Variety (Jan 1933)

R A D I O VARtETY 91 AD CHIEF FLMS AIR GRAFT Midi Test Case Radbihg of Disks ~ Natio^iial Assoclatlpn ot Broad- <^teFs baa advised station members tbat tbey need have no legal qualms about Jjroaflca^tlngr phonograpb rec- ordsi even if Cbere's a. label oh the platter forbidding 'them to' do So.; '-Meahwhlle-, .Brunswick, .and Golum- bia P^qnograph are. discussing pool- ing their;. leiBftl rtsourpes lor the jjnutppse. rof bringing, a test cas.e . which'-they 'antlcU)ftte,Vlll eventual? ly! be j!arrlod-4b the U. S. Supreme 'Courtr . • Broadcasters' organization con- tends that iaft«r a station has been licensed ' by the Ahieirlcan' • Society that that outlet msiy send out any «Dpyrlghted number, unless re- stricted, . with impunity.-NAB not only questidns the recording com- pknles' claim to a property right in 'the product after It haii been sold across the counter, but accuses the Auslc Publlshei's* .Protective Asso- clieitlon of prompting the recorders to pa^te tho 'Not Licensed for Broadcastlfag* label on the waxings. Communication. addressed., to NAB members declares, that this latter Info had been obtained from RCA '-Victor. ^BC and Vtcfor are sub- sidiaries of ilCA. Don't Expect . Victor - In the event of court action' Brunswick and'Columbia do not ex- .p,ect Victor to dqin .them. It's a problem, say the execs in the for- mer two, companies that they'll have io. battle out themselves. 3runswlclc and Columbia assert that iiiiless their property rights in the recordings, as far as brpadcast- Itag is concerned, is upheld by the courts the complete elimination of their 'American market will merely be a matter of another yea.r or two. Artists with radio reputations, tiiey say, are beginning to refuse to record for phonograph disks, claiming that the continuous broa.d- casting of-tlieir voices by practically every one-lung station in the coun- try tends to d<6preciate their net- work value. Royalties, that they now derive from the sale of the rec- ords, say these- artists, far from make up for the- Jeopardy in which they find themselves us commercial program attractions, according to these disk Arms. Music publishers point out these recording companies have their in- vestments protected by the law, and simple i^ason dictates that similar protection should be accorded the millions invested by the record makers in mechanical facilities, plants and salaries. Lincoln Defamatory Suit Pops Up Again Lincoln, Jan. 23. The old KFAB liability for de- famatory remarks, made by a poli- tician some two years ago, was dragged to light ae;aln in district court with a suit for $100,000 dam- ages being appeased on an ac- luaowledgement of a $600 Judgment by the station. Case, previously tried last April, ended with $1 be- ing charged from the politician at fault and KFAB going untouched. A test case will be made to obtain a ruling from the state supreme eourt. Uproar was all caused by one of Richard Wood's campaign speeches over the station. PBOV. STATION MOVES Providence, Jan. 23. "Within the next month WPRO- "WPAW, Cherry & Webb Broadcast- ing Co., Is moving broadcasting fa- cilities to Conn's Metropolitan the- atre. Work of remodeling one en- tire floor of the building to provide studios and broadcasting space is under way now. At present station has studio In the Loew State building. Conn's Met Is dark awaiting dis- position by real estate group that took over mortgages when Jacob Conn's theatrical bubble burst last taU. KSL's 4-Way 60% Salt Lake City, Jan. 28. Of every ■ dollar coming in for spot ' broadcasting 'KSL, owned and operated: by ;,the Mormon Church,' has been pay- ing .out 60c in commission, piscovery was recently made by the financial agent tor the:' ..Church.Bld^rs folIovfing which Ihstruotions were, given - the'' station's management that charity . begins at' home, and how about it? ■ :6lders' rep found that the' 60% ' commission: wia.s being split four wiayia, contract with the' outlet^s exclusive' station ' representative