Variety (Aug 1936)

Wednesday, August 12,1936 A D I O VARIETY 41 Nearly 19 Honrs Given Olympics ^BC Blue Takes Biggest Amount —CBS and BBC In Transoceanic Deal Both .'.NBC and CBS are heftily •jaking .advantage of the ishowman- ship opportunities in airing the • Olympic track and field games. Web fltatistlcs show that dtirjng the first nine days of the events 18 hrs. and 62. jDins.. were allotted by NBC and CPS poinbiued. Blue carried pre- doipinantiy the biggest schedule on 7 hrs. 3 mins. Red pulled up second with 6 hrs. 9 mins., while CBS ac- counted for only 5 hrs. 40 mins. Mutual network is not covering the games, individual stations relying on their news services for flash reports of winners, etc. AH of NBC's reports are issued directly from Berlin by RCA Com- tnunications, and rebroadcast in the V. ^. CBS uses just about the same method, employing RCA and AT&T. Additionally, however, CBS employs a second system via a tie-in with the British Broadcasting Corp. Un- der the latter setup, the' BBC's air- ings are shortwaved ^o the U. S. and rebroadcast longwave by CBS. Of tlie .E hrs. 4a mins. CBS has allotted to the Olympics 1 hr. 50 mins. was BBC fodder. • Four Announcers Four announcers compose the webs' combined battery in Berlin. NBC relies chiefly on Bill Slater, with some comment by Roderick Oietze, a German announcer with a predominantly English accent who previously aired the Winter Olym- pics., CBS has BUI Henry and Ted Busing. Former gets the bulk of the work (he is sports editor of the Los Angeles Times), though Husing is regarded the topflight track and field announcer in the biz. To queries anent this setup CBS has stated that Husing is in Europe for a ^^Glcash and that bis work thus has to;^be 'Regarded of the helping-hand variety. . After the first three days, NBC's Olympiad coverage has proved far superior to CBS. WXYZ's New PoScy Detroit, Aug. 11.' As first step in a general expansion program, WXYZ has brought in Tom A'Hearn, erstwhile United Press writer here, to handle station's en- larged news service. Station re- cently installed U. P.'s new full-day system, and is making extensive use of news and features. Planned to add other news men soon as well as other staff members as fall production swings into high. 'SLENDERIZING' BEER JDST AIN'T, SEZ FTC Washington, Aug, 11. Claims that beer can 'slenderize,' its drinkers are frankly doubted by the Federal Trade Commission, which last week cracked down on the Acme Brewing Co. for broad- casts ballyhooing an assertedly su- perior brew made under a 'non-fat- tening formula.' Company, which Is located on the West Coast, was given until Sept. 11 to show cause why a cease and de- sist order should not be issued against them. Outfit has used newspapers, radio broadcasts, billboards and labels for advertising, according to Commish complaint, and has represented that its beer contains 'certain'ingredients which cause it to have the tendency to slenderize' guzzlers. After weighty consideration of the problem, FTC announced that "un- less consideration is given to the in- dividual dietary habits, physiologi- cal idiosyncrasies and fat-producing tendencies of beer consumers,' no beer could be truthfully represented as 'non-fattening for aU people and without properties for inducing In- crease in weight' FORD BILLINGS WEST Leonard Kappner In at WCAE as General Manajrer Pittsburgh, Aug, 11. Although it's been kept kinda quiet,. Leonard Kappner, until re- cently in charge of sales at. WCAE, has been appointed general manager or Hearst-owned station here. Kapp- ner took over his new duties last week, succeeding Ford Billings, who will head for the Coast to take a post with the Hearst radio interests there. Billings xetiirned only a few weeks ago from western trek in behalf of Hearst broadcasting out- fits and local feeling since' then has been that his shift would soon be- come permanent. During his ab- sence Kappner was also in charge of the station. No other switches in personnel are contemplated- for time being. Kappner joined WCAE about five years ago as a salesman and he's the fifth manager the station has had since 1934. Ford Billings' new duties include supervision of selling in the L. A. sector, plus close