Variety (Sep 1939)

Wpilnrsday, Sept. 13, 1939 RADIO VARIETY 21 SELF- REGULATION ON WAR Agencies Fix Protection Mo6t of the major agencies in radio are protecting themselves and their clients trom liability in the 'event o( war by inserting such waiv- ers in their talent contracts. A few of them bega'h to insert the clausa after the Munich incident of last fall. In many instances, as options become due, agencies are asking that talent agree to the inclusion or pasting on of this rider. Several agencies are going beyond the war angle to reduce the po- tential liability of their clients. They are writing in act-of-God, strike, sabotage, plant-destruction and all other bcyond-the-client's-control clauses. Provision is also being made in the new contracts to allow for cancellation of talent contracts in the event the Government fixes prices to the point that the sponsor's proAt is seriously curtailed. FCC Orders WMCA to Defend License; Hii^es on Decors FCC INFORMALLY OK'S NETS' CODE Gov't Tacitly Agrees to Let Broadcasters Solve Own Coverage Problems, Rather Than Dictate — Neville Miller and Webs' Reps Ask for Consultation in Event Special Rules Are Contemplated War May Pare ASCAP Importance At NAB Confab; May Ask Pledges Up to $1,750,000 for Music Plan Washington, Sept. 12. First instance of Federal stick- waving at broadcasters as a result of European war coverage came today (Tuesday) in the form of a citation ot WMGA, N. y., to show cause why its license should not be revoked for violations of the Federal Com- munications Act, Complaint formally filed by the Commish grew out of news reports and Irade gossip that WMCA picked decoded and aired messages by Gei-n\an and British governments to tlieir forces. An investigation or- dered by the FCC will result in a hearing to determine if the Com- municalions Act was actually vio- lated. Action is based on provisions of a 1934 law prohibiting unauthorized publication of intercepted messages. Alleged illegal interception of mili- tary and naval orders is charged, following scrutiny of WMCA adver- tisements and stories claiming the station picked up code instructions, had an expert decipher them and used the info as war bulletins. Another possible headache for WMCA has been suggested. If the hearing develops that the station did not violate the Communications law and the claims are exaggerated, olher Federal bodies, notably the (Continued on page 28) War Causes President To Cancel Radio Talk To Democratic Women Washington, Sept. 12. One effect of the European tilt is the cancellation of President Roose' velfs scheduled political talk Satur- day (16) to Democratic women. Pol- icy angles must be considered Iroin now on. Because 'national unity' is more Important than party morale, the President Thursday (7) called off his microphone appearance, carded by all three webs. Fearing that no mat ter how innocuous, any statement into which political or diplomatic meaning might be read would be scareheaded overseas. Remainder of the program will go on, with Mrs. Roosevelt as the chief attraction. Others include Josephine Roche, former assistant secretary of Treasury; Florence Kerr, assistant WPA administrator, and Mrs. Ellen Woodward, of the Social Security Board. In changing his mind, the Presl dent remarked that 'a week ago I might consistently have spoken words primarily addressed to our Democratic women, But the events of the past few days render it im- perative that every utterance ot mine in Ihe.s-e days of tension be ad- dressed, to all of our citizens.' THEATRE SERVICE WBT, CharloUe, Furnishing News Discs for Film Aadlences Charlotte, N. C, Sept. 13. The WBT news staff is serving theatregoers, anxious for European developments, sine* the war began. Three-minute discs are made of the latest news twice nightly and rushed to the Carolina and Imperial film theatres, where they are played during the 7 and 9 p.m. intermission's. FCC TO PROBE WJR'S ALLEGED COUGEINBIAS Kaltenborn to Lecture Albany. Sept. 12. H. V. Kallenborn is booked for Seplember lectures, one under spon- sorship of the City Club here, irt au- ditorium of Albany High School, Sept. 28. Columbia commentator spoke be- fore a capacity audience in Chancel- lor's Hall here last winter, and also ill nearby Troy. He broadcast be- fore ihe talks in both cities. . . Detroit, Sept 11 Probe of charges that WJR can- celled an anti-Father Coughlin speech, skedded to be given by Rev, Walton £. Cole, of First Unitarian Church, Toledo, will b* undertaken immediately by the Federal Com- munications commish, according to T. J. Slowie, FCC secretary. Speech, skedded for Aug. 30, was cancelled by WJR because it con- tained a bla.'