Variety (Aug 1932)

Tuesday, August 2, 1932 ■ A » I • vARisnr 49 Magk Giveaways is llnirston Idea ForNew Air Hr. Chicago, Aug, 1. Unique In radio is tjie contem- <)lated employment o£ Howard Thurston, the magician, fof a net- work program to originate in Chi- («agif>: J. Walter Thompaon agency iB the intermediary for an adver-. tl.s^r ^l^o. ^^^nch an extensive sales merchandising campaign in , the fail. ' Never before has a ma'glclan ap- ^ 'pcared on the radio, although in the small experimental manner some simple tricks have been used over, television. Magician can't do his usual stuff for an unseen audi- ence, but Thufston will he: used as the central character ih. his own ^ 'Life and AdveQtures' dramatized for radio. Advertiser figures Thurston's name and prestige as the No. 1 • irtbglclan: of the theatre will draW . them to the dials. There are over 400,000 irtembers of various magi- . clans* societies in the U. S., from the professional Society of 4meri- : can Magicians ' to ' the vs&lous 'circles.' These have been <flgured as exploitation angles. ' One of the ideas connected with ' ,' the merchandising enterprise of .. which Thurston wlll.be pivot start- ling about Oct. 1 is the new slant it ' . provides on' .'giveaways. Dlsriepute in which, the. once reliable ptlze ; package now is held' Is expe'cted to ; be- altered. when ' simple ' tricks In . ; magic are offered as bait.. ' . Advertiser for the Thurston series . will be Kraft cheese. ■ pRAQKERS • RaBERT ^ / BURI^iS V PANETELA WABC •. '"'Every' /• 'Evtalnc •.. •*■ <» •■■ •■ .■-..r>'':>'*^.-.;';.::; .Dir. I WM.; UOBBI8/^0BNCiy,y IVlES'llNQHOt'SB BUSOTBIO .' Present*.."''■'■ (Havi^ yoif Your - Uonday^ Wednesday, Friday— AND QRCMEStRA Waldorf Astoria Hotel Victor Records Gent Safety Razor . Program Lucky Strike Dance Hour Management M. C. A. GERMAN TALENT SIGNED FOR RADIO CITY BY NBC Berlin, Aug. 1. The National Broadcasting Co. has signed quite a few musicians and singers from here for America. Not only 'names' have been en- gaged but liew people also, are to go over, Including a choir of Heidel- berg students .to sing German folk songs. The Edith Lorand orches- tra has been engaged for the open- ing of Radio City. She is inter- nationally known via her discs. Marcell Wlttrlsch will go over to sing both at ttie Metropolitan Opera and for NBC. Poldi Mlldner, Georg Kulenkampf and iJmariuel . Feuer- mann have also signed contracts with U.S.A. managers for concerts in America. : NBC has iadditlonally arranged to exchange musical programs with the Berlin Broadcasting station. Ghiore 'Circus' Back On KFI and NBC Orange Los Angeles, Aug^ 1. Gllmore Oil company resumed its 'circus' (29) over KFI and the NBC orange network, after a lapse of four months. - Pro^iiri back ito this combination after It .was'practically In the bag,;for KFWB . tp.. get; the weekly hour, in conjunction > with 14 other stations up and down the coast. • Warner sttitlon and KPI-'put on test pi'pgrams'; on two /.successive nights, latter, getting the hod.. "With • resumption: Q|P the circus; Gllmore drops its tiiree weekly "IGr minute programs over.' KPO, Sari Francisco, but will retain AtterbUry and- Grilham, one of the acts .used, for the resumed hour. > BERNIE, COMN% VIA NBC; SUSTAINING^ CBS - 1 • v., Chicago/Aug. i. ■ .Ben Bernie's;'Blue -Ribbon Malt program/. whe°n resuming^ .in Sep- tember, switches to the NBC net- work.' : Berhie,' meanwhile, at the. College ■J[nn, will' c;(>i^ti^ue as'..; a',rtCo lumbla sustaining, feature froni' TVtBBM. Fancy Title tips Ben Pratt with ^Chi NBO j 'Under, Instructions from Frank -Mascinr.NBC y^p. -In charge of pres^ Relations, Nlles Trammel, ■ genieral .manager ' of ' the Chicago divi&loi;', ^(bvised the setup of that secfbr'^s publicity, departmeht.' Ben K, ]Pratt,' u^til M«jenUyr assigned to ppiitlcal lSn4 ; mlsceliane.qiis . matters,.'was .glyeri'.the'title of Director oit Public Relatlphg,'■ _■ . .:: .