Sponsor (Apr-June 1959)

WHEELING 37t*h TV MARKET * Television Magazine 8/1/58 One Station Sells Big Booming Ohio Valley NO. 12 IN A SERIES: ALLOYS Vital companion to the rich Ohio Valley's steel, aluminum and chemical industries is the Powhatan plant of the Ohio Ferro-Alloys Corporation located at Powhatan Point, Ohio, which produces essential silicon metal and high grade silicon alloys used by this trio of industries. This $4 million plant consumes an amaiing 240 million kilowatts of locally produced electrical energy annually. Important also to those who have things for sale is the $1 million annual payroll of this Ohio Ferro-Alloys Powhatan plan. This is just one more reason why the WTRF-TV area is a super market for alert advertisers ... a 39-county market where 2 million people have a spendable income of $2'/2 billion annually. For complete merchandising service and availabilities, call Bob Ferguson, VP and General Mgr., at CEdar 2-7777. National Rep., George P. Hollingbery Company w I rf t v Wheeling 7, West Va.^^ 316,000 watts fj Q Q network color I I by Joe Csida Sponsor 'What profiteth it a man ?' This is about a friend of mine who just threw awa\ a quarter of a million dollars because he believes in specialized radio. His name is Mor ris Novik. and he is well known to many people in radio, television, advertising agencies, labor and political circles. He is also a fine traveling companion, as I can testify from personal experience, having made a five-week tour of Europe with him and 12 other broadcasting-newspaper gents in 1945. About 26 years ago. in 1933. Morrie put on the air the first Italian language program in New York Cirv. It was called The I oice of 89. featured Luigi Antonini. the No. 1 Italian labor leader in the I . S. and vice president of the International Ladies" Garment Workers Union, as well as head of ILGWU's Local 89. The program bowed on station WEVD. It is still carried on that station as well as WON . also in New York. A promise made, a promise kept The show didn't get on WOV. for one reason and another, until January, 1036. which was just about five months after Morrie Novik bought the controlling 69'. i interest in that station from Richard O'Day for $300,000. Mr. O'Day was dying at the time, and his advisers had urged him to sell the station before his death. Three months after he sold it to Morrie. whom he handpicked from among an eager list of would-be buyers, Mr. O'Dav did, indeed, die. () I)a\ handpicked Morrie as the man to whom he wanted to sell the outlt t because he I O'Dav I wanted to see the station continue as an Italian language station, and he knew that Morrie was a devout disciple of specialized radio. He had learned of Monies work through the years with WEVD. and more latter 1\ with WLIB. which VIorrie'a brother. Harry, had built into one of the most potent and respected Negro stations in America . . . largel) with Monies help and inspiration. Ralph Weil, WOV's manager, and Arnold Hartley, the station's program director were also ani|il\ protected bv Morrie. Although he w a^ a 69' i ow tier of the station, he agreed that he w ould operate w ith a 50' < stock vote, with Weil and llartle\ swinging the other 50' < vote. Morrie also gave Halph and \rnold an option to bu\ I which the) eventual!} exercised), at exactlj the price he himself had paid for it. I')', of his 699? of die stock. Morrie stipulated with his station manager and program director, who willijpgl) went along, that they, in turn, would never >ell the station unless the Inner agreed to continue it a> an Italian language station. Since June. 1956 when Morrie took over he. \\ eil and llarllev have done an extremelj effective job in building the station with New York's two million Italian people. In the course of the years thej SPONSOR 27 .n \k 1959