Variety (Sep 1939)

WctliiffMlay, Sept. 20, 1939 RADIO VARIETY 87 COUGHLIN NOT OKAY WITH CANADA Detroit, Sept. 19. Although the amenities have out- wardly been ob.served, and the with- drnwal of the Father Coughlin- Idenlifled Social Justice programs from CKLW, Windsor, Ontario iacro.<;.<: the river) have been an- nounced here as a case of the priest not wishing to 'embarrass the sta- tion,' there seems no question that Canada has classed Coughlin as pro- Nazi. The fadeout was on a clear hint. Coughlin has often denied the charge of favoring German philos- ophy. Largely based on his quota- lions from Nazi documents and his attacks oh 'Jewish bankers,' all of which is Nazi stock-in-trade, the im prc-sion has been strong that he harbored such sentiments despite de- niiil!^. Canada has seemingly taken this view officially. Coughlin him- self is a former Canadian. Al.so cancelled was the .series of WMkly broadcasts by Rev. Walton E. Cole, sponsored by the Unitarian Fellowship (or Social Justice, who look his anti-Coughlan speeches to CKLW two weeks aao after WJR here had refused to air his 'personal'. atUick.';. .'^though the FCC promised the Rev. Cole an Investigation of his char};ps that WJR permitted only one side of a controversy, WJR of- fioiiils pointed out that FCC's letter tp Rev. Cole advi.sed that he take his trouble to court if a contract had been broken, and that the letter as- serted slalions are required to offer facilities to both sides only in a po- litical campaign. WJH declared that it had no contract with Rev. Cole and that it did not permit his broadcast because o( its 'personal attack' phase. WJR is originating station for Coughlins regular Sunday aft- ernoon programs, which are unaf- fected by cancellation of the Social Justice's broadcasts on CKLW. Social Justice's early evening pro. grjun over CKLW was devoted to current news and editorial comments approved by Coughlin. CKLW offi- cials explained that wartime censor- ship impo.sed by the Canadian gov- ■"(f'iTmYfftTTTqxrtred-ttKrt-the-scripts-of- thc Social Justice programs be sub- mitted to government ceiisors in Ot- tawa before each broadcast. Also cancelled was half-hour daily BttenToon program, sponsored by the Social Justice magazine, and de- voted to 'homey' philosophy and recitations. Coughlin said that 'So- c|ar Justice did not want to become i'mplicaled in any controversy now that Canada is at war and for that lea.son, out of courtesy to CKLW, the program.'! were cancelled. We did not want to embarrass the station.' Croghian New Sales Mgr. (St WJBK; Altschider In Detroit, Sept, 19. Art Croghan, formerly of WTOL, Toledo, and Minneapolis, becomes tales manager at WJBK here. Suc- ceeds Paul Y. Clark, who's been at station for past four years and for- merly held sales post at CKLW here. Stanley Altschuler this week took over liewly-created post of director of ctation'f foreign-language pro- grams, of which WJBK has many. Was with VfGY, Schenectady, for nine years prior to going to WJW, Akron, six months ago. Radio's Scoop Bloomingdale't on WOR Bloomingdale's dept. store in New ■York has bought the 5:45-6 p.m. slot on Macy-owned WOR, N. Y., Mon- day-Wednesday-Friday for tran- scribed series of 'Adventures of Fi- riocchio' produced by Radio Attrac- tions, Inc. It's set to start Sept. 25. Series is the first air time Bloom- ingdale's has bought. Washington, Sept. 19. Preview of the stiff competi- tion which will be waged during the coming months between radio and the press was given in Washington Thursday (14), when a radio newsman beat regular White HoUse reporters to the phones for a scoop on the President's announcement of the convening of the special session of Congress. Ralph Falvey, new addition to the WRC-WMAL news room staff, was responsible for the flash, which enabled NBC to put the news on the air before the press associations could get it on their wires. Special broadcast was made, few minutes later, over the shortwave and com- bined networks of the system, notifying members of Congress in all parts of the country that they must return to Washington and dust off their desks before Sept. 21. Free Stations