Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1953)

8 Telecasting Notes: Trend away from late-night feature films in favor of live shows in N. Y. area is discerned by March 25 Variety as means of saving telecasters high costs of bidding for first-run films, and then being forced to rerun them several times to make them profitable; system has built-in disadvantage of being unable to attract sponsors for re-runs. Underlining trend are live variety show deals signed last week by WABC-TV with Ruppert Brewery for Mon.-thru-Fri. 11 p.m.-midnight, and by WOR-TV with Times Square Stores for Inside Times Square, nightly except Thu. & Sun., 11-11:30 p.m. . . . Variety also sees possible prelude to TV sales in plans of Walt Disney to reissue 90 of his old short cartoons in 45-min. packages to movies next month, through RKO; speculation is that reissue splurge may saturate revenue from movies, paving way for rentals to TV, especially when color TV is reality . . . ABC progress report: Ray Bolger and Danny Thomas signed to exclusive long-term contracts ( Bolger ’s reported salary: $150,000 a year); Bolger will be featured on halfhour filmed show next fall, and Thomas will also have own weekly half-hour show . . . Celeste Holm signed by NBCTV for situation comedy series on film . . . Edgar Bergen signs exclusive CBS contract, including 5 TV appearances next fall-winter . . . Comedian Bob Hope and J. Hugh E. Davis, ex-Foote, Cone & Belding exec, v.p., are partners in new TV package production service organized under name of J. Hugh E. Davis Co., 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Cal. . . . Joe E. Brown signed to do before-&-after shows on WPIX, as well as radio play-by-play on WINS, during N. Y. Yankees games . . . New program ideas is aim of “creative group” being organized by CBS-TV, to which program v.p. Hubbell Robinson Jr. this week appointed Personal Notes: William S. Paley, CBS chairman, and Frank White, NBC president, had separate appointments with President Eisenhower at White House this week, presumably to discuss telecasting of his news conferences . . . Roland Tooke, asst. mgr. and program director of WPTZ, Philadelphia, sale of which by Philco to Westinghouse for $8,500,000 pends FCC approval (Vol. 9:8), will succeed Ernest B. Loveman as mgr. under new ownership; Loveman returns to Philco, where he was once adv. director, in an executive capacity . . . Gene L. Cagle, president, Texas State Network, named to board of Advertising Federation of America to fill term of Mrs. Oveta Culp Hobby, now head of Federal Security Agency . . . George B. Storer Jr., son of head of Storer Broadcasting Co. and mgr. of its KEYL, San Antonio, elected v.p. of parent company . . . Anthony Azzato, ex-WPIX film mgr., joins Standard Television, Hollywood firm headed by Marcus Loew II, as eastern mgr., with office at 10 E. 49th St., N. Y. . . . Wm. C. Lacey, ex-DuMont, named WCBS-TV film buyer, replacing David Savage, now NBC-TV film div. . . . Bob Light named sales promotion mgr. of KHJ-TV & KHJ, Los Angeles, succeeding Herbert Sonnenberg . . . Warner Moore, ex-WFIL-TV, Philadelphia, named local sales mgr., WICCTV, Bridgeport, Conn., now due on air sometime between April 1-15 . . . Rhean D. Cunningham promoted to chief engineer, KFEL-TV & KFEL, Denver; J. G. Cullen named TV studio technical mgr. . . . Charles M. Higgins, ex-Wm. Weintraub Agency and MBS, appointed commercial mgr. of WIRK & WIRK-TV, West Palm Beach, Fla. (Ch. 21), due in June . . . Joseph V. Heffernan, NBC financial v.p., announces following changes, in consolidating offices of controller of company & networks div.: Harry F. McKeon, ex-company controller, named director of tax dept., reporting to treas. Joseph A. McDonald; Charles J. Cresswell, ex-networks controller, named company controller, reporting to Heffernan; William