Radio daily (Apr-June 1937)

Serving the Better Interests of Commercial Radio and Television VOL. 1. NO. 38 NEW YORK. FRIDAY, APRIL 2. 1937 FIVE CENTS CBS Television Site Set looliinq On AND LISTENING IN FILM STARS a checkup of the entertainment scores made by film stars on the air doesn't back up the wail of movie theater men that the appearance of screen personalities on the radio is faking business from the box-office. With but very few exceptions, film names have been duds as air entertainers. Clark Gable, Mae West and Shirley Temple may be ace money getters for the movies, but they are the type of stars who must be seen to be appreciated. There are any number of radio actors who register better on the air. Conversely, Jack Benny is not essentially a screen draw, and his pictures would not gross half as much for theaters if it weren't for his air following. Burns and Allen likewise are aided more than harmed in the film field by their radio work. Radio made big drawing cards for the films out of these and other stars, and now some short-sighted movie men want to kill that draw by taking the stars away from radio entirely! As for the strictly screen-made attractions, such as Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Fred MacMurray, Myrna Loy, Carole Lombard, et al, their value as oir entertainers is little or nothing. They might keep some movie customers at home for a broadcast or two, but not continuously. The only ones who really believe radio competes with movies are the lazy showmen. • PROFITS Packard Motor Car Co. reports net profits of $7,053.220 for the past year, against $3,315,622 for the year before; American Rolling Mill Co. netted $6,441,676, its highest profit since 1928. Both are substantial users of radio time. Marpoiii's Son to RCA Miami Beach, Fla.— Senator Guglielmo Marconi's son will shortly embark from abroad for America and will become associated with RCA in New York, according to David Sarnoff, RCA president, who is resting here with Mrs. Sarnoff. The Sarnoff and Marconi families have been close friends over a long period. STATE-OWNED STATION IS PROPOSED IN JERSEY Trenton, N. J. — A proposal for a state-owned and operated radio station, to be devoted in part to educational programs, has been approved by the New Jersey State Advisory Committee on Public Relations. The plan is to include station in the State Bureau of Information recommended by Governor Hoffman in a bill now before the Legislature. It is reported the project has the support of a (.Continued on Page 8) Transmitter to be Located Atop Chrysler Building Will be Most Powerful Station of Its Kind Standard Brands Sets Details of Negro Show standard Brands Inc. (Fleischmann Yeast) through J. Walter Thompson Co. yesterday announced the full talent line-up of its all-negro show which will make its debut over 30 NBC-Blue network stations, April 9 at 9-9:30 p.m. Eddie Green and Gee Gee James, a comedy team, with Louis Armstrong and his orchestra will be the regular talent. Program will also feature negro guest stars. Octavus Roy Cohen, well known writer of negro fiction, will do the script. 4 Officials Elected By Conquest Alliance Conquest Alliance Co., Inc. has elected Albert M. Martinez and Frank F. Morr as vice-presidents. Leslie Herstius as secretary, and Fred R. Jones as a director. C. H. Venner is president. 1 1 for ?>Iartlia Dcane Martha Deane, WOR commentator, is breaking some kind of a record with 11 broadcasts a week. She has added Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:30-11:45 a.m. for General Foods to her California Packing and participating programs. W ROEFNER HEADS R&R COAST RADIO DEP'T ll'cst Coast Bureau of THE RA>DIO DAILY Hollywood — Edmund (Tiny) RufTner, simultaneous with his arrival here, has been appointed head of Ruthrauff & Ryan's radio department it was announced yesterday. Understood that Myron Kirk present head of radio will be shifted to other du ( Contiinicd on Page 8) Morton Downey Signed For Foreign Disk Series Morton Downey, who sails for London with his wife on April 14, has signed for a series of 26 disks to be waxed for the Radio Luxembourg. Downey will receive $1,000 per trans(Continued on Page 3) Three More Radio Stations Are Added by NBC Networks C. p. MacGregor Agency Enlarging Activities IVest Coast Bureau of THE RADIO DAILY Los Angeles — Enlargement of activities and additions to the organization's personnel are announced by C. P. MacGregor, who has just completed a reorganization which changes the firm of MacGregor & Sollie to C. P. MacGregor Co. Under the new setup, Amos Baron becomes sales manager in place of (.Continued on Page 3) NBC station relations department yesterday announced the addition of three more stations to the NBC networks, effective April 15. Stations are WDEL, Wilmington; WORK, York, Pa.; KSOO. Sioux Falls, S. D. KSOO is the first station to be signed by NBC in South Dakota, WDEL is the first NBC affiliate in the state of Delaware. WORK and KSOO will be optional Red or Blue network members, WDEL will be a basis NBC-Red afTiliate. Rates for WORK(Continued on Page 3) Upon receiving FCC permission to construct a combined television and sound transmitter, CBS will take over space on the 74th floor of the Chrysler Building here and start work on the most powerful station of its kind in the world. Peak power of 30 kilowatts (30,000 watts) will be equalled only by the finished apparatus now being constructed in Paris on the Eiffel Tower and will be sufficient to televise strong enough reception to receivers 40 miles away, or a total of some 4,800 square miles. Acquisition of the Chrysler location gives CBS the only possible available tower high enough to surmount a reasonable horizon and comparable to NBC's station W2XBS located in the tower of the Empire State Building. This operates with power of 12,000 watts and has reported favorable reception to a point in Connecticut over 40 miles distant. CBS engineers figure on an operat(Coiitinued on Page 3) EOR CBS IN 'FRISCO ll'est Coast Bureau of THE RADIO DAILY Los Angeles — (2BS yesterday signed a contract for a new $500,000 transmitter and studios in San Francisco, Donald W. Thornburgh announced. KFSO will share offices with the chain in a two-story structure on top of the ballroom in the Palace Hotel. Transmitter is to be a duplicate of the one in Boston. NAB Board Meeting ira-ihington Bur., RADIO DAILY Washington — ^National Association of Broadcasters will hold the spring meeting of its board of directors at the headquarters of the organization in the Washington Hotel here on Wednesday. Purpose of the meeting is to appraise current problems surrounding the radio broadcasting industry.