of Clerical Load; Lighten Log Rules on Wax Washington, Sept. 19. Liberalization of the new log rule, relieving stations of the burden and expense of making scores of entries to cover programs made up of tran- scriptions, resulted last week from NAB protests that the FCC had in- sisted upon useless detail and might be playing into the hands of disc companies seeking to impose licensing system upon broadcasters. By two phraseology changes, the FCC yielded to the pressure, indi- cating a new attitude toward the in- dustry and a willingness to give fur- ther consideration to regulations which work a hardship on operators. As revised. Section 2.90(a) (2) now calls for only an entry which de- scribes the type of program, the title, the sponsor's name, and the time. In case of programs of re- I corded numbers—whether picked by the station or in packaged form—an additional note must show the time when the proper identification was made. The Commish dropped the words 'together with the name or title of each,' which has occasioned a rumpus and irritated managers of dozens of low-power and part-time stations largely dependent upon canned mu- sic. Previously, Secretary T. J. Slowie and Assistant Secretary John B. Reynolds had held the rule neces- sitated the listing of the title or some other indicative symbol from which the Commish could ascertain the particular piece played. Mark Warnaw pinch-directing for Harry Salter on 'District Attorney' and 'Hobby Lobby' bands while Salter grabs a vacation. Warnow also leads the Hit Parade band. Rrv. Cole Back Pittsburgh, Sept. 19. Station WJ.^S, which la.st week cancelled a .scheduled broadcast by the Unitarian Fellowship of Social Justice oppo.sing Father Coughlin, 'put the ovifanization back on the air tor the last talk in a six-week series following the circulation of thou- sands of petitions to the FCC assail- ing the broadcasting, outfit's stand. UFSJ's speeches were broadcast by Rev. Walton E. Cole, Toledo, who.se criticism of anti-Semitic statements by Father Coughlin were purported! lo be the rea.son for the WJAS ban. ; R. M, Thompson, manager of the i station, which regularly airs the ; Coughlin speeches, denied that the ■ petitions, carrying thousands of Klgrwturcs, had any bearing on WJAS' attitude toward Rev. Cole. Godwin Has New Orleans Insert on Pepper Show New Orleans, Sept. 19. Al Godwin will fill the local five- minnte period break on the new Dr. Pepper Mou.se Party, which was signed this week to run from Oct. 7 to March 20. Program will be 30 minutes orig- inating in WFFA studios at Dallas and piped to 'Dixie -Network' which add? the loe;il Columbia web outlet lor the show. WBYTE LEAVES WLW Cincinnati, Sept. 19. I King Whylei narrator on WLW's ' Moon River program in recent I month.s, has left the Crosley fold. He is a citizen of Canada and holds ( pilot's license, ' 159,299 Calls In 20 Markets To Assure You U MERCHANDISE-ABLE COVERAGE! WLW's NisKttime Half Millivolt 50% Contour extends over approximately half the entire United States. Yet, that fact alone may suarantee little in actual "circulation", because it tells you little or nothing about the listening habits of the people living in the metropolitan areas who conceivably do hear the WLW signal. Facts v/hich we believe to be of even greater interest to advertisers than that our signal may be heard in the remote corners of the United States, are those revealed in the recent 20 Market Surveys conducted by the Ross Federal Research Corporation and the Alberta Burke Research Company—namely, that an average of 41.2% of those listening to their radios in the 20 markets studied were tuned to WLW, while the audience tuned to the next dominant stations averaged only 29.3%. Facts that conclusively divorce WLW's known circulation from the doubtful category of abstract potentialities—submitted in the form of unbiased, factual data upon which successful sales plans may be based. WLW... For detailed inlormation conceinins the maikcis studied, and break- down of the facts revealed,' please write or 'phone Transamcrican Broadcasting & Television Corporation, or lUJioiumfi Moii "MERCHANDISE-ABLE" STATION