Variety (May 1932)

HA 01 « Opy Ad Agjehcies ^FiHTciiH^indie Radio Prodacers to Fade Chlcaeo, May 30. Indie program producers, Instead of . "B^cohntilnsr more Important In radio, are gradually striking their tenfs and silently melting away They are today the orphans of the \>lz, wandering from door to door, and only oecasionally does one sue ceed In crashing-through the thick walls of the agencies. It's still the old story of being on the outside; no matter what they have, no.-'matter how good. It's tough to sell without that old fashioned ingredient, the 'in.' Pro ducers, who rated high in the busi- ness ''when associaed with some agency or station^ when on the oiit side, Und^hat' even their old-time clients won't Use'em. To a: great extent* admit the pro ducers,, the difficulty of crashing lies iii the secretiyeness ot the business;' Advertisers and the agenclefti, p&rtlcularly, want as few people as possible meddling in on the progranfi deal. What with the agency field down to the. roughest cut-throat tactics Tn stealing ac: counts, these, agencies are fearful of letting cutsiders in on tbeir plans and methods. "This is particularly true when the would-be indie pro ducer has been previously associ ated with, a rival agency. Buddy and Luckies Buddy Rogers and orchestra. may shortly do a few broadcasts for Liucky Strike. Rogers Is now NBC sustaining from the Pennsylvania Roof. NBC and Victor Record Artist Management ED. W. SCHEUINQ JACK DENNY AND ORCHESTRA Waldorf Astoria Hotel Victor Records Ever-Ready Safety Razor Program Lucky Strike Dance Hour Management M. C. A. The Eton Boys 3rd Year Nut Club New. York Ever-Ready Safety Razor Program WABC Every Sunday 9 P.M. ISzcIasIve Colnmlila Artists FLOPPO RADIO SATDtF HELD FAITHFUL DETAIL Although 'Heigh-Ho, Everybody.' radio satire, closed Saturday (28), four days after its opening at the Pulton, New York, the play pre- sented many scenes which had faith- ful foundation in fact. The play's satire may have been exaggerated,-, but generally familiar as the real stiiflC to anybody in close, contact with radlo._ Perhaps one reason why the play was unfavor- ably reci^ved .was that it was too niuch trade. Only radio Insiders got the real satire .of .the situation, while the layman believed It to be core or less fictional comedy, as did the majority of the dramatic critics without a trade knowledge of radio. iihe higgle wonsor of the play is based on an actuar radio .figure, sponsor of one-of the largest air accounts. This one. character was not overwritten... As for the sponsor's wife sug- gesting what tunes the crooner should slng:» that'also parallels real radio tife, more "so than was pre- sented on the etagei of the Fulton. The crack by the crooner, when as^ed who selects his songs (which was 'the publishers seleict my songs') was also missed by the laymen,- since they have ho knowledge of the inner working. of the publishier- radlo artist. Another Incident here, where'the head of the ad agency gets a sud- den inspiration to use the Crooner's wife on a program because her voice suddenly struck him as jUst the thing is this real ; McCoy. In fact, one network exec once placed a Waitre'sg on the air with the ex- pldnatlbn thjat he wm looking for a sudden vocal type when he heard her voice in a restaurant and that voice was wha.t he desired. The numerous clubs liamed after the crooneir. Buddy Baxter, called the Buddy Baxter Eopste'rs, also has a sound foundation, although this is more familiar to laymen. There were additional scenes and action in the play which could be recounted as having actual founda- tion. No one with an inside .slant on what goes on behind the microphone could pah. the play from the stand- point of realism. John T. Adams, of the radio talent company 'bearing his name, was one of the producers. Answered Al Woods (riftf the producer) got a bill for ja paper in the form of a fan letter. Letter read:, 'I have Just finished listening to you sing 'If I Were a Millionaire' and what you would do with the, money. • Just thought I'd write and ask you to pleasis remit me :4.36." N. Y.C. STATION TIES tip WMCA AT LAST MINUH RADIO EDS CONVENE; ONLY Eiarr SHOW UP WCFL G«te Fnltrime And Boost to 5 KW. Chicago,. May 30. Winding up a battle of six years, station WCFL, Chicago Federation of Labor's outlet here, has been granted a full time dally schedule and an increase in power from 1,500 to 5,000 watts by a ruling of the federal radio