Variety (Jan 1935)

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tnesdnyV Janpaiy 22,1933 R A HI VARIETY 91 Perhipi Press^ Matin Wiprry as to Air-r^iFirst Athletic Event by WJZ in '21— ^ Moifttly Sustaining in East, but Commercial on Coast :and jii Chicago WILD MID.WEST Radio's'growth has beert so rapid that few have found time to take .more Tthaii- passing -notice miiestones. Inhpyations have piled upon Iniiovatlons with such; speed and frequency; that few caii recall offhand th.e details connected with notable- past performances, despite the fact that eyerythlne has hap pcned in; the brief space of less than 15 years; Even the oldsters of ra- dio broadcastlhehavedlfflcultye Jng credit where credit 1b due when Tcmlnisclne over , radio's past and tryinff to recall Its 'flrsts, There---arje some Who maintain, that tiie first sporting event ever, ~broBdcffist7,-was tthie-Dayld-Pbllistln sirap -at catchwelehts In a vacant, lot near .Palestine, .aiid those on the Inside do Insist that the weapon which won th^ pennant, for Little Dave \yas really the' jawbone bf a radio announcer. But most histo- rlans of radio—as Is, Irold-Hliat ra- dlo'.s first sports affair was the more "i'e'cent—^Dempsey^arpentier^—em— brpg'lio at .Boyle's 30 Acres in tTcr- ■ eey City. ■- -—\V-lth Tex—Rickara prnmntlnefe-- and hoW:—Dempsey and Carpentier fought it out .on July 2, 1921. Major of radio, and. even beyond the rest of radio in many respects, but that first—sportiibrbadcast-fmni-J^^ 3.(S Acres Is still the nipst "important of all. . Not biily b^dause it hap- pened to. be the first sent oiit over the air,, but aJso because It started a feud that- Isn't settled yet arid, probably won't be settled until the last-newspaper or radio station .ex- pires; ' . ■ ■ \ -v:; (Challenge tp Press For th6 broadcaist of the- Dernr-'; sey-Carpentler* fight, besides adding to radio's .prestige as an entertain- ment. medium, handed the news-: pipers: their first challenge for the title of world's champjon dissemi- hator, of newi, arid information. Up to then it was a case of pay to get in or else read the account ~ In your favorite rag. Sports broadcasting now. holds a prbriilrient place in the New York radio picture, but bhiefly as a sus- tainlrig feature. ./It hasn't entered the. big' lirtoney stage as yet. With the exception of irtiportant jiatibh ai everita, fey>' sports shows are spon sored, arid because hatibnally Im pbrtant .events are .far froiri' fre- xiuent, Ne^NV York's; sports broad casting is mostly a local pr.pposl- rtion . ' ■ Big chains stations naturally spe- cialize in ■ national; events only, arid: New-Tork is dpmlnate^.by the chain sta(lonSi The. smaller stations pay considei;abie attention to sports, but haye not been able to cash In on. it to. a large extent. . Unlike the nild- dle -westernersV New York's pbt6ntial ^dv-ertlsersJdbJip.t;AeeiriJto^^^ ^p easily' over" rbcir. sports feVentsi"; or a.t l«(ast not to the extbnt of pay-, Ihg for ithe privilege of-serving as sponsors;-:' -Probably that Ayhlch has retarded CQriiirierclailsm most In New York j3P0FtST---br-badGastlrig-- Is-—the H^re- fusal of the three metropolitan base- ball ciuh.q t" oQiintenarice bro adcast- ing J. Aridi - ew White dcocribcd the fight . over WJZ. "There were close to 100,- 000 paying customers on the inside "arid-p¥fhaps~twlce tha.t niany ethel" horned In via a riiorigrel assortnicrit of receiving sets, most of which Bpeclallzed in static between station ehnouncementsi Biit it was the first liri»e-4hat-xuiilvate-cltizeri,.jid^^ It is logical to assume that a sponsor could be easily found for big league ball game broadcagtSj.lb.Ut. thLg Glant^ Yankees and .uoagers \voirt