Variety (Sep 1935)

46 VARIETY RADIO Wednesday* Septeinber 18, 1935 AMATEUR CYCLE STILL NATION-WIDE M FLOHm IN SOME Retail Sponsors of Amateurs Mostly Former Spot Anhouiiicement Buyers—Some Towns Poverty- Stricken for Talent New York City, Sept lT. "New York city haa' at 'least"!* amateur programs 6n the air. Five are network programs. Others are Idcntlfled with local stations. It has been estimated that there are at least 800 radio amateur programs, under various camouflaged' names, now exploiting free talent In the United States. Cycle has apparently displayed no signs o£ weakening. Chart of amateur programs heard In metropolitan New York area: NBC Chase & Sanborn, Major Bowes, Sundays. Johnson's 'W'ax, Opportunity Mati- nee, Sundays. Ipana, Town Tonight. Wednesdays. CBS Feenamlnt, Ray Perkins, Sundays. Horn & Hardart,. Children's Ama- teur (starts Oct. 13). WOR Contl. Products, O. Mclntyre, Sundays. WINS Kingsbury B^eer, Nick Kenny's AL'iateur show. Sundays, y WNEW ■ Canq,dlan Fur Trappers, National Beauty Amateur Revpe, Sundays, WHN Schenley'fl (Jiy C. Uppen, M.C), ' Tuesdays. WMGA Herbert's Jewelry Amateur our, Sundays. ' •Independent Stores, Children's Opportunity Hour, Sundays. VtfBNX Ten pairticlpatlng sponsors, tnn. amateur hour, Sundays. Ten participating sponsori9, islt amateur hour, Sundays. Amateur Script Writers, program, Tuesdays.. pitk up more thaii lO stations offer- other commercials and sustaliiers over WGY, auditions neophytes and m.c.'s the broadcasts, from trans- mitter's Albany studio. Applicants requested to go to sponsor's store for blanks, etc. On the air for about six months, Pjfjce range of articles plugged- by . 'the. Hauf," Hobteaa' . [.varles^Qroa.^.9t-t^^ - Davenportr -and " WHBP, Rotk Island, 111., are pre- -tntrpuree. parades. , , ^, . j ♦„ Amateur craze proved Jiist a costly, as alr-mentlon of products Rvrry in Baltimore Itself and the goes. Not all the entertainers are stations are not even considering newcbmere to local radio, but tew slmon-pur^ shindigs for autumn, of them have worked on other than Started here last winter, but petered ( a galii-experlence, etc, basis. ou» conclusively this summer. But or o amateur show locally emanating 1 rf^mains, weekly evening half-hoiur [ over indie station WCBM, bank- roMed by Moses Kahn & Sons, pur-; veyors of bargain-priced.^ clothing. The Kahn series started around first of year and has proved eminently, satisfactory to sponsor, who at pres- ent plans to continue indef. Kiddle klubs on WBAL and WCBM, vet organizations both, otflly weathered the amateur wave STATION RATES UP. OFF AFTER 8 YEARS St. John, N. B., Sept. 17. For eight yiears steadily, Wassons, Ltd., a local firm operating, two cut- price drug stores, sponsored a nooh hour program, from local GHSJ (nee ^ , i u J iCFBO) and titled "WassonS' and are. still strongly entrenphed. U^arbles.' This was wholly of ama Tots are, of course, purees. But for L ^^j.. ^ . ^^^^.^^^^j, ^„ that matter so are all persons sus- I ^nd girls « school ages and young- talning here on all four stations, save handful of selected entertainers | ott WBAli, who air regular pro- grams. FRISCO AMATEURS' 8 HRS., 20 MINUTES Ital- SAN ANTONIO ABOUT FED UP ON SIMONS , San Antonio, Sept. 17. Town iitands biit ..as one location Trhere amateur craze has been, gen «rally shunned. Wttii one' eXcep tlon, current amateur set-up en Volvlng KMAC, Indle outlet, a ^uds manufacturer and Texas theiEitre, stations have steered clear of the tyros. ,r Currently KM AC! Is producing an amateur show for Monte Carlo beer, a lO-ceiit Texas brewed beverage, Tyros air each Sunday at studio Winners appear on Texas, stage fol lowing Thursday. Suds manufa.c turer will give away an auto to the winning finalist, its sponsor's first fling at an amateur show, prevlou radio advertising being held to spot announcements. Amateur 'productions are a pet aversion at WOAI and KTSA KABC shuns the amateurs, as does KONO, although latter station, up Until three weeks ago, produced a simon-pure production for San An tonlo Music Company. ' Local opln ion is that fans are fed up on the Simon pures. DX FANS SAY CYCLE SPREADING ABROAD and dropped the idea after a couple of programs.' Sustaining amateur program has developed only one performer so far. She la Frances "Tucker, blues singer, now 14, who has been warbling for .giJX!M:;p_f,RrJn3Pre^,than.a.xear._.