Variety (Nov 1939)

^Tednesday, November 1, 1939 RAMO VARIETY 19 mm RoosEvaT's web Package Deal for NBC Boxing Recalls Mutual Baseball Deal NBC is applying! the package idea for station compensation as far as boxing and other, sporting events aic concerned. Effective .Dec. 1. affili- ates carrying the Adam Hats' fights will receive but a halt hour's com- pensation regardless of the time that ■ the event consumes. Network here- tofore, has been paying ils stations fuU time up to the nearest Ave min- utes. Reason sivcn by NBG for its new compensation policy is that it has been losing money on the Adam Hats broadcasts. It had made the deal on a half-hour basis, figuring that it would at least break even. Some of the fights have run as much as an hour, while one extended to an hour and a quarter, and the network came to the conclusion that, the only way out of this bad deal was to re- negotiate its contracts Willi the af- filiates. NBC"s move recalls the criticism that one of the major networks had leveled at Mutual when the latter entered into package deal tor the re- cent World Series broadcasts with Gillette and the Mutual stations. Lat- ter were paid on the basis of two hours per day for the first two series broadcasts, and nothing thereafter. WAITER WINDSOR SUES ON mm Chicago, Oct. 31. Walter Windsor today (Tuesday) filed suit in the Federal court for $200,000 damages and a permanent injunction against the further ex- ploitation over the air of the game. 'Musico.' Names in the action are H. W. Kastor & Sons. WGN, Kroger Baking Co., National Tea Stores, and Clef, Inc., owner ot the 'Musico' program. Windsor claims that he showed the Idea' to the Kastor agency in the summer of 1938 and that when it came to the placement of the pro- gram he wasn't in the picluri. Windsor's version was tagged, 'Melo —Musical Bingo.' WM. A. BRADY APPEALS Carries 'Way Down East' I.UIfation to Next Court Williaim A. Brady filed notice of appeal to the appellate division of the N. Y. supreme court from a su- preme court decision of June 23, dismissing his $250,000 action against Blackctt-Sample-Hummert, Inc., the Bamberger Broadcasting Service, Inc., Mutual Broadcasting Service, and the Charles H. Phillips Chemi- cal Co. Brady had charged the pla- giarism of his play 'Way Down East.' acquired by him in 1897, in a radio dramatization of the same title pre- sented over WOR and called a se- quel to 'Way Down East.' In his complaint, Brady makes mention ot having .sold the silent right to D. W. GrifTth for $175,000. the •soiind rights to Panal Pictures Corp. for $50,000, and having licensed one radio presentation for $750. 'Trouble With Marriage' Lines Up Its Players «hicago, Oct. 31. Tlie Trouble With Marriage' serial for Procter ■& Gamble's Oxydol on the NBC blue at 11 a.m. will be written by Aline Ballard. Dan Don- aldson -will spiel. Cast now .set: Mary Patton, Stan- ley Harris, Frances Dale, Janet Lo- gan, Burton Wright. Jim Ameche Restored Hollywood, Oct. 31. Jim Ameche gets back the Wood- bury Playhouse scries Nov. 15 after Herbert Marshall ends .his seven- program commitment. Ameche worked the summer se.s- 3ion. Quiz Kiting Qmz programs are now so nu- merous that the producers can't keep track ot their competitors. This has made it possible for lis- teners to jot down parlicularly good questions used on one show and shoot them by special de- livery to another program and, in quite a few cases, ret paid $5 or $10 for the aU-eady-used stumper. One quiz-master got back three questions from his own previous broadcast. TIME' DUCKS WAR RADIO L iXECS AIIE CONCEIED President's Son Advanced Plan to Hill Blackett for Creation of Special Net- work to Carry Two Hours of Serials Nightly GOES AHEAD ANYHOW U is prol)able that 'The March ot Time' radio series will be absent from the air in the United States during the period ot war. Consid- eration ot the problem of propa- ganda coloring news sources and the increased sensitivity ot the public to emotional comiotations implicit in dramatized nev/s are involved, but not concUisive since both Time maga- zine and Life are currently well be- yond their guaranteed circulatioiis and not seeking more readers. Publishers are of the opinion that with neither a need for sales pro- motion nor favorable production conditions they're smarter to take a rain check. Bill Williamson to Jones; Fast, Patt Shift at WKRC Cincinnati. Oct. 31. Herman E. Fast, WKRC salesman for the past five years, was appointed sales manager of the station Friday (27) by Bill Schudt, general man- ager. Fast succeeds William J. Williamson, who held the post since June, 1937, and resigned to join the Ralph H. Jones agency here. William.son, who was with