Variety (Apr 1939)

Weddesdaj, April 12, 1939 RADIO VARIETY S5 Less Business, More Music Washington, April 11. Federal Communications Commission has just discovered that the less business a station does the more is it apt to broadcast music. The finding is part of the FCC poUcy committee's final report which was released last week in two massive mimeographed volumes. The committee's analysis of music uses is based on the schedules of 633 stations. Although music comprised 52% of the time on these out- lets, commercial programs accounted for only 12% of it Probe dis- closed that on the Sverage 50,000-watter 20% of the commercial hours is devoted to music, while on the strictly local station the proportion of music among sponsored programs is 43.4%. The committee also found that with the high-powered stations dramatic programs dom- inated by far the commercial schedules, 39% of the whole, while variety programs came third, talks and dialogs fourth and news fifth. With the local element the order was (1) variety; .(2) talks and dialogs, and (3) news. Dramatic program in proportion ran far behind ilews. Also brought to light by . the committee was that the proportion of revenue producing time varies according to power. The unlimited 50- Idlowatters sell 53% of their time, regionals 38% and full-time local stations, 27.9%. Other conclusions drawn in the report are: 1. Program types are affected by population. In the metropolitan area they prefer drama to music. Z Network affiliates use less music than non-affiliated stations, with dramatic and variety programs dominating the former's commercial setup. On the whole the network outlets devote 46.8% of their time to music. With regional stations it's 52.5% music and with strictly local stations, 59.9%. BACKGROUND BUZZ WEST Jack Reed, Robert Bagley and Charles Barrows of the KROW, Oak- land, sales staff, off payroll Russ Tols has been named sales promotion jnanager of WTMJ, Mil- waukee. Madeleine Carroll set for series of guest shots on Kellogg Circle. Phil Stewart doing two conuner- cials on Coait, soap and dog food. Edgar Tidwell named production manager of KGB in San Diego. Ditto for Robert Boyd at KDB, Santa Bar- bara. SOUTH LvWfeU Bbncbard, program di- rector at WNOX. back to Knoxville after a swing through the southern training camps of the ball clubs. Gene Marshall, for past two years one of the voices of Paramount . newsreel, has joined the gabbing corps on WTAR, Norfolk Va.- He was fom.erly on WIP, Philly. Ewing Canaday, recently with KWKH-KTBS, Shreveport, is a new member of the KARK. LltUe Rock, announcing staff, replacing Doug Romaine who shifts to KTSA, San Antonio. MIDWEST WLWs Boone Couitfy Jamboree, big hillbilly opry, feeds to Mutual's coost-to-coast network on Fridays, 10 to 10:30 pjn, EST, starting this week. Alan Hale, WISN, Milwaukee, cportscaster, is at the Brewer train- ing camp at Ocala, Florida, spend- ing a few weeks with the Milwau- kee Ball Club. Studios at Station WDAF, Kansas City, are undergoing remodelling currently. Manager Dean Fitzer got the work under way last week. Dick Bray, WSAI, Cincinnati, aportscaster, signed last week to of- ficiate at the Notre Dame-Navy grid clash in Cleveland next fall. He is the youngest official in major col- FIRST IN OETHOIT Every audience aur- vey cverjmadc in tlic Detroit Market ■howti that WSffJ i* first in listener tereit. Otntd 0ul C^xntfcd ty 'VnUiy SttwwunMt Awtri, tli$ MtU KU Uttwrk Utiltm bpnMAhJ NalJcuHr by Gee. f . HeWagbery Co. N*w Yefb CMua«: IMreUt ■Uoui Criy: Sm FrmdM*: Aibnlt lege snorts and has worked Big Ten and Western Conference football and basketball games for several years. Sbttery. program director, .f*-^^' op the sholf due to a back ailment K^t^r.^"^' "'•islcal director. KFRU, Columbia, Mo., wedded. SIGNS WNBF, BIMGHAMTON American ComniinlcaUoiis Assn. Sets Deal With 3» Day Cancel CUnse American. Communications Assn., CIO union of radio technicians, signed a contract Monday (3) with Howitt-Wood Radio, owners of WNFB, Binghamton, N. Y. It Is a continuing agreement, which may be terminated upon 30 days' notice by either party and subject to revision April 1 annually. Pact calls for a closed shop, hiring through the union, a stipulation that workers will not have to pass through a picket line in case of strike, 40-hour week, with time and a half for overtime and $1 'extra for dinner if employed more than- 10 hours a day, no layoffs, $5 a week wage increases, seniority rights, technicians to make up Uieir own operating schedule, sick leave with pay, two weeks' vacation with pay, seven cents a mile traveling ex- penses when on business, seven holi- days a year (with a proviso that five may be held over by the employee to be added to his regular vacation). Victor Brewing Co. (Old Shay Pil- sener) has signed with WCAE, Pitts- burgh, for three 15-minute sports shows weekly through baseball sea- son. One's a musical session, another is a quiz between fans and experts and third an inside sports story by Harry Keck, sports editor, Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. All of them spotted through and being staged by Earl Bothwell agency. William. Kestka, ex-Fawcett editor, succeeds Pete Street as NBC's liter- ary liason. 500 Pages of FCC Mimeograph Completes Policy Report; 12-Mondi license Plan Gets Further Push Washington, April 11, Stronger reasons, bolstered with statistics, why a one-year license is imperative, why super-power should be kept on. the shelf, and allocation system should be changed v/w given the FCC last week by Its poUcy committee. Second part of the voluminous report bn the June hearings about rule changes paves the way for oral arguments and pro- mulgation of new formulas and regtdatory principles.. . In explaining how it reached con- clusions announced four months ago, the trio—Commissioners Norman S. Case, George Henry Payne, and T. A. M. Craven—digested the moun- tain of evidence in a 500-page, two- section document containing scores of charts and ti^bles which give an interesting picture of the industry. Steps to protect newspapers from the injurious effects of unlimited radio competition may have to be taken by the Federal Government, the. report suggested. ''It cannot safely be argued that Congress will permit radio licensees unlimited opportunity to secure all advertising business to the serious detriment of the economic structure of important and necessary services rendered to the puUic by unlicensed media,' the report said. It cannot be concluded safely that if radio competition with other media should be highly successful, the public In- terest would be served by permit- ting the economic annihilation of these other media.* Stroncly Antti Superpower The committee's condemnation of superpower—for social and economic reasons—wa? even more complete than in the first part of the report. In a 20-page discussion of wattage possibilities, trio said the several considerations governing the inter- est of the public In general broad- casting structure are too great' to warrant taking speculative risks, un- supported by adequate data, even though It be true from a technical standpoint that 500 kw is one of the methods to improve service in rural areas.' Gimbels (Department store) goes on WWSW, Pittsburgh, 10 minutes every week-day morning with news broadcast under title of "The Latest Word,' with Ray Schneider doing the airing. Same studio has landed In- dependent Distributors of Fisk Tires In Allegheny County for dally news bulletin service, broadcasting only Important flashes as they occur. THANK YOU, LIFE. (April 10th Issue) —Texas IS Big —Texas IS Rich —Texans ARE Lusty —Texas HAS a Heroic Past —Texas IS an Empire —Texas IS Booming ... but you forgot to mention that 993% of its radio homes are reached by the Fourth Largest Network in the World! Test it in Texas ♦ • ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ • ♦ and sell AmericaV^ TEXAS STATE NETWORK ELLIOTT ROOSEVELT, President NEW YORK OFHCE 630 Fifth Avenue Frank S. -Fenton CHICAGO OFTICX 446 Wrigley BIdg. Edward Poro