commission. Previously WCFL divided its fa- cilities with station KiTR, Seattle, also a 6,000 watter, which was taken over by NBC recently from the Northwest Broadcasting company. Concessions efran ted "by the radio commission is now expected to fore- stall any further effort by the labor organization to get a clear channel with a maximum power of 50,000 watts. A bill to that effect Is now pending before the senate commit- tee in Washington, but will prob- ably not be pr<?ssed.; HCKjasS TOBACCO Porto Rican Tobacco Company starts a series of 26 NBC broadcasts the first week in July. Pickens gfsters are probable as featured talent on the periods. Chicago, May 30. Only eight members showed up at the annual meeting of the.National Radio Editors' Association held dur^ Ing the set manufacturers' show here last week. Majority of the octette were from the local dallies. Customary panning of the. net- works by the convening .newspaper- men was limited this time to a reso- lution asking the chains to cut down on the volume of publicity sent out. This wading through reams of blurbs daily was beginhinef to prove a strain/, complaiiied 'the editors. ^Resolution protested ttia^ tlie net- works' regional publicity depaxt- ni'ent. were duplicating themselves, and suggested that the-pufC items be kept down to essentials. Boys also voiced their objection to the alleged NBC habit, of goini: over their heads and. direct to the publisher with complaints Instead of coming to them first. But no i-esolution was passed on this topic. Chi Union Doubling Rple May Hit Lombardo Date . • Chicago, May 30. When Guy Lombardo comes to the Chicago, June 17, . with his band he will run into a snag with the local r.-usicians* union on his broadcasting work. Although Lom- bardo is a local member of the union, thereby sa,feguarding his doubling activities here, the. new union regulation won't permit any local musician earning mor^ than $76 a week to double. While Lombardo hasn't , as yet been inform^ of the ruling, Jimmy Petrlllo, musicians* prexy. Is pte- pared to enforce It when the band arrives here for the picture house date. Lombardo Will have to pay oft for as many standby men as in his band in order to be picked up from here for his Robert Burns broadcast or for any other network broadcasting. The injunction which WNTC slapped against WMCA, preventing the latter station from broadcast- ing full tim^, will prevent WMCA from inaugratlng a full time sched- ule until late next fall. WNYC. the city-owned station, received the injunction from- the U. S, Diatrict Court two days before. WMCA was to Inaugrdte its full time policy as sanctioned by the Federal . Radio Commission. This scrap between WNTC, New York City muicipal station oper- ated by Albert Goldman, commis- sioner of Plants and Structures, and Donald Flamm, owner of WMCA, is of years standing. Flamm has spent a fortune in the attempt to get permission for WNTC, which shared time with WMCA, to switch wave lengtlis with WPCH, also Flamm owned, and thereby permit WMCA to broadcast full time. • Up around the WMCA offices, it is Inferred that CBS Is sympathetic with WNTC In : Its stubborn at- tempt to prevent WMCA from going full tlnie. Reason given for this Is that WCC.O, Minneapolis, a CBS affiliate, broadcasts on 810 kilo- cycles, the same as WF'CH, with both stations ordered to split the wave length in 1927. CBS, .11 is claimed, doesn't want WNTC to lake over the WPCH station be- cause .it fears the municipally owned station may make, demands on the time of WCCO. Goldman^ in his appeal to the court for an injunction, claimed that the Winrc transmitter, now on 570 kilos, could not be .used for a frequency of 810 kilos.. Profes- sor C. M. Jansky, a radio authority, swore out a statement for WMCA saying that at the most it would cost WNYC J240 for the engineer ing change. WMCA contends that another reason why WNYC resists switch Ing With WPCH, although this move would permit the station 80 hours weekly of broadcasting in- atead of the present 20, Is that WMCA builds an audience for WNYC. The appeal of Goldman on behalf of WNYC to restrain WMCA from going full time will cost the municipal station $10,000 and must be heard by the U. S. District Court bf Appeals, the matter now being out of the Jurisdiction of the Fed- eral Ridlo Commission. : Finicky Writer Cancels Horlick's NBC Program Chicago, May 30. Radio version of the newspaper strip, 'Sekatary Hawkins,' is off, as far as