Radio Sales in Chicago prior to coming to Cincy, was expected to rejoin lat- ter in New York due to the sale of WKRC to CBS to the Times-Star as part of recent WCKY-CBS deal. Bill Schudt himself is continuing at the helm of WKRC pending its transfer. His future assignment with CBS has not as yet been decided. With the move-up of Fast, Schudt also appointed James M. Patt to the WKRC sales .staff. For almost a year Patt was director ot special events for the station. Chicago, Oct. 31. Elliott Roosevelt almost 'took over' the Mutual network last week more or less without the laller's consent. Facing what they recognized as a threat to Mutual's prestige, it not existence, Fred Weber and other Mutual figures moved fast to stymie the President's son. They succeeded but Roosevelt, undiscouraged by the setback, has since taken a new tact and is still out to be the head man of a coast-to-coast network. Hill Blackett was the mainspring of Roosevelt's first promotional idea. The latter nurses a peeve against NBC and CBS for their recent adoption of transcription policies that hamper Blackelt-Sample-Hum- mert desires. The situation has all sorts ot slightly sardonic sidelights in that Hill Blackett is Republican National Committeeman for the Stale ot Illi nois; that Kirby Hawkes, once voice coach of Alt Landon, was present at some of the huddles; and the Presi- dent's son would, by his boldly bril liant plan, have opened the path to himself becoming one of the dynamic figures of broadcasting itself. Following the failure ot th» plan to go through due to many. com- plicating factors. Mutual has under- taken to salvage the time-booking proposition which Roosevelt tried to sell to the Blackett.-Sample-Hum- mert agency last week. The task facing Mutual is to furnish B-S-H with a hookup ot around 115 sta- tions, including WOR,. Newark, and WGN, Chicago, which would devote a two-hour strip five nights a week lo the broadcasting ot eight Con- secutive serials. Weber Brought lo Roosevelt had offered to organize, on his own, an independent network ot like proportions for thi.» same purpose. His idea was sidetracked only as the result pt concerted ac- tion by a group of important Mutual affiliates whom Roosevelt had called to Chicago for a conference with the agency. These affiliates contended that there was no reason why the present Mutual setup couldn't' be used for the same project and then (Continued on page 24) AFRA Not Licensing Talent Agents, an Eventual Ambition Barred by Present Network Pact 'Doghouse' Catches On Part ot the Brown &. William- son program, ■ 'Uncle Walter's Doghouse', deals comically with wives who punish their husbands by installing and keeping them in the canine shed. Coincident- ally a much-qiioted maxim on the same theme has been going the rounds of stag circles in the U.S.A. concerning the conse- quences of such wifely strategy. It's an unusual development but contributing much to the word-of-mouth the program is now enjoying. INSURANCE SUIT VS. WHOM The Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. filed a $250,000 suit in the N. Y. federal court Monday (30), against the New Jersey Broadcasting Corp., claiming libel. Defendant operates station WHOM, and the alleged libel occurred between Jan. 1, 1939,- Aug. 29, It is asserted in the complaint, which contains 10 causes of action, each seeking $25,000. that the radio station broadcast some 40 times weekly, by means ot electrical transcriptions in Italian, informa- tion concerning insurance com- panies, and more particularity the plaintiff, which were' false. Among some of the charges were, that it is better to invest in stocks and lotteries than in endowment policies. The plaintiff company was also accused of circulating a pamphlet, containing slander, ac- cording to the broadcasts. Two Cast Changes In Ivory's 'Mary Marlin* Karl Weber has replaced Bob Bailey and Fern Persons replaced Betty Lou (Derson in 'The Story of Mary Marlin' (Ivory) on NBC. Other roles now written out in- clude those formerly or intermittent- ly pjaycd by Frank Pacelli, Cliff Soubier, Herbert Butterfield, Dolores Gillen, Helen Behmillcr, Butler Mandeville, Betty Ito, Helen Van Tile, Howard Hoffman. General Rearranging of NBC Skeds As P&G and Sterling Swap Spots A? the result of a time swap with Sterling Products, Procter Sc Gamble is now able to realign the broadcast schedule of ils daytiine serials on NBC, so a; to concentrate all but two ot them in the morning stretch. Tiirough the shift, which becomes ef- fective Monday, Nov. 13, P. & G. also solves the current dilemma of hav- ing one P. & G. show competing with another for an audience. Sterling Products benefit from the deal by likewise getting a closer con- tinuity of iU serials. 