talk business. max is .ori. at 7 p.m. nightly; except Sundays. --^Only .. rejgiilar flpnnsoiled; local- stition siK>rts ; eyiehts are the Benny Lieonard fight bVoadcasts^two^ nights VeeWy on WHN. . Truly- Warnfer, ahbther hatterj pays the bill; WHN, , Loew-cpntroUbd sta- tion, plays up sports more than the. other Iptni :putlets, except WMCA; It has Harold Bruce, for sports talkd on Mondays, : Prank Graham on Wednesdays and Ned Brown on .Tuesdays, all: sustaining^; Among -other Ipcai si)brts cpmr- mentatoris are .Elarl Harper, , dially; ori "WINS (Hearst) and Keviri Rob- erts ohce.weekly on WLWIi. WEYD carries no sports, stuff at all Just ripW,- ' i-.^^ ■ : \ In tbe way of annbuncers, New York has the two most - nationally knoWn persbnailties in that line—r Graham StcNamee ,(NBC) and Ted Husing (CBS); They come by their fa'me natiirally,: since both arp the house sports anriouricers at the feeding source- of the two -national networks and itarted early. McNamee is the oldest of all; big tliirie, anribuncersi in point bf service. He has probably been the object of hiore (prlticlsm than anybody else on! :the-:-radlpr-^ut-NB C ov e rlooks the sqiiawicB and cpritlriues to give Mc- Namee all the choice asslgrinierits. The general cbmplalht against Mci Namee that he doesn't know a third: strike from ; a. , lateral 'paSs NBC says Graham makes so rtiariy nilstakeiB toeciuse he gets, so excited, but it's willing to overlook, the mis takes because Graham^s constant excltement-lBTcbnveyed-.to:the-li6tbnr; erjs, which iii ttirn gets them ex- cited, arid - so on; NBC theory is that It doesn't matter how wtbng -McNamee calls his shots, a^ long as he .keeps 'em gunning: a temper.a- .iure...- ■: -■ -... . Husing Is the opposite of Mc- Namee, a cool, analytical sports ex- ■pert—who'-knows—his—jjstuffT—T-4Ie- Easter j£gg8 Radio p.a.'s whb W'cre sub - Jects of .a yvaste basket pub- licity story, state that they fobl'^ VAtiiETt and;; their clients; by omitting; the negative aspects of the. stbry and pajite: up the: quoted blurbs. : as; .published squibs. V: That's how Bcripbobks are ■ :rriade:.' . ■ •hasn't McNamee's knack of making si, listless waltz between; a. pair of :^t(mibiebuhis==Hi Battle of Gettysburg, but prefers tb describe 'em . as they are, it is CHICAGO A HOTBED OF SPORTS ANNO^ NUMBER OF ' :■: Chicago, Jan. 21. Chicago has long been a ; iradlp )tbed on spottg. There having /iiMmr DEflC ■been Is l k stations s I riij il t a rif i O tusljL ^jHII^I- ff EUJ- broadcasting the sa:me bAseba^^ game. Is this healthy .competition or Just ti case ipf fbllbw-'the-leader? Public ebrisclbu^riess'In raidlb has led the stations - arid: sponsors to boxing brbaidcasts, : wresting, foot-- ballj hbcicey,. racing, motorcycle hill cllmbini? regular broadcasts of hbrse races a;nd even the annpuriceriiprit <if TnuttfelTnachlne bettlrig;"'-- - At -flrst local sports brpa:dcasts were done in the name of- public sterylce arid good will, and was. so accepted by . pirtl^ the eyerits and listeners; it was not ,a steady .Jllet lat_JRrst^^ only the out standing affairs being miked. But the trend was so rapid that sports Trave^becow€~ani":rnrt=^antl:^out—comr- mercial enterprise for radio, nothing more and ripthlng: lesis; . Champiort : ;.