Variety (Mar 1939)

20 VARIETY RADIO Wedneedaj, March 29, 1939 GOVERNMENTRESISTS'HIGH PRESSURETO LET TELEVISION GO ON SALES RAMPAGE Fears Exploitation Would Have Quick Letdown— Also Privately Concerned About Who Will Con- trol New Industry Washington, March 28. Continued delay in deciding on television standards is seen in failure of the FCC special committee to fix a date for a hearing on proposals of the Radio Manufacturers Association and petitions for licenses allowing inauguration of regular visual ser- vice. . Despite pressure from equip- ment makers and experimental op- erators, the FCC trio remains uncon- vinced that time has arrived when it is possible even to consider promul- gating quality requirements and, in effect, endorsing the system of pic- ture transmission which shall.be de- veloped for American dial-twisters. Too many uncertainties and unfin- ished projects. Within the past month several In- formal confabs between FCC spokes- meh and the HMA have suggested strongly that the United States will keep on treating television for an indefinite period as essentially a lab- oratory project which has not reached the point where the spec- trum can be 'frozen.' Federal offi- cials feel they are being high-pres- sured by individuals and organiza- tions who, having sunk substantial sums in experimentation, want to be- gin cashing in. Unwilling to put themselves iii the position of pulling anyone's chestnuts out of the fire. From many viewpoints, visual broadcasting still is in the same cate- gory as sound motion pictures were in 1S26. in the mind of FCCers. If standards are promulgated at this time, the Commish would be putting its stamp of approval on something which has not been carried to a. point where the public would be satisfied. After, the novelty wore off, the dial- ers might turn ttiurhbs down,' result- ing in a serious setback for televish and, in the end, hurting the Individ- uals now impatient to start routine service. This attitude was reflected in the decision to hold a hearing on a pair of recent applications—from Crosley and Don Lee—^for permits to carry on additional experimentation from the viewpoint of program construe tion, rather . than the engineering angle. Any operation of this sort Is regarded as a- step closer to the com- mercial stage. And the goveniilient experts are keeping their-' Rogers crossed, yet wondering iPday has ar- rived when the public is willing to sink large sums in receivers. Fear Monopoly Though it isn't, mentioned openly, Commish people privately fear that adoption of standards at this phase of development might lead to a mo- nopoly which would bring dangerous repercussions in future years. Par- ticularly apprehensive that the RCA- Zworkln system would be en- trenched, at the expense of other theorists still seeking to get the bugs out of their processes and equipment On the other hand, if the standards were made 'sufficiently variable, the government might be giving hot- house treatment to something that in time will prove not to have been worth while. Reports of nfew tech- niques—particularly a 600-line sys- tiem that will afford still ntore clarity —^re acting as a damper. The Commish is not convinced that it will be necessary to standardize on a scheme which requires frequen- cy bands 6,000 kc wide. Although it;has worked out and recently modi- fled an allocation formula .with rib- bons of these proportions for visual stations. Hopeful that further re- search may wind tip in perfection of a theory that will allow more, trans- mitters to occupy the spectriUn and reduce, the over-all investment' DispositlQil is to movie cautiously, lest cold water be doused on scien- tists who haven't found all the an- swers. $2,000,000 BAIRD STOCK ISSUE London, March 28. Baird Television Co., Ltd., direct- ors will ask stockhblders on Friday (31) to okay a $2,000,000 loan stock flotation. Stock certificates would be converted into new preferred stock any time up to 1944. . Proceeds of the loan would go toward financing manufacture of theatre and home receivers and further research and television de- velopment Mrs. Melrose Pronioted . Akron, O., March 28. Edythe Fern Melrose has been named general manager of WJW, Akroii. She joined the station last December as comoercial manager. After establishing ];ierself she brought in Gene La Valle, who was formerly with her at WCLE, Cleve- land, to take charge of programming and production. She has also devel- oped the station's' sports division and made an average of six appear- ances a week before service clubs and civic and educational groups. Massah Wooten . Memphis, March 28. Hoyt Wooten of WRKC is now a plantation .owner. Has taken an es- tatf of 30 acres out in the country. Is building house on the estate, Gary. Grant due back on Kellogg Circle April 2, replacing Basil Rath- bone as wielder of the gavel. NOW IN EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING PREPARAHON SPITALNY OFF MAY 