Variety (Feb 1938)

Wedhcsdiiy, Fcliriiftrjr 2; 1958 Stat.eni-eht ' recently \ made ^'^^ VviuK-rv i?y Sh6:walter Lynch .of Mac- Wi 1 Iceshs & Cole advertising agency here did . hot qualify ^^itogether as straWb^rry shortcake, to some .broadr castets in^Pbrfland, Seattle, etb:; Ilis remarks \yferb p^ auspices pushing, the; hew: Paciflc rorthwest lbbp of Mutual, vfh poses to; hook .up all, the,: small staT tions in the" zone but the big-watt^rs saw a slur to themselyes and their sales and coverage, story. ; ^ ^ C. W;. liiyers, preside^^^ oif KOIN, says: 't'hiere 'is hp controversy ih- volved cphcerhirig coverage br re- niote areas by , F'brtland major; net- woi^k stations, KOIN, has: never claimed / to ■ coVerx Klarnath. ; Falls, Medfprd, Marshfleld or such markets which are 3pd miies iway/ But 70%, ve do say, of Oregpn'5;population; is within KOIf^'s^ primary, listening area. The jproblem of complete cbv- erage in remote ibwnis and vUliiges is corhparable to: the .sam0- problem in the' field of other media, such as ihewspapers. ■ Tbwns, siich as ■ Gray's Harbbr,: Wenaitbhee,, Klamath 1*8115 and Medfprd, are-not essentially in the Portlahd trading; area, nor: are their iparkets of primary importance to the Ibcail metropolitan; sponsor, 'With respect ,tp the hetwbrk ad- vertiser, most of ; thesie localities fa within the signal riirige Pf other sta-. tioris bh the network;■ KOIN cpverr iaie claims have always been very; conseryalive, althbugiT agency .enr dorsements cohtend. that- reception results have . baehr bbtiiined from such distaiit and unclaimed areas as; hotthern California, Idaho, nbrthern Washirigtpn, arid even Alaiska/ • 'Carey Jennings df K;CrW says: 'So clearly is koW received in siith tin- ciaimcdi and distant area as: Gray's Harbor .and Aberdeen that station KXRO pibks iip KGW-KEX sports brbadbasts from the. air find rebrpad- casts therh-through their Ibciil trafisr miitet' -i ■ ; . Barney Milleir, , prbduction man- ager PfKGWi, says: 'KQW well re- ceived in Klamath Fails, 3()0 miles away, and .1 should knoNVj because my mother livens, therfe ajhd. neyer misses KGW. /: Lynch AmpUQes;'. Informed' of the rreaction tp hiis article in .Varibtt; Lynch: siaid lie air ready had noted the rumblings of thunder oh his graf).eyine barometer. In further amplificatibri of his prigl- nal remarks he- Stated: 'Markbts, after all, are not jgeo-; graphical areas, but' jpebple. ■. "The northWest's^; hbaviest;. concentrations of people: aVeVarourid Portland, Seat? tie and Spbkane; ei-go, if you want to covbr thiese three great metropolitan n\afkets, put your brpadcasting mes- saga on,, the majpr " statiohs; in the^e: cities. We have used all, with ex- cellent results: If, on. the other hand, you \yaht bPverage in butlying com- iruhities, you have to think ih^ termis of -spot coverage; that is, local sta- tions -wherever available. 'There are' twp factors to be con- sidered in buying radio coverage 'Can they listen?', and .0p they listen in sufficient numbers to constitute a market?' No hard and fast line; cap be set Up marking the boundaries of a statiph's coverage. Reception may be; poor. in a cPmparatiyely. nearb locality and pei-fect: at a more ;dis- taht point. Even '. field intensity. surveys are hot the .final :ahswer,; for; a station may -lay., .down; a strong enough; sigha.l. in a givei> locality ,tb. -be neard :aihd yet-! not have sufficient listeners to exercise definite.'sale? in- fliiehce in thait hvarket ; In Ihis^^ spect ^r'aidio cpvbrage is coiriparable to voiuritary and forced circulatipn familiar to inedia buyers'in the; ? lication field, reader or listeher in- terest is necessarily; a criterion to be- cbnsidered, ailong . with numerical ciirculatipn, actual or potential ■ 'As we