Variety (Sep 1935)

Wednesday, Septeimber X8, 1935 RADIO VARIETY 63 MUSIC-RADIO • PhlladclphiQ, Btpt. 17. B&ttle between local stations and musicians' union pver matter of house bands remains stalemated, with all but*one broadcaster playing, waiting gamti-nnd doing without re- . -XOote.dansapatlo^^^^ is wiP/which h^^^ alinoat ail (10) remotes locally and has to settle dis- pute, since it receives good revenue from that source. Negotiations between WIP and union have' settled a,ll but pne point bf differiehce, that being whether studio band may be used, forlorn- mercials without extra pay or avail- able for only sustaining shows. Question of basic rate and stretch were agreed upon, union winning establishmeht of eight men at $37 figure and conceding studio unlim- ited stretch during daylight hours. Union's deadline bf yesterday (16)- was moved: biapk to tomorrow pend- ing seittlenient bf final details. Indi- cations are that agreement will be reached satisfactorily. Only alter- native open to station If It falls to settle matter , is payment of fee of (3 a man for local remotes and |4 for network r^emotes. But sliice It would be cheaper for station to give in bri house band question, that will likely be outcome. WIP not only uses Itself, but supplies Inter-City gi'oup. There's little likelihood of other stations making more than minor concessions to union. Since none of them have vital need of either house bands or remotes, they're in better position to hold out indefinitely. And they show every Intention of doing that. Strange angle Is fact WFIIi some months ago offered union proposition of 18 men at $70 scale, with only question of stretch open to argument, and union turned It down.- Now union asks consider- ably decreased conditions, and sta- tion, like others, is hlxlng it. Publicity Associates Out as New Mgr. In Change In management of WINS,' has eased out Publicity Associates as procurers and arrangers for the •Surprise Interviews' jprogram aired dally over that outlet. Earl Ferris will supply people and Ideas in fu- ture. Since last May 2, Associates has arranged over 600 interviews before relations were seviered Sept. 11. Tle- vps with local hotels, railroads and steamship companies assisted pro- moters In gathering their freaks. This type program is regarded as great good will and fame builder for stations employing, it. Persons are nbtlhed of date and Inform friends and relatives who locate station and in future refer to it because of the familllarlty. Word of mouth method is accredited with enlarging stations' coverage. 100^ WBBM Renewals Chicago, Sept. 17. Every client on WBBM, the Co- lumbia station, renewed contract on the station for one full year under the terms of the old contract when the station put its new $610 ralte.into effect last week.' • Despite the fact that there was a 100%: renewal, with every sponsor taking advantage of the privilege of getting in under the wire, • WBBM still got increases in rates, since many of the clients had been oper- ating. Under contracts established two and three years ago. WtVA Expands Staff Lynchburg, Sept. 17. Addition of trans-radio news ser- vice and other service has resulted in Increasing the size of WLVA's staff. ■ James H. Logan, . formerly of WEHG at Charlottesville, has been placed In charge of the news pro- motion, and also handles general announcing. Also on the ainnounc- Ing staff Is W. D. Kingsbury, for- merly connected with a chain de- partment store. James Howe has been appointed a time salesman. Brings the staff's personnel to 13. BLUE COAL'S AMATEURS But It's All Written Into a Three* Day Serial Amateur Idea will bow in as a dramatic portion of a regular week- ly serial ..on. Blue. Coal's 'Studio No, 7' series which starts Oct. 1 over NBC with Jack ftnd Lbretti Cle- mens. Johnny, Cantwell of Ruth- rauff & Ryan agency is handling the account, is scripting the prbgram, Incorporating. the novice spread as a major motivation of the tale. However," It's not labeled an ama- teur hour outright. Series will be heard thrice week- ly; Tuesday, Wednesday arid Thurs- day at 11:15 a.m. for a quarterT hDur TUff; --First-day's Wdg'ram 'will' be devoted to auditions; second, rehearsal, and, third, actual per- formance of the noyice. Two lead- ing characters