Variety (Aug 1939)

26 VARIETY RADIO Wednesday, August 30, 1939 Pug Says Dive Claim Is Worth ISOGFromWOL Washington, Au"Sa 29 Nalie Brown, veteran trial-lWse ^eavy\veigllt lighter, filed .$150.oJ elander suit Thursday (24) against" Station WOL, Washington, the Amer- ican Broadcasting Co., corporate owner of station, and Tony Wake- man, WOL sports spieler. Brown claims that Wakcinan told radio audience that Brown took a dive when he fought Tony Galcnto In Detroit Feb. 5, and that this state- ment injured him in 'good name, fame, credit and professional busi- ness.' Natie, whose chief claim to fame is that he once stayed 10 rounds with Joe Louis, states that he had fought in 233 bout's and that he had been put to sleep in only five of them, one of these occasions being in the fourth round at Detroit when Galento nailed him on the kisser with a ponderous left. Wakeman is '. acr cused in suit of saying that Brown took a dive on this occasion 'for a valuably consideration.' These words, if Wakeman said them, rang in Brown's cauliflower ears to the tune of $150,000, Natie and his lawyers, Charles Walker and Billy B. Cranberry, figuring that damage to his name was worth $75,- 000, and that he was entitled to an- other $75,b00 in punitive damages. Station's lawyer, H. Russell Bishop, denies that Brown ^as injured in any way by anything Wakeman said, ■ adding that WOL will contest the cuit. Wakeman denies having said aiiy of the things Natie charged him with caying. He declared that his state- ments on 'the Brown- scrap were quoted passages from Detroit news- papers, and that his script for that particular . broadcast had been checked by WOL officials, in ac- cordance with FCC regulations. Producer Assignments on Sponsored Programs PBOGBAM ACCOUNT AGENCY PRODUCER -CAMEL -RENEWS CBS _ DEAL FOR 3 SHOWS Artie Shaw •■ Old Gold Lennen & Mitchell... Mann Holiner Ask-It-Baskct '. .... .".Colgate-P-P ; Benton Si Bowles Theodore Ba rash Benny Goodman ,.., Camel William Esty Harry Holcombe Blondie '. Camel .William £sty Joe Donahue Burns & Allen. Hinds Cream William Esty , Joe Donahue Bing Crosby-Bob Burns Kraft J. Walt. Thompson. Bob Brewster Bob Crosby Camel William Esty.. Fen Fickett Bob Hope ... .Pepsodent Lord & Thomas..... Tom McAvlly Charlie McCafUiy '. .Chase & S. Collee J. Wall. Thon-vpson .Kal Kuhl Ed. G. Robeson Rinso Ruthfaurt &'Ryan.........Bob Rob.son :ed AJim.... .Ipana, .Young & Rubicam. Ben Larson en Only...... Vitalis Pedlar & Ryan ,,,,.Le.sterVail brd Symphony... Ford N. W. Ayer William Reddick Goodwill Hour Ironizcd Yea.st RuthraufT & R.van.,.. John Lovcton Good News Maxwell House Benton & Bowles. Don Cope Guy Lombardo Lady Esther Pedlar Sc Ryan Ted Sisson Horace Hcidt .Tums St.ick-Goble ..Ed Byron Hilltop House Colgate-P-P Benton & Bowles. Carlo D'Ahgelo Hit Parade Lucky Strike ...Lord & Thomas.. Tom Wells Hobby Lobby ..:Fels .......Young & Rubicam Henrik Booraem Hollywood Playhouse.. ..Woodbury Lennen & Mitchell. ;jay Clark I Love a Mystery...... Standard Brands! .J. Walt. Thompson Carlton E. Morse Inside Story....: Ralston ;.. ...Gardner .Clarence Men.ser Jack Benny Jell-O Young & Rubicam Murray Bodeit Joe E. Brown ...Post Toasties V...-Benton & Bowles... Don Cope Joc.Penner .Quaker Oats Sherman K. Ellis ....Lawrence Holconib Joyce Jordan. La France Young 8c Rubicam .Carol Irwin Kate Smith Hour Grape-nuts Young & Rubicam........Harry Ackerman Kate Smith (daytime) Calumet, etc ; Young & Rubicam. . .Harry Ackerman Kay Kyser... Lucky Strike Lord & Thomas Karl W. Schullinger Ken Murray............ , .Texaco ..Buchanan Ed Gardner Kitty Kelly... Continental Bak Benton & Bowies .Ken McGregor Larry Clinton..... Sensation ...Lennen & Mitchell Blayne Butcher Lum and Abner ;...Postum Young & Rubicam.. Bill Stuart Love Dr. Susan .....Lux J. Walt. Thompson Ed Rice Lux Theatre Lux J. Walt. Thompson.. Sanford Barnelt Major Bowes ......Chrysler Ruthrauff & Ryan. John Goi'don Martin-Kostelanetz Ethyl ....B. B. D. & O .William Spier Myrt 'n' Marge ..