see it, burvhetwbrk sta^ in : Pbrtlandi Seattle and Spokane give'you mass circulaliph cpmpara- ble to that bf our n?etrbpolitah ncAVSr' papers.. The Ibcal. stations giye spot coverage siniijar .tP. that • of the local, newspaper; . By; tying up stations in our smaller cities, Don Lee-MutUal has niade it practical arid economi- cally ipbssible for the first time for the regiohal. sponsor tp . buy vsppt coverage . ou^ QUtlyink tpWhs. That's our story, and Vtre intend to •stick to it until sbmepne cohclusively disproves it, with ah abtiial recp^^^ sales results.' Brooklyn. Eagle is pullihg- ior; cir- cuiatioh' With . • ■ :bommercial; on WMCA, N. Y., Which began last night (Tuesday). Program . is un- usual in that the newspaper is actut ally paying cash for the time. Most sheets swap space for time on deals with radio. • Show, titled 'Movie Mbney,' is de- sighed to test thb mathematical cal- culating ability of the listeners and provides; for cash awards .totalling $200 weekly. Peck is the agency on the account. Commercial :Psiuse9 N. W. Ayer agency for the coming baseball season and on behalf of Kellogg and Socbny has a new advertising pplicy; Cbmmerciais strictly,-confined, to. the pauses between'inhings. ■; Buffalo, Feb. ■ h For the. first time * eight years Buffalo Basfebiall ciub; Will- exact a fee ftomAbrbiLdcastbrs this ' seaisbn.. WGR-WKBW has bought exclusive rights at; a -price, varibusly estimated at $12,000 for' year down to $16,006 for three years! . Boys are mum on bfficial figures. ' In entering into the pact, stations agree to share . the broadcast rights with ahy other station or. stations that v/ant tp buy ' Cost would then be split; evenly among airers. Roger Baker again will do the play-by-play for WGR-WKBW. He was ih; at the start seven years ago,, shairing the ball park mike that , sea-; son with Stoopnagle and Budd, among others; . Thereafter he be- came Ibnie baseball spieler, and worked up later to a '] World Series stint for CBS. ,\ . His sponsors this year . will be Wheaties and Simons brewery. Last season Kleinhans clpthing, Nemmer fui-hiture and Schwegler appliances helped bahkroU. Whether Jim Britt, oh WEBR for Kellogg in 1937, and Ralph Hubbell, sustainers for WBNY, will re-, turn under the . new pay-to-pufl agreement is iindecided. With WEBR carrying a heavier NBC Blue commercial schedule than hereto- fore, it is; doubtf ul that much time for gambs could be cleared. Some of Bisoiri' contests are at night. Decision;of the ball club to make broadcasters pay followed a: mid- winter change in management. Leo by play thight not come oiit Of that little box in the parlbr. . . \'',^ ; St. Louis, Feb..;!. KWk and KMOX.have jointly ob- tained; the exclusive broadcasting privileges for the. airing pf major league, baseball games during the 1938 season. Browns and Cardinals taboo broadcasting of Sunday and holiday contests except on rare pcr casions. Each station will pay $12,- 500 to the club bwners and this is an increase of $2,500 over the .1937 price and about $5,000 over 193(J. Uhder the terms of the cbhtract any other iPcal station desirihg to' join KWK and: KMOX - must see these statipns, and not the club owners. ■ There seems 1 ittle likelihood that any other statibn wants to jbin, WIL quit airing ball games several years ago and- WEW is proceeding on the theoi-y that there are plenty of dial- ers: who . Hvani. '5^)mething : besides baseball, every afternoon.' six times a week. KSD, owned by the pub- lisher of the Pbst-Dispatch, isn't in-: terested. Frahbe Laux.ls spbtte No. 1 job for I^OX, while Johnny b'Hare is top man for; KWK. Both have, large fpllpwings. :: General Mills is sobiTiSorihg all ma- jor ; league baseball games ih. St. Lpuis during the 1938 season. Cincinnati, Feb.