Variety (Oct 1938)

u VARIETY RADIO Wednesday, October 26, 1938 Hookups Dwindling in Size; Aggravates Network Relations With Supplementary Stations While the NBC red (WEAF) link find CBS have about the same num- ber of accounts as.they had last sea- son, theijr tjillings will reflect no small letdown in tlie sale' of supple- mentary station. Average number of stations per accoimt has fallen oft perceptibly in the case of each net- work. This advertiser tendency to contract the station list, instead of expanding it, has produced a serious problem, especially for Columbia. It malces it so much harder to keep the supplementary stations happy. , Comparing like weeks in .October, the breakdown of CBS' commercial lists show that in 1937 the average daytime hookup consisted of 40 sta- tions, whereas this year it's 33 sta- tions. Average nighttime hookup last year came to 64 stations, and lor the current year it was 62 sta- •tions. Downward Columbia's daytime business isn't VfhiA it was in either volume or per- centage last s'6ason. Analysis of the same October weeks discloses' that the daytime billings last year was 35.7% of the whole as compated to this year's 31.1%. What was CBS' ihajor loss, the General Mills busi- ness, has proved NBC's boon. Lat- ter network's daytime ..business is thereby bigger than what it was in 1937. Breakdown of the NBC Sep- tembier revenue puts the daytime split this year 33%, while last year it was 26%. Columbia is assuring its afflliates In the supplementary groups that the network anticipates a shatp uptiirn in billings with the first of 1939. Also that the turn of the year will find clients adding more time to their schediiles and expanding their pres- ent station lists. CBS officials are also telling these affiliates that they are confident that not only wOl business pick up in a feig way foi: the network at that time, but that 1939 will be as big as 1937 in the sale of hookup tinie. AFRA's Chicago Dance Chicago, Oct. 25. American Federation of Radio Ar- tists local shaping plans for its first ballroom affair. It's a sustaining shindig tagged 'AFRA Antics' and is scheduled for Nov. 11 in the bote', Sherman. RADIO DUCATS GOBEW DtLA. Hollywood, Oct. 25. Unless ducat hounds to radio shows whet their, interest in the afternoon broadcasts which are piped east, this point of transconti- nental origination stands to lose a few shows to the east. If there isn't a fast pickup in attendance, both Jack Haley and Al Pearce may pack up their duds and hike east. ' At a re- cent Haley show only about 100 showed up in a studio seating around 450.. Response' to'gags carriecl too much qf a hollow sound to satisfy the auspices. Nights shows are a cinch fiUup but it's almost .next to impossible to round up a representative audience ardund 4 to'5 p. m. SOCONY SEEKING RADIO PROGRAM WNEW INCORPORATES AN ARTISTS BUREAU Albany, Oct. 25. WNEW, N. Y., has incorporated a talent booking setup for itself. Latest ■will be tagged the WNEW Booking. Office, Inc. Application for such charter was filed with the Secretary of State's office yesterday (24), with Bol Rosenblatt named as attorney. New office will be distinguished from the present WNEW Artists Bu- .reau, Inc., in that it will devote it- self exclusively to booking outside talent for commercial programs. • The Artists bureau will confine itself to handling persons who are imder managerial contract to the station. Saitt Surtzman, five years, a script yriter lor Eddie Cantor, en route, to the .Coast to join the Al Jols'on wnt- in« siatt. . .'' . Socony may return to the air with a network show. It's confined itself for the past two years to local news and, live talent programs but quiet inquiries made by the account's agency, J. Sterling Getchell, in the talent field last week indicated that the petrol combine was open to con- viction. Socony has a crosscountry dis tribution with the exception of a couple of western states. It is also out of the lower Atlantic seaboard and South Central areas. Betty Garde/Kin Cotton Head CoUins' Serial New 15 min. across-the-boar4 family serial is being offered by the Ted Collins Corp. It's labeled 'My Son and I' with Betty Garde and Kingsley Cottpn in the leads. Writ ten by Frank Provo. .Program wa$ wax^d frpm an audi tion latter part last week with .seU ing being done from cuttings. Husing's Lost Score Ted Husing stepped into ra- dio's chamber of horrors last Saturday (22) without knock-» ing. He merely lost a Prince- ton touchdown during the Navy game. It happened as follows: With Navy in front 13-6 late in the