■ ;■:-;.;.' Chicago] Jan. 21. ttandicapplng and trkck selections, for the horse races bri the fblloWlng ■ day is the latest program stunt and, wlil be started hprp; bh Feb; 4 ,on WJJD, the Ralph Atlass station; for the Distillers & Brewers Products company, ■ This will be a 15-minute program and will be in addition to the regu- lar two-hour afternoon broadcast of horse race descrlptibns over the sta- tion for the same sponsor, - WJJD- started the practice of horse races on the air 3 9 weeks ago for Mistletoe , ■Gin . and when the gin company stepped out the program was pickjed up by the Distillers & Brewers com- pany. New; contract is signatured . on a 26-week initial contract, ? held that a fan sufflciehtly inter- ested to tune in on a sports broad cast usually knows what that par- ticular sport Is all about. FOOTBAU COAST AIR'S MAIN SPORTS EVENT are placed in the same category as a broadcast of popular dance music ' • Cincinnati, Jan, 21. Management pf the Cincinnati Reds has upped broadcasting cori- cbsslon -rates, for. coniing season and also placed a. limit pri sponsors an' mumberi -and rlerigth- bl ~xom plugs. -.- - Club guararitees blasting rights to 8$ games. Including a minimum of 13 on the home lot; Exclusive privi- lege cost is set at $10,000, If radib- irig Is handled by two stations the price' 1.^ tb be $4,250 each, and with a third sound-tosser participating -the-tarif&-dlps-to-$2,500-aplece^Fig- ures are slightly higher than last year; Extra expense to station is ^^prlzg^^g^^a^igam^F^^ ice on'every outrof-town game and close to $100 for local piping dur- ing course of playing ' ochoduloi Stations have their Individual an- nouncers. • /: '.:■.:-;,-: Broadcasting contract -calls for, top of ten 60-word biz spiels,' iri- sors—per c6rit.ist, Previously there was no limit on advertising con- tacts or sales blurbs. ' Present indication'is that, as in 34, - the etherizing will be done by Jects for commercial sports broad casting, baseball should be the big sour^ie of gravy- for the New York dime to a met outlet untn the 'mst' Ford-sponsored World Series, which was carried over NBC's WEAF and WJZ and CBS' WABC along with the other. stations on the. twP .net- natural exceptibn of.One-Eyed Con- nelly, had 'sceri' a world's heavy- weight championship prizefight on the cuff. ;• Contrast that to the--most recent heavyweight fight—Max, Baer Vs. Primo Camera on June 14, 1934, About half as^riiany paid to get In as at the Dempsey-Carpentler en- counter 13 years earlier, but Instead' of 200,000 radio listeners. It drew a radio audience of nearly 20.000,000. Pirst College Game .; Oh Oct; 28, .1922, tjie universities' of Princeton and Chicago played an Iriiportant Intersectlonal fobtball game, and WEAF broadcast It. It was the/first college gridiron con- test ever etherized,. -Early in. 1924,- .when WEAF was Btlll 'way downtown at 195 Broad- way, New York, Thornton Fisher commenced a series of nightly sports talks-in behalf of the United Cigar contpany. This was the first sponsored program dealing with , sports; ; ■ - • . • -■ •;• -; Radio's other major 'firsts' in the gpbrts ilne"; as generally believed, were .also Inspired by Promoter Rickard, It happened in the fall of 1926 on the evening'When Dempsey lost his title to Turiney; Rickard bbtalned $5,000 from NBC for ,thc rights. This is believed by radio to ■ have been the first money to change harids as part of a sports broadcast irig deal, and the broadcaster paid the bill; Since then, the custom has been tb haVe an ..advertiser .carry the bag! — . - -— ■ — — '.. _ After the 'firsts' came the sec .P-rids,. then, the.; thirds, and iso on, until the broadcasting of Impbrtant cports events ceased being a I^hc npnienon and ; became as natural aT Uarf■ of "the" ^events " a:s "thr-prlntcd accounts In the following morning's newspapers. Now any sports pro meter : who 'declines tb have, his Bhow broadcast Is set down nation tlly by fandom as a grouch. . Sports broadcasting has grown and advanced with all other phaaes works. ■ The Darby While shut out of baseball,^, the niajor New York stations keep bri their toes as regards other sporting eyents bf Importance. 