■■ • ' . . Although. Albert R, > Wllllamfson' continues .as manager of the Chi .pubiicity department the Job will come under Piutt's supervision; Reason given for the change here Is that It :\(r;a$ desirable. :to maice the .Chicago departmental arrangement ><;orrespo,nd as. closely ai possible tp ;.thiat prevailing In tie New York bljice. vG. "W. <Jphnny) . Jo^instone lrt i th<i ,'liome office <pilots ■ th^^ piib-" llcljty . staff under, Mason'^^ o. ' riyiliiartison- has been lii charge of the"iiiet>V"prlc?3 Chicago press de-i jpartment, since tlie opening of the office five years agp. . Chicago, Aug. 1. PrAtt was formerly ii>'the prodtic-. tion department having' originated 'Stars of To-Morrow,' a former sus- taining feature for NBC. Understood Pratt attracted at- tentioTj of home office and won the decoration for his wprk during the Democratic convention. Regular press department will continue unaffected by Pratt's knighthood. K~U Z N E T Z O F F M i € O LIN A a a d ''STEERO - Program; Wednesdays/10;15 a.m., WEAK HI THEREi says RAY PERKINS Tii«s.-Thura, 7.30 P. M. BARBARSOIX)IST Maiiaffeineni: M.B.C. SUMMER SIESTA WHAZ Droppina Out of Etiier Waves Until Sept. 12 Troy, N. T., Aug. 1; Radio stations are usuaJly con- sidered as running on an endless chain, but /WHAZ, of Troy, the country's plonee^ college trans- mitter, la. dropping out for the summer months. When It resumes broadcasting. Sept. 12, "WHAZ will ptfer a pifogram celebrating its 10th anniversary, with a number of its early-day entertaJne'rs taking part. Rutherfofd Hayner, managing editor of the Troy 'Times,' is ,pro- gram: director of the station, which is owned biy Rensselaer Poly In- stitute. ' SHIFTING CLEVELAND STUDIO PERSONNEL Cleveland. Aug. 1. Martin Bowen, stud io manager and treasurer of WHK, becomes program' director as result of Eric Hewlett qdiiting post to manage WAIU, Columbus. Two shifts Were brought about when Cplumbus 'sta- tlpn was purchased by WHK, In which cbntrolllng Interest was re- cently brought by Cleveland 'Plain Dealer.* Johii T. Vorpe. former , program director of WJAY, Cleveland, has been made manager of station's new continuity department organized by Grant W. Melrose, statlpn manager. Basil Ix>ughran succeeds him. ■ Itinerant Radio Artist of 19^2 Is Recalling the 'Strolling Player Edm Aff C^Ds JMng 12,676 mests in Mbndi Z<os Angeles, Aug. 1.. Survey by Fedaral Radio com mission of 60 cities opierating miuni cipal police Ttudio . stations reveals that during last April totaJ of 166^- 656 : calls were tra,nsml.tted, .12,676 arrests made, and 1^96,953 worth of property recovered. ' Property., report Includies only half .the cities, arid does/ not count recovery of 266 stolen .'cars. ,.m .. Average time' required to trans- mit calls was one minute and two seconds. There were 2,265 auto- mobiles equipped with radio re- ceivers, serving s total - population of 82,686;000.jand' an'area of 28,190 square-miles., ^- . A s ' ' . ■ --i*?' "• ^ Pefik hour .for rnosi istatloiriT wa^ from 9/to 10-p..'m;-,-with a gradual- Climb froni 6 ':|>.'- m'.' in^ mostV.catfes.