Variety (Dec 1939)

■ it. Hnrlln'* tlacc, Trafklcar SqaaM •VAKHfrVD' IjUNUON OiTFlCJi INTERNATIONAL RADIO Tclcphon* Tempi* Bar 5041-5Mt OA Cabre Aildretai VAKIJSTlf lAJNVWN ^-^ LESS 'POLICY' IN CANADA? Europe-Summed Up Rome, Nov. 26. Radio broadcasting in a war-torn Europe Is a nightmare of scare- heads, propaganda, news bulletins, (full of colored information but not of news) pep talks to keep the populace's chin up, innumerable pro- "= nouncements from priests, ministers, military experts, political proph- ets and harangues by the big shots. Season this diet with lots of phonograph records and you have radio on this continent at this moment. Tune in any country (and good sets roam Europe) and no matter what language the tuner speaks there is a program for him—propa- ganda. Aussie Radio Man Heard 67 Concerts in U. S. A.; Exec Home After Xmas William James, federal controller of music for the Australian Broad- casting Convpany, is currently in New York looking over the U. S. radio industry's policies in regard to music and lining up artists for next summer's Australian concert season. He had expected to leave Friday (15) for Vancouver on the first leg of his trip home, but this week received in- structions to remain here at least until after Christmas. Having left Australia last. May, James spent some time in New York, went to Europe for awhile and then returned to the U. S. a few weeks ego. During his two stops in New York he has heard 67 concerts, as well as numerous private auditions. Australian Broadcasting is Interested only, in big concert names, for touring and radio there. James has recom- mended several names, but no con- tracts have been signed. There's some uncertainty about the possible effect of the war on Aus- tralian concert business, but James believes that there'll be little change, at least for some time. The Aus- tralian concert season extends from May until October and artists brought over from the U. S. usually appear on the concert platform and also via the air. Some criticism has been heard •from commercial concert interests against the government booking art- ists through its Australian Broad- casting Company on the familiar ground that it is using taxpayers' •money to compete with private in-' dustry, but James asserts that in general the government and. com- mercial concert interests get along amicably. CAUSE OF POLES PROMOTED ON WHOM Scries of programs to promote goodwill for the Polish cause has been bought by the Polish Army Veterans' Assoc. (vets of World War) on WHOM, New York. All shows are in English and go on for half hour each Sunday. at 7 p.m., starting with one last Sunday. Dr. Arthur Coleman, professor of history and Slav languages at Co- lumbia U, was on initial broadcast. CHARLAin) FBOMOTED Montreal, Dec. 12. Wilfrid Charland, French-language radio producer for All-Canada Ra- dio Facilities (Vic George) and Whitehall Broadcasting (Bert Hall) has been upped to chief of produc- tion for both French and English shows at All-Canada. Charland has been given executive status as result of production of Grande Soeur (Big Sister-Rinso) and other French programs. UGHT MUSIC AS IS-BBC London, Nov. 24. ' Indignantly refuted by British Broadcasting Corp. is criticism that light orchestras have been ditched as result of the war. Listeners, they claim, are regularly hearing a very high percentage of combos that were tops before the outbreak, and follow- ing list is quoted as proof:. Mantovani; Fred Hartley, with Brian Lawrence; Troise; Richard Crean, Falkman, Wynford Reynolds; A. J. Powell's banjos, Harry David- son, Palladium ork; Campoli; Al- phas. Remote broadcasts have been picked up from Hotel Victoria, Lew- isham Hippodrome, Chiswick Em- pire (Harry Fryer), Kilburn State (Alfred van Dam), Savoy Hotel (Ar- thur Salisbury), 'Claridge's (Geiger), EastboyrQe Grand Hotel (Tom Jen- kins). BB asserts, while its activities may be curbed in some directions by de- fence regulations, light music is not one of 'em. AFRA's Montreal Dance Montreal, Dec. 12. Montreal local of the American Federation of Radio Artists is throw- ing annual ball at the Windsor hotel Feb. 6. Proceeds to be used for the benefit of needy radio artists. Flavius Daniel and Pierre Ranger ballyhooing event. London Calling Elizabeth Cowcll relinquishing her wartime job as chauffeuse to the Air Ministry, to return to the BBC to be- come an announcer. She was for- merly a television announcer there. Lee Ephralm is to be the star of BBC's next 'Showmen of England' program, scheduled for Dec. 15. Ephraim brought to England 'Rose Marie', 'The Desert Song', 'Gay Di- vorce', 'Rio Rita', 'On Your Toes' (and some flops) and in this pro- gram many of these old tunes with some of, the original stars will be used. Program is being written by Howard Thomas. Eddie Pola doing mid-day broad- casting once weekly lor BBC. Komney Brcnl playing the lead in the radio version of 'The Thin Man.' BBC has now started a daily news bulletin in Turkish, which, in addi tion to English, Welsh and Afrikaans, makes 13 foreign languages. Sir John Martin barvey to play lead in 'The Passing of the Third Floor Back' and Henry Ainley in •OtheUo." Press Conference, with Sir Stephen Tallenls in the chair, was. held at Broadcasting House, London, Nov. 28, when J. Beresford Clark, assistant controller overseas service, and other officials described the BBC's work in that sphere. Canadian Radio Editors Prefer Yank Ways