Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1954)

5 use kidding ourselves that our local TV sales haven't to some extent come from radio money. After analyzing every point, I decided it was foolish to compete with myself. "The TV billing has already gotten up to several times the radio. And profit potential in TV is so great compared with radio, that I felt the time diverted by myself and my associates from TV to radio would yield comparatively small results... It is obviously more profitable to spend more time selling a TV spot for $50 than a radio spot for $4." He even looked into newspaper ownership, he said, and came away convinced that "radio stations tended to be stepchildren to newspapers and I am sure they will likewise be stepchildren to TV owners." Then, too: "The tax angle encourages the sale of successful radio stations. In our case, our net profit after taxes from the sale will be the equivalent of several years profit after taxes, even if the radio station continued to be reasonably profitable. Since we take our profits now while it is sure, instead of diverting our time from TV and hoping that we would get it over the next several years, it seems a good move. "yyhile I do not deprecate the future of radio, I will make the prediction that the most successful operators in TV will be those who have no radio affiliation. While a lot of us talk about it, I know of no complete separation of management of radio and TV where they are under the same ownership... "This TV is a rugged business to get started in, but I am very well pleased with the way it has treated us. We have been out of the red for several months, and I am very enthusiastic about the future." Note : Only about 3 out of every 20 TV stations is without any AM affiliation, and record shows many TV grantees have acquired AM ownership after first going into TV. This is second case of a TV operator selling out his AM to devote full attention to TV — other one having been Gene 0* Fallon's KFEL, Denver (Vol. 10:9,17). Personal Notes: Rosel Hyde, FCC acting chairman, leaves week of Aug. 9 for 3-week vacation in Ida.-Wyo., as Comr. George Sterling returns from July vacation in Maine . . . A. Donovan Faust, ex-managing director of WENS, Pittsburgh, and ex-WDTV, to be gen. mgr. of upcoming WJRT, Flint, Mich. . . . Clarke A. (Fritz) Snyder resigns as CBS-TV station relations director, though date of departure hasn’t been set; after vacation, he expects to enter TV station management . . . John J. (Chick) Kelly, WPTZ promotion mgr., appointed asst, adv.-sales promotion mgr. of Westinghouse Broadcasting Co., assuming duties in N. Y. offices Sept. 1 and reporting to David E. Partridge . . . John Cleghorn, gen. mgr. of WHBQ-TV & WHBQ, Memphis, recently acquired by General Teleradio Inc. (Tom O’Neil), named v.p. and director of that General Tire subsidiary . . . Kenneth H. Berkeley, gen. mgr. of WMAL-TV & WMAL, Washington, negotiating for purchase of own radio station, expected to resign shortly from Washington Star stations . . . Richard L. Geismar, promoted to exec, asst, to DuMont managing director Ted Bergmann, is replaced as network business mgr. by Louis Arnold; Henry J. Opperman promoted to new post of program procurement mgr. . . . George D. Robinson resigns as mgr. of WSUNTV & radio, but will continue his newscasts . . . Wm. B. Faber resigns as v.p. in charge of TV at Headley-Reed rep firm . . . Martin Umansky promoted from radio sales mgr. to gen. mgr. of upcoming KAKE-TV, Wichita (Ch. 10), due in Sept. . . . Paul Martin promoted to national adv. mgr., Don Lee, Hollywood, succeeding Art Mortenson, now mgr. of KFMB, San Diego ... A. M. Cadwell, pres., is acting as gen. mgr. of KOAT-TV, Albuquerque, N. M., with departure of v.p. Phil Hoffman to become station mgr. of KLZ-TV & KLZ, Denver, under gen. mgr. Hugh B. Terry . . . Wayne Kearl, relinquishing his post as mgr. of KGMBTV, Honolulu, because of illness in family, has been retained as consultant by the station . . . Daniel M. Lissance, ex-Emil Mogul Co., name NBC Spot Sales mgr. of sales development & research . . . John D’AuitoIo, ex-0. L. Tay lor Co., named national sales mgr., WTRI, Albany . . . John F. Sloan, ex-WOR-TV sales mgr., and Stanley Smith, ex-eastem sales mgr. of ABC-TV, join N. Y. staff of Ziv TV under city sales mgr. I. E. (Chick) Showerman . . . Richard C. Huntley, production mgr. of WWOR-TV, Worcester, joins upcoming WC AX-TV, Burlington, Vt., as program mgr.; Norman C. Locke succeeds him at WWOR-TV, with Harold Eckman becoming film director . . . Paul Dawson, exArizona stations, named continuity chief, WKJGTV & WKJG, Ft. Wayne, Ind. . , . Casey Shawhan, city editor of Los Angeles Mirror, appointed NBC Hollywood press director under Les Raddatz . . . Wallace Hutchinson, ex-Los Angeles sales rep for now-closed KBID-TV, Fresno, named promotion mgr. of John Poole Bcstg. Co., Hollywood . . . Warren Ambrose, ex-Leo Burnett Co., and Winfield Hoskins, ex-Needham, Louis & Brorby, join TV commercial staff of McCann-Erickson, N. Y, . . . Donna Quigley promoted to TV director, Cayton Inc., N. Y. . . . Robert H. Forward, ex-asst. gen. mgr. of KABC-TV, Hollywood, appointed production director, Sportsvision Inc., San Francisco . . . Lovick Draper named TV-radio director, Bozell & Jacobs, Houston . . . Harold P. See, KRON-TV, San Francisco, elected chairman of newly formed West Coast NBCTV Affiliates Organization, launched July 23 with luncheon for John W’est, NBC West Coast v.p.; Sheldon Hickox, newly assigned station relations mgr., and others. Clayland Tilden (Clay) Morgan, 60, onetime French Line and Air France public relations director, who from 1936-49 held various publicity and promotion posts with NBC, died July 26 in New York Memorial Hospital. He had been in ill health for many months. His wife died last Jan. James Ed (Smilin’ Ed) McConnell, 62, on the radio with children’s shows for the last 32 years and recently filmed for TV, died July 23 on his cabin cruiser docked at Newport Beach, Cal. He had been living in California for last 8 years. He is survived by his widow and 2 children.