Variety (Apr 1939)

Wednesdaj, April 5,1959 RADIO VARIETY 2S SPONSOR RIGHTS BOXTOPS AND ROLLO Th* radio Industry must and eventually will meet and answer the objec- tion! raised by clubwomen critics of kid programs. The sooner the busi- ness oomes to grips with the problem the smarter itH be. Apparently Iher* is a too-easy assumption that because one women's radio organiza- tion succumbed to a few baubles and a little blarney, all are equally, unwortiiy of industry re^>ect. This attitude presupposes that the leader- ship of women's clubs is uniformly phoney. This is not a safe assumption. On* observation has recently been made which, if it is an accurate Indication, augurs trouble. At a recent luncheon conference the club- women who resented the glib use, by radio officials, of the word 'yammer,' to characterize their (the women's) complaints about kid shows, retorted ^at the 'yammering' of the clubwomen is increasingly finding a sympa- tiietlc echo in fathers. It is claimed that there's a tendency to schedule such discussions at night so that the old boy can get in his ideas. That ia a matter of another flavor, if true. It business men in their alter-ego as parents are convinced that some- thing ought to be done about radio programs for children, then the broad- casters had better lengthen their list of things to fret about. At least the restrictions now on the l>ooks should be ti^tened. There is indication that this is already the case (see NBC's new. regulations as reported in this Issue). Meanwhile parental complaints of uneaten cereals piled up, on pantry shelves, of Junior cadging coins to get 'giveaways' that can be purchased without a iMxtop in the local novelty store, does radio no good. Neither does it help when Junior doesn't get the right- article through a clerical error that can't be corrected. Nobody will perhaps worry that in the dim distant future a generation of lilds will grow up convinced that all advertising is boloney. WLW CITES LOSSESIN APPEAL Cincinnati, April 4. Piling Of a hrief Monday (3) with the U. S. District Court of Appeals in Washington was the final action by the Crosley Corp., in its latest legal step to restore the power of IITLW to 500,000 watts. James Shouse put in several days last week in Washington, going over and signing papers filed with the court by attor- ney Duke Patrick. One of the actions was a petition for supplemental release, pending the court's decision, from the FCC order which stripped WLW of its super power and cut it down to 50,000 watts, effective March 1. To support its claim, WLW al- leged actual losses of revenue, due to rate reductions granted time buy- ers because of the power cut, WLW is striving for an early decision from the court, which involves the ques- tion of the court's jurisdiction In the matter. mrs MY NAMEr AS AIIEN SUBSTITUTE Fred Allen will be replaced for ttie summer with the quizzer, 'What*s My Name?' when the comic retires for his 13-week vacation Jidy S. Deal was closed by Young & Rubi- cam in behalf of Bristol-Myers with the Rockwell-General Amusement Corp. Fred Uttel and Arlene Francis have the leads. 'Name' had a year's nm on Mutual . under the Philip Morris banner, and under B-M's sponsorship will pre- cede another quizzer, Kay Kyser's College of Musical Knowledge (Lucky Strike), giving the NJBC red (WEAF) link two consecutive hours of questions and answers Wednesday nights. Grabhorn's Added Chore Philadelphia, April 4. Murray Grabhom, national sales- manager for WFIL, will add to his duties sales promotion. Jerry Moore, former sal^s promotion manager, left recently. Grabhorn, who formerly spent all his time in New York, will now spend about two days a week in Philly. Move is designed to more closely coordinate sales and program departments. Joe Connelly, WPIL's p.a. will as- sist Grabhom on the promotion de- tailsL Probably No Bemie fime Holden Amerkan Tobacco Discounts on Safe Side It's doubtful whether American Tobacco will use a franchise holder for its Half-and-Half spot on CBS Sundays when the Ben Bernie show steps out June 25 for a summer lay- off. Account has piled up enough over-all billings for the year to re- tain the period as well as the full discount allowed by the network. Bernie and his troupe are slated to return to tiie network Oct. 1. Young & Rubicam has the program. KRAU1TERS, CROSLEY ALUMNUS, JOINS WCKY Cincinnati, April 4. Bolstering his biz staff, in prepa- ration for WCKY's power boost from 10,000 to 50,000 watts, L. B. Wilson, president, added Emerson C. 