Variety (Apr 1939)

Wednesday, April 5, 1939 RADIO VARIETY SI Criticized^ Ad Manager Cancels Star-Times' KXOK Affected by Reprisal for Editorial About Airplane Manufacturers St. Louis, AprU 4. An editorial that criticized airplane manufacturers for recent air dis- asters caused the Chicago and South- ern Airlines, Inc., last week to cancel Its time contract with KXOK and also all advertising contracts with the St. Louis Star-Times Publishing Co. owner and.operator of the sta- tion. In a letter addressed to Elzey Roberts, publisher; Frank W. Tay- lor, managing editor, and John C. Roberts, general manager of the sta- tion the airline company said It would contract for no more space qr time imtil 'we are definitely sure that this policy has been changed.' The letter written by D. D. Walker, T.p. of sales for Chicago and South- ern said if the paper desired to criticize some Industry, or portion of that industry, they should make gome investigation before making statements such as those contained In the editorial. Copies of the letter of cancellation were sent to. execs of the TWA. Marquette Airlines, Inc., and American Airlines. 25 Discs Cut In 7 Days By Thesaurus NBC transcription division (The- saurus) has turned out 25 more shows. The Listeners Club,' for the Imperial Club of Canada, plugging Sweet Caporal clgarets. They're be- Ib; run off at the rate of Ave a week, \»ith 150 made to date. The 25 were produced In seven days with Oscar C. Turner directing. New series iscludes Peter Donald, m.c. and scripter; Joe Lilley's Whis- pering Choir, Landt Trio, Quintones, Fimnyboners, Carol Weyman, Harry Breuer's orchestra, Toscha Nam- rowd'a Gypsy ensemble and Mary Eastman with Joseph Meresco's' or- chestra. Call for Screwballs A. E.' Nelson Is arranging a novelty giveaway reminiscent of .the famed Eight-ball club. Doc Rockwell's Brain Trust Foimda- tion, over the NBC blue Tues- daysi Is to give away lapel dec- orations, making them screw- balls. ' He had to get Grover Whalen's permission, as the insignia is a tiny screw which Is not unlike the World's Fair perlsphere and tryloa Petry Opens m St Louis Chicago, AprU 4. Ed Petry rep firm will open a St Louis branch shortly, with George Kercher of the local staff hopping down to take charge. St Louis, like Detroit will be sup- ervised out of Chicago under the general eye of Ed Voynow. HILLBILLIES SCRAM Demand for ITS InltiatloB to Cleans Oat PhlUy AFM Philadelphia, April 4. HlUbiUy menace, bane of legit mu- sicians in more westerly towns, is negligible here since the tmion stopped differentiating between them and ordinary tooters and demanded they carry cards. Only a few are now operating in this territory, rest having been forced to climb upon their mules and scram rather than pay the $75 initiation fee. MDWESOTA NETWORK FILES AREA ANALYSIS St Paul, April 4. Minnesota Network has issued Its first piece of comprehensive promo- tion since the formation of the group. It's in the form of a file holder and contains detailed info as to cover- age, population, retail sales, and spendable income. There is also a technical analysis of each outlet Stations in the new link are KSTP, St Paul-Minneapolis; KROC^ Rochester'; HYSM, Mankato, and KFAM, Saint Cloud. Blcbard W. Oamer, formerly with H,' W. Kastor, Chicago, now promo- tion manager of WSAI, Cincy. 'Not MentaUy Unsound, JustRadio Fan' Relatives Fight Aged Lady's Bequest of $500 to An- nouncer Bill O'Connell G. W. Hill Defied Regina, Sask. April 4. Livestock auctioneers can spiel faster than George Washington < Hill's Lucky Strike tobacco yodeler. So claims Don Wright CJRM production chlet after putting Dave Runlde, auctioneer, on the air from Reglna Winter Fair during a hog sale. ZENITH'S Q.T. ON VISIO CompMiy Dislikes Pabltolty—It Harts Badio Set Saler Chicago, April 4. Zenith radio firm put on a tele- vision broadcast last week, but dem- onstration was kept strictly within the firm, going only Into the homes of the executives and the engineers. Zenith has kept news on televi- sion broadcasts down to an abso- lute minimum since they have dis- covered that on the day any big story breaks on television the sales of radios drop approximately 10%. Boston, April 4. Bequest of $500 by a Boston woman to Bill O'Connell, radio an- noun(<er for the Yankee and Colonial Networks was contested 'in court here last week on the grounds that the woman, Mrs. Agnes Mae Watson of Dorchester (Boston), had 'ao-. quired an overwhelming passion, af- fection and . love' for the an- nouncer. Will was contested by a cousin of Mrs. Watson who died last June, aged 03. Counsel for plaintiff main- tained the woman suffered hallucina- tions, that she once imagined O'Con. nell was coming to Sunday dinner, and that she slept with a letter from the announcer under her pillow. Counsel for the beneficiaries coun- tered that she was not mentally un- sound, but 'merely a radio fan.' Capitol Family the Oldest. . Capitol Theatre Family Hour,, now the oldest program on the air, cele- brated Its 852d week on the radio last. Sunday (2).. • • Major Edward Bowes still Is at the. directorial,helm.. WIP SIGNS WITH ACA Stenoia Betnse to Join Union But Its Partly VerUeal Philadelphia, AprU 4.- Contract giving the entire WIP staff minimum raises of 10% la be- ing readied for signaturing this week between the American Communica- tions Association, CIO, and Ben Gim- bel, Jr., prez. Tenner takes In an- nouncers, engineers, production men and porters, including 31 of the out- let's 56 employees. Stenos and other help refused to join the ACA and come In under the agreement Biggest wage tilts go to the gab staff, whose basic pay. has ' been upped from $20 to $30 a week, with Incrteses of $1.50 a week every six months. The raise (not the wages themselves) la retroactive for two years. That means' a $6 raise Imme- diately for some employees plus an additional $5 a week that aU the spielers are getting. Panelmen already had a pact and got only slight Increases, lite two production men got flat lO^and the porters $2' a week. ' " ~* ACA has commenced bargaining with Westinghouse for a pact for Kyw engineers. Month-to-month agreements, which was as far as the company would previously go, were discontinued' tltfee months ago. Regular signed contract will be sub- stituted. ACA represents only the panelmen at KYW. Political upheaval in Camden, N. Ji has made bargaining by the ACA almost impossible for employees of WCAM. Outlet is munidpally- owned. Agreement must be reached with the mayor an^ director of pub- lic safety, but the union is having difficulty in finding who Is officially holding those positions. Unless there is a clarification shortly, an appeal to the National Labor Relations Board is planned. Dlokson & Ford is new name of Hadlo Publicity Advertising Agency of Toronto. Rowland Ford, formerly of CJOR, Vancouver; Roy Ward Dickson is producer of Nova-Kelp's quiz, 'What Do You Know?', now funning on 22 Canadian stations. Acknowledged Leader in the Field THE 1939^40 VARIETY RADIO DIRECTORY will surpass previous editions In the presentation of new and interesting and necessary research. 1.200 Pages 2/3 Actuol Size NEW YORK 154 W. 46th SL • CHICAGO 54 W. Randolph HOLLYWOOD 1708 No. Vine St LONDON . 8 St. Martins PL Trafalgar Square ADVERTISING RATES Full page............ .$175.00 Half page 90.00 Quarter page 50.00 Bleed, per page, extra.. .$25.00 Color, per page, extra.. .$25.00 (These rate* are not)