To Publicity From Own Country ■♦♦♦ MM »»« M «««»»««»»«« j. :: South of the Border ■♦♦«♦♦♦♦♦♦«♦♦ ♦ ♦♦♦ ♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦4 Mexico, City, Dec. 12.' XEFO and XEUZ, mouthpieces of the Parly of the Mexican Revolution, the country's most powerful politi- cal organization, are equipping them- selves with the latest U. S. mechani- cal devices so as to gel the maximum of coverage. Party of Ihe Revolution is demand- ■ Ing that all slate governments not only establish their own. radio sta- , fions, but provide community radio sets .so that the programs can be • heard in the hinterlands. According to national census fig- ures, the Federal district which comprises Mexico City and its 1,- 300,000 residents, has 136,000 radio sets, or one to every 12 inhabitans. Censor's New Title Montreal, Dec. 12. Waller S. 'Thompson, director of censorship for Canada, has been Riven post of Director of Public In- formation. Censorship Co-Ordina- tion Committee will take over Thompson's department, with Col. M. A. Pope, of the National Defence Department In charge. Thompson's new job will be to tell about Canada's war effort. BBC broadcast 'From the Touring ineatrc,' excerpts Firth Shephard's new musical 'Shephard's Pie.' Show, starring Sydney Howard and Arthur K'scoe, is breaking in befort com- ing to London By NORM CHA.HBERLAIN Winnipeg, Dec. 12. 'At the present time American net- work and station publicity is far superior to Canadian both from the point of material supplied and serv- ice rendered.' And that. It would appear, is the considered opinion of the majority of Canada's radio edi- tors, following a canvass of the Dominion, by. this Varibtt rep. Asked to express their opinion on the output of' the AmeiScan and Canadian publicity mills ^anadian radio eds presented views as'widely different as the two styles of pub- licity. (Whereas Americans seem to prefer publicizing personalities, Ca- nadians stick pretty close ia straight program copy, sans superlatives of any type.) While the majority voted in favor of the American type, in one way or another, some felt it only fair to point out that U. S. press offices have reached their present stage of perfection only after years of ex- perience, while, in comparison, Ca- nadian radio publicists are still in rompers. With a few :.d' ancing the thought that an ideal service would be a reasonable combination of both types, practically all agreed that while Americans could be occas- sionally accused o.' sending too much, Ca nadians can be equally accused of doinf; the exact opposite. . . • Still another group maintained there was no basis for comparison. Harold O. Hogan.spn. of the Halifax Chronicle and Daily Star, was of this group saying. 'American networks are able to publicize personalties be- cause they control headliners of the stage and screen, whereas Canadian stations must rely on the program itself, Wilf J. Woodill, of the Sud- bury (Ont.) Star, sums up this point: 'There is no 'star material' in Canada and a build-up would only mean a let down for the radio columnist and his readers.' Canadian Publiclly Dull Chief complaint of Canadian eds as regards the domestic product is that it lacks color, punch, news value and at times is inclined to be tardy, the latter referring mainly to correc- tions. Main difference between Caiiadlan and American publicity is frequency of mailing. American (Offices bom- bard, with a veritable snowstorm of copy while the publicity offices of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. shoot everything out in one weekly lump. This is done, it is explained, purely for economical reasons. The minieographed release includes the weekly program schedule for the closest CBC transmitter (or net- work) and also program notes or annotations for the listed week. This CBC plan is probably modeled after the British Broadcasting Corp. which issues a similar bulletin, only in printed form. Gladstone Murray apes BBC in nearly everything. Another differ- ence is that whereas the American chains have two main publicity out- lets. New York and Chicago, the Canadian network mails from four points. Halifax, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver, these four offices covering five time zones against four time zones for the U. S. Meantime private station publicity in Canada seems still of the futjre, current efforts practically rating a zero from radio editors. ' One point about which the radio boys are particularly incensed is the matter of special events. Here, they maintain, Ihey are often not advised of a special event broadcast until the last minute, it then being'too late^ for^ inclusion in the column, either as a listing or story. Listeners hear about the program from friends, who caught it purely by ac- cident, after the show is over and more rabid fans get on the phone and squawk about 'no listing in the radio column.' Oh the other hand, say the eds, they are advised imme- diately, via telegram by the Ameri- ca chains of any last minute special e\ ent broadcasts on their nets and hence are protected frogi that side. Then begins a lengthy process of checking the local stations if he has time to see if they too will be car- rying it with the answer being either 'We don't know,' or 'Sure, we knew about that yesterday.' When the former answer is given they usually call back to confirm the query just as the paper ir, rolling, investigation having proven some- body