V. Sargent, ex-asst. controller of networks, appointed director of financial planning & control, reporting to Cresswell . . . Jack Bertell, ex-MCA Ronald Alexander as first member; he’s author of Broadway hit Time Out for Ginger . . . Eastman Kodak reported backing 3 films to be produced by Kenneth McEldowney, producer of The River; first will be shot in England and J. Walter Thompson will place . . . Bishop Sheen’s Life Is Worth Living, sponsored by Admiral on DuMont, goes film for 2 or 3 weeks in April during his trip to Rome . . . Teleprompter, through distributor RCA, signs with New York’s Statler Hotel for use at banquets, conventions, sales meetings, etc. — first hotel to make device available on rental basis . . . ABC Radio-TV Center projected in San Francisco to house its stations there; 4-story downtown building purchased in 1951 will undergo $1,500,000 alterations to provide studio & office space . . . March 14 Business Week describes series of financial coups by ABC chairman Edward J. Noble, climaxed by merger with UPT; same issue carries “Man Without Desk” — all about Louis Hausman, administrative v.p. of CBS Radio, who arranged his office without a desk on suggestion of president Frank Stanton, and is mighty pleased with resultant efficiency . . . 100 stations carrying 7 Beheld His Glory, 55-min. religious film prepared for Good Friday-Easter showing by National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., reports producer Cathedral Films; commercial sponsorship isn’t allowed . . . WKNX-TV, Saginaw, due on air momentarily, has Class A hour rate of $250, min. $50 . . . More base rates of upcoming stations: KFSA-TV, Fort Smith, Ark., hour $150, min. $20; KRTV, Little Rock, Ark., hour $250, min. $50; WFTL-TV, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., hour $150, min. $25; WPFA-TV, Pensacola, Fla., hour $150, min. $20; WFAM-TV, Lafayette, Ind., hour $200, min. $40; WMACTV, Massillon, O., hour $200, min. $30. v.p., named executive v.p., Mercury Artists Corp. . . . A1 Reibling named TV-radio mgr., Kudner Agency, and Hank Ladd promoted to gen. supervisor of TV-radio production; returning to Kudner as TV art director is Gene Murray, recently with Ruthrauff & Ryan . . . Ray Girardin, exWEEI, named TV-radio director, H. B. Humphrey, Alley & Richards, Boston . . . Wilbert A. Perry, ex-Young & Rubicam, Toronto, appointed mgr. of broadcasting dept., Leo Burnett Co. of Canada . . . Samuel Carter III, TVradio commercial supervisor, elected v.p., Sullivan, Stauffer, Colwell & Bayles . . . Laurel Cutler, ex.-J. Walter Thompson & William H. Weintraub Co., named v.p. & TVradio supervisor, C. J. Herrick Assoc., N. Y. . . . Sherwood Armstrong resigns as TV-radio director, Foote, Cone & Belding, San Francisco, to become creative director, Brooke, Smith, French & Dorrance, San Francisco . . . Kenneth G. Manuel, ex-Detroit News, named v.p. in charge of TV-radio, D. P. Brother & Co., Detroit . . . Kathryn Hardig promoted to TV-radio director, Ralph H. Jones Co., Cincinnati ... Ed Hauser, ex-Scheideler, Beck & Werner, named TV-radio director, Lynn Baker Inc. James Gaines, new General Teleradio v.p., nominated for presidency of Radio & TV Executives Society, New York; George Shupert, United Artists, 1st v.p.; Robert Burton, BMI, 2nd v.p.; Claude Barrere, BAB, secy.; Joseph A. McDonald, NBC, treas. Frank M. King, 63, veteran broadcaster, until recently part owner of WMBR-TV & WMBR, Jacksonville, Fla., died there last week after heart attack. He also was pi-esident of Distributors Inc., TVs & appliances. Mrs. Muriel King, 35, wife of Jerry King, president of Standard Radio and chairman of United Television Programs Inc., died in Los Angeles March 24. Storer Broadcasting Co. will move headquarters and entire staff from Birmingham, Mich, to own new building to be ready in Miami about Sept. 1.