Variety (Sep 1935)

Wednesday, September 4, 1935 RAD I O VARIETY 87 SPONSORS' PREVIEW YEN WIS, Chicago, Barn Dance to Make Film with Loop Money Chicago, Sept. 3. After having touched every other phase, of show business the WLS Bam Dance Is now encompassing Btlll another with completion of plans by the station for the fllmiza- tlon of the Barn Dance as a regular feature picture. This follows more than three years of consecutive weeks at the Eighth St. theatre here and' after some Ave years of theatre dates played throughout the middle ■west-and environs to some 6,000,000 people. , Private company has been organ- ized to produce atid distribute this feature picture. Company Is headed by the officials of WLS—Burrldge Butler, Glenn Snyder, Earl Kurtze— and representatives of private money. Company will bring In an entire crew from Hollywood to di- rect and film the Barn Dance fea- ture. Figured for director is Charles 'Chuck' Keisner, recently as.socia'te director on the new Charlie Chaplin picture, 'Modern Times.' In the picture will be the stars of the Barn Dance, including Uncle Ezra, Lulu Belle, Buzz Buzzington, Maple City Four, Hoosier Hot Shots, Sparerlbs, and' others. Station has already sent letters to theatres that have played the show, asking them for available bookings pn the picture. And out of the batch of the first 750 letters, more than 200 replies have been received to nego- tiate for bookings and playing time. On present schedule picture Is fig- ured to be ready for release late In January, 1936. WNYC SmS SIGNAL ClARin THRU PWA Frederick Kracke, Department of Plants and Structures Commission- er for New York City, plans to ask the Progress Works Commission for $72,500 with which to build a new tower and transmitter for the municipally owned WNYC. Com- linlssioner Kracke has found that the outlet's present equipment pre- vents the utmost use of its power Input and that consequently Great- er New York is not being covered by the signal. Mayor Fiorello La Guardla pre- viously expressed him.self as favor- ing the ell Ination of the station from the city's budget, IntlmatlnBT that he would either close it down dr rent it to a commerciai broad- Caster. He appointed as a commit- tee to study the latter possibility Richard C. Patterson. Jr., NBC executive v.p.; William S. Paley, CBS prez., and A. L. McCo.sker. WOR prez. Three reported that commercial programs -vvould not be practical*for the station. FCC Reconsiders Portland, Ore., Sept. 3. Federal Communications Commis- sion granted an application of the Southern Oregon Publishing Com- pany last week for permission to erect a new radio .station at Rose- burg, Ore., after tlie company sub- mitted new and satisfactory finan- cial data. Tho new station is to have a power of 100 watts and day- time hours on a frequency of 1500 kilocycles. An apnlicatiou by Carl C. Stnible for permission to c.ect a new sta- tion at Tho D.-\lle.<;. Ore , was denied. Squire Own Sales Mgr. Eurt Squire, new .station manaser of WINS, New York (Jlear.st out- let) met witli Iiis staff for the first time yesti:-ril;:y (3), at which time routine biisincs.s was discu.ssed, and department lioad.s ilecidod upon. Set- up runs as follows: Itoland Krad- ley, i)roduclion; lie.stcr Thomas, sales department; .ill Gocde, audi- tor and office manager; Edith J. Mesorand, press; Ed Clcland, con- tinuity and (;:iiarlcs I'easo, enijinecr. Squire also to direct sales him- self. Station has been minus such a director for the niost of the sum- :ner. Unusual KFRC Contract San Francisco, Sept. 3. Biggest air contract of its kind locally has been signatured with KFRC- by the Star Outfitting Co. Deal restricts the commercial to the use of KFRC every day in the week for the next 62 weeks. Sponsor may use at his discretion eight floating periods of waxed pro- grams or an hour's KFRC live sus- taining show. Contract was placed by the Allied Advertising Agencies of Los Angeles. Phonograph Royalties Threaten New Zealand; Stations Protesting Auckland, N. Z., Aug. 8. Battle is imminent between Class B, or commercial, stations and the distributors of phonograph records. Latter are demanding that the out-, lets secure licenses from them for the broadcasting of the discs and also pay a fee for this right. What the phonograph men are particularly concerned about is maintaining control over the air re- lease of their product. They want to be in a position to determine what records may or may not be broadcast and to impose a fee on discs which have been restricted. Broadcasters aver that if such drastic powers were allowed the record distrlbs maiiy of the B class stations would have to shut down, since they use wax only from open- ing to close. Anti-Fading Antenna Said to Boom Power Cleveland, Sept. 3. A new anti-fading antenna in- vented by Edwin S. Leonard, chief engineer, said to be equivalent to a power boost of 60,000 watts, is being erected by WTAM as soon as they get an okay from Federal Communi- cations Commisslo'.i. It is hoped to be ready by Oct. 1. New antenna, replacing