Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1954)

6 PsrSOnsl NoIgs: Charles C. Barry resigns as NBC-TV v.p. in charge of program sales . . . Lester Bowman appointed dii'ector of physical operations, CBS-TV Hollywood, Theodore Denton for radio, in further divisional realignments; Ed Nathan heads TV editing dept., Samuel Froelick radio; Horace R. Guillote, CBS Radio operations director, moves headquarters to Hollywood to assume overall supervision of radio activities, Charles L. Glett continuing for TV . . . Henry Hede promoted to ABC-TV director of sales service . . . Harry Woodworth promoted to director of ABC Radio western div., Hollywood . . . Ralph N. Harmon, engineering mgr. of Westinghouse Bcstg. Co., elected a v.p. . . . Edward J. Noble, chairman of AB-PT finance committee, and TV-radio producer Theodore Granik among 21 businessmen appointed to help attract new industry to New York City . . . Dr. Allen B. DuMont to speak on “Progress in TV” at 13th annual birthday luncheon of Pulse Inc. Oct. 27 at Hotel Roosevelt, N. Y. . . . James Bruce promoted to program mgr., Pete Katz to exec, producer, WLWT, Cincinnati . . . Robert C. Fransen, exWEEK-TV, Peoria, named operations & program director of upcoming KEYD-TV, Minneapolis-St. Paul (Ch. 9) . . . G. Brent Kansler named sales promotion mgr., WBAL-TV & WBAL, Baltimore . . . Herbert E. Nelson, ex-KOKX, Keokuk, la., named gen. mgr. of WFAM-TV & radio W'ASK, Lafayette, Ind., succeeding David F. Milligan . . . Kenneth Wynne named production mgr., WNHC-TV, New Haven, succeeding David K. Harris, now independent film producer . . . Barry Barents, ex-WTOP-TV, Washington, named program director of WKNB-TV, New Britain-Hartford . . . John Renshaw, ex-KRBC-TV, Abilene, Tex., named production mgr. of KSLA, Shreveport, La. . . . Lorin S. Myers, ex-Free & Peters, CBS-TV & NBC-TV, named mgr. of American Research Bureau’s new adv. service dept. . . . Ralph Hunter, ex-WWJ-TV, Detroit, NBC-TV, and radio director of Voice of America, joins Katz Agency, N. Y. . . . Clifford Marshall, ex-UP sales, Atlanta, joins station brokers Blackburn-Hamilton in Washington headquarters; Phil Jackson, who recently sold his KCWO, Chickasha, Okla., joins Chicago office . . . Alvin King, ex-KSTM-TV, St. Louis & KFMB-TV, San Diego, recently operator of own ad agency, joins NARTB station relations dept. . . . Gene Grant, ex-KBID-TV, Fresno, Cal. (now off air), named sales mgr. of KLIX-TV, Twin Falls, Ida. which has fall-winter target . . . Col. Gustave Ring, noted Washington contractor, elected chairman of National Telefilm Assoc., in which he’s big stockholder . . . Caroll McKenna, ex-radio KABC, Los Angeles, joins BAB promotion dept. . . . Edgar Pierce promoted to west coast TV-radio mgr., Geoffrey Wade Adv., succeeding Forrest Owen Jr., transferred to N. Y. . . . Edwin R. Rooney Jr., ex-TV-radio director of Doremus & Co., named TV-radio production supervisor, Ruthrauff & Ryan, New Yoi*k . . . Joseph Rohrer, negotiating to sell his 58% interest in KRDO-TV, Colorado Springs, Colo, has joined radio KIOA, Des Moines as mgr. ■ Henry T. Stanton, 67, v.p. & western mgr. of J. Walter Thompson Co., died Oct. 7 at Palo Alto (Cal.) Hospital. Allen L. Billingsley, 64, pres, of Fuller & Smith & Ross Adv., died of heart attack Oct. 7 in Cleveland. He had served 2 terms as AAAA chairman. Cecil & Presbrey, beset by fast-dwindling billings and corporate difficulties caused by death of founder-chairman James Cecil Sept. 17 (Vol. 10:39), will go out of business Dec. 31. Billings had reportedly fallen from .