'Jim' Krautters in the new post of sales promotion manager Saturday (1). Krautters resigned a month ago as assistant general sales manager of WLW-WSAL He had been with the Crosley organization since 1930. Wilson expects installation of his new transmitter to be completed by around May IS. An NBC affiliate, WCKY took, on the net's 'Orphan Annie' series Mon- day (3) and gets its 'Hobby Xjobby* show AprU 26. Both programs are switches from WSAI. WCKY is now feeding four quar- ter-hour dance ' music programs weekly to NBC from the Hotel Gib- son, in which the station has its Cin- cinnati studios and main office. Lee Shelley's orch is current at the Gib- son. NBC GHIILK-LIS Detailed Must Nots Reduced to Clear-Cnt Written State- ments for First Time— After a Period of Opinion- Canvassing Will Bec<Hne Official Code IT'S BROAD NBC for the first time (see follow^ ing page) has incorporated all its program standards and policies in a single printed compilation. The com- pilation, in mimeographed form, has been sent around to a group of agen- cies for private examination and comment After these comments have l>een sifted, the booklet will be revised and put to press. Copies will be distributed not only to the trade but to the network's mailing list of educators, publicists, statesmen, of- ficeholders and pressure group lead- ers. In the past the network has kept its advertisers advised of program standard or restriction changes through either personal letters or mimeographed run-offs. The net- work now feels that the time has come for these policies to be knit into and summarized into a single work, so that advertisers and their agencies will have clear-cut rules to go by. The restriction phase of the book- let is preceded by a lengthy treat- ment of the formative l>ackground of the network, its relations with affili- ated stations, the functions of its ad- visory coundl and its obligations to the listening public. The preface also includes a review of NBC's policies on special events, religion, education, government and politics, labor, -agri- culture; women's programs, chil- dren's programs and sports. After explaining in detail the net- work's position on controversial sub- jects, the mimeographed booklet tells about the NBC rules on submission of continuity, discussion of pending litigation, appeals for funds, and point-to-point communications. There foUows a thorough expatiation on advertising standards, contests and offers, medical accounts, standards of acceptability, unacceptable business and children's programs. NEW FRONTS TOCOLUMRIA BLD6S. Bootb Vice Walker For Qidz Show Hoke Milton Biow agency has decided June Walker, legit actress, isn't hokey enough to handle scenes in a quiz program, 'Guess Where?', for Philip Morris cigarettes. Agency dropped her for Shirley Booth, who opened Friday (31) over Mutual. Fearing that the straight quiz fea- tures of the program won't stand up as entertainment, the agency wants to get laughs; the laughs are part of the 'clues' given serious-minded con- testants. Nydia Westman had orig- inally been lined up, even before Miss Walker. Ed Gardner is directing show in place of Jack Johnson, who took or- ders from Max Marcin. Falstaff Brewing Corp. of St. Louis has named the Chicago office of Sherman K. Ellis & Co. to handle its account CBS. will remodel the outside of its new acquisition, the old Juilliard School of Music building on 52nd street, as well as the interior. Net- work had previously decided to con- fine all alterations to the inside of the structure. Juilliard structure is around the comer from the web's home office, at 485 Madison avenue. Network will soon also start on the alteration work of the main floor of the Madison avenue building. The front entrance will be remodeled and the lobby will be widened so that a street floor, waiting room and in- formation booth can be set up. Dorothy KUgallen May Sub for Walter Winchell 'Dorothy Kllgallen, columnist on the N. Y. Journal-American, may replace Walter Winchell when he takes his vacation in July. Lenn'en Si Mitchell, agency on the Jergens account, is doing the dicker- ing. CBS Heartened, Sees