inherit a small-town radio station, and to make it pay start an amateur contest. Same sponsor also begins; 'Van- ished Voices' over CBS on, Sept. 30, Monday and Wednesday at 6 :30 p.m. Highlights arid personailties of the past to be given current drariieitlza- tions in this one. Clyde North In charge of the writing chores; and Clark Andrews the direction. Cast Is now being assembled. R. & R, agency also in charge. Towers Blew Down in Storm, Station Sues On 5-Year Guarantee Charlotte. . C, Sept; 17. Manufacturers bf tiie two 370-foot steel toVvers of WPTF, Raleigh, one pf which crumpled before a stiff wind last June 16i have been sued for recovery of damages in the amount of $6,140.90, allegedly suf- fered by the station as a result of the failure.. International Stacey Corporation and its subsidiary, the International Derrick and Equipment Company, of Columbus, b., a:re defendants in the action. Towers, located seven miles west of Raleigh, were guaranteed for five yeats to withstand a wind Velocity of 90 miles an hour, the complaint states. It is alleged that the towers were of defective materials, one blowing over and the other being left out of line when a stiJf wind struric them. A joint plaintiff with the station Is the' Continental Insurance com- pany of New York. The Insurance company has already paid the sta- tion $5,140.90 under a policy issued on the towers. It. Is alleged that the manufacturers liave refused to re- imburse the insurance firm. The broadcasting company lias assigned all of its equity in the possible dam- ages, to the insurance flrni. Princeton Games Set Philadelphia, Sept. 17. With all three local colleges (Penn, Temple, Vlllanova) having scared away sponsors for football games by impossible price, WIP has gone out of town to sign Princeton to season contract. With seven home games, including Penn, Williams, Rutgers, Navy, Harvard, Lehigh and Dart- mouth,, Nassau schedule Is one of the choicest In East. Station gets games free, dividing wire rates with WMCA, New York. * Idea is to.get name announcer for series to garner big listener crop and collect on deal by selilng: pre- game chatter by recognized grid au- thority and follow feame with'spon- sored summary. College has nixed sale of game description Itself. Nothing set so far. Possible sponsors .foi* Penn games scrammed when college quoted $10,- 000 price for season. Series sold last year for $3500, but college named Impossible figure to. discourage brbadcastlng. Figured ahiijg hurt gate, particularly on rainy or threat- ening days. Temple this year asked $3500, also a for Idable rate, .since schedule, calls for only five Saturday games, two others being Friday night. Clyde Lucas Eligible Choice of orks for the forthcom- ing new Burns and Allen show has three candidates listed. Clyde Lucas, Little Jack Little and Ohmen and Ardcn are present se- lections waiting for the finals. Lucas' becomes eligible' on . his impending admission into the local musicians union. He will be ayaH- able after his Induction which cbmcs' off. in two weeks. Crosby, Dorseys Set Blng Crosby with Jlmhiy Dorsey's orchestra take over Dec. 1 the Kraft Phenlx spot now occupied by Paul Whiteman on NBC Thursday nights. Program will continue its variety policy and have Crosby doubling as m.c. Brbadcasts will originate from the Coast DeAl which was handled by the Rockwell-O'Keefe oflUce gives Cros- by and Doroey a minimum of 36 weeks at $5,600 a broadcast for the combination. Whiteman held the account for three years. PetriDo Seeks One Music Rate For New York and Chicago Radio 10,000,000 CIRCULATION Mollis Merrick, NANA Coast Writer, Conditioning Program ROOFTHEATRE LEASED BY WOR First major audience show set for MBS Is United Cigar's new series starting over WOR, New York, on Oct. 1, with sponsors presenting half-hour variety spread . in Times Square studio, NBC's former spot atop the New Amsterdam theatre. Dea.1 was closed- last Friday morn- ing (13) with Erlanger interests,; for the 800-seater which will be reno- vated for the opening next month. Studio* Is to be available also to both ,MBS and WOR accounts.. WOR Is planning now on moving some of Its bigger sustaining shows over. In. order to take ca;re of pub- lic demand to sit in on a broad- cast. Present studios on Broadway are too small. Sinfonietta- program directed by Alfred Wallenstein, Music for Today directed by Morton Gould, are under consideration as probable tenants bf the new place.