22 General Eleetrie Leaylag Radio — Spltalny Dickers with Cosmetle Phil Spltalny parts with General Electric May 22 after three consecu-, tive seasons with this account Lat- ter is giving up its Monday night spot on NBC. Spitelny has a bid from a cosmetic account which is slated to go on Columbia this fall. INSURANCE RAP AIMED AT WOW BEATEN Omaha, March 28. Klaver bill, which would have pre- vented Insurance companies from using policyholders' funds to set up or maintain broadcasting stations, was killed by the Banking, Insur- ance and Commerce Conunittee of Nebraska's unicameral legislature last week. Measure's author, Sam Claver, is said to have admitted that the bill was aimed solely at WOW, Omaha, which is owned and oper- ated by the Woodmen of the World Klaver himself was denied a li- cense for a station in Omaha last fall. Waste paper basket vote of the B I & C committee was unanimous. Among other stetlons opera ted b y insurance companies are WTIC, Hartford; WSM, NashviUe. and WJDX, Jackson, Miss. Noxzema, Firestone Air From Frisco Exposition San Francisco, March 28. Two national network commercials were aired from the tiolden Gate International Exposition. They 'were 'Professor Qiiiz' show for Noxzema on Saturday (25) and the Firestotae Tire program with Richard Crooks on Monday (27^). Two broadcasts of each program were scheduled, one for the east and a repeat for western release. Firestone sent Alfred Wallensteln, its regular conductor, out from New York to direct the orchestra for the broadcast while Ken Carpenter came up from NBCs Hollywood stu- dios to handle the announcing as- signment Crooks was in town for a concert date. AD LIB PLOTTING Ogden Nash en Mntaal Will Stump Anthers Ogden Nash will m.c. 'Author, Author,' a new sustainer series Fri- day nights over WOR-Mutual be- ginning April 7. Half-hour show will bring ■various' writers to the mike to give extemporaneous story beginnings to situations submitted by listeners; Prizes will be awarded for situations used on the show. First two guest writers will be' Ruth McKenny,: author of "My Sis- ter EUeen,' and Carl van Doren, au- thor of the recent biography of Ben- jamin Franklin. Ellery Queen, mys- tery story author, will also. li>e a permanent flgiife on the series. Authors will be paid. Mullins Trio Out Lyn Murray Town Hall Singers on the Fred Allen show will be cat to a foursome next month, reportedly be- cause of the AFRA Wage-hour code, but partly for summer economy. Group of seven composed- of the Four Clubmen and the Mullins Sis- ters, a trio. Latter wlU be dropped Clubmen will be known as the Town Hall Quartet BECONDinONED COWBOT Reglna. Sask,. March 28. Ralph Foster, 'The Singing Cow- boy,' is no more after April 4. 'Then he goes over CKCK for Slater's shoes, and they're too toney for the cowboy stuff. Hell be Mr. Foster and sing baUads to Mr. Ross McRae's fiddling. Depends on what, you selL Inside Stuff-Radio Right to performance clearance whicli 'WHN, New York, has obtained from the American Record Co. Is practically the same in legal context as the one which RCA Victor issued several months ago. All it is in either case Is a covenant not to sue in case the courts ride that the record manu- facturer has complete control over the commercial exploitetlon of his wares plus a proviso that the permission is revocable at the will of the phono- graph record company. Judge 'Vincent Ijeibell, of the N. Y. federal court, baa yet to hand down a decision in the litigation over this broadcast right between Victor and Paul Whiteman. When the case came to trial last fall WNEW, N, Y., named as the defendant in the original suit by Whiteman, declined to take any part in the proceedings. Victor, which had come into the action as an intervener, forced the issue to a showdown. Nationial Association of Performing Artists, of which Fred Waring is president Meyer Davis and Paul Whiteman, vice presidents; Frank Crumit siecretary, and Don Voorhees, secretory, suggested the bill which Senator Charles D. Perry, Manhatten Democrat, introduced It would make the unauthorized recording in New York Stete of any broadcast emanating from a station, the offer to sell, lease or license, or the possession of such waxing, grand larceny. Senator confirmed NAPA's influence in matter to a Vapiety reporter. Bill has passed state senate. Measure, adding a new section to the penal law, provides that the record- ing, ete,,' for the purpose'of pecuniary gain,' shall be a felony, unless the 'consent in writing of the person or persons broadcasting the same' is ob- teined. Was referred to committee on codes. Print No. is 1763. Showdown on whether the Associated Press is to sell news to radio sta- tions as it does now to newspaper clients is expected at the annual meeting in New York City, April 24. Question has been up before. Associated Press officially sticks to the theory that it doesn't want to sell news service to radio. That's also the prevailing