$21,500,000 for 1953 to about $5,000,000 currently. Cunningham & Walsh merges with Ivan Hill Inc., Chicago, to form Chicago office at 49 E. Superior St., telephone Superior 7-3116. Mr. Hill becomes exec. v.p. of C&W in charge of Chicago office, with Elinor Fahrenholz as TV-radio director. How closed-circuit TV has enlarged an historic church is recounted by New York Times Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Meyer Berger in Oct. 8 column marking centennial of New York’s Marble Collegiate Church: “[The church] serves a congregation so large that it uses a complex closed-circuit TV system to carry the Sabbath service to rooms set aside 100 years ago for other functions . . . It was installed in March 1953 by DuMont Laboratories for around $25,000. Camera and control equipment are placed so the congregation on the main floor is barely aware of them . . . Three lenses in the camera on the rear gallery — normal, wide angle and telephoto — follow every line of the seiwice, picking up image and sound as Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s vibrant voice is heard in sermon. The pictures and the sound go by closed circuit to some 700 worshippers in the great Burrell Hall, to the clubroom, to the chapel. Framed in the chapel altar is a 30-in. DuMont picture tube, the largest type made. Two hundred fifty worshippers easily follow the service on it — give the proper responses as the large congregation does, sings the hymns, makes offering, pray. Two 21-in. screens are in the clubrooms ... In Burrell Hall the service is projected onto a screen 5 ft. deep and 6 ft. wide for some 400 of the congregation . . A witness against Edward Lamb charged she was offered $50,000 bribe to “dress up” her testimony or “not testify at all” in headline-producing FCC hearing this week. Mrs. Marie Natvig, who said she was a Communist in 1936, testified she was approached Sept. 24 in Washington and offered bribe by man who gave his name as “Milling Underwood.” She said she reported incident to FCC and FBI. FBI declined to comment on her story. In her testimony, she said Lamb spoke at a Communist Party conference in Columbus early in 1936. Under cross-examination she said she had been Lamb’s “guest” at a Columbus hotel on one occasion that year. Lamb’s attorney Russell M. Browm called Mrs. Natvig “a congenital liar,” asked her if she had been anrested for soliciting or robbery. She said she hadn’t, but conceded she’d been fined $10 in Florida 2 years ago on “trumped up” charge. Also testifying this week was Louis Budenz, ex-managing editor of Daily Worker, w'ho said Lamb wrote article for that paper in 1936. Hearing goes into 5th week Oct. 11. Strong believer in syndicated film, ex-NBC film salesman, pres.-gen. mgr. Thomas B. Shull plans to lean heavily on top-notch TV film to revitalize Lansing’s uhf WTOMTV (formerly WILS-TV), leased from Pomeroy family ( Vol. 10 :36, 39) . Station has purchased 16 top syndicated properties — 8 from NBC film div., 8 from CBS-TV film sales — as well as 117 feature films from Hygo TV. Aiming first at local advertisers, Shull plans to sell each single sponsor one spot in each of 5 TV film shows in same Mon.Fri. time period. To help boost uhf conversion, he says he’s negotiating with RCA to sell him at least 5000 converters at cost, plans to have them sold door-to-door for not more than $10 each. New consumer marketing research service will result from merger of Archibald Crossley’s organization with Steward, Dougall & Associates and its affiliated S-D Surveys. Merged concern claims to be largest in country, with 1600 permanently employed field inteiwiewers. New’ organization will consist of Crossley S-D Suiweys Inc. and Stewart, Dougall & Assoc. Inc. Crossley will be pres, and Arthui Dougall, pres, of Stew’art, Dougall & Assoc., will retain that post and become chairman of new Crossley S-D Surveys Inc. Crossley becomes v.p. of Stewart Dougall. Animal surgery via closed-circuit is new twist used by U of Missouri’s KOMU-TV, which demonstrated dozen operations to 200 veterina)ians attending course. Operations were perfoimed in laboratory while animal doctors watched in auditorium.