- 1. .; General Mills, which for the sec- ond, successive year holds broadcast-: ing privileges on home games of the Gihcihnati': Reds the Niatibhal}i League, closed deals Saturday (29) for airingg. by WSAI and WCPO, which. carried : them last: season. Sponsor will blurb Wheaties. In 1937 the Cincinnati Basehall Club Co., of which Powel Croslby, Jr., head of WLW and WsAI. is pres- ident/received $22,500 for the broad- casting rights. For the approaching campaign, it is reliably reported, the price has been boosted substantially Both statipns, it is known, also have increased their time charges for the diambhd blasts. ;' Understood General Mills will re- peat its pplicy of last season by sharing commercial . plUgs with So- cony gas. Red Barber ,will .cPhtmue t^ play-by-play accounts for WSAt and Harry Hartmarf is to carry on at the mike for W(jPbl Latter station is operated by Scripps-Howard Radio, Inc. ..■ - . ;• Ih addition to games played at Benny on Metro Feb; 17 Hbllywood, Feb. 1. Coast air shows are swapping their top hames to shake; Up;' their rbutihes, Among switches are Jack Benny to Metro's 'Goodnews' on Feb. 17, re turning the call of Robert Taylor on the Jello show Feb. 13. "There is also a. deal on for Taylor, to swap api)earahces with Ward Wilson, who plays Beetle on Phil Baker s pro- gram. ■ Brush Up on Parlez Vous Regiha,; Sask,, Feb. 1. Ahnounccrs throughout Canadian west .are heard muttering to them- selves in dark corners. It is not sedi- tion, just practicing for hew ruling of Canadian Broadcasting Cprp; It is that all programs frpm west which might go into French-spijakihg Quebec province must be tagged in French at times when CBC sighaturc is given, thus: 'Ici.Radio Canada.' ^ Ray Schalk, ex-fleld general, have jbined the Indianapolis club of the American Association. Succeeding them, is Steve O'Neill, combining the field and business jobs. Millier had always assured local broadcaist- ers there would never be a fee for airing the games. Hpweyer, he re- served ; the right to say whether a specific game . should be broadcast or not and Usually the announcers arrived in the press box befpre they chew whether or nbt; they'd go on he air. ■.■„ Plot was to lure customers into the park on the chance that the play T. Miller, former business boss; aTiir -Cro sley F ield; broadcasts will include telegraphic descriptions of the Reds rcontests waged on grounds , of all National. League teams, except the New York Giahts and Brooklyn Dodgers., which bar radiq. A testimonial party is to be tehd- ered Hartman Feb. 14 ih honor of his tenlhi anniversary, as sports ah- nouhcer oh WCPO, Affair is to be held in the Variety . club, Nether- land Plaza. Thoiuiiands listen 16 < HARRY GLICK'S MORNING EXERCISES Mohdoy thru Friday at 8:45 A. JM. That> BEFORE tha shoppinii day •tortt; W>** «ilv»rti»»r« will recegntz* wlrat this ni«an» in miI»«I WHN 1S46 BROADWAY NEW YORK CITY, ;, WWL, New Orleans, copped a fas- tie when, on a tip, it slipped its m, :es into . hospital where Juddy Garland of MGM sang for charity. Bing; Crosby and Rockwell-O'Keefe, Inc.. last week came to a financial settlement of their contract diflerences, with the singer getting a complete release. Management outfit claimed $33,000: due it; on back and future commissions in connection with Crosby's Kraft Music Hall assignment. Ciurious ahgle of the adjustment was that it was effected by a single lawyer representing both sides. He is John O'Mclyany. of the Hollywood firm of Wielvany, Tuller & Myers, who is on regular retainer tp both Crosby and R-O'K, - ■ :0-'■ :-■■ • Craig & Hollingberiry Splits; Fight for 18 Stations : Station rep firm of Crait; & Hbl- lingberry; has split upland not ami- cably. Breakup fpllowed. failure