Variety (Jan 1934)

Tuesday, January 30, 1934 RADIO VARIETY 91 AND LOSSES 1933 Principal Chain Advertisers (GROSS BILLINGS FOR AIR TIME) 1933 1932 1931 Affiliated Products $215,299 $4618,289 $647;802 American Tobacco 697,178 1,831,930 1,695,082 Armour Co, ........,..,............ 279.990 283,388 268,869. Barbasol Co. . 348,B«7 507,405 264,194 Bayer Co. .....i ;....*,....... 841,714. 318,541 69,165 Best Food^ 190,669 1,052,948 95,882 Borden Co. 186,248 131,884 40,259 ; iBourJois ...V 148*619 188,794 186,761 Butck^Olds- 531,333 242,294 146,891 Carnation Milk 257,957 2i22,667 Campagna Corp, 364,849 268,377 Chevrolet 306,357 240,899 .... Cities Service 382.131 467,853 405,226 Clicquot Clulj 74,402 180;495 150,344 Cplgate-Paiinplive-^J>eet 406,279 680,536 1,486,930 Consreas Cisar Co. (La Palina)... 247,833 383,401 .278,477 Corn Products dorp. ..........337,238 181,420 Ci'azy Water Spring 234,127 R. B; Davis .......... ...... 199,046 58,756 Cno . • ................ .*'.282,354 163,734 'fiX I^ax .«.....'......... .'^..'...»....'. ^ 194,088 Firestone Tires .,»......;...,,..... 137,062 .v^^Ford Dealers 369,574 .... General Clefar 162,327 224,258 219,433 General iElectrlc 92,031 611,760 465,247 General Foods ....... i.w 947,051 2,090,070 582,600 (Maxwell Hpuise Coffee, Grapemlls, Jello, Diamond Salt, Postum, ' Post .Toaistiep) (Seheral Mills ........... .. 796,687 (Wheaties, Gold Medal, isquick) A & P Stores .283;572 914,606 Gulf Refining 376,006 Health Products 137,223 Horlick's Malted Milk 234,486 /.Hudson Motors 408,906 .... .... lodent 15,454 112,049 147,036 Jergens-Wdodbury ............236;973 244,915 12,629 Kellogg Co. . 332,300 820,476 118,343 Lady Esther 544,480 231,685 143,816 Larua & Co. (Edgeworth Tobacco) 2i97,740 15i,688 ' .... . Lamont CofHss 260,063 282,196 131,758 (Pond's Cream, Nestle Chocolate) Liambert Pharmacal (Listerine) .... 63,130 322,281 175,251 Liggett & Myers (Chesterfield).... 653,783 1,746.424 Lorillard (Old Gold) . i.......... .^ 393,317 Metropolitan,Life Ins^ 442,807 355,497 Kat. Dairy Co; ., 289,400 68,492 (Kraft-Phehix Cheesie) Northwestern Yeast 206,046 170,735 140;422 Pacific Borax ,i, 183,511 149,151 148;074 Pennzoll 91,641 264,150 67,692 Pepsodent ..........k.............. 1,644,324 1,735,300 1,438,327 Philco Sales 463,696 1,043,384 192,496 Phillips Chemical Co. 328,174 351,726 169,040 (Phillips Milk Of Magnesia, Dentifrice) PlUsbury Flour . . .> .160,293 85,465 99,064 Premier Pabst Sales 313,621 256,496 i5«,8ll (Blue Ribbon Malt, Pabst Beer) Procter & Gamble 34,940 1,141,128 499;251 Reynolds Tobacco (Camels) 66,094 1,170,600 1,246,336 Sinclair'Refining ........^. .306,402 189,601 .... Standard Brands i;778,260 1,584,217 1,272,214 (Chase & Sanborn Coffee, C & S Tea, Fleischmann Yeast, Royal Gelatine) Standard Oil of N. J 230,645 .... Swift & Co 186,284 473,672 Sun Oil Go. 463,670 Texas Co. .419,811 Tidewater Oil Co 217,064 .... Wander Co. (Ovaltine) 488,771 104,156 Wasey Products 223,214 .... G. Washington CofCee 106,820 307,iB26 220,810 Wheatena Corp. 233,723 249,568 141,600 Wrigley Gum TBS.gfig- i2Ii3^4- NBC Pays Meroff IG For 2 Shiffo Dates On Plough Program Jan,. Benny Merolf whose band w.ent off the Plough' Penetro show pn NBC after 11 of the contracted 13 weeks last week got $1,000 from NBC in settlement for the two un- layed dates. Meroff was on the show at $1,250 for the ,15-minute 'once weekly broadcast. At the erid of the 11th week Plough asked for a new. show Which went in with Vincent Lopez band headlining oh a 30-mInute per- Joimajxae. „^ NBC-pBS Joint Decline of 19% for 1933 as Against Previous Year Compares with Newspapers' Loss of 15% and Magazinies' 18% Slowdown' SPONSOR CHANGES PUBLIC SERVICE Chicago, Jan. 29. ine weather reports each a.m. session hitting on the hour and half-hour for 62 weeks has been set by Dr. West Toothbrush on WBBM. Through the J. Waltfer Thompson, agency locally. WILLIAMSON GETS DEPT. TITLE BACK Chicago, Jan. 29. Official NBC manual Just Issued which carries corrected listings for 1934 of all departmental arrange ments spots Al R. Williamson as manager of the Chicago and cen- tral publicity division. He has had that job in practice thr6ughout but title went to Ben Pratt. Latter may be placed in program depart meilt. Ken Fry is charted In the man uai as night editor: Stall-Arinour=N,Y^=Mav^ Chicago, Jan. 29. Planned switch of the Armour show with Phil Baker to the Radio City auditorium for a seven or eight weeks' stay has been postponed again. Radio City can't clear space for the In-porson appearance, due to present crowding. Newsprint and magazine adver- tising turned the tables on radio in 1933; Two former media not only appreciably checked the dbwnwftrd trend, of their business graphs, but they came through the year show- ing ' less of a loss as compared to 1932 than" broadcaistlng. NBC and Columbia jointly for 1933 took ai revenue fall of 19%. The news- paper slide chalked off around 16%, while the clip for the mag trade was. 18%. For two and a half years up to the summer of 1932 the. newsprint and miag combination saw their ad- vertising income consistently on the skid while the mushroom growth of radio as a merchandising medium contlnujed unimpeded. Even re- verses between the 1932 July to De- cember, inclusive, business sluff-off was insignificant for radio when compared to' the losses experienced, during the parallel pferiod by. newii- papers and magazines. Surge of business recovery that befell all three media on the last quarter of 1933 gave each of the print factions enough of an edge to wind up the year with less of a percentage loss than broadcasting as represented by the networks. Food piackers continued through 1933 to lead by a wide margin the list of radio spenders according, to industry. Standard Brands ' again was broadcasting's ace ouistomer with, a total expenditure of $1,778,- 250 as compared, to' Pepsodent's $1,644,324. With the Eddie Duchln series plugging Junis facial cream, the chances are than by the end of February . Pepsodent will have re- gained top position. One of the major customer fall-offs for. 1933 was American Tobacco (Lucky Strikes). Drop! In this Instance as compared to 1933 ^as close to 200%. Other hefty expenditure tumbles involved Best Foods, A. & P., Gen- eral Electric, Kelloggs, Lsi-mbert Pharmacal, Pennzoll, Procter & Gamble and the Swift Co. Automobiles Up Networks found mtich of the busi- ness loss from oth6r sources over- come by the boosts In radio budgets among the automotive Industry. The latter group spent 20% more on ithe webs In 1933 than they did the previous year. Tn 1933 the auto malkers had a gross blilihg of $1,863,436. Tear before it was $1,072,899. Of . the 1933 total from this quarter 77% went to NBC. Fanchon & Marco Radio Foster Sponsored s for Theatres Ribbing Reber John U. Reber, chief radio pilot for J. Walter Thompson, received, ih the mail a. contract froni fiadio Pictures to do. a part In. 'Strictly Dynamite,' which is being adaiited from a stajgre play wxitten by a couple .of his agency pals, R.ob- ert- .J. Col well and Robert Simons. Role offered him is that of Hilton Rivers, which was John Rivers In the original script and • a counter-part of Reber himself; Lettet which accom- panied the contract was sig- natured by John W. Swallow, contacteer between Radio Pic- tures and NBC In Hollywood studios, and expressed assur- ance that .Beber ought to. l>e ablei to play the part, as the' . character In the picture, is sup- posed to be present on the oth- er end' of the phone, but at no time appears on the screen. Salary stiipulated In the doc- ument is $4,999. tn the space, reserved for the period of time, it reads 'no weeks.' From tills Reber assumes, he Is expected to phone in his part from New York. Wash. Oniits Radio From Fed. Control Of Conununication Washlnjgton,-Jan. 29. Broadcasting is omitted entirely from proposed plans to exercise strict Federal control over the com- munications industry under a rec- omnunended policy submitted to President Rooisevelt this week i)y. a special Interdepartmental cbmmli- Stating merely that 'the problems oif broadcasting are not considered In this study/ the group urged con- tinuation of the privately-owned systeni of radiotelegraph, telegraph and telephone' service, drastic Fed- eral, regulation of rates and service, and a llberial attitude toward fur- ther mergers; Amendment of the Radio Act to ■strengthen provisions prohibiting foreign-domilnated holding com- panies to control American com- muhicatfons wffS urged. The com- mittee observed that a flaw in the existing law designed, to achieve that end *has already ibeen utilized for that Very purpiose.' Orgahizatloh by Fanchon. Marco of a • sibsidlary. Radio Stage- shows, Inc:, yrlth Bob Collier in ohargei, niay bis tlie afterniath of the development of the radio stage- shows 'which F&M have been quietly fostering the. last few months. Collier has been trans- ferred! east to cbhcentrate on the Idea, after having .previously in.