'Young Wid- dcr rown' and 'Lorenzo Jones,' now running from 11.15 lo 11.45 a.m. are being switched to the 4.30-5 p.m. period, or immediately following ■Backstage Wife' and 'Stella Dallas,' •Brown' and 'Jones' retain their same red network hookups, with Sterling Products havilig the 4 to 5 p.m. span .•\ll t.-j iUelf. The P. & G. serials which currently occupy the 4.40-5 p.m. .segment ot the red are 'Vic .ind Sade' and 'Midstream.' Lolsa Shiftins NBC affiliates complain thit the scheduled juggling involved in the P. 8i C'. rcallignmcnt is proving a headache. Tlicy not only have to shift spot or local programs that oc- cupy some of the newly requisitioned periods but arc faced with the prob- lem of respotting chainbreak an- nouncements. Certain breaks had 6een stipulated by the announcement buyers because of the ratings ot cer- tain of these morning or aflornoon network commercials, and if the chainbreak announcement is to move- along with the network shov/ it means getting another chainbreak buyer to consent to having his own announcement switched elsewhere. No time change is cintcmplatei? tor P. & C.'s four .serials on CBS which runs from 1 to 2 p.in. EST. Following is the P. & C, .schedules which become -effective on NBC Nov. 13. RED NETWORK Man 1 Married (Oxydol) 10-10:15 a.m. Road 0/ Life iChvpso) 11:15-11:30 am: Against the Stormy (Ivory) 11:30-11:45 a.m. Cuiding Light (.Naptha) 11:45-12 noon The O'Neilts Uvory) ■ 12:15-12:30 p.m. Vir and Sade (Crisco).. .3:45-4 p.m. JVficJslrcnm (Teel) 5:15-5:30 p.m. BLUE NETWOEK Life Can Be Beautiful (Ivory) 9:45-10 a.m. Right 16 Happiness (Crisco) 10:15-10:30 a.m. Mary Marlin (Ivory).. 10:30-10:45 a.m. Pepper Yoxmg's Fatnily (Camay) 10:45-11 a.m. Trouble With Marriage (Oxydol) 11-11:15 p.m. Reports that the American Federa- tion of Radio Artists contemplated" the licensing of agents in the radio field appear to be without founda- tion. The stories emanated from the Coast' and presumably the franchis- ing would be begun there. How- ever, in New York, that is also said to be untrue. Figured the belief that the union planned such action sprung froni the fact that the Screen' Actors Guild, AFRA affiliate, Is about to issue licenses to agenLs. Although AFRA does figure on handling the agent situation ulti- mately, it cannot do anything in that .direction for at least a couple ot years. Reason is that its hands are tied by. its sustaining contract with the networks, which contains a clause specifically barring any steps or regulations affecting the broadcasting companies' artist bu- reaus. Since AFRA cauld hardly discriminate against the other agenLs and let the network artist bureaus operate unhampered, it must wait for the expiration of the sustaining contract. The networks operate their artist bureaus on the Coa.st as well as in the east, so the situation ap- plies there also. An Ambition . There is little doubt that the radio union will try to assume regulation of the agents when the present con- tract, expires. In fact that is one of the expressed aims of the officials and membership. But the one effort to deal with the situation under the existing code was blocked by NBC when it won an arbitration case for the. right to charg^- commissions on minimum fees. The code states that all minimum fees must be net, but the network won the verdict on the ground that statement was contrary to the understanding of both parties^ Mrs. George Kaufman s Radio Script Build For Zasu Pitts' Humor Riithrauff 8c Ryan is auditioning a daytime serial, scripted by Beatrice (Mrs. George S.) Kaufman and star- ring Zasu Pitts. Understood the agency has several clients mulling it, but nothing imminent Herschel Wil- liams is working with Mrs. Kaufman on it Script is said to deal with a plain- tive heroine who considers herself still engaged to a man she last saw 18 years ago and who gets fired from a beauty, shop because she can't tell a lie when the customers ask it they don't need expensive facial treat- ments. Several installments have been recorded for auditioning. Mrs. Kaufman collaborated on one produced play and has written sev- eral books. She was formerly east- ern story editor for Samuel Gold- wyn. DUPONT XAVALGADE' SEEKS CHOICE SPOT DuPont will return its 'Cavalcade ot America' as soon as it has picked a satisfactory -evening half-hour on cither CBS or NBC. It will malce the fifth year for the series. B.B.D. & O. is the agency. Loots on Campbell Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, who have not been on the radio heretofore, will appear Dec. 17 on the Orson Welles-Campbell program over CBS. Will use George Bernard Shaw'» 'The Doctor's Dilemma.'