knew about it all the time and had either forgotten or not thought about it: When the latter answer is forthcoming the press boys start burning and usually crack back. In the matter of correction serv- ices Canadians felt that while the Americans most definitely still held the lead, domestic stations and netr works had greatly'improved within recent years. Some felt fault with the editors, some leaving corrections (the backbone of any radio column) to the office boy or somebody else who doesn't know what it is all about. C. C. Jenkins, of Ihe Toronto Globe and Mail, is one radio ed with a bone to pick over correction methods of the large networks. Says Jenkins, 'Last minute switching about of programs, often with no apparent reason other than con- fusion, is the cause of by far the greater percentage of error in our listings.' Citing Columbia as one example Jenkins added, 'Colum- bia sends its weekly pro,,'ram almost a month in advance, printed closely on tiny sheets of pap.r. In some cases, half to one-third of the list- ings thereon are changed o" switched —some of them two or three times ' before the so-called 'last minutes' j arrive. The. curses radio editors have put on those cramped CBS schedule sheets with their lack of ! margin and space between items, i seems to have no effect on CBS which goes serenely on its way. On the other hand, CBS news and pub- licity is good.' (CBS press department, in N. Y. points out the '/olio' evidently re- ferred to in the above story is pri- marily intended /or station, not radio editor, use but has been mailed to eds tncidentadt/.) Canadian radio eds, like their American eousins v?s reported in VAniETT, Nov. 1), have lonis been howling, with no apparent effect, about those commercial program listings by stations and networks. Told by publishers that even the faintest stench of commercialism is strictly out the scissors and paste boys spend many weary hours try- in^ to think up ways and means of listing ' th^se' programs so that list- eners and readers won't be rais- ing the roof the next morning with DEA mm m RATES A BREAK Ottawa Reports Some Cabinet Ministers Now Tend to See Canadian Broadcasting's Growth Hampered by Too Many Rules and Genuflec- tion to BBC DEFEAT NEWS BAN Ottawa, Dec. 12. Opinion is reported crystalizing among Canadian government cabinet ministers on the question of radio which, since the outbreak of war, has been subject to more than the usual amount of .'policy.' The view is gain- ing that what's wrong with governr ment radio in the Dominion is too much of this 'policy' and not enough attention to well-balanced, progress- ive programming that can hold' its own against American comparisons and in attracting its share of Ameri- can advertising. Great store is now being placed in the appointment of a successor to Ii. W. Brockington, the Winnipeg bar- rister who some months ago quit the chairmanship of the Canadian Broad- casting Co. It is now denied • .lat the job will go to Brig. Gen. Victor Od- ium of Vancouver. Rene Morin, the vice chairman, is meantime function- ing pro tem. Cabinet ministers have apparently decided that the chairman should hereafter be more important, more sympathetic to the problems of broadcasting, as such, and less a rub- ber stamp for Gladstone-Murray, the CBC general manager. More and more the latter is seen as a lavish glorifler of the policies and attitudes of British Broadcasting Corp., where he was trained. The vast terrain of Canada as a costly coverage problem by itself makes financial contribu- tions from sponsorship a necessity. Murray's seeming aversion to the American model, in many people's • opinion far more practical for Can- ada than the snooty the-blazes-with- the-public policies of the English ra- dio monopoly, is presumably in need of a stand-off or neutralizing influ- ence in the shape of a chairman who will be without sentimental bias. What part in all this reputed shift of sentiment of cabinet members may have been influenced by complaints from private broadcasters cannot, ot course, be known. Private broad- casters have for years nursed a sus- stained steady flame ot ire where Gladstone Murray is concerned. First they complained he was inscrutable, refusing to be frank or to reveal his (Continued on page 32) claims that their favorite program either wasn't shown or was incor- rectly listed: When a star is well- known little trouble is experienced but the headaches come with such shows as the Filch Bandwagon, where artists change from week to week. If they make too many changes in the column they get climbed on by those upstairs in the' composing room, hence they have to try and devise some/title that will stay through the sedson. And it's then that the call for aspirins goes out. Tax Kills Press Mats One strong squawk was heard from north of the border when the subject of Canadian Import Duty was broached. (American publicity mats coming to Canada cost one- half cent per square inch for Im- port Duty.) Practically every edi- tor quizzed admitted he had stopped using American mats principally for this reason and as a result was de- pendent upon the local product, which, it is claimed, is a long way from being good. Jenkins, of the Globe and Mail (Toronto/, summed the whole thing up by s&ying, 'We had to quit battling with the Can- adian Customs. It wasted too much needed time. We just cut off the pic- ture and mat service, which became useless through delay.'