'They, do the Kentucky Derby yearly, as well as the big golf matches, tennis tour- naments, boat races, airplane meets, im'PT5rtHnt-turf-events,-etc. - And; of- cburse,' the big football gariies. Small stations occasionally broad- cast a pro game playoff. But New Yorkers dpn't knOw • what--a- coriimercially sponsored college foot- ball game Is like, and they are also behind Chlcagoans in that they haven't heard daily broadcasts di- rect from the race tracks,. The.best the - handbook- boys and their cus- tomers can hope for is the evening reading of the day's race results over the smaller local stations, • Most of, New : York's regular sporting stuff on the air comes over WMCA, independent station, which took up . the Madlson-SquareiGar-- den contract where NBC left off. This station naturally dpriilnates local bp u ita b roadcasttog—in—New York, because the Garden dbriilnates imsal^sjForfs^'ThiWgii^ tion WMCA sends out about every- thing that takes place. at_the_.Gai:- cicri, its mo.st regular assignments being the hockey games, wrestling, and the fights. It has found a reg- ular . sponsor for the pygij.ist.ic events,: Adams Huts. - - in-.the -jsumtTiciv. cvcr;S;V- st^ in t own, i n cUul i n g tVi c in a j or c ha Ins t a .- llorisrhiis at Icli^linc spm-t'O'tTsm^^ period, mostly taken up with base- ball results,' TjTJt';in the •.•nMntcr the only prominent .I?ew York slatipii wUli. a c onsi»t^nt-"spoi4s^-sptbleii--i:s ..yifOR.——This--l-dcpaElm.eJlt.^;;6^t;6^^ (Ma,cy-Bamberger) owned o ut 1 e t had Ford t'rick on- a'-- sponsored spot until Frick became the •Nati'orial League's president, recently. Now Stan Lomax Is doing the WOR chore with the same sponsor,. Dodge Broa. occaalbrially bankrolllriiBf. Lo IjOB Angeles, Jan, 21. "There'B only one sporting event in this neck of the wpbds-that cuts any ice so far as radio is cbn- perned. That's football, and on a national basis—the annual Rose Bowl game. Otherwise, sports, BoVfar as radio Droa"dcastlng~ls:"concernedr^s-purely local. Announcing the contests, be It football, boxing, motorcycle rac- ing, or what have you is not a for- gbfteiriEtrt" hore' because-the-art has never been quite mastered. Quali- fication for the usual run pf coast sports announcer^ appears to be an ability to talk while mouthing a hot dog, a viewpoint that USC's football team 1b tops and a willing- ness to try and outsmart the team's q uarterback on calling . plays. All of which means confusion and ag- gravation for listeners and has the fans gratefully grabbing for the sports.extras as: soon aa the broad- cast is over. On. the air they get the score but don't believe anything else The Perennial Threat , --With iocai.radip. sports ta.l.ejaLt.;M ing what It Is. the air only moans one thing around this section- something by which they :can -tell how use is doing All of which leads to the annual scrap when the Pacific • Coast Conferenca threatens to call oit broadcasting ih? football games on the theory it keeps people- out, of ^he/'grandstands;' ^It-^lpoked -a-clncJx-lcii-radii.j^^^ kicked bodily put of liie colleges -various \wlri(ftJwiB. .la.st fa.ll, .tu.t.. fb.r the threat of . pro footh.i 11. Durinir the season the latter . spo r t got g b;- ^Y:f:%tf(i: broadcasting become here recbrdirigs for the Hlrikel Fur Store Iri Gary or the weekly Jackson County Hillbilly broadcast for Cure- All Stomach Syrup; . . ticeable is a public callousness re-" garding sports, a. cynicism that riiay sooner or later react to: the, detrl- merit-of—these-sport«— The-eiithu— slasm, the fiery devotion of the fol- lowers of particular teams Is rapidly growing weaker. The- re- action seems to be setting In.