^t at Father Coughlin's pro-Nazi preachings, it was charged by Rev. Cole. Talk, first of a series sponsored by Unitarian Fellowship for Social Justice, wai given as scheduled over CKLW here and indie hookup. In telegram to FCC, Rev. Cole de- manded FCC 'take the necessary ac tion" to force WJR to 'afford equal opportunity' to both sides of con- trover.'tial questions, 'or that its li cense be revoked.' WJR is originat ing station for Father Coughlin's in- die hookup of about 60 stations on Sunday afternoon.s. In letter to Rev. Cole, Slowie said: 'Insofar as your complaint states WJR is acting as a vehicle for one sided propaganda, rather than for free discussion of controversial sub- jects, it will be investigated by this commission and the incident de- scribed considered as it may bear ■upon whether WJR is operating in the public interest.' In absence ot Leo J. Fitzpatrick, general manager of WJR, who's out ot town, Owen Uridge, assistant g.m. ot station, refused to comilient on the letter. CBS UNHAMPERED Washington, Sept. 12. Tacit agreement to let broadcasters attempt to solve war coverage prob- lems through voluntary control, rather than government dictation, was reached yesterday (Monday) at parley between an FCC special committee and industry heads. With both sides claiming no complaints or criticism were pondered, conferees reported a general understanding that no official interpretations of ra- dio's obligations will be attempted. The adoption of policies and prac- tices will be left to the discretion of licensees. Industry contingent, headed by Ne- ville Miller and including spokesmen for three national chains—NBC, CBS and Mutual—surged the commission to consult them if any special rules or proclamations were contemplated. A plea was entered that the Commish take no steps which would punish bulk of industry in- the event some individual station commits offenses or exercises poor judgment. No promises were made, but com- mitteemen indicated they will first try negotiations if question of mis- conduct arises. Possible action against WMCA, New York, was im plied, however, as regulators brought up an advertisement claiming the station had decoded foreign messages and given its listeners low-down not available from other sources. Chain execs assured Commi.sh their (Continued on .page 34) B. O. TipofF On the well-founded grounds that expenditures for entertain- ment are an index of community earnings plus desire to spend, sponsors and agencies are urged to examine the Picture (Crosses printed each week in VahietV. These appear this week on pages 9-M. Reports on most cities are pre- faced by a lead-off explanation enabling the uninitiated to difer- entiate between theatre attend- ance as the result of community well-being, and attendance as the result of exceptionally strong film product. IRNA CONSIDERS HIRING OWN CHIEF Chicago, Sept. 12. Independent Radio Network Affil- iates meeting in Chicago this week is considering engaging a salaried executive to head the organization, despite the fact that the. NAB has its own paid president. The advo- cates of the idea feel that the em- ployment of such person would help strengthen the conduct of the or- ganization. It has been fo„und practically Im- possible to get the station owners allied with this igroup within the NAB to sit through meetings, or to arrive at definite decisions on vari- ous problems which have arisen. The IRNA executive board now feels that the establishment of a paid of- ficer with an office force would bring the IRNA members full-time guidance. No particular person has been mentioned for the proposed post by the IRNA in their airing of the subject. Transradio Blasts Other News Agencies for False War Reports Jimmy Cannon Heads Lord & Thomas PnbUcity .Jimmy Cannon has been named head of the Lord 4c Thomas radio publicity, department in New York. Cannon previously was a copywriter for the Kudner agency, and prior to that was with Hearst's N. Y. Amer- ican. Replaces Herb (Illover, out on ac- count ot lengthy illness. Transradio News Service, In a note to station clients last week, warned them against falling for the scarehead war news sent out by the other press associations. The note was rated in the broadcasting trade as the most sizzling blast of criticism that one news collecting agency has directed against another since news became a staple commodity in the business. By inference, the note lectured the other news associations fur lending themselves to 'rumor mongcring' and 'irresponsible reporting.' The note, in part, read: 'Virtually every newspaper in the country yesterday carried enormous banner headlines reading: 'First Great Battle!' 'Guns Roar on Western Front!' 'French Break Through!' 