-, istalled the Ta:styeast Jesters .at the Roxy, N. Y., eairly last fall, gone back to Hollywood.. The biggest Impetius to' date on. the stage-productiohed commercial air shows is the' 26-week' contract sighed between McCann-Erlcksen- agency on the coast and Borden's Milk Co: for a;. Piaciflc Coaist hally-^ hoc starting .Feb. 2. The stage shows which; will be simultaneousljr etherized otten on that date at the. Paramount, Los Xngeles. They stay there three, or four weeks, and then travel In intervals to Frisco,;- Port- land, Seatlei San ..Diego, etc.,' under. F&M bookings in ?'ox-West COast theatres. Visualized;: radio presentations were given their earlier starts via Al Pearce's Gang anid Jinuny and Sally, which have since been doing .well on personal appearance tours. They etherize froni the stages- of the .theatres before a. visible, paid audience. It differs from the cur^ rent practices In New York "by botii networks of: deadheading, the on- lookers In studios. Sponsor-Theatre Benefits Collier jatad F&M believe that the visualization of a oommerclal broad- cast can be worked out to. the bene- fit of the theatres , and also, afford a. much larger visible audiencie for the sponsor than In a studio or ft sman-capacity auditorium. The sponspil', gets his. valu^ from visually getting over some judicious Insti- tutional plug besides the aural a,p- peal. The F&M hookup, for example, will permit the talent from the reg- ular iF&M presentations to double. Into a commercial air bally at nomir nal cost to the ether advertiser. For example, Sally Rahd, the Mlllis Bros.^ Guy Lombardo, cur- rently playing in F&M houses; may also be slipped into the regular radio commercial show that's picked up from the stage of the theatre. Soothsayers Get Canadian Sldds Thomas Maher, Program Director, Charts Entertainment for Future Toronto, Jan. 29. Soothsayers and prophets will be denied the ether by the Canadian Radio Commission, and this Fed- eral-appointed, body will spend half ix million, dollars this, year in pro- dugl^rigj^blggerjand better air enter- tainment7~a^c^cordInl^ Maher, dir.ector of programs for CRC. A coming highlight in Canadian broadcasting will be the proposed series of inter-university debates on public questions. This will include coast-to-coaat Caniadlan universi- ties, with the winning debaters pit- ting their brains against those of some leading United States seat of learning, the winner to take «t trophy which the Canadian govern- ment will donate.. Referring to children's, programs and reminded that such juvenile entertainment as provided by the TorimtD=eoTiservatory-of-Music^=had been taken off the air, Maher stated that if child artists would present entertainment for listeners of thleir own age there would be no objec- tion, but admitted that 'It upsets my digestion' when a child of ten- der years sings adult and salacious Hong.s, the lyticn of \yhich the Child can't possibly understand. OAL KUHL ON COAST J. Waiter Thompson Keeps Him i Hollywood Cal Kuhl, staff producer for J. Walter Thompson, moves to Los Angeles , next week to'take charge of the agency's west coa.st pro- grams. Sam Moore, scrlptist in the New York office, will join Kuhl a week or two later. Besides working on local, shows jPCuhl will, take over direction of the Chase & Sanborn stanza when Jimmy Durante replaces Eddie Can- tbr the latter part- of March. Kuhl's previous west coast assign- ment was while Rudy Vallee was there doing, a picture for Fox'. Insdmiiia Broadcasts Chicago, Jan. Probably the latest commercial spiel in the hlz will hit on WBBM starting next month for Hexin, the headache remedy. Win carry announcements at 12:15, 12:30 and 12:46 a.m., spotting In between the midnight dance bands. Contract calls for a year's run. Thomas Cook ■'&' Son returns Malcolm LaPrade and hia travel talks to NBC Feb. 11. Again it's a Sunday afternoon half hour, v/lth 13 Btatioh.s on the red (WEAF) string. It's thf» sixth consecutive season for the travel agency on NUC.