Radio daily (Oct-Dec 1949)

Section of RADIO DAILY. Wednesday. November 9. 1949 — TELEVISION DAILY is fully protected by register and copyright NBC SEPARATES TELE FROM AM TELE TOPICS A BC'S HUGE NEW STUDIO in the converted stable on West 66th street was shown off to best advantage Sunday nite in the debut of the Paul Whiteman Goodyear Revue. The spaciousness of the studio combined with striking backgrounds by James McNaughton enabled producer Tony Stanford to mount a variety show that was, overall, as entertaining as anything on the air. In addition, two dance numbers were staged by Valerie Bettis in such a grand manner, although only six dancers were involved, that they gave the impression of monster production numbers in a Hollywood musical. Excellent camera work, concentrating on depth instead of width, gave the dances a scope and three-dimensional effect that were truly exciting. Whiteman's music was full and rich and the maestro handled his be tween-act chores in a most pleasing manner. Junie Keegan, his singer, is a 13-yearold with wistful expression and velvety voice. Guests Eddie Albert and Allyn Mc Clerie were charming in a number from "Miss Liberty," while Darla Hood and the Enchanters offered an amusing bit of vocalizing. Program closed with Charles Laughton reading from "Of Time and The River." His stirring interpretation made Wolfe's beautiful prose come alive, and almost made us forget that he was solo on camera for almost five minutes. . . . Program is scripted by George Faukner, directed by Wm. H. Brown, Jr., with Ward Byron producing for ABC. Middle commercial was all fouled up as cues were missed right and left. Agency for Goodyear is YtrR. • \A/PIX CUTTING BACK again, plans * ' to axe about five shows. Staff cuts already under way and include flack Bob Rodgers and producer Jack Balch plus several cameramen and engineers and others. . . . Wyllis Cooper, one of the best writers in all radio, has joined CBS-TV as exec producer-director-writer. He's working on a new dramatic series to include his own work and that of other writers. . . . WNBT dropped the Hank McCune show, filmed in H'wood by Showmanship, Inc., on short notice because station execs were disappointed with print quality. /-*BS PLANNING a new dramatic series based on the Edna Ferber-George S. Kaufman play, "Stage Door," to follow the pattern of "The Front Page." Web also building a comedy seg around Al Bernie for airing in the Wednesday, 9:30-10 p.m. slot. . . . Backstage at the Whiteman preem, an impromptu whistling concert by Adolph Green, who was waiting for his wife, Allyn McClerie, and makeup man Herman Buchman attracted the attention of Pops and the rest of the cast. They were whistling Brahms' Double Concerto. George Frey Named Director Of Video Sales; Smith To Head Operations; Blackburn To Coast; Wile In N. Y. Production As Assistant To Weaver (Continued same administrative level as TV, one for sound broadcasting and the other for owned-and-operated stations, are now being formed. McConnell said. It is expected that executive veepee Charles R. Denny, Jr.. will be chief of AM activities, with the top post for stations still to be filled. James Gaines is now director of o. & o. outlets. In the new TV organiza tion, George Frey SMITH manager of Eastern sales for AM and TV, becomes director of sales for tele. It also is believed that Harry C. Kopf. now administrative veepee in charge of sales, will be named to the top radio sales post. Other top execs working under Weaver in the new set-up are Carleton D. Smith, who continues as direcm 'W jw tor of opera^m^^f tions; Frederic Wk W. Wile, Jr., as fl|[^ sistant to Wea ver, who becomes director of production, Blackburn, national program director, who moves to Hollywood as head of TV network operations. Blackburn, who has had consider WILE and FREY Norman from Page 1) able experience in motion pictures, will begin work at once to develop TV formats for NBC's top AM stars and other Hollywood personalities, Weaver said. The following departments will report to Smith, Weaver announced: controller, headed by J. R. Myers; film syndication, Russell Johnston; production services, Fred Shawn; station relations, Sheldon B. Hickox, Jr., and technical operations, Robert E.Shelby. Under Frey will be grouped time sales, with Edward Hitz as eastern sales manager; Eugene Hogue, midwestern sales manager, and program sales, headed by Robert W. Sarnoff, formerly national manager of program production. The following departments will report to Wile: new program development headed by Fred Coe; talent, Carl Stanton; program production, with the followi n g producers: Richard Berger, William Garden, George McGarrett. Victor McLeod. Roger Muir and Ernest Walling, and continuity acceptance. BLACKBURN Sees Theaters Outbidding Nets For Exclusive TV Sports Rights (Continued come possible to program exclusive television entertainment regularly in the theaters," he said. "From this number of theaters, more money can be made available, plus profit, for program production than is paid out today for any regular entertainment program in television. These financial facts underscore the sound economic structure for building theater television." To assure the development of from Page 1 ) theater tele, Halpern said, "it is necessary and desirable" for the film industry to seek allocation of channels from the FCC. Unless this is done quickly, the industry "is in danger of losing them by default," he added. Halpern reported that four theaters in the country now have TV equipment installed and that an additional six to eight theaters expect to install TV in a few months. Manufacturer Urges Color Tests In Homes Arco Electronics, distributors of electronic components, on Monday outlined to the FCC a plan which, the firm claimed, "would enable 250,000 'fan experimenters' to assist in trial and error testing of proposed systems of color television." The firm proposed that the Commission "order" proponents of color television systems to provide color telecasts in major metropolitan markets "for a minimum number of hours per day," so that "interested individuals" could test their signal. Arco's letter to the FCC said in part: "In the course of direct testimony during the past few weeks, members of the Commission have repeatedly sought a way to determine whether the color systems now being proposed would be accepted by the public. . . . We are proposing that the Commission rely for advice on the judgement of 250,000 experimenters. ..." Arco added that it "and several hundred other qualified firms," are prepared to provide essential parts and components, either in separate form or in "knockdown" kits, for the use of "fan experimenters." New Air Time High Claimed By WLW-T Cincinnati — An all time high of 11 hours and four minutes of daily programming during October has been reported for WLW-T for what is claimed to be one of the most extensive schedules offered by any station in the country. The report was prepared by Don Miller, head of the Crosley research department. Figures for October showed a daily increase of three hours and six minutes over the previous month, and five hours and 52 minutes over the figures recorded for the station six months ago. The increase is accounted for by the inauguration of coaxial cable service and increased local daytime programming by the station. Local programming averaged six hours and 54 minutes daily, or 62.2 per cent of the station's total air time. A daily average of four hours and 42 minutes of this time was of studio origin, while films averaged one and a half hours daily. Despite the scheduling of local football contests, remotes averaged only 16 minutes per day. Network service accounted for 37.4 per cent of the total hours on the air during October.