Radio daily (Oct-Dec 1949)

Section of RADIO DAILY. Wednesday. December 28, 1949 — TELEVISION DAILY is fully protected by register and copyright WRIGHTS ACQUIRED TO RANK FIX T€L€ TOPICS h HOLLOWING "STUDIO ONE" on CBS in New York Monday nites is an informal quarter hour presided over by Faye Emerson, without a doubt the most attractive and charming girl on the air these days. The show isn't much — some gossip by Miss Emerson and possibly a guest or two — but the personality of its hostess is so great that it usually makes mighty pleasant viewing. Most of the time Miss E. talks about the parties and first-nights she attends. It's not bad, as such chatter goes, but we've got a hunch that it would be much more interesting if her material were not so heavily coated with the glossy or nite club side of show business. Miss Emerson has definite ideas of her own on almost every subject, and we'd like to hear her talk about them free from the custom that prevents a performer from saying anything but kind words about fellow artists in public. . . . Commercials for milady's footwear by Ansonia that looks all but impossible to walk in are effectively delivered by Neva Patterson and fit neatly into the rest of the segment. Hardie Frieburg is the producer and Dick Linkroum directs. . . . We'd like to repeat Miss Emerson's New Year wish for her audience because it illustrates a point made above — "A world that's free, a peace that's real and a life that's a little better this year than it's ever been before." • CCORES OF PRESS RELEASES heralding all sorts of activities pass our desk every day. Most are widely divergent in both content and style, but almost all from stations and networks have one thing in common — they seldom mention competitors. We were quite startled, therefore, to receive the following in a wire from a station in Ohio that we shall call, with great originality, Station A: "The announcement by Station A that it would carry a 15-hour schedule on Christmas Day starting at 8 a.m. threw consternation into the ranks of its competitors Stations X and Y." We print this for whatever value it may have to instructors in trade publicity. We withheld the station's call letters because for all we know Stations X and Y may have thrown consternation out of their ranks and right back at Station A. D CA VICTOR completing plans for in^ troduction of their new receiver line featuring a 16-inch set for $300. . . . Another casualty of the New York water >shortage is water polo at NYAC, scheduled for WOR-TV coverage Jan. 11. Station will air the Columbia-Fordham basketball game instead. . . . "That Wonder rful Guy," situation comedy series produced by Charles Irving and starring Neil Hamilton and Jack Lemmon bows on ABC Jan. 4, 9-9:30 p.m. Featured will be Cyn *thia Stone and Jo Hurt. intensive Spot Drive Set By Chewy, N. Y. One of the most heavily concentrated spot campaigns in TV was launched yesterday by Local Chevrolet Dealers Association (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) to plug the unveiling of the 1950 car. The drive, which runs through Jan. 11, provides for nearly 300 airings of one-minute teasers and new car commercials. Success of a similar campaign for the 1949 Chevrolet is the basis for the expanded TV drive. Campbell-Ewald is the agency for the dealers and films were made by Archer Productions. Using all six New York stations, the campaign calls for complete blanketing of WOR-TV, with the spots to be seen on every available program every night for the two week period. Participations and station breaks have been bought on the other stations. Spots will be used also on the Association's four local shows "Pantomime Quiz," WCBS-TV; "Famous Jury Trials," WABD; "Roller Derby" WJZ-TV, and "Winner Take All." WCBS-TV. WPIX Sells Boxing Show To No Y. Hudson Dealers Hudson Dealers of Metropolitan New York will sponsor Saturday night boxing from Ridgewood Grove over WPIX beginning Jan. 7. Thirteen week contract was placed through Klores & Carter. Guy Lebow will describe the bouts and Jack Murphy will direct. TvA-SAG Meet The boards of TvA and SAG have agreed to meet Jan. 6 to discuss their differences and proposals for peace in jurisdiction for TV talent. Place of the meeting and conditions are still being negotiated, with TvA suggesting New York and SAG holding out for Hollywood. TvA has offered to pay half the expenses of the SAG delegation should the meeting be held in New York. In New Low Price Set Philco Line A new low-price 12 V2 inch receiver has been introduced by Philco. Frederick D. Ogilby, v-p in charge of radio and television sales revealed yesterday. Philco has also introduced six other new TV models for 1950, he announced. The model 1403 with the 12 V2 inch screen will retail for $199.95 and has built-in aerial, Ogilby said. It provides a 97 square inch picture and has 20 tubes and two rectifiers. Other models introduced range in price from $229.95 to $479.95 and contain such Philco features as "No Glare" optical system, new superpower circuit and high gain automatic station selectors. The most expensive model is a combination television receiver and radio-phonograph. The phonograph of this receiver plays all speeds of records, Ogilby added. The v-p said that production is now in excess of 15,000 sets a week for tele receivers. Four Chicago-N. Y. Channels Will Be In Work By Summer A fourth westbound channel between New York and Chicago will be placed in operation by AT&T next summer thus eliminating timesharing by the four webs now feeding network programs. The additional channel will be provided by a $12,000,000 microwave relay hookup between the two cities. The 31 towers comprising the link have been completed and installation of equipment and testing is expected to be completed by summer. The hookup eventually will be extended to about 50 relay stations reaching Omaha and Des Moines. There are now three westbound and one eastbound channels available by coaxial cable. When the new relay system is opened it will provide the additional westbound channel and the current eastbound channel will be moved from the coax to radio relay. The eastbound TV channel now on the coax will be converted to telephone use. Towers 25 Miles Apart The microwave link, in construction since August, runs through central New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. Towers are from 60 to 200 feet in height, depending on local elevation, and are about 25 miles apart. Standard Gets 75, All Produced Since '44 Standard Television Corp. has acquired exclusive TV rights to 75 J. Arthur Rank feature films, all produced since 1944, it was announced yesterday by Irving Shapiro, president of Standard, who negotiated the deal with Robert S. Benjamin, president of the Rank organization in the U. S. About fifty of the films included in the package have never before been shown in this country and all of these have been produced during the past two years. Total production costs of the 75 films is $50,000,000. Among those which have received theatrical exhibition in this country during the past two years are "I Know Where I'm Going," "Tawny Pipit," "Nicholas Nickleby," and "Waterloo Road." According to Shapiro, "Mr. Rank's courageous and forward step in the development of the television market will result in a greater spread of distribution and greater profits for all motion picture companies." Robert H. Wormhoudt is general manager of Standard, and Howard Linkoff heads advertising sales. NBC Names McPartlin Sales Chief Of WNBQ Chicago — John McPartlin, a member of the NBC Chicago national spot sales staff for the past six years, has been appointed sales manager of NBC's local TV station. WNBQ, according to an announcement made here this week by I. E. Showerman. NBC vice-president and WNBQ's general manager. George Morris, Jr., formerly on the sales staff of the web's local AM outlet, WMAQ, was named by Showerman as McPartlin's assistant. McPartlin had been acting as coordinator of TV sales for both local and national spot sales under Oliver Morton, NBC central division national spot sales manager. Hooper's Top Ton ( Net work -November) Texaco Theater NBC 65.0 Toast Of Town . . CBS 48.6 Talent Scouts CBS 42.8 Stop The Music ABC 39.1 Godfrey Friends . CBS 39.1 Fireside Theater NBC 38.1 Studio One CBS 36.0 Big Story NBC 35.9 Amateur Hour NBC 35.7 , | Lone Ranger ABC 34.8 j