one used since 1928, is expected to increase station's primary service area by H.OOO square miles, as well as get- ting 2,000,000 new listeners-in, elimi- nating night-time fading. Structure has a number of novel changes. Maximum width of its orocis-scctlon is only six feet, al- though it is 490 feet high. Cross- section Is held in position by guy- wires having 40 huge insulators, each four feet long. Both arc sup- posed to withstand ten times tho normal wind pressure. Entire tower will rest on small porcelain cone, base of which is only seven inches in diameter. Approximately 100,000 pounds will be supported by this insulator, and more than 75,000 feet of copper rib- bon will be burled twelve inches in earth. WGAR, rival station. Is also peti- tioning Federal Communications Commission for permission to build new vertical antenna and a 384-foot tower of structural steel, n. Morris Pierce, chief engineer. Is woi-king on device which he claims will double WGAR's coverage and eli iiiatc fading in a :5-mlIe r.idiiis. STARS ON CUFF; Tit SOLE COST Advertising; Agencies Like Hollywood First Nights with Free Talent De- livered by Studios' P.A.'s LUCKY STRIKE Hollywood, Sept. 3. Advertising agencies are rapping at the local film studio publicity de- partments ■with suggestions to 'co- operate' in the ballyhooinfe of new film releases, over the air. Adver- tising boys are attracted by the prospect of getting Hollywood stars for nothing and are more than will- ing to pay the time and telephone line charges fur hook-ups. Broadcast-preview cycle may ' be said to have taken sprout with Metro's radio ballyhoo of 'Broad- way Melody of 1936.' Lucky Strike stepped In apd copped Paramount's ■Big Broadcast of 1936.' Previewing and broadcasting of of this event occurs Sept. 14, orig- inating at the Paramount theatre here. Program will go over NBC chain with Jack Oakie, Gladys Swarthout, Joe Penner and Bing Crosby from this end and Burns and Allen, Mary Boland and Lyda Robertl on from New York. Oakie will m.c. Broadcast will be a full hour period starting at 4 p. m. (P'ST). With a number of strong pictures getting ready for preview, adver- tising agencies are all on the heels of the studios for client tie-ups. Paramount has completed prelimi- nary arrangements to put on a spe- cial broadcast of the preview of 'Big Broadcast of 1935' on the Lucky Strike hour Saturday (14). This is the date on which the picture will be previewed In California. Plans are going forward to have players in picture, as well as Par stars who aren't, go on the air that night from the Coast, while others will be cut In at New York. Some people who are in 'Broadcast' are in New York at present, but Burns and Allen, who's among them, can't go on, due to air contracts which for- bid it. Jack Oakie will m. c. the special broadcast from the Coast. Congoin Issue May Clarify Some Jurisdictional Points on Copy GaDup's Lectures Dr. George Gallup, research direc- tor for the Young & Rublcam agen- cy, will the coming semester chair- man a series of lectures on advertis- ing at Columbia University's School of Journalism. Guest speakers will include a couple specialists from radio, one dealing with the marketing side of the medium and the other with pro- duction. KOMO, Flour Co. Owned, Has New Account—It's Conipetiti?e Flour Co. Seattle, Sept, 3. Biggest. local show ever to go on KOMO, owned by Fisher Flour Mills, is that of competitor, Con- tinental Flour Mills. Program, half- hour per week for 13 weeks, is be- ing released over KOMO and wired to four other stations in state: KHQ, Spokane; KPQ, Wenatchee, and KVOS, Belllngham. Twenty entertainers on program—IB-piece orchestra, five vocalists. Jules Buf- fano directing. Idea of competitor using KOMO facilities has pepped up all local programs on the station, and also on KJR, which is also Fisher owned. Especially pepped up is the Fisher Mills' own program, 'Musical Mannequins,' which has been aug- mented by eight people. NAME COSMETIC FOR GIRL ENTERTAINER Philadelphia, Sept. 3. Lee Lawrence, who has been warbling on local sustainers for three years, gets nice commercial break next Wednesday (11) when she starts 17-week scries of three 15-minute evening periods a week over WIP. She is being sponsored by cosmetic concern that is naming product "after her and giving her ether build-up Hlmilar to Lady Esther's. She'll have seven-piece ork accompaniment. Another series' by same artist starts next week over WDAS every morning with Henry Patrick, vocal- ist. Accounts were handled direct. Copyright Gearance Failure Jams NBC Thesaurus Library WBAP Adds Talent Ft. Worth, .Sfpl. Flock of talent additions bei ,^ made at WUAP, the Sl.'ir-Tolesrain outlet here, in :i diivo for iieu- programs for the. new seiison. Monty Magee comes In as the 'Voici' nt the Southland' -wliiU; i;c<l Krown arrives at tho 'IJanJo Maniac' Eddie Dunn, announcer-crommon- tator on the Lighlerust Uou^'liboy show, return." now in a new cbar- ,-icter piece, W. Lee O'JJanlel and his hlll-blllies douldlng now pn WBAP and the Texas Quality hook-up. Failure to check with its copy- right department or the source of varioun musical numbers has placed the NBC transcription department in a dilemma with several stations that have contracted for the web's Thesaurus, or library service. After receiving the flrs.t batch of records in the service, the outlets con- cerned found that their pcrformin;; iights license with the American Society of Com.)oserE. Auth rs ,i.nd Publishers does not protect them on all the musical numbers. NBC is now faced with the al- ternative of taking back the records and releasing these clients from their contracts or obliMning for the statiors the necessaiy performing license, from tho publisher.