- Colgate-P-P Benton & Bowles Ken McGregor Mr. District Attorney. .....Pepsodent- Lord f Thomas Ed Byron My Son Sc I... Swansdown ..., Young & Rubicam Carol Irwin One Man's Family Chase fit S. Tea. ...J.-Walt. Thompson........John Crist Parker Family Woodbury .Lennen & Mitchell Edwin Wolfe Phil Baker. ; Dole .'.: Young &'Rubicam. Bill Rousseau Phil Spitalny ;..General Electric .B. B. D. 8i O... ....Homer Fickett Pep. Young's Family Camay .' Pedlar & Ryan ....Edwin Wolfe Playwrights Co., Texaco Buchanan Tony Stanford Road of Life Chipso Pedlar & Ryan Howard Keegan Sat. Serenade Pet Milk Gardner .' Holland Martini Sherlock Holmes Bromo Quinine Stack-Goble Tom McKnight Screen Guild Gulf ....Young St Rubicam Joseph Hill Silver Theatre... International Silver Young & Rubican Glenhall Taylor Strange as It Seems Colgate-P-P Benton Se Bowles Maurice Lowell Tommy Riggs .Quaker Oats Ruthrauff & Ryan.. Nate Tufts Tom Mix Ralston Gardner Clarence Menser The Shadow ;Blue Coal . .Ruthrauff & Ryan Bill Tuttle Those We Love Standard Brands J. Walt. Thompson ..Bob Brewster Vox Pop Penn Tobac Ruthrauff Sc Ryan Nate Tufts Walter Winchell :.Jurgens ..• , LrCnnen & Mitchell Blayne Butcher We. tbe.EeopItu^.,^ .j.. -iSanka ■_• - • • Yo ung & Rubicam Alex Stronach When Girl Marries Prudlential ... .7 Beriron~&"3owlcs."". ; .".7v;—Ken-McGregor Women of (Courage Colgate-P-P Benton Sc Bowles.. Maurice Lowell Walter O'Keefe. Lifebuoy ..Ruthrauff Sc Ryan.... Everard Meade U. S. Radio .Continued from page zs_ Camel has renewed its contracts with CBS-for the Benny Goodman, Bob Crosby and 'Blondie' shows, which obligation takes all three up to the end of 1939. William Esty is the agency. Hedda Hopper Heads H'wood Show for Sonkist Hollywood, Aug. 29 Sunkist oranges will sponsor Hed- da Hopper, Hollywood columnist, in a thrice-weekly quarter hour pro- gram over the Columbia network. Program made up of film gossip and dramatization of picture stars' ca Teers is produced by Jimmy Fonda of Lord & Thomas. Series tees up late in October and airs from KNX at 3:15 p.m. on Mon- day, Wednesday and Friday. OHIO on. TAKES TUNE QUIZ ON NBC VIA WLW Cincinnati, Aug. 29. Ohio Oil Co. will sponsor WLW's new tune quiz program, 'Marathon Melodies,' which starts a series of Friday 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. airings Sept. 1, feeding to the NBC Blue net- work'. Stanza will feature Sylvia Rhodes and Steve Merill on vocals, and Jo- self Cherniavsky's orchestra. Jimmy Leonard will be the m.c. An audience show, quiz contest- ants will engage in a mythical city- to-city auto race while seated in miniature cars. Gilman Hnddles Seattle, Aug. 29. Don E. (jilman, v.p. in charge of Western division of NBC, slipped into town and held a closed round- table with member stations and ad- vertising agencies. H. M. Feltis, commercial manager KpMO-KJR, was chairman of the session. Gilman planed north to Vancouver after the session and returned here for a day en route home. Under- stood that Gilman gave the ad boys a Blue plug. WLW Hunts Grid Gabber Cincinnati, Aug, 29. Cecil Carmichael, ' publicity and special events director of the Crosley stations, has been in Chicago since Thursday (24) to audition and sign ohe of last season's all-American col- lege football players to broadcast color of gridiron games to be aired this fall by WLW. Crosley's SO.OOO-watter will orig- inate its own pigskin tilts, the series . to Include outstanding midwest and southern games, with Dick Bray as chief miker. YoDflg, Huston Join MG-less 'Good News' Hollywood, Aug. 29. Roland Young draws the spot va- cated by Frank Morgan on the 'CJood News' program. Walter Hus- ton is set for the m.c.ing. Connie Boswell, Fanny Brice, Hanley Staf- ford and Meredith Willson's orches- tra are holdovers from last season. Maxwell House goes' it alone this stanza without the studio aid- of Metro. Don Cope produces for Ben- ton & Bowles. Bentley Vice Johnson Lincoln, Aug. 29. John Bentley, Journal sports