oitligated it for a 15%' cut on all.spot business no matter what source placed it; .another 15% for the adyer-.' tislng agency, another fourth to the indie station rep con- trolling the ° account, and the llnal 16% to World Biroadcast- ing System as the license fee for. the*uSe of a special phono- graph arm device to translate the'iilli and dale system. BESULT OF KICKS BY Head of ANA Declare* Cli- enU Won't Stand for Pad- ded Talent Salaries Much Longer —- Wise to How Coin Is Cut Up^Warns Radio It WUI Be Ultimate Loser A$ Day^e Djalers Haanf Cnltoral Yen Qne class of program that's gone Into a sharp Recline this season Is the bsmkrolled culinary .spiel. On i^^C'and CBS combined thercj airen't one half the advertisers using'the cooking recipe idea that there were a year ago. Case heire, say their agency rep's, is merely one of mer- chandiser reacting to the' femhie listener's change of Interest. Advertisers, aver the agency men, ^ound that the hausfrau hasn't been giving .Wrapt attention to recipe re- cifalsi and that the novelty of scout- ing aroUnd for a pencil and paper when . the 'you-take-three-ciips of flour, etc' started has worn Off ap- preciably. Repetition also has played a major part in the swerve of inter-' est. It became Just a matter of lis- tening to so many versions of pre- paring an apple strudal. After collecting reams of recipes, the daytime dialers came to realize that this pencil pushing necessitated breaking into her housework rou- tine. Only one cooking recipe vendor noT.' holds a spot on Columbia out of New York, while NBC's two net- works are down to five representa- tives from this category. Recent surveys taken among women listeners by two of the major agencies and CBS show a pre- ponderant IncUni-tion for orchestral music of the semi-classical school during the daytime. Vote for jazz In all three cases w^^s negligible. Interpretation here Is that the house- wife wants to feel that she's get- ting something cultural. World Fair's Studio Dedication Feb. 15 Chicago, Jan. 23. A broadcasting studio now being built within the Administration building at the Century of Prog- ress Exposition will be formally dedicated Feb. 16. At that time it Is hoped both NBC and CBS will donate a full hour to broadcast the ceremonies. Galaxy of bigwigs Is expected to participate. Studio will have hook- ups with both networks and will be operated by the Exposition's publicity force for general use throughout the period of the World's Fair. Editor Joins Chicago NBC Chicago, Jan. 23. John Alcock has Joined Uie NCC publicity staff here. He succeds Jim Little. Alcock Is a former Sunc'ay editor of the Chicago 'Tribune.* A 60% CHISEL AdvsrtiMrs are to tha brim with the salary padding and chiaaiino going on in tha talent and of this broadeaating busineaa, and if the evil isn't elaaned up radio .wi|l ba ,tha losar. . Such ia tha warning voiced by Qtuart Paabody^'prasidant of the Asbaciatibh of National Ad- vartiaers, in a speech before that or- :ganization and subseiiuently ampli- fied for 'Variety.' ^ In his talk jsefore the ANA, which dealt with the elimination of waste, in advertising, Pcabody con fined his .comment on radio salaries to the foUpwIng remarks: 'Padded prices ^_n radio talent, money which talent receives, but which is largely 'diverted to go-betweens, must end, AdvOrtisIng cannot continue to sup- , port the parasites who Inflate the cost of radio talent.' During the Interview with » •Va- riety' reporter Peabody, sales man ager of the Borden Co., of New York, stressed the point that he .was merely speaking as president of the ANA and that what he had to say was the accumulation of com- 'plalnts th^t had coine to him from advertisers on the .air. . As pilot of Borden's morning: show.., on NBC, Peabody declared, that he, person- ally, had never encountered the con- dition described, but he thought It was about time that his advertising organization; numbering 200 odd na- tional advertisers, served notice upon those concerned that it was hep to what was going on and that if wasn't going to stand for any more of it. 