Amos-An^ Endmg Monthly &oss Lag; Gross for NBC at UmM With the billings on the Amos 'n' Andy show (Campbell Soup) and its new summer policy serving as im- portant factors, Columbia expects to resume the leading position- in the time sales field within the next few after running consistently that way for 12 months. NBC last month (March) grossed $4,170,856, which is record high for any month in the network's history and 9.6% better than the March, '3S, tally. Columbia's time salei thii Chain Income from Time ^tks . NBC 1939 1938 January $4,033,800 (3,793,516 February 3,748,695 3,498,063 March 4,170,856 3,806331 Total $11,953,451 $11,008,400 CBS 1939 1938 January $2,674,057 $3,879,945 February 2,541,542 2,680,335 Marcti 2,925,684 3,034,317 Total $8,141,283 $8,594,597 MUTUAL 1939 January $315,078 February 276,605 March 306,976 Total $898,659 1937 $3,541,999 3,295,732 3,614,283 193S $2,681315 2,714,300 3,037,883 $10,452,064 $8,433398 1937 $2,378,620 2,264317 2359,716 193< $1,001,023 1309446 3,172382 $7302,653 $5,982351 1938 1937 $269,894 $213,748 293350 231386 232,877 247,421 $756,021 $692,455 months. NBC's red (WEAF) link has been ahead of CBS on gross hill- ings for 11 consecutive months. How much that $100,000 a month from the A & A serial means to CBS is indicated by the fact that Colum- bia's billings for the current week (the first in April) will be 16% bet- ter' than they were for the Uke month of April 1, 1938. It also means that CBS' downward curve has ended March tallied $2,925,684, or 3.6% less the network grossed for March, 1938. . Breakdown of NBC's March gross gave the red link $3,132,832 and thq blue (WJZ) network $1,038,020. NBC's previous record month was January, '30, when it grossed $4,033,- 900. Mutual garnered $306,976 this March, or 31.8% more than prevailed for the like month of 1938. Bert Lytefl to Address American Management; Bosiness Men^s Interest Bert Lytell will address the Amer- ican Management Assn. meeting in New York city next Wednesday, April 12. Organization is composed of men who guide company policy. Lytell was selected to give the en- tertainment viewpoint because his career has included stardom In dra- matic stock, silent films, Broadway legit, vaudeville and radio. His in- vitation bespeaks the increasing in- terest of business men in the lessons to be learned from the theatre world. LORILLARD SHOW TO NBC Larry Clinton Will Pliv Semstlen— Boilner West for Lennen A Mitchell Another half-hour of Lorillard's business goes to NBC this summer. Tobacco combine has signatured Larry Clinton through Lennen & Mitchell to plug Sensation cigarets on the red (WEAF) link (Mon., 7:30 p.m.), starting July 3. NBC gets Old Gold's Bob Bench- ely-Artie Shaw stanza May 21. Lat- ter show will with the shift go in for guest stars. Mann Holiner, Lennen & Mitchell radio director, moves out to the Coast with the OG cast this week. While in Hollywood Holiner will line up talent replacements for Woodbury's Sunday night dramatic show (NBC), from which Charles Boyer retires in July for 13 weeks. Intent is to keep the payroll on this show down during the summer so that bigger femme names can be l>ought to support Boyer next season. ECHOES HEARB IN HIATUS MOVES Columbia officials denied Monday (3) the report that the network's salesmen have been displaying con- fusion when asked by ad agencies to explain the meaning of certain phases of CBS' new summer hiatus and billings discount policies. Re- joinder of the CBS spokesmen was that the only confusion they knew of was that wtiich NBC salesmen during agency calls, were trying to create by distorting the intent <rf these CBS policies. Feeling at CBS is that NBC has placed itself in a strategic position by letting Columbia take the initia- tive in formulating a summer layoff policy which is closely interlined with year-around billings and dis- count structure.'NBC, it was pointed out, can now go out and make the- best bargains possible with its major accounts and use them as the basis of its own new summer layoff and discount policies. Axel Gruenberg of WWJ Joins Wright at NBC, CW Detroit, April 4. Axel Grucnbcrg. production man- ager at WWJ here for several years, will take a similar job with NBC, Chicago, starting April 17. His boss will be Wynn Wrigtit, former program chief at WWJ, who is now producing for NBC In Chi- cago. '