^ Both are gustalners. For the first prbgram, United Cigar Is planning tp spread itself, with several trick effects: up for presentation that night. Isham Jones orchestra, Loretta Lee and Eton Boys on the talent end for the initial broadcast. Reed Joins Rambeau Chicago, Sept. 17.. Dwight Reed-has been added to the sales staff of the William Ram- beau office, station representatives. Reed waa formerly with the Batten, Barton, Durstine &. Osborn agency. Los Angeles, Sep^. NBC Is auditioning 'Hollywood Preview', ri6w air show, for sevieral agencies. It's headed by MolUe Merrick, North American News- paper Alliance's Ifbllywood-corre- spondent who is being heralded as having over 10,000,000 circulation or twice that bf Lpuella Parsons. Miss Merrick's film chatter embraces 89 papers Including Central and South America! She's asking $1,500 a week. Nola, Day, NBC's Frisco vocal protegee at the' moment, and Hairry Jackson's orchestra are ialso in the neV program. Young & Rubicam agency reported Interested. Radio Editors Should Reorganize on Wider Base, Declares Martin Pittsburgh, Sept; 17. Radio Editors Association formed a year ago in Cincinnati and inac- tive since should be reorganized in the opinion of Its president Darrell V. Martin of the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette. He opines that the radio editor, as such, is nbt a person of much prestige and that something to make, the Job and its .holder nior^ lustrous within the Industry should be done. Meanwhile the present members are at loggerheads over where and when to hold a;nother convention and how to hold an elec- tion. Voting by mail, even when certi- fied, Is unsatisfactory. Penina Sponsors WOWO Bam Dance Sept. 20 Ft. Wayne, Sept. 17. . WOWO Barn Dance (20) returns to the air late this month, under sponsorship of Peruna. Unit has been on tour most of the summer season, making lake resorts and small towns nearby. New series on for 13- weeks, and scheduled for a Saturday p.m. spot at 2:15. Proposal made by James C. i'etrillo, prez of the Chicago music- ia,ns union, that a uniform scale of . salaries, be established for broad- casting stations coining, under tiie Jurisdiction of the Chicago and New- York unions has reached the two- way discussion point. Officials of the Now .York union leave tomorrow (Thursday) for a meeting -witii Petrilloin Gbic^tgo.. , It is Petrillo's contention that since the vast majority of , the net- work cbmmerciais and sustaining programs originate from these two <:ltles the same wage standards should prevail for either spot. With a uniform scale in effect there would be no jockeylng/of progriam brigina,- ilons by the webs in order to take dvahtage of the , lower wages, that pne town may offer as compared to the other. "Delegation whicli is making the trip in behalf of the New York local tpnslsts of Edward Canavan, Jacob iftosenhei'g, Richard MbCann , and Samuel Tabak. Another topic slated for discussion is the adoption by the phicago local of a; rule imposing special, fee on broadcasts originat- ing fi-oni hotels, cafes and similar spots". In the case of the New York union this fe^, which ranges from. $1 jto $3 per pickup, goes Intact Into the local's relief fund. With ASCAP by Ticker News Congoin Compromise Likely Compaiiy Will Drop Claims, Change Labels, According to Reports Washlngtbn, Sept. 17. Possibility that Federal Com- munications Commission will drop Its fight against radio programs sponsored by the Congoin Co. of Los Angeles, distributor of Argenr tine mate, was seen today in re- ports that the average concern will cease claiming medicinal prop- erties'for Its product. Encountering resistance frbm a substantial portion of the 22 sta- tibns It put on the spot. Com- munications body was reported as .satisfied that the company will take steps to . meet gpyernment objec- tions • and that anything beside clal , In radio continuities are outside the F. C. C. Jurisdiction, Ofllclals of the Commlsh, hti^wever, refuse to admit they have reached any decision while one topnotch member' declared he had no knowl- edge at all of matters relating