- Big Ten Games.: -- This commercialism is also .creeping Intp the greatly ballyhooed amateur field of college football. In years past these broadcasts were al l for alma mater and . glory., Tpda^ the athletic departments of all colleges are beginning to weaken under the huge ..coin._offers . from, clgaret. .auto and cosmetic manufacturers wtb feel that ia, iootball game is worth any tWo sopranos and a dance band on a Saturdaiy afternoon. Pacific coast.. schools: already sell. i 'lelr games to an air sppnsor. - Making Stations Pay Leading to this-out-arid-out charge for broadcasting Is seen the rap put on stations throughout the midwest by. the major , 'Colleges. .Without asking any coin for broad- cast privileges, the schools. prac- tically forced the .stations to pay fbi- mike. privileges. by making -t-hem—buy—ad-veFtl»ing—space—in-thfi- football game programs, Notre Dame amd:";T>Jorth\vesiefn,; foi-:/ In-, stance, carry advertising bows iri ing at a fairly good clip playing 'on Sunday3T Wh(6ri~tH(riJarifcreri"c'^ ■vvas about to meet, the stat.ons; let it bo known that if they were locked out they collectively tvould get behind the Iprp gramc, broad- cast the contestB and . build the (Continue on page 38)- their prograrn.s from such radio sta- tions as KYW, ■\yBBiVI and. WGN. And these stations remain hot not only, for the football games but for npaWy- every other type of sport. While they n-i^iy hurri in their offices pvcr the money, cliarges, they never- theless dp; riot _hesitatc to pay tor 'tife ■bn)i(iHst'liTrfilc^^^ In- fact, .if the sltivatiori' were really analyzed it -wbukl be found. -that - tire coin h.ook-ups. on .these .sports. are due 't.o"T^he~"statiW5'•-th]B^^ nearrly'^r.-everj^ :«aser^the-^-^t-£^^^ started the talk of money remunera- tion ' for- many-; statiori.s.. can't - sell themselvcs to sports on the basis of actual air strength and exploitation: but must try to snatch business on what la really a bribe angle. This' WFBE, of the ABS wave; WKRC, a; CBS outlet,, and WSAI,- an NBC afililate and kid brbther bf - the' 500^00-watt ■ WLW, ' headed by Powei CrPsley, . Jr., whb likewise is" prexy of the Reds, ha^. als o beeri the case with remote control pick-ups frbm hotels arid ' ballrooms in Chicago, and it is now acceptedr-quite frankly in the sports field. Offers have . been; made to. baseball, football, hockey and other -. sports. ■ '.; :■' .- Pro - footbali broadcasts from Wrigley field (Bears) is costing Dodge Brothers $1,000 'per game; Several stations offered the Chl- Blackhawks (hockey) money for picking up Just the last period of their local gariies. But these games went to WGN gratis due to the long friendship between the team and the station. (ihlcago has always been a par- :; ticular radio battle ground for sports. In New YorK there are rela-r , tlvely few snorts programs, due to the fact that most tbp stations are. the key, spots for networks and tiiey. cannot break the chain in brder to pick up a local, game;. But in Chi- cago the stations db not Jiesitate ^ to reject network sustaining shows in favor of: a .local contest.. Evi- dence of this is the . five statlbjis .-: blasting away during the' summer ori. the big league ball garri'e.s. -, Only. stations whScli- could not take ■ the gUmeiTwerc tiie t\vb;"k;ey-:XBe--tru-t>. lets ■ (WEXi^ and- WMAQ) due to . the -fact Uifit botli' i'Cd and-blue not- - works . arc .licayily sold /on. Sundays. A\%r-AQ off-ered -/basc-l^all f or ^"f— da-ysr d-vvoe-lc—bui_^t^ &pdnkQi:sIak.a_: insisted on Sun<lay broadcasts of the gamv^s,. , - ' ; ,-■: WGN'S .Edge ■':■;; In the case of exclusive broad-., casta WGN has far the best of it . . .. (Continued on page 38)