^^ Advertisers here are thumbs down on amateur , programs and pre- fer experienqed talent or electrical transcriptions. BEVERAGE DISTRIB SPONSORS AMATEURS Davenport, Sept. 17. er. However, with a boost In the rates at CHS J, the Wasson pro- gram has been taken 6ft the air, except on 'special occasions. For merly, this was...one of the most popular of locally broadcast radio programs, particularly on Satur- days. With boy and girl listeners who brought the stipulated number of coupons and labels from the San Francisco, Sept. 17. I Arm'ia merchandise, parUclpating In Total of eight hours 20 minutes a theatre party every two months. paring a schedule of amateur pro-, grams for fall with Indications pointing to hookups with competing Davenport theatres. Billed as the Juvenile "Theatre, the Rock "Island branch of Orange Crush, national soft drink manufacturer,' recently concluded a contriact with WHBF after a summer run. No sponsored professional talent contract existed prior to amateur sponsorship. Orpheum theatre from which amateur programs were broadcast once a week for 22 weeks early this year will probably resume relations with WHBF soon, winners to ^ct a three-day yaude date and chance to compete for cash pHzes at conclu- sion of. the series which registered strong last season. Station woe presented a station sponsored amateur series in Its own audltorluin with admission free and will resume again this fall with pos- sible connection. with Capitol the- atre,, a Tri-States house. Fred Allen's, have played two down- wn theatres: and brought ho start* ling up-beat of business. The State- Lake theatre operates its own 'Op- portunity Night' on Mondays for strictly vaudJ .amateurs and..has .;been;;hayln|ra.^_prrfl^^ ^ut thleT has" hothing" whiitever to " do with radio. Boston store here tried some ama-r teur stu.ita running 16 minutes daily five times a week, switching be- tween_.WMAQ at NBC and WBBM at CBS^bUt that lasted just a couple of. woeks and then faded and died away after a somewhat auspicious start, ^'pr the rather middle class Bystoh'"d^cearti«ertt'*stOrV this was much in the nature of. a one-time sfunfTalRerfhon"^ dip policy. now being used by the slmon pures, divided among six stations. Only national aniateur hour is the MaJ Bowes, gang. KFRC's 'Opportunity Parade' Is run in conjunction with RKQ Golden .Gate theatre, contes- Candy and nuts were distributed at this Saturday morning, gather- ing in a local theatre plus an-hour and a halt picture progra,m. Eastern Bakeries and Dwyer's, two rival baking firms have, Inter- THEATRE-STATION DEAL IN UNCOLN tants having to get past the gong mlttently, sponsored half hour and on the theatre stage before they hour broadcasts of amateur pro- get on the air. Oiie winner a week grams .from CHSJ, through remote gets following week with Charlie control, the,,amateurs performing In Kaley's Greater Californlans for two local dance halls, with a local salary as prize, radio orchestra supplying the mu Other amateur hours are part fie, these groups, being Messer's sustaining, part sponsored, • with Lumberjacks and Davis outfit. These only one amateur group, that spoh- amateur nights in the dance halls sored by clothing firm, possibly 'or remote control broadcast under pushing paid talent out of the pic- the sponsorship of the competing ture. However, this clothing firm baking firms, haVe been suspended had gone off air a couple of years U^rlng the sumnaer season, but arc ago, claiming couldn't afford to pay »kely to be resumed in October, for both time and talent. | Wassons* Warbles program de veloped a ..,hlllbllly ° aispect ;ln New VMAVU11117 U A C T117A l Brunswick, and a juvenile hllibllly AJlUAYlLLb nAu 1WU band was organized. This band SPONSORED. TWO NOT K"***"*''^""^*^^^^^ ' I the sponsor. But all in all, amateur programs Knoxville, Sept. 17. 