Radio daily (Oct-Dec 1949)

RADIO DAILY: Thursday, December 22, 1949 AGENCIES H. LAWRENCE WHITTMORE will succeed Courtland N. Smith as president of Alley & Richards, effective January 1. Harry M. Billerbeck, who has been elected to succeed Whittmore as treasurer, will also serve as vice-president. DAVID MICHAEL & CO., INC., vanilla products, to Adrian Bauer Advertising Agency, Inc. JOSEPH L. BOLAND, JR. has been elected a director, vice-president and general manager of Briggs & Varley, Inc. RENAULT AUTOMOBILE of France has appointed Smith, Smalley & Tester, Inc., effective January 1. Newspapers, posters and spot radio will be used. Philip Kerby is the account executive. NEIL O'BRIEN has joined Kenyon & Eckhardt in the copy department of the radio and television division. DEANE WITT has joined the creative department of Fred Gardner Company, Inc. GEORGE A. VOLZ has been elected vice-president of Gardner Advertising Company., St. Louis. THE FIRST ARMY AND AIR FORCE recruiting program to A. W. Lewin Co., New York. MANNIE GREENFIELD ASSOCIATES retained to handle all press relations and record exploitation for Tommy Dorsey and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. WALTER McCREERY, INC., Los Angeles advertising agency, formally dedicated new offices at 9344 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, with "open house" gatherings held on December 8 and 9. The agency moved from its Sunset Boulevard location in Hollywood a few weeks ago. EDWIN FUNK has joined McCann-Erickson, Inc., as an account executive in the agency's National Biscuit Company account group. He was formerly advertising and sales promotion manager of Sheffield Farms Company, Inc. SCHNEFEL BROTHERS CORPORATION of Newark has appointed Kastor, Farrell, Chesley & Clifford, Inc. for its La Cross manicure implements and Naylon cosmetic products. WANTED Combination man with car wanted by western network station. Disc required. Send photo and make first letter complete. Write Box 295, RADIO DAILY, 1501 Broadway, N. Y. C. NAB, Armstrong Ask FCC For Hearing On FM Future (Continued from Page 1) made it impossible for FM broadcasting to be competitive with AM broadcasting, in spite of its obvious superiority. That superiority exists in almost every particular. An FM station costs much less than an AM station of comparable power. The expense of operating and maintaining it is substantially less. If properly located, its area of primary service is considerably greater than that of an AM station of comparable power; and its service is not marred by disturbances from static and man-made interference." NAB, pointing out that its membership included 515 FM stations December 1 — of which 475 were affiliated with AM stations, pointed out that the Commission's proposed amendment is in line with proposals advanced this year by FMA. "However, a vital part of the FMA proposal would have required the relaxation of any expanded minimum hours rule in instances where it was shown that hardship would result to particular stations." NAB, opposing the rule, urged that if it is adopted there be provisions for waiver in hardship cases. Wants "Fact-Finding" Hearing NAB asked for a hearing "primarily fact-finding in nature, to determine whether modification, revision or postponement of the proposed rule will be necessary to prevent loss of service to the public . . . and to determine whether a sufficient factual justification exists to justify establishing different standards of operation for licensees of the same class." (The proposed amendment fixes minimum hours of operation at six hours daily in the first year for all FM stations, eight hours in the second year and 12 hours thereafter, with stations affiliated with AM stations to operate as long as their AM parents.) "The proposed rule is not in the public interest because its adoption is more likely to bring about a reduction in FM service than increase in such service," said WCOA-FM, Pensacola, Fla., and dozens of other stations were in obvious accord. Lebhar Gives Viewpoint Bertram Lebhar, director of MGM stations WMGM-FM, New York, and KMGM, Los Angeles, wrote that the additional hours would cost his company $15,000 more in Los Angeles and half that much additional in New York. He said operating losses on the two stations currently exceeds $300,000, with a 1950 loss of $75,000 anticipated. "In view of our previous sizeable outlay," he wrote, "we would not demur at the prospect of an additional expenditure of $22,500, if we believed the greater public service would justify the cost. We have had no indications that our efforts are in the least appreciated by those within our coverage area. "The public apathy toward FM in view of, first, the