edi- tor, was subbed into the KOIL, Omaha, show of daily sports, for- merly featuring Harry Johnson, the KFAB-KOIL-KFOR sports gabber, who is ill. Johnson won't be back until well Into the football season. : Balph E. Keller, Jr., is now radio production manager of Zimmer- Keller, Inc., Detroit agency. His spot was formerly filled by LeRoy Pelletier. Crisis Skill .Continued from pace 2S_ and statesmen. Whereas NBC is do- ing the flashier job, Columbia's family group not only seems to get closer to the human element, but they sound as though they are pri- marily anxious to get to essentials quickly, avoid repetition and make the interpretation of past and im- mediate events as simple and in- cisive as possible for the ordinary listener. CBS is taking the added precau- tion of getting in telephonic com- munication with its coverage family just before one of those four-way hookups to inform them as to what had already been heard on its Amer- ican hookup by way of bulletins and home comment, CBS is also seeking to maintain a continuity of effort by putting on from each of these points; at home and abroad, the same staff personality, or his assistant. NBC's Edge As. the result of its own policy, NBC this time appears to have the immediate edge on listener person- ality impression. It is perhaps in no small way due to the limited role that CBS' No. 1 news analyst and commentator, Kaltenborn, has to play because of his confinement to one spot—London—while the going is hottest. He's due back in U.. S. Friday (1). Of NBC's sUble, those most frequently commended in 11s- tenei: conversation have been Wil- liam Hillman, INS, Iiondon; Wallace R. Deuel, Chicago Daily News, Ber- lin; Earl Godwin, • Washington staff commentator; Pierre Van Paassan, Paris; John Gunther, whose resume of the entire situation is one of the most scholarly and enlightening of all efforts; and Dorothy Thompson, whose militant attitude vs. Hitler has made her the top mail-puller of them all for NBC. Shirer, CBS' staff chief In Berlin, sounds frequently as though he is laboring under strain and re- straint. Louis Lochner, AP bureau head in the same capital, at least gives a freer impression. While less facile in speech than his col- leagues, Murrow In London always gets close to the dramatic and human element and furnishes an account which is clear and to the point. Grandin's reporting from Paris is likewise terse and telling. Elmer Davis fills in capably as Columbia's home-office news analysist and a sort of m.c. In the four or five-way hookups. It is interesting to observe that in practically every instance the broadcasters from abroad make note of the tinie over there, an angle which had been conspicuously over- looked, during the Sudetenland crisis. Troable's Tee-Off Bombardment of air dispatches from the troubled continent began Tuesday (22), and speedily reached its initial climax Thursday (24) with the reports of Premier Chamber- lain's speech to Parliament, the peace plea of Pope Pius XII and the mes^ sages of President Roosevelt lo King Emanuel, Chancellor Hitler and the Polish president. NBC went on a 24- hour arrangement Thursday, and rie- mained that way through Monday, while CBS stayed open all night Fri- day and Sunday and didn't shut down its wires Saturday and Mon- day until 3 a.m. For NBC the stretch was a record. Mutual distinguishes itself not only with the steady interpolations of comment by Raymond Gram Swing from New York and the broadcasts of John Steele, its.London chief, but with its recordings of news pro- grams, consistently of the inspired persuasion, sent out by various Eu- ropean powers. In these there Is also conspicuously lacking that hu- man interest which marked the mov- ing appeals from the beleaguered Czechs last year. Many of Swing's broadcasts are described In the trade as masterpieces of trenchant, satiric comment, but it is generally agreed that his style and manner have shot somewhat over the heads of the masses In this countrjr. the