fourth quarter, Princeton uncorked a successful forward- lateral good for around 45 yards. According to Husing it was now first down for the Tiger on the Middies' 4-yard line—and lo, Princeton was lining up to try a field goal. Listeners were aghast. Even Theodore seemed a bit puzzled. The kick was true and Husing announced the sdore as 13-9. At which point it dawned on Husing that it wasn't a field goal at all; Princeton had ' converted the point after touch- down, the previous forward- lateral play having carried across the goal line. Well, let's not be rough on dear old Ted. What with his hair, a cold, and the sun was in his eyes too. But if he roots for Navy against Army the way he did Saturday, the squawks will be tremendous. Which reminds that at the start of each football season that gasoline company calls all its grid announcers together and they hold school for a couple of days. Move over, boys, com- pany's comin'. Carter Whams Radio Control Hartford, Oct. 25.. Press is three times as free as the radio, Boake Carter told a large au^ di^nce at the Bushnell Memorial here Wednesday night (19) in one of a series of talks throughout the coun- Sy. 'All that you hear over the etworks,* said the erstwhile news commentator, 'is merely parroted news. Positively no ^iscussion is allowed.' Radio news broadcasting is com- pletely imder the tliumbs of a Wash- ington 'group who are the" most un- scrupulous I have ever encountered, and I have encountered, a great many in my day.' For this group to per- petuate themselves in' office it is necessary for them to suppress the viewpoints contrary to their philoso- phies, he said. . Carter said that the Integrity of the nation's press is being- imder- mined by the Washington group through the radio. He. added that 98% of newspaper publishers are 'as honest men as can be found any- where in the .country.* Washington has so scared the people who control the netw:orks that they fear to make a cbmm6nt contrary to^fts wishes in the radio news .services, he claimed. KDKA Show to WTAM Pittsburgh, Oct. 25.' Pittsburgh Coal Company' has signed Bernie Aimistrong iauod Aneu- i.ria Bodycombe for 28-week orgah- piario series on a three-station hook^ up. , Program will emanate from. KD^CA here and is to be fed also to WTAM, Cleveland, and WLEU, Erie. It's the same setup sponsor employed last season when Lois Miller, organ- ist, had the spot. Latter has left to make her future home in New York, where she will do radio work. Botji Armstrong and Bodycombe are KDKA staff members. Program labeled 'Fireside Reveries' and mu- sic will be chiefly of the homespun variety. JOLSON SLANDER CASE Ad Lib Craok Up for Damkre Adjudloation Pittsburgh, Oct. 25. Slander action against NBC by the Summit Hotel of Uniontown, Pa., went to trial yesterday (Monday). Pending for three years action orig- inally included Al Jolson as a de- fendant. Jolson was subsequently dropped and NBC is defending. In an interview with Sam Parks, Jr.,' then national golf champ, Jol- son ad libbed four words which the hotel thinks calls for $100,000 dam- ages. Banker's New Kingdom Hollywood, Oct. 25. New site for J. Walter Thompson agency across the street from the new NBC plant will house the com- bined offices of the Hollywood and downtown quarters under the direc- tion of Danny Danker, vice prez in charge of CJoast radio. Building is being remodelled for Jan. 1 oc- cupancy. Deal represents $250,000 Invest- ment tor Thompson agency. D. C WHISPERS HORIZON' IS FORGOTTEN Washington, Oct. 25. Federal Communications Com- mission had apparently voted unani- mously to renew the license of WTCN, Minneapolis. Action had been held up on the application after a Minneapolis listener had complained about the language con- tained in an NBC broadcast of Eu- gene O'Neill's 'Beyond the Horizon.' WTCN carried the program as the local release for the blue (WJZ) link. Possibility that the commish might take disciplinary steps toward the station because of this lone squawk drew considerable critical attention. No confirmation of the commis-' sipnfs nod bh the WTCN application could • be obtained yesterday after- iioon (Tuesday). VANDA IN CHICAGO ON PURINA DEAL Chicago, Oct. 25. Charles Vanda, Coast program di- rector for Columbia, is here to work out the details of one of his experi- mental progirams for Purina spon- sorship. Half hour piece, 'I Was There,' deals with' the experiences of per- sons who were on hand at mo- mentous occasions. Episodes will be dramatized and the eye witnesses making appearances. Vanda* will likely produce