Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1954)
Reading and Downloading:
Record Details:
Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!
Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.
Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.
View OCR Text
We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
5
Telecasting Notes: Everybody’s getting into the TV awards act, sure-fire for publicity — and it isn’t surprising that one of the TV Guide gold medal awards went to U. S. Steel Hour for excellence of its Theatre Guild performances. Odd, though, that the Motorola Hour, which alternates same time on same network with same kind of dramatic show, didn’t get one, too. Incidentally, from where we sit, we’d say Robert Galvin’s commercials on Motorola Hour are as adult and intelligent as U. S. Steel’s are silly. Despite shining example of Alcoa, Reynolds & Revere, whose institutional and sales aims are much the same, U. S. Steel’s commercials are incredibly puerile — silly palaver by a simpering young couple expressing juvenile wonderment over the uses of steel and actually insulting the intelligence . . . “TV is opening a tremendous field for us, and it will be a world-wide market before we are I through,” said Republic Pictures pres. Herbert J. Yates at April 9 stockholders meeting. Republic has released many of its old films to TV via subsidiary Hollywood TV Service Inc., owns one of biggest film processing labs, does big TV business . . . Roy Rogers & Gene Autry films alone will bring in $3-4,000,000 when and if they’re cleared for TV, said Yates. Both cowboy actors have sued to prevent it — Rogers winning, Autry losing in lower courts, both decisions being appealed (Vol. 7:42-44 & 8:20) . . . March of Time library, embracing some 15,000,000 ft. of used & unused film, taken over by NBC film div. for sales & distribution, as of May 1. Thus Time Inc. quits the production end of TV-movie business, while expanding in TVradio station ownership with outlets in Albuquerque, Salt Lake City and Denver (Vol. 10:15) . . . Telefilm Enterprises formed by Charles Wick, talent agent, as new film syndicate, first show being Fabian of Scotland Yard being made in London by Trinity Productions; Bud Austin, ex
BIGGEST tower project yet proposed is Selma, Ala.
structure which would measure 1873 ft. from ground to tip of Ch. 8 antenna. Proposal by grantee WSLA (radio WBAM, Montgomery) is now on agenda of regional airspace subcommittee at Ft. Worth, and will be filed next week with FCC. Station received grant in Feb., hopes to get on air by end of 1954 with full power from 50-kw ! Standard Electronics transmitter.
; The 1800-ft. guyed tower will be fabricated in Bir
( mingham by Vulcan Tower Co., owned by WSLA v.p. Wm.
E. Benns Jr. and secy.-treas.-mgr. Wm. J. Brennan. It t will be erected near Lowndesboro, 22 mi. from Montgomery I and 25 mi. from Selma, will take about 3 months to conI struct, to be topped by GE antenna.
The 752-ft. tower of WBAM (AM) in Montgomery is ' presently Alabama’s tallest structure, according to Benns. !' TV studios will be in remodeled building in Selma. Rep hasn’t yet been named.
Note: Tallest towers so far authorized are 1572-ft. structure in Oklahoma City now being built by KWTV (Ch. 9) and to be used also by educational Ch. 13 KETA I (Vol. 10:15), and 1521-ft. “candelabra” tower planned for KRLD-TV and WFAA-TV in Dallas (Vol. 10:15).
First educational fold-up. State of New Jersey’s CP for uhf WTLV in New Brunswick is due to be surrendered next week, because of state legislature’s refusal to ap' j propriate $292,000 for station’s operating expenses. Democratic Gov. Meyner had opposed appropriation, observing "I in budget message: “A 20-in. screen should never be allowed to come between teacher and pupil during school ' hours.” Ford Foundation grant of $100,000 and studio > equi)jment valued at $150,000 loaned to station by comI mcrci.il sources will be returned. Granted CP Dec. 3, 1952,
i station ha.d been beaming closed-circuit telecasts into classrooms in nearby communities.
