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second-cousin from Schoharie decides that it will get out and garner free publicity in an effort to build its circulation. In an effort to achieve this, the magazine invests $26.50 in four bas relief plaques carved out of titanium and symbolizing Prometheus bringing the electron on a platter to Mr. Marconi. After great deliberation, a panel of experts I whose names sound reminiscent of those on Pullman cars ) awards plaques to la) the Wire Rope Corporation of Abilene for its TV spot campaign. ( b I the producers of The Story of the Paramecium as the best educational program of the year, and (c) Station AMOK-TV for its fearless treatment of the glue factory fire. The other plaque is sent to Schoharie for cousin's amusement. If you ( advertiser and/or agency I happen to receive one of these awards, you're in a helluva dilemma. With praise so rare in the ad business, your When General Electric mentioned its new booklet describing the Mighty Tidy model vacuum cleaner, it got 7,087 requests in three weeks in New York— and made plans to advertise other models— on . . . THE HOUSEWIVES' PROTECTIVE LEAGUE Most sales-effective participating program ...anywhere! vanity fights hard against your judgment and tempts you to make a lot of the award giving free plugs to the magazine — accepting it on your program ( in dialogue of the worst sort since it is handled by a highly nervous man from the publication I and enabling you to drive listeners away from your program by the drove as well as allowing yourself to devote precious minutes of your commercial time to plug someone else's product. MEN, MONEY, MOTIVES {Continued from page 6) Just here, in this routine, unhistoric, little incident. TV cuts the plot, leaves the audience unfulfilled psychologically, in order not to cut the commercial. Over and over in radio days, this very arrangement kicked up fusses. * * * Don't say none of this is vital. It is the mosaic detail of program popularity. It is part of the showmanship, the cornmanship. the payoff. Story-telling techniques are. however, making real advances in TV. A recent P&G Fireside Theater job. "The Vigil." imaginatively "intimatized" the story, and avoided scenery (costly) by using a succession of close-ups. and nothing but. * * * Probably television craftsmanship is learning at an acceleration of technique comparable to the progress radio made from 1932 to 1944. But it is curiously evident that, like the young wife of our first paragraph, the "old man's" wisdom is not too welcome. As a final commentary we refer to the oninto-the-night parade of the Shriners. This was a pictorial natural for TV las for years with the newsreels I and a sponsor, Dolly Madison Ice Cream, was secured. But the production difficulties proved formidable. First, the nocturnal event was badly lighted for TV purposes. Then there was the conservatism, sobriety and secrecy of the Shriners. The hapless radio -style announcer trying to "make with the portable mike' rushed up again and again to paiadrr with questions only to get inaudible, monosyllabic, or cautiously noncommittal answers. This was an incident of pure visual, but poor visual, material in which TV was teaching radio, and radio was literally perspiring in the <>2-degree heat of Times Square. * * * TV NET OR SPOT? (Continued from page 31 1 in SRDS for February 1951. However, rate increases since do not affect the percentage figure particularly, since station and network time prices go up in virtually the same ratio. I I i'(iiM'/ii.vc.v. talent & programs In the franchise, talent, and program categories the networks have a stronger voice, and some substantial arguments. Take the matter of franchises. Networks will tell you that the hassle over time clearances won't last forever, that the day will come when the words "network option time" will have real meaning in TV. Then, those advertisers who have been consistent network users will get first crack at the choice time slots. If you play along with us. networks say, you will be rewarded. You'll get what you want — eventually. Reps argue this point hotly. Said an executive of one of the leading TV SELL CLOTHING] LANG-WORTH FEATURE PROCRAMS, Inc. 113 W. 57th ST.. NEW YORK 19. N. Y. .Wtuort i'li/ilw Proqrams til iWiit Station Cost 62 SPONSOR