Horllck's Malted Milk is con- cerned. Robert F. Schullcers, cre- ator of the cartoon, walked out of the ydeal after the advertiser had arranged the network time and put the show Into production. Contracts were ready when _ the agency Handling the account, llord, Thomas & Logan, got a tetter from Schiilkers advising'It thai ho had decided the ether rights were worth more than had orally been agreed upon and. In any event, a Horlick tl-eup was put, program had been set for twice weekly over the NBC red network for ?0 weeks starting June 6. Network has consented to let the agency out of the time contract. Commercial currently supports the Dr. Herman Bundeson program on CBS. EKGLES' ASS'T OTJT Herman Schaad, assistant to George Engles, head of NBC^'s artists bureau, severs connections with NBC tomorrow (1). No .suc- cessor selected. Schaad has been at. NBC an Engles' assistant since 1928; BIAGESIONE'S GUT Blackstone, carrying a program on WEAF and WJZ, goes off the latter network June 9, but contin- ues its WEAF series. ^ Account features Julia Sanderson and Frank Crumit. Medalist Auditioning Aledalist Cigars is auditioning for NBC. broadcasts. A comedy bridge sketch was trifd by the account la.tt week. Orowitz Attempts To Answer Radio'S , Worries in His Book E. M. Orowitz, vet show and the- atrical exploiter and now president oit the EMO Co., Is taking the radio bull by the horns and circularizing the ether advertisers, their adver- tising :agencies and tlie two. -major networks* officials witln ah elaborate booklet which is titled 'What Is Wrong. Wltl* Commercial Advertis- ing?' and answers the question. . Since leaving the RKO organiza- tion, Orowitz has been contacting the radio people and claims to have discovered. that the accounts and their couhsellorsf hkve erected ^a mythical Chinese wall about them- selves. For one thing, either it's too good a rackeit, or it's ignorance, but none seems interested when some-: body from Broadway, comes over to those Fifth and MadisOn and ;6ark avenue broadcasters or radio agencies, he states in his book. Orowitz goes to It without kidding and spares none of the advertisers who are notorious for their objec- ' tlons to the Broadway type of show*- nianshlp. He takes this attitude td task. His own radio service agency will operatie on - an itemization bast's, jgiving the advertiser an itemized accounting of how much goes for talent, how much for wire charges, how much for contlnijity, thei sut- charges for services and hbw'dls- ' trlbuted. The. talent, will be further sub-itemized, detailing the various amounts for singers, orchestra and' artists and not a^ a unit." The round figure Idea^ has been the cause of Considerable dispute between advertisers and their show plotters, with allegations that the latter have overcharged the adver- tiser arid pocketed, the difference. which supposedly was charged off to talent tolls. WOR Maintaining Its Full Station Personnel While the .major networks arie cutting to span the summer, WOR is maintaining Its full staff. Station is said to have been earning a net of $7,000 weekly, but is expectant of slowing up during the hot weather. Only reduction at the Bamberger plant has been some changes In itustainlng artists and switches in highier priced talent. Station claims a reception radius of but 200 miles, but its programs have been heard at twice that distance. , ■ WOR explains the. smaller radius is sufficient for.its department store advertising and the other commer- cials it carries. WOR is licensed for 16,000 kilocycles but has not used that power to date. ' Jap Censor Prevents Hunt's Tokio Broadcast San Francisco,. May. 80, . Japanese censorship stopped Fra- zler Hunt, author, from radioing news from Tokio to the U. S. via NBC last week. Hunt was slated to give a nation- wide broadcast "that was to have been shot across the Pacific from JOAK and picked up by KGO here. But the Jap censors said "No.' CANADA DRY HUMORIST BENNY WJZ Mon. and Wed., 9:30 P.M. <4BOYS AND A GUITAR.*^ COLUNNi BnCADCASTINC SYSTEM PerN«BaI B«preii«iitatlTe Thomns O. BockwcU Mills-Rockwell, Inc. 799 Seventh Ave. NEW XORK 'O'.IB F.M., Tacsdar^ ThwmbtT VICTOR Muncal Director American «od Uroiif^wlclc B«cords Hart* Hcliaffnw A Marx, .Hindu' H«B«7 Almond Cream. Crlixo and Ooodrear Tire Jlroadcaata MamiaaMt ITILLS-ROCKWELL. INC. RUTH ETTINa GLOBIFYIKG /Ae poPUlAR SONG weo. y-AT. lojno io:ib ejs.i; ManaKement MILLS-ROCKWELL, INC. 799 Seventh Ave., New York