Official Films, named gen. & sales mgr. . . . Princeton Film Center producing 15-min. Rural Review series, aimed at farm audience and available for quadruple local sponsorships; narrator is Fred Bailey, ex-UP, Washington . . . NBC signs Boston Symphony for 1954-55 season to replace NBC Symphony, being dissolved with retirement of conductor Arturo Toscanini; NBC also announced 6th season starting in Oct. for its TV Opera Theatre . . . NBC-TV Burbank studios subject of 10-p. illustrated article in Progressive Architecture Magazine . . . Fourth Storer station to become primary basic CBS-TV affiliate is WSPDTV, Toledo . . . “First revival ever to be presented over TV” offered by WGVL, Greenville, S. C. beginning Easter Sunday, with 30-min. service daily for week following, conducted by evangelist Dr. Bob Jones . . . Who’s got the ding dong? TV Merchandising Inc., owner of Ding Dong School (NBC), has filed suit against toy mfr. Milton Bradley Co. to restrain it from using the name . . . Good promotion idea: KOA-TV, Denver, holds “matchless menu” contest, with appliance prizes to viewers supplying best recipes for each course of “ideal” 6-course dinner . . . WAYS-TV, Charlotte, N. C., cuts base hour from $300 to $200, min. from $60 to $40 . . . More rate increases: WTVR, Richmond, adds new Class AA hour of $875, raises Class A hour from $625 to $775, min. from $120 to $140; WKTV, Utica, base hour goes from $425 to $475, min. from $75 to $85; KATV, Pine Bluff, Ark., hour from $300 to $350, min. $60 to $70; KTVH, Hutchinson, Kan., on May 1 hour from $400 to $450, min. $80 to $100; WEHT, Henderson-Evansville (Ind.) hour from $150 to $200, min. $30 to $40 . . . New reps: WAIM-TV, Anderson, S. C. to Headley-Reed; KOLN-TV, Lincoln, Neb., to Avery-Knodel; upcoming KSWM-TV, Joplin, Mo., to Venard, Rintoul & McConnell.
George Foster Peabody Awards for 1953, as presented April 14 at luncheon meeting of Radio & TV Executives Society of N. Y.: news, Gerald W. Johnson (WAAM, Baltimore) ; music, NBC TV Opera Theatre; entertainment (double award). Television Playhouse (NBC-TV) and Imogene Coca {Show of Shows, NBC-TV) ; education (double award). Cavalcade of Books (KNXT, Los Angeles) & Camera Three (WCBS-TV, N. Y.) ; children’s, Mr. Wizard (NBC-TV) ; international understanding, BBC coverage of Coronation; public service by TV-radio station, WSB-TV & WSB, Atlanta, for You and Your Health and Removing the Rust from Radio; radio news, Chet Huntley (KABC, Los Angeles) ; public service by radio station, WBAW, Barnwell, S. C., for Church of Yo^ir Choice. In addition, a special award went to CBS’s Edward R. Murrow, 4th time he has won a Peabody.
Gold Medal program awards of TV Guide Magazine: See It Now (CBS-TV) ; U. S. Steel Hour (ABC-TV) ; Cavalcade of Sports (NBC-TV). Runners-up for “Show of Year” honors (in alphabetical order) : Adventure (CBSTV) ; Comedy Hour (NBC-TV) ; Dragnet (NBC-TV) ; Arthur Godfrey and His Friends (CBS-TV) ; I Love Lucy (CBS-TV) ; Life Is Worth Living (DuMont) ; Make Room for Daddy (ABC-TV) ; Omnibus (CBS-TV) ; Toast of the Town (CBS-TV); Today (NBC-TV); Your Show of Shows (NBC-TV).
Sigma Delta Chi award winners for distinguished journalism in 1953 included WHAS-TV, Louisville & CBS Radio, both for public service; Gordon Gammack, KRNT, Des Moines, radio reporting; Charles J. Chatfield, WHCU, Ithaca, N. Y., radio news writing.
Kine recordings of Hallmark’s widely acclaimed 2hour King Richard II with Maurice Evans, carried on NBC-TV last Jan. 12, are being made available free to schools and colleges in 16mm prints.