgar Bergen makes him articulate. Instead, the engineering department of KFRO in Longview, Texas, installed a speaker inside of him, and made him a member of the promotion department. Willie is taken around town, where he gives performances, via clever scripts, before many local service clubs, working in some plugs for the station. He has already appeared at the Lion's Club, and is slated for Kiwanis and Rotary shortly, to say nothing of the Junior Chamber of Commerce. Lone Banger Tie-up With the advent of WFIL's Lone Ranger disk series, department stores sales of cowboy suits, masks, and etc. have skyrocketed. At present station has some 2.500 Lone Ranger troops formed with 10 members to a troop. 18x10 legal-looking charters for the troops are being mailed to 5.000 persons. Average mail received daily is running about 800. Station has made tie-up with newspaper to carry column of lone ranger news, and with theaters running the movie serial. Safety awards are being made weekly of bronze plaques to the troop making the greatest contribution to highway safety during the week. Public Library Tie-up WSAR announces an educational feature, presented in cooperation with the Fall River Public Library. The program, known as "The Bookshelf" is heard Tuesday afternoons at 2:00 P.M. and in addition to mentions of new books added to the Public Library, it calls attention to various works soon to be published and reviews the more important books. At present, a free offer is attracting a large mail response. The program is conducted by Francis J. McLaughlin. Jr., station production manager. National Guard Tie-up WLBC has inaugurated something new in military broadcasts in a tie-up between the 568