Variety (Sep 1939)

Wednesday, September 6, 1939 RADIO VARIETY 25 WEBS CURB WAR COVERAGE FCC Suggests Curb Washington, Sept, S. A policy statement, suggesting officially that broadcasters exercise extreme caution in airing war news and check-rein interpretive com- mentators, is being drafted by the FCC. Official explanation of the FCC position is expected within next 24 hours. Chairman James L. FJy is working on reminder to licensees of their public interest obligations and probably will go over the ultimatum at tomorrow's (Wed.) meeting, first since he mounted the throne. Mean- while Neville Miller, president of NAB, and Fly, discussed the radio situation this afternoon. Various Government departments have been confabbing about radio, but industry leaders have been assured there is no thought of censor- ship at present. Suggestions from some administration sources that broadcasting industry promise to check aill rumors and tips with State Department before microphoning have been rejected as undemocratic.' Attitude Is to leave it up to the industry to use its own discretion, at least until station managers have shown their inability to cope with problems. Discouragement of rebroadcasting foreign reports, particularly British Broadcasting Corp. news summaries, is in prospect. Subtle hints already are being thrown out that this practice is liable to have impleasant consequences. No outright ban is anticipated, although NAB may make suggestions to members in friendly manner. All Pyiy Dailies Buy Spots, But Two Scribes Snipe at Radio's War News Philadelphia, Sept. 5. Just when everybody . thought things were hunky-dory between the dailies and radio stations, with every newspaper including the stodgy Eve- ning Bulletin using time to plug news, two of the city's leading col- umnists began taking potshots at the aircasters. No one knows whether there is anything significant at the way The Record's Charlie Fisher and the Ledger's Don Rose almost simultane- ously ripped into the way radio was presenting war news bulletins, but radio execs are openly resentful at the sniping. Fisher jeered at the way vital war news was interspersed between pro- grams. Rose the next day (31) ap- plauded Fisher's attack on radio as 'a good job of japing radio for its frantic efforts to act as public enter- tainer and bulletin board at the same time.' Rose added: ,'Its so-caUed ney/s bulletins are disordered and meaninglesis as a madman's dream. They are pieces of a jig-saw puzzle which nobody has time to put together and which wouldn't make sense if they did.' Every newspaper in the city has purchased spot announcements fol- lowing war news bulletins. Surprise to the industry was purchase of time by the conservative Evening Bul- letin, which had tabooed radio from the outset. Daily now is plugged over KYW and WCAU after each liews flash. WDAS plugs Ledger, Record and Daily News. WWJ News System . Detroit, Sept. 5. With listeners protesting oft-re- pealed war news cutting into regular programs, WWJ Friday (1) set up its own news-vending machine with help of NBC and Detroit News, sta tion's parent. Instead of airing numerous NBC flashes, as they came from New York studios, WWJ is cutting discs of 'em and then has Detroit News editorial men, experts on European situash, check up on bulletins and condense 'em. Once each hour, on the hour, ■ station airs condensed versions of happenings, thereby avoiding the hodge-podge of European news prevalent here for past two week^s, Keeping facilities attuned, of course, to any real news or official talks, which are thrown on air im- mediately. Station took big ads in three Detroit papers, announcing its decision, and pointing out WWJ would give news every hour from 6 to 2 a.m. daily. A Polish Victory Joseph Lang, general manager of WHOM, New York, announced yesterday (Tues.) that the Morn- ing German Hour had been in- definitely canceled, being re- placed by a Polish Hour. Former had been on station for five years. There are two other Polish hours on WHOM. No cominent was forthcoming from Lang or other station officials. SULLIVAN FLIES FOR EUROPEAN BACKGROUND GURIAILING HEAVY Organizing Clearance o f War Broadcasts on Set Schedule, But NBC, CBS and Mutual Won't Con- solidate Forces—Huge Ex- pense, Fear of Alienating Commercial Advertisers Prompting Restraint PROPAGANDA EVIDENT Shortly after President Roosevelt yesterday' afternoon (Tuesday) sig- natured the proclamation of Amer- ica's neutrality In the current Euro- pean war, NBC, Columbia and Mu- tual rushed Into a revision of their policies on war news coverage, with all three curtailing their broadcasts from Europe and eliminating any- thing that might be considered rumor bulletins. NBC cat down the number of pickups from Europe to four a day tor each of its links (red and blue), shut'down practically on all sustain- ing commentators ana limited Its bulletins to factual stuff at stated Intervals. Mutual did away with all European commentators, excepting in cases where they Indicate in ad- vance they have something of