- or writers whose works are not con- trolled by ASCAP. Many of the romplaining stations have advised the web that the privilege of using the library service would not .jus- tify the expense of takln.^ out an- nual licenses from the pf^rCoi inInK l igh-H combines operating outside of A.SCAI'. Among such indlc groups are the European Society of Stage Aiithorr and Ci.mposers and Associated Mu- sic Publishers, Inc. WRVA Richmond Waxing Its Shows as Ballyhoo Richmond, Va., Sept. 3. WRVA i.s recording a number of Its sustaining shows for sales pur- poses among its various natior!«l olTlces. Discs will also be made available to advertisers and agencies who )nf|ulre directly. Among the programs being waxed are the P-alladk-r, Virginia 'Varieties, with the lledrlck .Sisters and Jean and Jael<; WRVA Minstrels, Maids in the ,\Ioon, Goofus Gang, Peat and Reijeat and .Moments In .Spain. Washington, Sept. 3. Showdown In the Federal Com- munications Commission campaign to outlaw broadcasting of programs advertising Congoin, a beverage made from Argentine mate, is due this week when officials of the Con- goin Co. of Los Angeles confer with various Government agencies about the truthfulness of copy and the purity of the product. Possibility of a three-cornered fight between the F.CC, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Trade Commission was seen last week following additional seizures of the beverage by drug inspectors and reports that the Trade Com- mtsh has found nothing objection- able about the advertising employed to promote the product. State De- paremcnt also is standing by and may intervene in the role of peace- maker at the instance of Argentine Embassy. Part of the general drive to clean up air advertising, F.CC. order for detailed Information about the Con- goin copy precipitated a row which may go a long way toward clearing up tho question of who is to decide when advertising Is or Is not ob- Jectlonable and in the public inte^« est. The Goverment's accusations, as implied by - F.CC. and indicated by. the Food and Drug seizures, will be challenged in person when B. S, Woolrich, president of the Los An- geles concern, confronts officials oC the miscellaneous Federal agencies. Trade Commish Communications Commission has been challenged already by Arthur Scharfeld, associate of Louis G. Caldwell, former Radio Commission counsel, who wrote the Commish 10 days ago that the request for data 'marks a radical departure from the procedure previously, followed' and complained that the Commish has no authority to demand broad- casters submit samples of the product as well as names of retail- ers" and distributors. Scharfeld contended that the matter is one which comes under the F.T.C. Whole question grows out of dis- pute about the alleged medicinal qualities of the beverage. Coffee companies view Congoin and simi- lar substitutes with distaste. YANKEE DISCS TOPS ON AUSTRALIAN AIR Sydney, Aug. 10. Dramatic transcriptions made in- the United States have come to dominate that class of air fare among the Class B, or commercial stations. Broadcasters say that they find It cheaper to import the shows from America than employ local actors. Among the American disc scries now on the Australian air are 'Honor the Law,' 'Air Adventures of Jimmy Allen,' 'Hon. Archie and Watanalie,' 'Happy Valley . Boys,' Tho Witch's Talc' and 'Count of .Monte Crlflto.' The Baron's Son, Karl X^.'iltimore, .Sei)t. :!. li;is acquired new an- JIc's son of late l!;iiori nuchaii, who came to llii^ some years ago. An- speaks lliient^ unaccented Wl''Iil{ nouncer. Karl von country nouncer Kni;llsh. HoweviT, WK15R and young vori Huchau have dcoidr-d that his t.-it is too gulturdlly German for ;iii' Idontilicatlon, so (dt radio purposes he'll he known and announ'.ed as Karl Barron, Don Davis in N. Y. Don Davis, piesident of station WilB, Kaiis.-us City, Is In New iToflt seeing the adverUsIng agencies, Ciimo In from vacation In Maine. Willi operates without a nallon.al ';ales rep believing In Its own brand of salesmanship and sh-jwmanshlp. Broadcasters at Capital Washington, .Sept, 3. I.ijllK]- Jlill, KSO, Des Moines. K. IT. T.iylor, KDKA, i'ilt.'iburgh. A. Allen, WRVA, Lynchbiii-g. .I.irn's .1. i;iiner, KCKI5, Tyler, '(•'•,\-. W. .Mastln. W.MIIF. Miami I'. vicli. .Josr-ph J>odge, CfJS, New Vi]:-U,,_^ P. J. Hennessey, NP>C, New York.