to Congoin blurbs. With Postal authorities and Trade Commlsh, a.s well as Pood and Drug Admlriistration and tiie F, C. C- gunning for the beverage on grounds It has ho therapeutic values, ofllclals of Congoin have been conferring for several days wlthi government agencies in an a^tz tempt to clear the Argentine drink. State Department, which has been requested by Argentine authorltlefl, it Is reported, to make sure that no international discrimination l.s practiced, was said to be attempt-, ing thia role of government, peace- maker and umpire. Change Labejs Congoiii .reps conferred at length with Food and Drug people about ways of checking further seizures of product, which has been grabbed In substantial volume at Chicago, and indications are that labels which draw governnient fire will be revised. Government insists the product Is mislabeled when claim Is made' that the beverage has me- dicinal values. Radio- stations carrying Congoin account have been caught In the middle, with KNX, Los Angeles, es- pecially put. to trouble and expense of a Washington trip due largely frbm airing of the mate advertis- ing. Number of stations have com- plied with Commlsh demand for Copies of continuities', but others have que.stioned Commlsh right to call for samples of product, as well as printed advertising. Despite the refusal of Commls- sion members to 'admit that Con- goin scripts are 'being scrutinized, the radio czars last week repeated demands for info about the mate, basing action on the public inter- est clause of the statute. Leading the fight against F. C. G. dictation, Arthur Sciiarfold, formerly a Radio CommLssIon Blackstone, and now a radio attbrney, received an am- biguous reply to his letter insisting the Commlsh cite Its authority and reiterated his challenge. Congoin crowd Is waiting anxi- ously for the Post Offlce Dep:irt- ment to- docldc what procedure It will follow regarding mall-order business Ih mate. Hearings were held some tlnic ago on charge that the beverage Is not a medicine, ac- ,tIon being talten under the fraud statutes, but so far no fraud oi-doi' has been i.s.suod and the product- Ik .stljl ^admitted t.0 tij.e mallH, Ticker News Service, Inc, the sys- tem of wired radio which already 1* supplying clients In New York City and Phila.delphla, has taken out a bo-day temporary license with iASCAP, By the end of the trial period, company expects to have a fairly good conception of the num- ber of regular outlets used by Its Wired system rfo that some basis for payment of set fees can be reached. Likely that Ticker News will ishow nearly 1,000 outlets by that time In regular usage. * ; Ticker News In this test period also expects td obtain a fairly gbod idea of value of such license cbver- Ing music to be played on Its pro- grams. Understood that ASCAP win insist, on some sort of licensing pet-up, holding that system comes In under category of a broadcast station since it .maintains a studio in N. Y. and one In Philadelphia, Service goes l?irgely to hotels, clubs, cafes and tavernis, each outlet hav- ing public address system to pick- up programs wired to spot. WCAU'S UNION TIFFS HEADACHES A.R. SHOW Philadelphia, Sept. 17, Union troubles In connection with CBS Atlantic Refining show star- ring Frank Parker are not all set- tled yet, Agreement reached when musicians' iinlon allowed Red Nich- ols to come into Philiy (show, orjg- iriatcs from WCAU) to handle or- chestra, with credit and regular fee going to Anthony Candelorl, nom- inal leader of crew, may blow sky high—Latest difflcuity Is over sub- stitution of 10 men from Jan Sa- vltt's band for like number of Can- delorl'B outfit,' The 25-plece (jandelorl band au- ditioned show, but when dispute betweeh WCAU had union caused cancellation of remotes, Universal Artists Bureau had dl culty book- ing Savitt band, whicli it has under contract. To keep musicians, work-. Ing, Jt Hubstiuted them for regular rhen. Matter is now In hands of board of governors of union. First broadcast of Atlantle Show (14) paid approximately $7.0 (Including audition) per' man. Carmela Ppnselle Set Carmcla 'V<)ns(•^\n of the operatl*^ sl.stf^r team .st.'ir(.s a 13-wnck stretch on thf ]{|sm'1>i1 ((;H.Sj .show ,Sept, 18. lJc;i.I .sot tiy Kill Miller of the Chiirlio .Moirl.son oltlr