the show on the Coast, where it will be given a trial run before going transcohtiniental. No Parking—Literal Closing of the one remaining ,au- tomobile;parking space in Radio CJity where workmen are now excavating to lay foundation of a new building has created an acute parking prob- lem for NBC radio people. Only others are between Sixth and Sev- enth avenues, running through from 50th to 51st and 51st to 52d streets, an^;they're usually so jammed with shoppers' cars the SRO sign is al- most always up. New building will be ready In April, '39, with plans making pro- vision for^ underground storage of about 800 cars. KQV-PIRATES SETHEODT W COURT Pittsbturgh, Oct. 25. Pittsburgh Baseball Club's $100,000 suit for damages against KQV was settled out of court last week. Un- derstood no money .was involved, with station merely agreeing to lay off any future attempts to broadcast accounts of Pirates home games in future. Action grew out of KQV's illegal knothole play-by-play descriptions of baseball games at home even before club had sanctioned sponsored broad- casts over KDKA-W.WSW by So- cony-Vacuum and General Mills from Forbes Field. Club applied for .?purt Injunction restrai ing KQV from 'trespassing on priviate prop^ erty' and • added rider asking for $100,000 damages. ... Injunction was granted in Federal Court couple of months ago, with club's expected abandonment of damages claim coming several weeks after that. Rubber Nixes Novelty Idea Hitcbed to 'Unknown' Penn Wayne Orcbestra Currently auditioning for a retunf* to the air with the upswing in auto- motive production, U. S. Kubber of- ficials, and Campbell-Ewald agency men listened to an audience partici- pation idea built somewhat 'ialong the lines of the Kay Kyser show, last week and turned it down. Idea is the property of Gene Gaud6tte, band manager. Although Tire and agency men expressed a liking for the setup and the Penn Wayne orch. it was nixed when' they found the crpw, now at the Cafe Loyale, N. Y., and managed by Gaudette, went with it. Audi- tioners wanted to use it with a name band, which in turn was nixed by Gaudette." CALL WEU CONTEST WINNER INELIGIBLE KYW'S LOCATION SCOUT Philadelphia, Oct! 25. Jim Harvey, of the program de- part of KYW, was selected by the Pennsylvania Railroad to make a trip into backwoods Pennsy today to select appropriate spots to send their special train for camera bugs on Sundays. ' « Harvey conducts the city's largest amateur lensers' club on KYW., Elaine Carrlngton in L.A. Elaine S. Carrington, author of 'Pepper Young's Family' serial and other radio plays, trained out to the Coast last week to be on hand when two of her scripts, 'Boy Loves Girl' and 'Tony Donello' are presented on 'Doctor Christian' program (Chese- brough Co.) with Jean Hersholt. Mrs. Carrington returns to New York early in November. Mann Holiner off for New York next week to confer with Martin Gosch on the new Robert Benchley show for Old Gold. Bridgeport, Oct. 25. Bridgeport A. F. of M. local flle^l strong protest against WELI,' New Haven, for permitting Fred Esposit<t quartet, Bridgeport unit, to com- pete in station's first annual swing carnival. Esposito bunch won event; in which units from all parts of Con- necticut performed. Jesse Greenwald, president of Bridgeport local, advised James T. Milne, WELI manager, prior ' t<* event agaihst letting group play but Charles H. Wright, station's program manager, felt Esposito combo was eligible. When judges voted four- some winner, Greenwald made it plain that WELI could not go ahead with schfe'duled plans to make trophy presentation on air. Ceremony was called off. Carnival was open to 'amateur groups,' and according to local prexy, Esposito didn't fit the class! WMCA's Chi Office Chicago, Oct. 25. WMCA, New York, is opening a sales office in Chicago immediately. This follows the severance of th« Transamerican arrangement. Pre- viously WMCA. had Ray Linton. J. M. Ward, from Transmerk,. and G. B. McDermott, of NBC anteced- ents, will be the staff of the nevr. office. nSHFACE IN KANSAS CITY Kansas City, Oct. 25. Senator Fishface (Elmore Vincent) joins Johnny O'Brien and His Har- monic Hi-Hats in Kansas City this Thursday (27). He will m.c, the show and do his Fishface routine. Tour will be through the midwest, south and southwest. Kate Smith With Jolson Kate Smith guests on the Al Jol- son show Nov. 8. Lever Bros, show did .its first of a series from New York last night (Tues). Singer also guested on Benny Goodman's Camel program last night (25) as did Hugues Panassie, French swing critic.