'This . rampant, promiscuous boosting of salaries with from two to six outside parties cutting in,' said Peabody, 'Is an unhealthy con- dition, and if it Jsn't eliminated the advertiser will start losing faith in those connected with the broadcast- ing business and that won't be do- ing radio any good. The advertiser wants to pay a fair and reasonable price for his program talent, but he wants to feel thait all the money is going to th^ talent and Is not being sliced up six different ways.' Know the Routine The advertiser is fully aware, Peabody averred, of how wlde- spread-^he passing and chiseling has become. How it works right through the artist's personal rep, the pro- gram contacts in the advertising agencies and the various depart- ments in the networkis. Peabody states he has been Inclined to let the matter slide with the hope that somebody else would do something about It. But some advertisers, ac- cording the ANA head, have taken the effort to do a little checking of their own, and have found that as high as 60% of the money shelled out by them for talent has gone to various cut-In sources. Schuettes 2 'Cripples' Bite Back As ASCAP (hrifers Tiines Oif Ai^ In 1st Move Against Raifio Exec Ben Bard Off Air Los Angeles, Jan. 23. Ben Bard Is off KHJ 'Merrymak- ers' after two sessions as master of ceremony. Assignment reverts to Ken Miles, chief announcer at that studio. DBOP COAST FAIR San Francisco, Jan. 23. Public Food Stores failed to re- new on Cecil and Sally, dialog twain they've been backing on KPO for six month.<i. Nightly 6:45 o'clock spot now goes to Irving Kennedy who will tenor during that choice hour. That Agency Urge! Ciirlous sidelight on the aqi- bitlons of wiritera ' iahd pr<i-' ducers. in radio; is that .the ob- . Jec'tiy.e commonly favoredis the ad.agency.Ne^iwork stalt. men look forwat-d to a joji, with some agehcy. Rarely is ' the^ aspiration directed the other way. ^. . Reason for the trend is two- fold, and the. main, one has to do with compensation. Agen- cies maintain a higher level of salaries. Other motive.-is the expectation that the .entry will give them a chance to-learh the advertising business and eventually develop theniselves along other {igency. lines. Marerin of salary between th^ network and agency' staffs is, around 25%. Average weekly payoff for writers, and pro- ducers of the brbadcastihg chains^ in New' 'fork, is $76, while the average, agency level for these two 'cfasses in the ~ radio department com^s ' io »100. Rolfe Sees Musical Serials Next for Air; Now Working On One B. A. Rolfe' believes in the pre- viously discussed trend in radio, toi original musical comedies. ' But Rolfe, who has a, cinematic. back- ground, likens the future aJr ihuslr cals to the milestone In illms.estab- lished by the : ^Perils of Pauline' serials. After that will come the big: show—the 'Birth of a Nation;' of the air. Rolfe, dating back' to his musi- cal tab productions with Jesse Lasky, when both were cornet play- ers and producers of Rolfe & Lasky vaudeville acts, also produced the Houdini and other serials, and was president of Blue Bird Films, later absorbed by Metro. Rolfe made a national rep for hlmsell on Lucky Strike, from which he has been away for a year. He Is now working on a 39-part mu- sical melodramatic serial, 'Tracked Around the World' with libretto by William J. McKenna and score by himself. Its first few chapters are all recorded for broadcasting either as electrical transcriptions or for physical reenactment weekly. Examine Klauber Before Trial in Savino Suit A court battle as to whether Bd Klauber, CBS v.p., is to be ex- amined first, before trial, and Do- mfenico Savlno to furnish a bill of particulars later, or vice versa, has been decided Just that way. Savino Is suing CBS for $28,900 on a . two year contract as general musical director. Composer-maestro col- lected 136,000 from the Columbia network tho first year and okayed a renewal for a year at a cut. Week or so after the second year started, CBS changed its mind and dispensed with 6a^4ho's services. Suing through Abeles & Green, the court has ordered that Klauber, the CBS v.p., be examined before trial. Ten days after the examination, Savlno will furnish a bill of par- ticulars. As its first retaliatory slap at the attacks made, on it by Oswald 'Schuiette, tha Alnerl^n Society hais' ■withdrawn from -peirfprmance .bV'Sr the air two. nuniberi!) that Schuette YiaA distributed'° amoi^^^ radio, sta-. tions. 