opinion of directors. But there have been signs of shifting attitude. The management according to info in the trade, looks on the sale of news service to radio from two angles: (1) as a means of .obtaining con- siderably more revenue, (2) as a medium for securing publicity for the' A..P.. ' Considerable publicity gained both by the United Press and INS through selling service to radio. BUI Schudt g.m. of WKRC, (Cincinnati, was in New York last week reviewing with CBS officials a competitive campaign he will launch to take advantage of the .changed stetus in Cincy due to 'WLW going back to 50,000 watts. Schudt sees 'WKRC for the first time in a position to do itself some good. Meanwhile 'WLW is throwing additional manpower and ideas into the fray and will redouble its own efforts to preserve the leadership which it has always enjoyed by the proverbial mile. Town will, have a second 50,000-watter soon in L. B. Wilson's WCKY. . L. B. has recently expressed con^dence that Uke other large markets, Clncy can easiy support two 50 kw. plants. Report around the ad agencies last week was that John U. Reber, J. Wal- ter Thompson's radio hiad, had been lined up by Columbia for the post of v.p. in charge of sales. CBS stetes there's nothing to it Trade itself regards such move as hardly probable since Reber has been' rated as a sort of crown prince to Stenley Riesor, Thompson-prez. It's been, rumored for son>e time that the official setup of the "Thompson agency is slated for a drastic reshuffling with Reber landing either in the top niche or one dose to it ' Edward B. Marks Music Corp., filed its Intentions in the N. Y. federal court on Thursday (23), of examining before trial on Tues. (26), Tom Revere, radio director of Benton & Bowles, Inc., W. R Lewis, program director of Columbia Broadcasting Corp., and Hans Bartsch, This is in connection with a suit for an injunction and an accounting of profits against Colgate-PalmoUve-Peet Co., Benton & Bowles, Inc., and CBS, charging the unauthorized playing of songs from 'The 'Waltz Dream,' operetta belonging to the plaintiff. NBC last week firmly denied the report that it was considering calling off the special discounts which are now granted customers on the blue (WJZ) link, It 'was stated that the subject hasn't even come up in any recent discussions on sales policy. The special group of discounts waa put into effect last summer as the inducement to the purchase of more extensive hookups, particularly certain supplementary groufts. 'Marilyn Hare, 15-year-old daughter of Ernie Hare, will continue In the letter's Eiwt opposite Frank Jones on their Sachs Furniture commercial on 'WMCA, N. Y., Sunday afternoons. Arrangement is indefinite. Daughter, a high school student^ jumped in several weeks ago when dad became ilL He died March 9. Ed East has devised a play-piano-by-ear course, which is being tried out on a Washington station. Involves a transcription program recorded by East Local fade-in for home-town commercial baits piano'prospects to .visit the music .store giving away the course.. Tubby' QuilUam, of KIRO, SeatUe, In hU bathrobe and pajamas, k.o.d an intruder in his home with one to the' button, but before he could call police-man made away in rainstorm vfiih QuIUlam in pursuit He lost him and returned, dripping wet to be bedded for five days by doctor. Bert Lebhar, now at WHN, New York, as sales chief, may revive the old amateur hour which was junked recently after running eight years. • Leonard C. Feather, English hot record fan, songwriter and transcription, exec for Radio Luxembourg of France, arrives in New 'V'ork April 8 for a Visit He's 23 .years old Ben Douglas, mayor of Charlotte, N. C, Is an announcer for WBT. He appears regularly on the. station's 'Welcome Neighbor* program, as emcec^ and on othei: special events. 'FU MANCHU' ON WOR Deal Set With. Hnmbert tt Jones tor Celery Tonic 'Fu Manchu,'. radio transcript se- rial program will be broadcast three times a week starting May 1 over WOR. Contracts wlU be signed thi^ week between Radio Attractipns, Inc., and the American Beverage Co. (Dr. Brown's Celery Tonic), serviced by' the Humljert & Jones Agency of N. Y. Fu Manchu is aired over 11 other stations around the country. The • Des Moines Register-Tribune has bought the program as a prO" motion stunt Stations in Des Moines, Sioux City and Cedar Rap- ids, la.,, and Yankton, S. D, will be utilized by the publishers. PliflaiMorrisr2dritle Change as Unfair' Is Finng by Indie Fffm Faced with threat of suit of un- fair competition, Milton Blow has again changed the title of Philip Morris cigar6t's substitute quizzer on WOR-Mutual Friday nights. From "Where Am I?', the title be- came "Where Are We?' The latest tag Is 'Guess Where?' The Protestant against the 'Where Am I? and 'Where Are We?' varia- tions was the Viking Radio Corp., which owns a copyrighted quiz stanza labelled "Where Are You— Name the Place' which has been on NBC isometime. '