Radio daily (Oct-Dec 1949)

Wednesday, December 28, 1949 RADIO DAILY 3 Gross Radio Sales I Cleveland Stations Aid Public] State Moves To Avoid ABC Revealed In Yule Week Transit Strike (Continued from Page 1) time, some advertisers were reluctant to commit themselves to longterm programs in face of lack of assurance that such advertising would be remunerative. Others were not sure whether to cast their lot with television, with radio, or a combination of both. Nevertheless through our development of new sales ideas and techniques, the network ended the year with gross radio sales of approximately $42,300,000 as compared with the preceding year's $44,300,000 gross." TV Development Reviewed Turning to television, Kintner disclosed that the completion of a program for plant facilities for TV operations had been accomplished by a capital expenditure of more than $8,000,000. He pointed out that these capital expenditures had enabled ABC to put in operation five television stations located at strategec points in New York (WJZ-TV), Chicago ( WENR-TV ) , Detroit (WXYZ-TV), Los Angeles (KECATV), and San Francisco (KGO-TV). The Kintner statement also points out that approximately $3,700,000 has been spent on the ABC-TV Center in New York and that the network is completing the purchase and reconversion of a 23-acre area into the Hollywood Television Center at a cost of approximately $1,250,000. Plans Baseball Series Boston— The 1949 pennant winners and World Series are still providing fuel for the hot stove league, but WHDH is getting ready for spring training and the 1950 baseball season. The station has begun a Friday night series, Closed Circuit, with Leo Egan under the sponsorship of the Motor Car Company of New England. Top baseball personalities, players and managers are interviewed by Egan on plans for the coming season. Newcomers to Boston baseball teams are also being introduced in the Hub City. Stork News Ernest Lee Jahncke, vice-president of the American network in charge of stations, is the father of a son born yesterday to Mrs. Jahncke at the Doctors Hospital. The newcomer weighed in at nine pounds, four ounces and will be named Redington Townsend. He is the Jahnckes' fourth child, the others being Leila. Carter and Ernest, III. WANTED Total $70,000, 12 months, on controlling interest in 3 new stations. All or any part. Interesting proposition. Need active managers. Box No. 297, RADIO DAILY 1501 Broadway, New York 18, N. Y (Continued f tion of service. WGAR, which is on regularly until 2:30 a.m., carried news stories regularly until sign-off. WSRS signed on an hour earlier Thursday morning to warn listeners of service stoppage. All stations co-operated immediately with the Mayor's emergency committee headed by C. M. Hunter, WHK program director, using spots with a share-the-ride pitch and telling where to get ride information for the city's workers without private transportation. WTAM-WNBK's Ed Wallace had feeds Thursday to the Camel TV show and the Alka-Seltzer AM-network shows. WJW fed two pick-ups to ABC news shows. On the first day of the strike, WTAM had statements from the union head, Tom Meany, also transit manager Donald C. Hyde and Mayor Thomas E. Burke. Recorded phone conversations with the Mayor's aide, Joseph Sullivan, and David Ralph Hertz, impartial umpire in strike, were used Friday. The station had Mayor Burke on air Saturday. A Tuesday phone recording with transit system operating superintendent regarding resumption of service was aired. WGAR covered the CTS (Cleveland Transit System) board meeting Friday and taped a statement by Hyde. This was used on the same night's news broadcast with an interview with Meany. A special feature was the interview with CTS comptroller W. H. Morrison, who explained the process of redeeming CTS weekly passes sold in large numbers to regular riders and students. Station also used the recorded Burke talk on Saturday. WHI used an interview with an official of the Automobile Club and scheduled a special panel broadcast Thursday night. WJW carried several on-the-street broadcasts the rom Page 1 ) first day of the strike in addition to telephone recordings of interviews with strike principals. WJMO had the city's law director, Lee Howley, on Thursday explaining the Ferguson Act, which covers striking of public workers. Station taped interviews with CTS personnel at the meeting on Saturday, and more yesterday at the union meeting which ended the strike. Also included were phone interviews with Hyde and Lang. WSRS used Burke talk Saturday. WEWS's Dorothy Fuldheim had Meany and Lang live and films and remote of the first day's traffic jam. On Saturday the station signed on at 10:30 a.m. for a remote from the union meeting and followed with a talk by Mayor Burke, which it made available to radio stations. WEWS cameras filmed the union meeting yesterday for use on later newscasts. WNBK and WXEL, the city's newest TV station, confined most of the coverage to regular news shows and bulletins. All stations used bulletins Monday on Common Pleas Judge Joseph A. Artl issuing the court order which enjoined CTS workers from continuing the strike, also bulletins following the union meeting which sent workers back at 2 p.m. Headley-Reed Expansion Announced By Officials Headley-Reed Co., radio and television station reps, will move to new and larger quarters in the Graybar Building, 420 Lexington Avenue on January 3, F. M. Headley, president, has announced. The company will acquire more than double the amount of space they now occupy in the Chrysler Building. Headley also said that William B. Faber will head up the newly created television department of the company and Patrick J. Sullivan will be in charge of the new traffic and availability department. Cameron Higgins, formerly of ABC and Miss Naomi Zieph of the New York Post are new additions to the research & promotion department, it was announced. William Shrewsbury, formerly with Transit Radio, and Walter Dunn, formerly of ABC spot sales, have joined the AM sales staff. Wide Radio-TV Strike (Continued from Page 1) night on Saturday of this week and it is reported that members have authorized a strike at that time. A spokesman for the union who yesterday discussed the possibility of a strike and its effect on the industry as a whole intimated that the union's picket lines would be respected by other labor groups such as actors, engineers, cameramen and stage hands. Such a development, obviously, would result in a virtual crippling of radio and television program production. Ralph Edgar Ralph Edgar, 29, WGAR, Cleveland announcer, died last Thursday in (Cleveland) Huron Road Hospital following two-month illness. He was best known for his program "Ask City Hall," regular WGAR feature for three years. This was only program on which Mayor Thomas E. Burke appeared regularly. Edgar, member WGAR staff since January, 1942, and served with information and education section Caribbean Wing Air Transport Command between 1943-46. Native of Chicago spent two years at Northwestern also attended radio school in Chicago. Broke into radio with WGRC, Louisville, and was with WACE, Pittsburgh, briefly. Insomnia Was it insomnia that led almost a hundred farm leaders., county agents., agricultural educators., to gather at the KDKA studios at 5:30 the other morning? No ! It was the celebration of KDKA's Eighth Annual Farm Conference, an early-morning institution throughout the rich, tri-state agricultural area served by KDKA's Farm Hour. This eyeopening program offers an ever-growing audience in more than 117 BMB daytime counties. Participation costs? Most reasonable, as you'll find from KDKA or Free & Peters. PITTSBURGH 50,000 WATTS NBC AFFILIATE KDKA WESTINGHOUSE RADIO STATIONS Inc WBZ • WBZA • WOWO • KEX • KYW . KDKA • WBZ-TV National Representatives, Free & Peters, except for WBZ-TV; for WBZ-TV, NBC Spot Sale<