of negotiatiphs by which George P.'Hbl- lingberry, Chicago chief of the firm; .was tp; have acquired holdings of Mrs, Jeanne Craig, N. Y. bbss. ■ Mrs, .Craig, who has .bpch; carryihg. Oh in the place of her 'husband, the late vNbrm^anr Graigv; since: his death last summer, claims she made a deal with ' Hollingberry in . December whereby he would, buy her stock. Latter was held; " ; escrow and did hot pass to Hollini»berry when he did hot make a cash payment for it early last month. Last week Mi s. Craig went toChicago on iwhat is said to;haVe :been another effort to • strike a deal ;with her partner;. This fell' through,; and when she: returned ;: tp N> Y. she discovered that Hollihg- berry had opened a Manhattan office and taken ber staff away from her. , HplUnsberr'y Version .. Hollin.gberry's version, of the story is that' befpre the first deal was to haVe been completed, Mrs. Craig ap- proached him with anpthcr,: to ■ sup- plant; which would have favbred her mpre 'than did -the flrst agreenierit. Hoilingberry,: according to: his ver- sion. irefused,.:and round-robined the 18 stations repped by the firm pn a proposal to. let him alone rep . them nationa lly. Hollirigberry claims 16 bf the broadcasters agreed tp string with him. ;"';;■ :^-;.;'; Trade circles yesterday (Tuesday) were .ia.ware that . there was still a; tussle goihg . on;,, between the two. sides over which would rep which stations?, now that , the, firm has divided. ' ■• -•: 7 Caroiyii Cross Scrams WIP ,> : Philadelphia, Feb, 1. Fbllowirig months of bickerihg/ threats and rUmors* Carolyn Ann Cross, director of WIP Hbmemakers' Club, has resigned ; effective " next Monday ;(7), With outlet five years. Successor hot yet named. Perc Westmore,: w;arners' makeup chief, is currently perfecting a new greasepaint for ,television purposes.. Of deeper hue than. present shade, the hew one resemWes a healthy tan. Preparation of the new mixture, Westmore insists, is different; from anything so far developed,, due to the !chemical elements involved, and the reaction of televisibn wayes to certain colors and colbr ihgriediehts. :; NBC full-paged.institutional greeting to WICC, Blub Net: membCT.Jwhich Saturday (29) hpusewarmed new two-rstory home in New Haven, in Ibcal 'Register.' .■ Inasmuch as daily has long omitted listings of heighbpring broadcasters, other papers in WICC ;territory that: joined in ballyhoo of new building, in news; coluhins registered complaint when they did not get ad from NBC. ■ '•.,/' , !. GOING ON John A. Holmah, general manager of the NBC stations, WBZ-WBZA, 6pstoh-Springfleld; last Friday (28) told the Portland, Maine, Rotary Club that in his'opinion America could stay put oit another foreign war: 'just sp long as radio remains the free agent of a free people.' Fbilpwing series: bn venereal disease."} last .seaBbh., WCAIT,;Philly, on Sat- urday (29) presented first of nine talks by local mcdicci cancer. Ac- cording to Stah Lee Broza, program. dircctpr,/therc v/ill-:b with talks titled, 'The Rbctum,^'The dcnilp-Urihary Tract' a 'The Breast.' ,CFQC, Saskatoon, Sasic, deelined to carry, Al Jblsbn program on rjet- work on recent Tuesday though station part of basic CBC net. .Declared more - interest (and bigger cash retgrn ) in hockey game that night: Sam Rosenbaum, prez of WFIL, Philadelphia, who.se v/lfe Is ^regular harpist, with, the Philly Oroh. lias Commissioned Carlos Chavez, Mexican composer, to author special hai'p concerto lor radio. , That's the Habit iia e Syracuse You Can Turn Your Sales CurVc - UP with WSYR Syracuse's Top Slatioii W:ith L i s t e u e r s ; andi Advertisers Alike "Keep Yon'r Eye. on SyrhcMe*^—-and WSfR LTR A C L Oli TH« NBtJllD NirrWORK NOTIOHQL REJ'RESENTPTIVES EDWRRD RETRY & CO.