1 have not. caught on In this section, WROL has two amateur pro- the great bulk of the talent used grams. First Is—weekly amateur being semi-professional and profes- nlght, 8:30 (CST) every Friday slonal performers, biit the volume nlght^ sponsored by Bower's Army of these has been much reduced in stores, selling usual army and navy recent months, and ordinary talking salvage stuff. Prizes awarded best {machine records substituted., bets. Bower's has never used ra dio advertising before, so no pro- fessionals have been displaced Second is Kiddie Land, sustaining program, conducted by Miss Na nette Sargent Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:30 (CST). Uses child taleht,- all amateur. 1 Indianapolis, Sept 17 WNOX also has two amateur pro- WFBM has never had an ama grams. First .Is amateur night teur show under any title every Wednesday from 9:15 to 9:45, WIRE had 13 weeks bf the slmon sponsored by Royal Jewelry Com- pures sponsored; by the Kirk Fur- "pany. Program; comes from stage hlture Company and wound up with of Tennessee (Wllby) theatre. It a final stage,presentation with re tied in with 'Every Night at Eight' niote ■ broadcast ifrom Loew's the film for four days straight, but has atre. At the present time "WIRE has now settled down regularly; Spon-| no amateurs either In or out of dls- Llncoln, Sept. 17. ■Only amateur program here Is In conjunction with Orpheum stage shows. Weekly program with about seven amateurs on a!verage Is broad- cast, over KFOR and KFAB. It's In charge' of Beth Langford. Voting at the theatres' and by mail selects champ each month and the winner gets a spot In the Orpiieum stage show at professional pay. This Is the only program of kind here. AMATEUR SHH BY SPOT BLURB BUYER INDIANAPOLIS HAS NO AMATEUR SHOWS Baltimore, Sept. 17. Radio amateur craze has spread from the States down Into Central and South Americas. Th-; simon- pure programs are presented down In th? Latin countries alortg pat- terns. pioneered In this' country, so scomcl as If the boys down there have •borrowed, the idea from their northern neighbors. Listeners In the States fond of short-wave rceptlon have noticed in. past month Increasing ^lumber of ar.'at^ur programis emanating es- pecially from Cuba, and Panama, and from' all the other stations down there. Stations operate between 47 and B2 meters. iStatlon HP5B, lo- cated in Pan^.ma City, seems to be top-dog In number of amateur abows, a|rlng abdut as many as can fl(|ueeze on, so such periods must be popular. Saturday - and Sunday r^the big days for such simon-pure shows; on these nights it is easy to sors formerly used only spot plugs between transcripts, etc. Siecond Is Children's Hour, row at 6:45 (CST) but to end when Daylight Saving time &nda In New York, shifting CBS programs up an hour. Uses local child talent, biit sells commerclar spots as ably. No contracts currently. guise. WINSTON-SALEM NOT HOT FOR AMATEURS AFTERNOON PROGRAM AT WGY, SCHENECTADYI Schenectady, Sept. 17. Winston-Salem, Sept. 17. Amateur radio programs may be tho rage In other parts. of the na tlon, but they're a dud as tar as WSJS here Is concerned. The sta tlon has been conducting a series of programs tor juveniles known as '^tars of Tomorrow,' for a 16-mln ufo period once e8u:h week. The age Only regular amateur., program hmrilt for this program is 12 years, originating over WGY, Schnectady, and the talent Is restricted to two Is a quart >r-hour shot late Tues- or sometimes three youngsters, day afternoon, called 'Microphone Sometimes a 13 or 14-year-bld will Discoveries' and sponsored by the be allowed to compete, but this Is John B. Hauf Furniture company of seldom. Albany. So far as Is Itnown, It has Anchor Store, a department store, not displaced any professional nnd Sliver's, a, variety store, have talent. both tried the amateur stunt, but. Gone O'Halre, who has worked on I found Ust'ener Interest not so hot' amateur .. .. Columbus, Sept. 17. Only two amateur programs in this city, and:both on one station at present time. .WAIU, after 10 .weeks oit hour presentation of be ginners, dropped Its. program fort- night ago after presenting talent from 40 counties around Ohio on air. WCOL has had one amateur spot for six years, with all kids as talent. Recently signed thls'pne with