Commish, but headquarters is thoroughly aware of the danger that indiscretion may result in a painful rap on the knuckles. In the eveiit the U. S. is dragged into some foreign rumpus, there will be no reason for broad- casters to fret. They'll get orders from Washington. Under the 1934 law (Section 006), the President can issue an executive order veritably confiscating their properties. He also can use this power, but isn't likly to, if he feels that 'there exists, war, or a threat of war, or a state of public peril, or disaster, or other national emergency, or in ordci* to preserve the neutrality of the United States.' The whole legal situation puts a big burden on the industry. Partic- uarly in view of the first sentence of Section 606c and the possible com- mandeering of stations to 'preserve the neutrality' of this country. Since the U. S. is frowning at the Nazis and Fascists and is holding the torch for Democracy, only the strongest pressure can influence the Roosevelt Administration to make use of its dictatorial powers. Any flagrant case of partiality or failure to reflect the sentiment existing in official quarters may, however, have serious consequences for the whole industry. Can. to Control Indies, Censor, K War Comes Montreal, Aug- 29. Impression here among Canadian Broadcasters Corp. officials is that in event of war the Government will assume control and censorship of newscasts on all privately-owned stations, probably eliminating all news services excepting the Cana- dian Press, which is currently used on the Government stations. Move of this- kind would probably cut off Transradlo and other American sources now servicing Canadian ac- counts on private stations. War would automatically bring into effect plans which have been mulled by Government radio officials at various times in past. Canadian Press now furnishes government ra- dio network with a 'deferred'Inews service which is not opposition lo newspapers. Advertising agencies anH ctatintKi V» bvi» h^(>n_V.sing. either Transradio or British United Press, which provide last-minute copy, be- ing free of newspaper tieups- Movement was under way some time ago, following pressure from the Canadian Newspaper Publishers Assn. to force private stations to u.se a news service to be supplied by C. P." under supervision of CBC, which would have meant throwing American news services overboard to take the same 'deferred' servite In use by the Corporation. Indications are that aside from news control by CBC, private sta- tions would otherwise be. permitted to carry on as usual In event of war. CBC Stops V. S. Flashes Reports emanating from Ottawa are to the effect that CBC last week took ■ steps to kill all news flashes coming into Canada from the United States during exchange programs. Understanding is that CBC officials asked all American broadcasting companies to delete as many of the American news flashes as possible. This move k|jt news from the U. S. off the Government network only. Private stations continued accepting flashes. The government stations . carried nothing from American news com- mentators last week, preferring to use English sources and copy sup- plied by British Broadcasting Corp. Understanding is th^t CBC may ask the private radio stations here affiliated with American networks, to discontinue taking American news flashes. It's problematical, however, whether elimination of American newscasts on private Canadian sta- tions will have desired effect, since majority of Canadian receiving sets' in use are powerful enough to bring in American stations with a turn of the dial. Reported here that on his return from England, L. W. Brockingtbn. chairman of the board of the CBC, categorically denied tl^ BBC would determine radio policy in Canada in the event of an outbreak of hostili- ties. Brockington stated he had visited BBC headquarters to study television developments, and added that he had learned of some of the proposed plans to be adopted by BBC in case of war.