Variety (Aug 1940)

WcdiieBdaff August 7, 1940 RADIO 27 TinaocK RIGID S STIITES 11.0. Ilenry <^ AFRA Ex- presses F«»r G r ant i n g Statioiii Employer Special W a e-H u ir Exemptions Wc^uld Cause Announcers to Be Exploited iSALESMEN'S AVERAGE Washington; Aug; 6: : More cdnsiderate -treatnienf ' o'f Jbi-oaclcasters. by the Federal offiGisis policing industry, under the .wtagc-: hoiir. law' was : sought: last: \veek: by Joseph. L. Miller, labor, relation." Hclviser of the National Association ci Broadqiastfers. . While the industry operates by the clock,: it is.impossi- ble to put many of, its; employees .oil ..such . a schedule, the.-.Labor: De- •paitment was told. . • -What tadip wahtS; chiefly is de- letion of the part, of existing regula- tions, which says, that an executu'c ■t'annot perform the duties rendered by his. subordinates./ Changes sug- geisted :would make it possible for .chief '■ engineers, transmitter op- ■ ei'htorsj studio, operators/ program : directors, . etc.,: to . dbuble both executives and. pinch-hitters at the panel. 6r . mike. ' Iridustry's case---taken under ad- vi.sement for ! subsequent: decision-^, was built on the FCC wage: figures showing that riidio pays more than any comparable line. Miller niarked; that the Commish survey . for 1938-3i9 showed the. typical pay <;heck was $42.50. Informal opinion from the Bureau of Labor statistics, he added, confirms the contention th.it 'this . is one of; the, highest, if; not the highest paid by any indus- .try.v. v.: ;' ■■ Jo ■ sho^y that ho great hardship would result if phraseology ■ written,; the NAB representative - . lated .data pbtiained from cross-sec- tion of its meimbers.: So far; 227 jnanagers have said 546 workers Avoijld be; aftected by the proposed nmendment to the present interpre- tation, These include. 178 in small Jilation.'f, getting .$39.31 a week on the average; 317 in medium stations. • paid $50; and 51 in high-power plants, drawing $68.67. Projecting these figures. Miller said less than 1,500 pcrsohs; whose enVelope,s now contain an 'average of $47.18 would be invblyed; He added that 'cer- tainly Congress .would not find m ilhat group' any necessity for pass-, ing a law to :irriprove the working conditioris;,' , • . ; \ : - Radio desires a flexible—not a longer—work week, the NAB con- sultant explained. He commented that thie industry involves much ex- . peri mentation ."and ;crealio,n, a lot, of planning.:and;thinking, which cannot .be .; reduced' to a time-clock; basis. And rrtost station managers re generous ■; to, ; the ipoint, he said, ■wheire; hired vhams who ;have been connpelled by operaiting. exigencies to put a lot of time are told ' \o take. tomorroNy off, sleep late; the Jiext -day or. go fishing for a whjje. , How to decide when an individual does a ^substantial- amount of work identical with his subordinates is al- mo.st impossible, Miller declared. He Kajd that often ai highlyrpaid bo.^.s 'pitches; in'; during busy period.'?, and Should; not be treated ;ias; one of the ■ workers. . ;■':. ;S>a,Ieisinen's^; Ayerdffe'... :^ Regarding outside salesmen, the broadcasters' mouthpiece slibscribed to the idea advanced by: newspaper publishers* M related that the COO commercial' outlets ; erhpioj'ed 1,298'solicitors, whose averagie; earn- ings: L^ttereL;^$48AL_weekly^Eteserlt definitiph ; ls too :; narrOw, he held . fiven if they do" not peddle anything . concrete ■ pr tangible. . Selling time i« just as much a case of showing ^"itiative as selling groceries. In- side salesmen can punch, a clock, he agreed, but the legmen who operate outside the oflice have to put in whatever amount 6t time and ef- fort: is necessary to pin down po- tential sponsors. ' .Opposition was , registered ^ by Henry Jaffe, speaking for the Amer- ican Federation- of Radio Artists, He opposed the. NAB recommenda- tion, raising fear tjiat announceris would be denied added pay if or ex- cessive hpur.<5 and referring to the decision ;in the KMOX case, which he said is a precedent thait has been obsierved- by " the Wage-Hour Adr ministration. CiriciDin»ti.—Red Thbrnburgh last \veek joined- WSAFs staff of an- nouncers. Oh Sept. 1. he v>ill start a; 'Bo^vling Time' iSeries for ;Re beer, During the past three years Thorhburgh was a spostscaster' oh the Scripps-Howard station, W0PO; arid .iassistant itO Harry: Hartman; on bvoadcasts of the Reds' games. ;; How SpieUrs iFigiir^s Minneapolis,': Aug.;;6;.: ? :/ Bill;- Wiggiiiton,^ WCCO: .' ah- nouncer, had; his arms around: Claire Trevor, the "film actress, during a recent broaidcast, but wii.sn-t a Ware of her identity un- ! til later.. Now he's in the dol- ; • drums because - h e d i d n't ap pre - ciatfe the experience properly at; ■the'thhe." •', '.". ^" ;: . :.' It all happened at a Saturday mprning Open House. broadcast during which the ;iannouncer, quizes women gue.sts. tin an- nounced, Miss; Trevor sat in the front row and when. Wigginton asked her a ciue.<;tiPn he .sat down beside her ;and put "his arih across'the shoulder. Detroit, Aug. 6. Non-phone families listen to their radios over -30 • minutes more, daily, than do families having telephones, according to the fourth 'Listening Table' survey made by . Wayne Uni- versity's Broadcasting Guild, under direction of jarnet R. Garrison. Moreover, these same non-phone fartiilies, usually,:neglected in most radio surveys, have' radio prefer- ences w'idcly divergent fronni those of homes having telephones. The Wayne U. research uses a new survey technique; developed at th* local imiversity. 'Listening Tables are filled out at home by families ol school' children. ' Member.s Of/th* family, as they listen to the radio, fill out the table according to station, program; and persons listening eacl^ quarter hour during the a.ssigned day. Since v thiis survey toverea seS'ien days, an . equivalent coinci- dental telephone survey would re- quire 174,152 phone calls to achieve the same scope—72 quarter houri (Continued on page 31) LEXINerON, KY. 1^4 hours frtm Cincinnati by Im's kirt|art tf CiMinnali ky WLW. PirCiRtttNitldi'tliiylii PiwK TTri«i| ArM) .im» HiRiM-liai USN (Faytiti ClUftly) fEstirtiot^d by Sal«a Management w. OMEN that's what XlfXW-advertiised brands do;:according to Lexington retailers. It's natural that they should, for The Nation's Station is a regiilar listening habit in Lexington, just as it is in the more than « scorie of other rich trading centers that nvake;ii|> its primary area* And Ipeal mcr^* chants in all of these centers ;accept th« reeiulting cohsumer preference as their cue to push WLW-advertised merchand^^^ REPRESENTATIVES: NEW YORK—TrMMMirkiN irMd«Mlhi| %U T«l««iii«i e«r^ OMieAQO—WLW, IN Ntrth MiihifaH Av«nu4