1[*hese cbmp^sitlQiis' are 'Just Like a Shiirdow' '4^'d,. 'jrHe Laik 3UiI« Is ttiiB -.on'geat ;Whei Tpu're^^^o^ Tour Way i$ack ;H6ihe,'.t)<>th placed iou' the market. by Randolph Mnsle Publishers Lt <nii<;ago. \. s6huette, . as copyright publicist for the National. Association of Broadcasters, had urged stations' and networlts to: glv<E> these |ium-;. bers frequent .plugs. *As part' .ot *^ the protection of brpadcastihg sta- tions against copyright racketeer"- ing,' he wfote in a letter accbm- panying' each copy of the first song.. 'It is important to establish a sap- ply of new' and popular music In Which the (radio) Industry will con- trol; its own public performance rights,' 'AS you will note front the notice printed on the first'page of the ar- ranGre.inent,* the' letter :furtUeir'i«^ -'I have been irrevbcibly aiiithorlxed '^o'gtajit 'licenses to all sts.tl6n^ ttfiQ l| perform this music without payment,, of a fee.' Wfiat Schuette obviously over- . looked.that. though - Randolph Husld Publishers, as suchr is Aot » member of tlip society the .winters, of the sbngs' arie. Pai^ tesponslble for the 'Shadow', ditty iure Benny Davis and Sammy Biept And for .'IL«8t MUe? it's the saoie D&vls and Abner Silver. As members of the society' every'. coniposttlbh ■'■ turneill out by~ these' men had its. j>ertbi^- '' infS rlisKts' exclusively Invested' la - the society ' until !Uie iehnlnilitldtk of th^lr' .ASCAP contrau;ts' lb 'De- . cember,'1986. Qrsnt Wsivep ' Randolph Publishiws Is owned .by Milton Weil, .who also operated the , Miltdn Well Music Co., Whieh is also oh the society's roster. From Weil and tlie writer(f concerned, th« society has obtained a. signatured waiver- permitting it to withdraw imniediately all ether performing rights of the two songs. A letter to this effect has'been addressed to every radio' station tn the country. Schuette had. appi:oached both Columbia and NBC on 'Shadow' and had only obtained a favorable re- sponse from the former chain. CBS notified its artists, orchestra con- ductors and program directors to give special plug attention to this song. Letter and arrangement of the tune was turned over on their arrival at NBC in New York to the network's general counsel, A. L. Ashby. That network exec called the ASCAP to check on Schuette's assertion about having the exclu- sive performing rights to the song, and. learned that the writers were members of the society. Ashby in turn advised the network's program department to lay off broadcasting the composition. BOASBERG-CONITE CO. Al Boasberg and Ed Conne. arc partners in Majestic Radio Studios, inc., formed to plot programs. Conne, until recently, was the program builder for World Broad casting Corp., and Boasberg was his scriptist.. Both left to go into busi ness on their own Standard One-Acters Porl^ew Luxor Series Chicago, Jan. 28. NBC has won Luxor face powder over to a dramatic series via "WMAQ for 13 weeks. Understood agency favored and recommended a musi- cal show with a fashion common-^ tator. Bernardino Flynn, Harvey Hayes, Arthur Jacobson apd Lillian White present 'The Bride,' by Harriet Ford, as first of a group of stand- ard one act plays from the the- atrical archives, Clarence L. Men- ser Is adapting for radio and will also stage the series. Changes Coasts Los Angeles, Jan. 23. Elvia Allman, singing comedienne, at KHJ since 1923, has resigned and gone east. She hopes to hit one of the chains.