great Importance; also recorded foreign news broadcasts and limited its bul- letins to direct statements. CBS put' readjustments similar to NBC's into effect. H. V. Kaltenborn will be confined to two periods a week ex- cept when required for unusual de- velopments in the European situa- tion. CBC Schedule Back to Nonnd Militia Guards Chain Stations; Name Walter Thompson Censor NAB Launches Code Washington, Sept. 5. Moves to set up enforcement machinery for the ■ NAB code have been launched as result of the war excitement. Directors will huddle in Chi- cago tomorrow (Wednesday) to interpret declaration of prin- ciples and try to relieve some of resulting headaches. NEWS USTENING AT HIGHEST PEAK Louisville, Sept. S. Paul Sullivan, WHAS news com- mentator, who starts on a series for Brown & Williamson tobacco over CBS, Sept 24, flew to London Mon- day (4) for a two-week stay to gather European background. He was accompanied by his wife. Columbia's New York office has arranged for Sullivan to work along- side of Ed Murrow, chief of the net- work's London staff, and the former will likely participate in several broadcasts from that point. Sulli- van was anxious to visit Paris and Berlin also, but the CBS special events execs in New York doubted whether this could also be arranged because of transport conditions on the continent. NAB Rookies Washington, Sept.«5. Six newcomers have been admit- ted to NAB following the New York executive meeting two weeks ago. Rookies are KOVO, Provo, Utah; KVGB, Great Bend, Kan.; KDRO, Sedalia, Mo.; WJHL, Johnson City, Terin.; WMBG, Richmond, and WAPI, Birmingham. Explains Change Cincinnati, Sept. 5. Between plane changes here Thursday (31), Paul Sullivan, news commentator, was the subject of a four-minute interview in his mike bow on WCKY. Sponsored by the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., Sullivan has been newscasting on WHAS, Louisville, for several months, following his departure from WLW here. With the new time change he goes CBS network, simul- taneous with WCKY's transfer from NBC to CBS. L. B. Wilson, WCKY general man- ager, also had a pairt in the special program and stated that one of his chief purposes in making the net- work change was to return Sullivan's nightly programs to a Cincy station. Deutsch Leaving Hosp Percy Deutsch, head of World Broadcasting System, who's been ill since the latter part of July, leaves the hospital some time this week. He's been at the Harkness Pavilion, New York. Had a siege of pneumonia. American. networks have already begun to exercise some restraint on the madhouse pace that they have been leading since the European crisis came to a climax two weeks ago. NBC, Columbia and Mutual started working Monday (4) toward not only easing the bombardment of war broadcasts, but organizing the clearing of such programs and bul- letins on a set schedule. Reasons which prompted this move were (1) the mounting huge expense to which this coverage was putting themj (2) "the realization that indis- criminate overloading of the public ear might in time produce a reaction that would do serious injury to reg- ular listening habits, (3) the fear of alienating commercial clients by con- stant dislocation of the latter's sched- ules and (4) the need for easing up things for the network staffs before they started cracking under the strain .of long hours and sustained excitement. There was talk from one network over the past weekend of the three webs getting together this week to discuss ttie problems confronting them as the result of this war cov- erage, and to work out some method of co-operation. This same source not only suggested a collective un- derstanding as to non-competitive scheduling of war broadcasts, but proposed that the three networks consolidate their forces abroad so that the expense of coverage might be reduced. Indications yesterday (Tuesday) were that there was no chance of the latter course being adopted. Propaganda Seepin;; In Wide disagreement seems to pre- vail among the three webs as to the future operation of their commenta- to»s in Europe. Tlie managing head On one network declared Monday ihat he felt certain that within the next month or two there will be an end to all commentator broadcasting from the warring countries. He de- scribed the shutting down on Amer- ican commentators in Rome Friday night (1) as a signpost to what is bound to happen in Berlin, Paris and London. This web official stated that foreign government propaganda had already begun to stud in large measure the airings of these com- (Continued on page 32) Insofar as figures on listening compiled by the Cooperative Analy- sis of Broadcasting are comparable, there was approximately twice as much dialing to news of the current crisis as there was a year ago, when the Munich spectre was in the air. On Sept. 28, 1938, the day before the Munich powwow, one out of every six programs reported as heard by listeners was a newscast. This year, on Saturday, Aug. 26, when the European kettle was at full steam, 33.5% of all program