association with Edward McCallum, managt. of the Hearst San Francisco office, in pump- ing up Hearst's radio interests on the Coast. British World-Wide Broadcasts Empire's New Life-Line at $1,000,000 or Better Yearly KATE SMITH SET FOR HOLLYWOOD SEPT. 17 Hollywood, Aug. 11. Kate Smith is due here shortly for picture work and will resume her Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. radio pro- gram from the Coast Sept. 1*7. Pic- ture names will be used as guesters. Singer is being mentioned for fea- tiured part in Shirley Teniple's next picture at 20th-Fox. Cronican at WMCA Lee Cronican, formerly with WOR, New York, is new to WMCA staff as studio directpr. He will also con- duct special features for Inter-City airing. A. L. Alexander will here- after work on 'Good Will Court' only. Cronican moved in last week. London, Aug. 2. British Broadcasting Corp. is re- shuffling its attitude to its Cinderel- la service, the Empire broadcasts. 'These programs go out on very short waves from the central aerial pile at Daventry, and give an 18- hoiu: daily service to the far flung outposts of the old flag, etc. Suddenly aware that the Empire ts" getting equally well served by U. S. stations operating on similar waves, and by a heavy swamp of continental stuff, some of which is far from flattering to the viewpoint of the austere English—particularly the dope current from Moscow and Rome—the B. B. C. is now slanting up its program relays to 20 hours a daiy, intending to stab them forward to 22 by the end of the year. To do this new technical equip- ment is being installed at Daventry, involving partial rebuilding of the pioneer station. Central executives at Broadcasting House,, determined to keep. the- air free for Britishers to tune in to, have axed the ceaseless broadcasting of recorded programs from their own normal British stations, and have ap- pointed Harold Rose from the home programs to the position of Produc- tions Manager for Empire broadcast-, ing. Rose is one of the oldest heads at Broadcasting House. He is under specific instructions to biiild up pro- grams with a definite imperialistic background, the sort of stuff which would keep the jolly old Empire jolly well knit, if you know what is meant. $3,M#,9M In 3 Tears B. B. C. in answer to all squawks, declares it hasn't got the dough to spend, but neverthless it has lavished some $3,000,000 on Empire broad- casting in three years, and by the end of this year will have laid out $1,250,000 for transmitting gear for these broadcasts alone. There will be six transmitters and 22 aerials at Daventry to provide a 24-hour serv- ice on special wave-bands for the Empire on which the sun never sets, and over' which the voice of the B. B. C. is never silent. Bad enough it is for British listen- ers, who don't hear the programs, to have to foot the bill for them, but patriotic Britons would not object if they were convinced they were pay- ing for something the Empire really wanted. ANNOUNCERS SCARCE AT $100 Monthly Lincoln, Aug. 11. Maybe it's the <lrouth or the wage scale—but the middle west is appar» ently short of radio announcers;. Dearth of good material has about a dozen stations in this area on a talent hunt to handle mikes. . John Henry and Reg. B. Martin brought the info, here from last week's meeting (31) with the Iowa Broadcasters association in Des Moines. The KFAB. KFOR, KOIL setup has bee^ feverishly audition* ing every prospect trying . to get gpielers. At present they're trying to locate a couple of voices on ^e west coast and have them shipped in here. In. Iowa, according to Martin, sta» tions WHO,. Des Moines; WOC, Davenport and KFJB, Marshalltoyrn, are dlso oh the lookout and.try.-ng out as many as they can. This n\y mean that announcer salaries, ea« pecially for the better ones, will be going up. Practically no station in this area hiU paid in excess of $100 a month up to the .present time. PHILADELPHIA STATION •.. Not anly because WCAU is Philadelphia's most powerful station • . • But also because WCAU is Philadelphia's most popular station.* '^From the results of the most comprehensive sur* vey ever made by an individual radio station. WCAU PHILADELPHIA•PENNSYLVANIA ROBERT A. STREET, Commercial Manager $0