^ One city, operating the lo-weist powr iered tranniiltt'er, 7.6 'waite, jbaaide 100 emergency cailf^' 30 arrests and recovered |l<>,'00b...'w6rtli of" property during that monUiu / > ! .Cdrnmlsslbn - leanied that- , cdde book- or mechanloal secrecy; 'iaystei^ aire unnectissf^. anil 'IrikprM with-' one police' ohlef, Mkyiing- that' if a criminal'orgtmttetibii ,bad .the ability . to Inatali and operate ,ari intercepting: system, it . would . be able to dui(>licate .ndechanli^ .devices perfected for hiish-bush coimmuni- Catlpn. One city coiinects .ithe telephone systeirii to the' police ' trajism'itter during the reciepttbri of emergency' calls' in order that all cars may .hear the actual cbhTersatiori be-^. tween the dispatcher and the. citi- zen reporting the' emergency. With present crowded conditions on the air, there'is little chance , of Installing two-way,. coiriniunictitlon between, pcllce hieadquarterEi.,and cruiser cars; the' rejpibrt says. ■■' Ziegfeld (Ccntlnued frpm page 43) cage), althpugh In show business there was a general Idea that he was of the Jewish faith. He was buried under Episcopalian services. The late prpducer's mother resides In Chicago on west Adams street. She had been 111 but is reported in better health. Disposition of the Ziegfeld the- atre must await action by the ex- ecutor. A corporation, "with the late producer aa its head, operated the house. The Ziegfeld estate could be held liable for the rent. Reports that George White and Bairl Carroll are. .interested are merely ruinorsi Last week Carrdll was reported in negotiation to re- rgain possession of -the Casino, 'which was the new Eiirl Carrol from which he was dispossessed. 'When Zieg- feld spotted the revival of 'Show Boat' there the name of the hcluse was changed. Arrangementfor 'Boat' permits it to cbntinue at the Casino for another two months. Baltimore, Aug. 1, Radio Is bririglrig back that old- time figure, the strolling player. Small towns, -which means any burg not a key radlp chain city such as New'Tprk or Chicago, are dally getting a stream of ex-blg town ra- dio performers looking for local ether connections. But these modern itlnerarits dpn't come just looking for a Job; they come equipped with a commercial viewpoint and a willingness to go out arid do their own sponsbr-sell- Ing. They are not only performers, but salesmen, advertising men, writers and players, all in one. They arrive iri the hinterland usu- ally with a vague sort of name acr quired in the metropolis, but with a huge book of clippings to prove It. That book of Plipji^irigg really means something iambng the small- timers, especially when the notices are from big metropolitan dallies pr In spme syndicated or nationally- known gossip column. These performers, claiming that the big towns are about milked and little chance for a killing due to the terrific cbriipetlsh, believe that there's plenty idle radio money in the smaller towns where radip has not yet been developed tp its ut- most.-.' - / ■■ They tie up with the local station and find out which local should-be advertiser has not been cracked fof an account. There are usually more than a couple In any good- sized clty^ say these wandering per- formers. , They . then tackle the frigid commercial firm, and, like as not, succeed In landing him fdr a radio splurge, with themselves, of .course, as the leading attraction. Bib Time Mania Performers state that it Is easier for. them to crack-these accounts CEREJO. CO/S 5EilIA^^ ONJOiHiiOASTS'iil^ With a serial script built around the adventures of cowboys^und cbw7 girls as. the dial magnet for kid. audiei\ces,.Heckei:-H-0, is scheduled- io hop .'abroad the- jCBS bandwagon iBept.