mentions were for news—in short, one out of three stanzas heard was a report on the crisis. Elaborating on this angle, the cur- rent C.A.B. report states: 'Between August 24 and August 29 news broadcasts covering this fall's crisis accounted for 18,7 of all daytime program mentions and 27.2 of all evening program mentions.' The report also shows that during the period covered some 30 episodes of sponsored daytime serials were omitted, to make room for special news broadcasts. OLD GOLD MAY GIVE SWING 1ST COMMERSH Raymond Gram Swing, Mutual- WOR staff commentator, may get a sponsor. Lennen & Mitchell, agency on the P., Lorillard account, whose brands include Old Gold, Sensation and Briggs, has the proposition under consideration. The deal Would put Swing on a hookup. If Swing gets the assignment, it will be his first commercial. He's been on WOR for over three years. Red 8-10 P.M. Stretch Up 5% in New Rates New NBC rate card, issued today (Wednesday) and effective Oct. I, puts a 5% premium on certain red network time periods in the form of lower discounts. New system blocks off the 8 to 10 p.m. sector as a premium spot, and advertisers whose stanzas fall into this zon: will get 5% less discount than currently. New York time is used in these cal- culations and the lowered di.scounl applies to re-broadcasls as well as the original article. Of the 174 NBC stations, .16% have had their rates boosted;-i07<, have had them pared, and 74% remain where they were. Annual rebate meantime is increased from 10% to l?'/2% to give the clients who pass up the summer hiatus a break. Canadian Broadcasting Co. yester- day (Tuesday) advised Its New Tork reps that it had returned to normal far as Its programming otieratlons were concerned. It explained that it would broad- cast only war bulletins of Importance at systematized Intervals, and that Its main purpose was again to eoter- talu Its listeners. Censorship Starts Toronto, Sept. 5. With declaration of war, every unit in the transcontinental station chain of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. was placed under heavy mili- tary guard over the weekend, with extra precautions at the key high- power stations and the short-wave station at Ottawa, which is main- taining radio communication with the British Isles through BBC. Censorship plans for the Dominion were also completed over the week- end, with Walter Thompson named as Chiet Censor. Former public re- lations h^d of the Canadian Na- tional Railways was chief press liaison officer during the recent Royal visit, Telephone communication be- tween Canada and England has al- ready been severed except for offi- cial business. Appointment of the Chief Censor followed a weekend conference of Cabinet officials and Major Gladstone Murray, CBC g.m. Plans were not re- vealed in detail, but the Official Se- crets Act has been invoked. It is expected also that all radio licenses for shortwave sending will be can- celled for the duration of hostilities. CBC to O.O. Talks Montreal, Sept. S. Reports emanating from Ottawa indicate that all Canadian radio sta- tions are affected by a proclamation issued last week by the authority of the Governor in Council under the. War Measures Act. It is understood that broadcasters will now submit particulars of all talks in advance for approval of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. offi- cials. In line with this ruling, news fiashes and commentaries from the American chains were restricted last week on private as well as govern- ment stations. In future, no talks will be aired before approval is ob- tained by the CBC. Measure was taken to ensure elimination of talks of an infiammatory or alarming na- ture. Some sources, not government, have taken exception to interna- (Continued on page 30) TIME MAG BUYS SPOTS TO CASH IN ON WAR Because of the heavy listening percentage that radio was enjoying because of war news. Time maga- zine decided suddenly- last Friday morning (1) to go on the air that very evening with some minute an- nouncements plugging its current issue, particularly the stuff on the European situation. Time-buying department of B.B.D.&O., agency on the account, engaged in a fiurry of activity throughout the day, con- tacting station reps for available time and wiring out the spot an- nouncements to stations. Tlie busi- ness was placed with 34 stations. Rush orders such as Time's are rare in the business. The cost of handling that type of case usually means a loss for a station rep and the request is carried out strictly as . an accommodation. ' , Wally Sheldon, .<;pieler at WCAU, Philly, is making arrangements to have published a series of about a hundred comic cartoons of events behind the mike. He drew them in spare time between cues. IN NICK OF TIME Lynchburg, Sept. 5. Unlimited hours and increase in power couln't have come at a better time for WLVA here. Week after station went unlimited, war broke out and a 24-hour service was immediately put into effect. War bulletins are sponsored by a headache powder firm and a bank.