Fried mian Finance Co., for one year. Firm had been using just spot announce- ments in past. About 100 kids on tap to draw from^ with some out standing. WCOL's First Nlghters broadcast has two bids for sponsor which may be closed in next week or so. First Nlghters presents any body over 14 years old, without pre Ilmlnary audition. In eight weeks (nliie . acts on 1 each ..program)....six artists were picked for regular Jobs from this talent hunt^' Mail on this program outstanding; with over 1,000 letters received since its start ONLY ONE AMATEUR SHOW IN CHICAGO Chicago Sept. 17. Amateur programs, which never were ° spectacular in this town even in the height of the national frenzy for thi novice, entertainment, are restricted in Chlcaigo at present to a single ^prograrh: the Phllllits 66 pro gram 'on Wi3N as handled by Quin Ryan. This program has ' lasted through the storm and strife of amateur competition while the rest of the field has curled UP and died Only other program which had any \ particularly. outstanding strength. In the community was the R. G. biin cigar prograni over "WBBM oh a tie-up with the Bala ban & Katz Oriental theatre. This program followed a precedent set *byl. the client In Detroit on a sIm IWr arrangement. This show, how ever, lasted only' 13 weeks In Chi cago and then blew. 1^'ere has been llttlei furore about amateurs in this city. The two units, MaJ. Bowes' and WHAM AVOIDS GUFFO SHOWS, WHEC HAS 2 Rochester, Sept. 17. Rochester has two amateur radio programs, the All^Pen gasoline show Monday nights from the stage of the RKO Pialace theatre and the children's show, spionsored by Steph- ens' Women's Wear Store' Sunday afternoons. All-Pen has been run- i\lng for eight months, and appears set indef. Before sponsoring this prograni the oil company had used only spot announcements. Station WHEC launched the program In the studio, and when It caught oh with bang,. All-Pen bought it and moved it to the Palace stage to ac- commodate crowds that wanted to see the broadcast. It has proved an outstanding draw for the theatre which gets the attraction free for use of the stage. Program is maintained on a high plane with all talent given fair chance, but enough bad ones to give the audience laughs. Series of con- tests and card system by which tal- ent seeks votes gives gas stations definite tieup with the program, Before starting the children's show, also on WHEC, Stephens had an inexpensive musical program. Master of ceremonies, prizes and other station service brings cost of this program higher than former paid talent. Children's show has been , running five months. Station WHAM has shunned ama- teur programs, partly because of its large staff of musical and dramatic talent. Its only try in this field was a sustaining prograni conducted in tho spring by the University of Rochester. Speakers, musical and dramatic clubs appeared on suc- cessive programs, bringing strong listener response. Served mainly as a free plug for the university. SOUTH BEND CHU,LED BY 300 AUDmONS South Bend, Sept. 17. South Bend radio stations, WSBT and WFAM, are not using amateur talent. After 300 auditions, the talent did not come up to the C. B. S. and Chicago big station caliber, which is their direct competition. STATION SHOW FOR SPONSOR'S OVERFLOW Houston, Sept. 17. KTRH amateur hour Is Saturday nights, 8:30r9:30 CST. Now In Its 38th .consecutive week; Sponsored by Modern Appliances, Inc., Elec- tro lux c'l^trlbutors. No previous sponsorship! On current show about two months and has sighed a 62- week contract. KTRH junior amateur hour Is station-produced, for children under 12, to take care of overflow from regular amateur hour. No sponsor. Saturday mornings. INDIFFERENCE KEYS OMAHA ATTITUDE Omaha, Sept. 17. ..' Survey of Omaha radio stations iwith regard to amateur programs Veveals that hone of the three sta- tions 'here, WOW, KOIL-KFAB, ■WAAW, are making any regular dse of amateur talent excepting one Saturday morning half hour which has been running on WOW past two years. Idea started by Bea Baxter, now In radio In Minneap- olis, is to bring youngsters to the mike to display their talent, Pro- (Contlnued on page 48)