manner in which it has been by-passed by television, secondly, the failure of set manufacturers to cooperate in its promotion, and thirdly the inability of FM to prove to the listener its consequential superiority to AM broadcasting, leads us to believe that the additional expenditure would impose a hardship upon us without appreciable compensatory public benefit." Along the same line of reasoning, KONO-FM, San Antonio, Texas, reported that when it was forced to go off the air for over an hour one day last month "not one single call was received from listeners to inquire as to the reason for interruption of service." ILGWU Files Protest The International Ladies Garment Workers Union, which operates FM stations in New York, Chattanooga and Los Angeles, said it feels the new rules mean hardship. It suggested that if stiffer minimum hours are to be required, the Commission not insist that unaffiliated FM stations use a specified number of "low-revenue daylight hours. Instead, ILGWU suggests, permit the station to use its own discretion as to what hours it shall be on the air. In addition the union suggested that the minimum be kept to seven and one half hours for independent stations, in order that the need for keeping technicians for more than a full eight-hour shift daily be eliminated. WFHA, New Britain, Conn., said it has found its FM operation impractical because of the concentration of the set manufacturing industry upon AM and TV. It said "one Zenith distributor of a large section of New England has discontinued promotion of FM because sufficient sets cannot be obtained from the factory to warrant the promotion. Zenith Praised "Zenith has been one of the more progressive FM manufacturers, and the situation is reportedly much worse with distributors of other nationally known sets. This lack of production and promotion by set manufacturers keeps FM removed from the public eye while AM and TV are heavily emphasized, with the result that FM receiver distribution is seriously curtailed even among those most FM conscious." ABC commented that the slowness of FM development "is probably due to the fact that FM was oversold in the beginning. In practice, the actual performance of the receiving sets that have been produced to date falls on the average far below what the public and industry were led to expect. "Another difficulty is the obvious one that even with equally good or improved reception the listener receives substantially the same end product, namely an audio program of one type or another." COAST-TO -COAST WCCO Xmas Programs Minneapolis, Minn. — The Baker Company, department store here, has purchased a series of half-hour programs being heard Wednesday nights over WWCO throughout the Christmas season. The program titled "My Favorite Christmas Story" will feature a special guest each week, and will be emceed by Bob DeHaven. The Moline Company here sponsored a program of Christmas carols and favorite songs presented by the Apollo Club. Annual Xmas Party San Diego, Calif. — Doug Oliver, morning man at KFSD, NBC affiliate, has announced the date of his second annual "Slumber Busters" Christmas party. The gathering is being held at crack of dawn in the KFSD studios on December 22, with a gift for a needy youngster the price of admission. Xmas Carols On WDRC Hartford, Conn. — The choral group at Teacher's College, conducted by Dr. Etzel Willhoit, chairman of the music department, will be heard in a Christmas carol program over WDRC, Sunday, Dec. 25, at 9:45 a.m. WISN Xmas Feature Milwaukee, Wis. — Fred E. Eriksen, advertising manager of the Wisconsin Electric Power Company, will narrate his renowned Christmas story, "There Is A Santa Claus," over WISN at 6:00 p.m., Saturday, December 24th. Eriksen has recited this story for radio listeners each Christmas for the past 15 years. This year, the story will be beamed by Armed Forces Radio Services to servicemen in hospitals and bases in America and throughout the world. Transcribed Greetings Omaha, Neb.— Station KOIL and station KFOR in Lincoln, made it possible for two football coaches to personally great one another although they were 60 miles apart. D. X. Bible was principle speaker at the University of Omaha's annual football banquet. A three-minute transcribed greeting from Navy coach, George Sauer was a highlight of the banquet, and at the same time his greetings were being transcribed here, D. X. Bible's transcribed greeting was heard at the Lincoln annual football banquet. WGBA Appointment Columbus, Ga.— Ed. J. Hennessy, former account executive of WCON, has been appointed commercial manager of WGBA. | Season's Greetings from | | QUANTITY PHOTO CORP. | | 119 W. HUBBARD ST. | CHICAGO 10, ILL. &