\-'26;;'; it's,. a,.^B2-w^ signatured' by 'fTO; cei^eitymaira'fac- tiiirer, .calllng;fpr.*=tl(r<^^ aftef^ iip<0?i periods a '.week. '.;''.'.'■'.', ' ; „'"' '.'I. Pirbgram Avill brijsliikt.e biit.'bf WiG^-' BuKalo, 'home ^ City''of ""the HeCker'^'cpaipany. . .- '.^• ■ : . SeiMurat'e-- cait, .oi( ipiayw^^ .iVUl' .slibot.,tIte ^iBiitirM.'sh^^ tioi^/. 'Angelc?,'' over 'a' 12-~statlbn- hboku'p'.'ori the coast,'.'.:''-; i;'"v;'' Ofl Wdls^ Co^ FW Mr: Weils JRbAw ~" . . r CWcs^go, Aug. i; .. Continental .Oil of . Pbn'ca: ■ dlty; Oklahoma, has .dropped, its plans to return to the air. in tlie fall with . & new program over NBC; ' Instead; It -will remf ln'>Ue.n't until: Dec. 7, t>y which time'it'^,'"forifter^ exporiont, Ciarveth "Wells, . will; .be back frpni Russia arid ready td 'rb-: siime. than the station, because the adver- tiser Is looking for something which smacks of the big town, and with that book of clippings in front of his nose, thinks at last he's found what he's been looking for. And'the local stations admit that these out-of-towners usually arrive with a flock of good ideas for pro- ductions picked up around the acb agencies and transmitters In-^the key spots; A good, deal of it is often close to plagiarism, biit since it's in another, state and outside of the area of competition, it works out okay. Straight singers and muslcla.ris from out-of-town also figure in the scheme and sts^nd better breaks to sell the local big advertiser. In the smaller towns all the available good talent is soon used up and becomes repetitious and too well-known, so that the would-be advertiser sticks off the air entirely rather than go on with 'used* ririaterlal. Many of these performers are working on a carefully prepso'ed. schedule of towns and are makin^r mpney. Besides figuring on their salaries as performiers, they are collecting two and three vrays, get- ting coriimlssloris two ways oftein. Several accounts sold locally by these Itinerants evolved from a spe- cial rate from the station to the perfprmer, and then spld by the player to the advertiser as a bar- gain-special, the advertiser for one lump surii, getting the players; the script and the tlriie. So far the greatest number ot successful Players are' those which are hittlrig the' small towns -with direct merchandising stunts picked up In the big cltled. 'Many of theia are ex-publiclty boys with a scrap- book, of ideas. Date €o.^s NBC Dkte -; . ■- .:" ■ . .'.. 'r-':- ■ •:. Hills - Brothers'. Dromedary Dates, goes on .'NBC Sept. 26; with aVweb extending from coast tb; coast; Dra- riiatic show, ocidressed to th'e kld^, will be spotted on. a late afternoon period. Contract for time stipulates three quarter-hour programs a week over a period of 13 weeks. Commercial last season limited its ether activities to sppt broadcasts In the major key points. Network link takes In the basic blue, the northwest, the mpuntaln group, and the prange reglbnals pn the west coast. . Usilsqlitr,'OM* ' ^''^'^H:^ '^J?* . • E.b,».T. -' P«riMal 'MtuVtBtst - ^myiNa. .'itrLLs v.lHiMiUitMkMti, Is*. AMD HUi. BraadutHm Inm ■ ' COTTON CLUB, New YMfc Hoaday* 11.49-12 p.m. E.8.T. Wednndiy and Friday* 12 to 12.30 Ml. Pcnonal MeaagcBioiit IRVINQ MILLS . Mlili-Rotkwell, Ins. 769 Seveath Ave., New Vark RUTH ETTING GlOfUFYIKGVA^POPULAa SOHG lJUMBIA^0pi5f1D<Dftn^.NErim wca /AT. tojatou» Manairenieiit MILLS-ROCKWELL, INC. 799 Seventh Ave., New York