Radio daily (Oct-Dec 1949)

Wednesday. December 21. 1949 RADIO DAILY 5 XMAS PROGRAMMING IN SPOTLIGHT Beamed To Antarctica A New York-Paris Christmas celebration for a group of French explorers in the Antarctica has been planned by the French Broadcasting System for this Friday. December 23. The short wave broadcast will spotlight a song by the internationally-famous French singer, Edith Piaf. A conversation between Paris and the explorers revealed that they had a yen to hear Miss Piaf and that if they had time to write Santa, they would include the request in their letters. The party will be in Antarctica until at least January 1951. Incites Featuring Special Xnuts Programs With the majestic "Hallelujah" of Handel's Messiah, with the choruses of uncounted voices, with the simple story of the Christ child — Christmas, 1949 — will be heralded by New York City's radio stations. Yuletide carols and stories have already filled the air waves this week, but (Continued on Page 14) Theater-Tele Hearing Seen Early Next Year Washington Bureau of RADIO DAILY Washington — Reports here are to the effect that the FCC will try early next year to call its hearing on the question of providing channels for theater television. During the past weeks the belief has been that the Commission has planned to announce the hearing before the end of the year, and this belief now appears to be wellfounded. While it still is not likely that the Commission, with its present heavily-loaded schedule, will be able to take up the question of (Continued on Page 15) O'D. Wedding On MBS Inside, Outside Church "Mutual Newsreel" scored a news beat last night when the program broadcast an exclusive radio on the spot description, both from inside and outside the church, of the wedding ceremonies attendant to the Mayor O'Dwyer Sloane Simpson nuptuals. Doug Silvers, WIRA, Fort Pierce, Fla., newscaster, arrived at the Stuart, Fla., church early yesterday morning and set up his equipment (tape recording stuff) outside and inside the church. When hizzoner (Continued on Page 14) Distinction Mrs. William O'Dwyer, until yesterday New York fashion consultant Sloane Simpson and now the wife of New York's Mayor, was yesterday designated "Honorary Queen of All America" by emcee Jack Bailey of Mutual's "Queen For A Day" show. Bailey gifted the lovely Mrs. O'Dwyer with a huge bouquet of American I Beauty roses. Mutual Wk/s Billings Close To $3,000,000 Two and three-quarter hours of network time, approximating $3,000,000 in new business billings have been signed by Mutual within the past week, it was revealed yesterday. In addition, the web recently announced more than $2,000,000 in year-end renewals. According to a network spokesman. Miles Laboratories, which now sponsors "Queen For A Day," has signed to bankroll a daily, fivetimes-a-week segment of "Ladies (Continued on Page 14) ABC Expands Script Staff For AM-TV Programming AlBC's trend toward increasing the development of house built shows for radio and TV has resulted, it was learned yesterday, in an expansion of the script and program promotion division of the web. Three senior writers, Louis M. Heyward, Vera Oldham and Michael Sklar have been signed by ABC as senior writers and Arlene Wood joins the web as a junior writer. Heyward was formerly script editor for Associated Press' radio division and has received credits on a number of network programs; (Continued on Page 12) The story of Christmas, its religious services and music, its legends and literature, will provide the basic material for virtually every television program on the air during the holiday season. An outstanding TV highlight of the Yuletide will be President Harry S. Truman's Christmas message to the nation and the tree-lighting ceremonies on the White House lawn, which will be carried by all networks. While the cameras pick up the scene in Washington, the President's voice will be piped in over the picture from Independence, Mo. Secretary of the Interior Oscar Chapman will be seen on the program and music will be provided by Educational Series Planned By WHOM An educational experiment in Americanization training will be started in mid-January by WHOM in cooperation with the New York City Board of Education, Gene Pope, Jr., v-p and general manager of the station announced today. The multi lingual station will urge its listeners to enroll for a series of 12 evening sessions to be conducted at the WHOM studios. Classroom instruction will be supplemented by a weekly broadcast. The (Continued on Page 12) Nine CBS Programs In Top 15 Hooperatings CBS shows hold nine of the top 15 evening spots in the Hooperatings for the week of December 1 to 7, a Hooper release showed yesterday. Jack Benny was in the number one spot with a 26.6 rating with the Radio Theater second at 22.0. Both are CBS programs. Fibber McGee & Molly on NBC were third with 20.4, with Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts at 19.7 and My Friend Irma at 19.3 filling out the first five. Others were Bing Crosby, 19.2; Bob Hope, 18.7; Mr. Chamelon, 17.4; Amos 'n' Andy, 17.3; (Continued on Page 14) the National Press Club chorus and the Marine Band. Special Christmas Eve programs on NBC will include "According to Joseph," a dramatic re-enactment of the story of the Nativity. Program will be aired from the web's studios and will be integrated with a pickup outside St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Immediately after, the net will air a special show titled "Christmas Eve In Bethlehem," a WPTZ origination from Bethlehem, Pa. Program will include a processional and choral service from the Cathedral Church of the Nativity. At 11:45 p.m., NBC will pick up (Continued on Page 15) Yuletide Schedule Announced By Networks The four major networks are devoting their entire programming of next week-end to Christmas inspired special broadcasts or to holiday cued tie-ins on regularly scheduled programs, a Radio Daily round-up of Yuletide programming revealed this week. Noted British scribe, Charles (Continued on Page 61 Suggests Changes In CBC Financing Vancouver, B. C. — Financing of the CBC from Federal grants instead of from license fees and advertising revenue has been suggested by William Guild of Lethbridge. Alberta, chairman of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. In an address to the Advertising and Sales Bureau of the Vancouver Board of Trade, Guild, manager of station CJOC in Lethbridge. proposed that the annual Federal grant he advocated be fixed for ten-year periods. He said it would then meet the CBC's needs, allow for proper development and keep the CBC free from political influence. At the same time, a regulatory body independent (Continued on Page 12) Economic Progress Review Featured By Adv. Council A review of progress made under the American economic system since 1900 and ways to continue progressing are the keynotes of The Advertising Council's American Economic System Campaign Guide for 1950. Pointers for advertising campaigns on the American system are included in addition to a booklet on the Miracle of America. The latter (Continued on Page 14) r Musical Innovation An innovation in the playing of Yuletide carols will be aired by NBC's Friday p.m. "News Of The World" when the web \ picks-up, from York, Pa., Karl Alex Smyser's rendition of "loy To The World," "Silent Night" I and "Away In The Manger." I Smyser. who has been doing it for twenty-five yeaTS, will play the three hymns on the factory whistle at York's New York Wire Cloth Co. Christmas Theme Dominant In Holiday TV Programming