'News—or what purported to be news—of a great battle on the French-German front was carried by every major press association except Transradio Press. No such battle has yet been fought obviously was the product of some one's imagination, and in all prob- ability the product of the imagina tion of newsmen, since to date none of the services which carried the 'news' of the battle has been able to attribute it to responsible sources of information. •The dnly basis cited for these re- ports was embodied in the official communiques of the French general staff. The first said the French had begun 'operations.' The second and last communique of yesterday—is- sued after the vivid stories ot a great battle were in print—said the French had made 'contact' with the German forces. 'There was nothing erroneous in the French communiques. The only error was the obvious misinterpreta- tion of them and the desire to cre- ate more sensational news than was legitimately justified. 'One service went so far as to quote an 'official communique' is- sued by the French general staff, as- Chicago, Sept. 12. European war coverage may de- velop into an important topic ot dis- cussion at the two-day convention of the National Association ot Broad- casters, starting Friday (15), at the Edgewater Beach hotel, even though the main issue will be the Ameri- can Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Despite the agree- ment of the three major networks as released by the NAB in Washington, Monday (yesterday), the indie sta- tion operators feel that their own local problems on the subject of war news, or sentiment regulation, should be aired while they are gathered here. One person that appears to have the broadcasters worried in this con- nection is Father Charles Coughlin. They want to retain the business that his broadcasts entail and also steer clear of any censorship en- tanglements, but there is always the tear that the Detroit cleric may say something which . will provoke a serious reaction. Because of this situation, the broadcasters may go beyond the webs' agreement and adopt further self-regulating meas- ures in the hope of averting any prodding from the direction of Washington. Talk on the ASCAP issue will cen- ter around the plan for broadcast- ing to develop its own reservoir of music as drawn up by Sidney Kaye, special NAB copyright counsel and also CBS staff lawyer. It is ex-. pected that the assembled broad- casters will be asked to pledge them- selves to contribute to a fund re- quired for the execution of Kaye's plan, with ' the estimated figures ranging between $1,250,000 and $1,- 750.000. The NAB leaders believe that their only salvation is the de- velopment of tax free music, or tha outright purchase of sorne estab- lished catalogues, which possessions will give them a strong bargaining position in dealing with ASCAP. Other ideas of strategy in handling the matter of a new ASCAP licensing agreement will also be pre- sented. Preliminary to the meeting of the NAB membership- on the ASCAP issue, the steering committee of the association's sales managers division will huddle at the Palmer House to- morrow (Thursday) for the purpose of discussing future methods of co- operation between the division and the NAB's Bureau of Radio Adver- tising. Latter will have on hand Ed Kirby, public relations director; Paul F. Peter, research director, and Sam Henry, recent addition to the bureau. Steering committee consists of Craig Lawrence, KSO-KRNT, Iowa Network, chairman; Frank Bishop, KFEL,, Denver; L. H. Avery, WGR- WKBW, Buffalo; Charles C. Caley, WMBD, Peoria; K. W. Church, KMOX, St. Louis; William R. Cline, WLS, Chicago; E. Y. Flanigan, WSPD, Toledo; Pumell Gould, WFBR, Baltimore; Herb Hollister, KANS, Topeka; J. Buryl Lottridge, WHO. Des Moines; William W. War- ner, WAAB, Boston. 'Up to this time, the most reliable ' sorting: advices indicate no engagement ot ' 'Attacking with traditional brav- any sort has taken place. The Ger- ery and elan,' said the communique, man version was that Up to 3 a.m.,!'the French troops penetrated the today (Tuesday, 5), not a .shot had ; German lines at a dozen points, ad- been fired on the western front, and j vancing as much as three kilome- there is still no real evidence to in- dicate that one has been fired up to the present moment. ters.' •This 'communique' appears to have been 'exclusive' with the serv- The 'news' of yesterday (Monday) Ice which carried it.' Powel Crosley, Already In Radio and Baseball, Also Goes for Football Cincinnati, Sept. 12. Having done all right in baseball as principal owner and president of the Reds, pre:;ent National league pennant-chasers, Powel Crosley, Jr., head of WLW and WSAI, last week took a flyer in football by acquiring a financial interest in .the Bengals, Cincy pro team, which made a great record last year in its first season. Bengals will play two Saturday night and several Sunday afternoon games at Crosley Field, the Reds' park. Airings are to be exclusive oa WSAI.