Variety (Dec 1940)

32 RADIO yAfUETY Wednesday, Decciiiber 25, 19t6 Not Replacing Professionsds 12TH NBC YEAR SET BY CITIES SERVICE Junior League of Chicago Ahswert Radio Actor's ; Service has renewed with , ^ .** ; . NBG for another year, effective Jan Slam--Cites Benefits of WBBM Charity Program Chicago; Dec. 20.. son. He was-a page boy at WBBM, EdftOT', yARiETY: ' His work on the Council show helped The Juni6r League and Council .of him gain his^ present position. He is Social Agencies wish to correct -the ■ now a.meniber of AfRA.; erroneous impression given of the 1 G/lb^rt .^^'ifi'^P"' j^? u^^"' J^' radio serial 'The Story of ConsUnce ..cently on the'Ma^erknis^ ^how also Worth- by someone signed 'Chicafio ! started with the Council show. He 3. ■ Will make the 12th consecutive year for this account on the .air. '. This Friday night session is the oldest straight music prpgranv on the networks. ':' Radio Actor' iii •;his letter printed in Vaiiikt.v on Dec. 18. .• .., 'Chicago . Radio Actor' does not understand that; —Ttt--riie Stuiy-of-Constoncc ^ j^^. ^, g^^h .cas?^ Worth' is sponsored, by charitable , That the Junior League members organizations to^acquaint the public ! radio professionals with the.r .work among Chicago s , ^ .. program has already:.been needy. Its time on the air, and the ' r " Is now a member of AFRA.. Stanley Loniiegan becanr.ie an an- nounce^ at w6n and has now come back to the. Constance Worth show fbr . further . dramatic efxperience, v'st. be aTTiateurs who can and .will •tlunteer their services. This, series •n be produced only under these inditibns, for these charities can ivit take riiohey needed by Chicago's unfortunates to piit on a sh6\v on a commercial basiSi (2) . The junior League is one of thie members pf the Council of Social Agencies. It became aware of the need' for 'amateur actors and ac- tresses to 'produce, a show; of this kind. The Junior Leaguie not only- supplies its own. membeirs for parts In the program but relieves the sta- dio of certain details of notifying the actors, handling pul)licity and finding suitable voices for children and tmasculine roles. It is not all a Jtmior League cast. Obviously the men are not Junior Leagiie members. . The men and women used on the pro- gram come from amateur groups all over the city and frpm. radio schools. Most ot the children come from the Chicago Boys' Club. The cast is se lected by the station director. (3) . The Junior League.is an .or ranization e.stablished for the pur nose of offering volunteer service to Welfare Agencies. Members con sider' that in helping to 'put The Story, of Constance Worth' on the air, they are performing such a serv- ice. • * (4) . The relationship between the Junior League and the professional actor is this: Many young radio ac- tresses and actors (not Junior League members) have found this volunteer program a much-needed apprentice- ship. There are many radio profes- sionals who served a training period on this amateur program. An out- standing example is Janet. Bolton, who has been playing one of the leads /in .'Constance Worth.' Miss Boltoni had been working as a hostess in Harding's restauant to support herself while trying to get a profes- sional job. Duetto her work on the series she was able, jUst last week to secure professiPnal radio work, and has now left the cast. She Is now a member of AFRA. .Good Experience The WBBM staff announcer on the Constance Worth show is Carl Nel- aflford the time-to. do so. . Virginia Win.sfoii. President, The Junior' League of Chicago, Inc. MUSIC CHICAGO NBC UPS Biow Agency Still Interestetd But on Basis Longevity and Record—^Not of Presentations' of Singing: Mayor to Miami For Town Hall Program Milwaukee, Dec. 24. Mayor Carl F. Zeidler, this city's .youthful, and exuberant singing chief! executive; is sacrificing Chris.tnnas at home to fly tomorrow to Miami, Fla., to participate in the Town Hall of the Air radio program. :i)eing broadcast from there Thursday night imrier thft t.it.lo 'The Rnlp of Yp iith ■ : Chicago, Dec, 24. '■ NBC iiere Is readying. some; new studio's to .hold, the Increased de- mands of studio spa(ie in Chicago. For several months now a number of programs have been crowded out of the NBC studios in the Merphan-. dise Mart. ; At present,' the studio situation Is so cramped that on Sun-, diys three outside theatres are nec- essary to hold th^^ shows. Being used on Sundays now are the Civic the- atre, the Woman's Gliib theatre and- the Goodman theatre... .While the new studios will ease the strain somewhat, it is still figured that NBC: wiH shortly have to go all the way and really build itself a suitable studio theatre. Mu,tual-WGN has a l.OOe-rseat theatre to itself on the boulevard, and ColumbiS-WBBM has a 400-scater. CBS, however, also in the Defense of Democracy.' Hizzoner will be back on the. .job Friday, leaving Miami by i>lane right after his broadcast. BLURBS A LA Getting a look into the vaudeville booiter's pages months ahead was always prpvocative in the old §how biz days. But radio's booking Is apt to be somewhat different! Woodbury has two shows, 'How Did You Meet?' and Tony Martin, both starting Jan. uses an James Lyons filed suit Wednesd^iv (18) in the N. Y, supreme court I fpr a big audience sh&w such as the ti^t^X^^* 'Oa«^ 1lA..rt{A eAAlrincr 4^1^000 *F\Ae>'iAn 4r\^ TT.«nninAcc* Y\i.n(*rQm outside Studio occasionally i jl T!:!^^!:!Sj'"'1i!^!l!^ rf^!!* against Ben Bernie, seeking $13,000 dainages for alleged plagiarism of an idea for a radio program submitted to. Berhie's agent, in December, 1937, the agent being the Music Corp. of America. A similar siiit fpr a like arnoiint was filed against MCA \asi week.- Plaintiflf claims to have originated an idea for a radio program in Oct., 1937, which would consist of a mock court proceeding, with jurors taken from the audience and paid $3 each fbr .their 'work,' and extras for good decisions. Bernie is accused of hav- ing used the program over WABC between April and July, 1940. Harold L. Hackett,. v,p. of the Music Corp. of America, was ordered Design for Happiness- program. QUAKER BUYS ORPHAN ANNIE' Quaker Oats has^ bought ^Little Orphan Annie' on a package basis from the Traiisamericah Broadcast- ing & Television Corp' The series will'start off Jan. 27 on a transcrip- tion was issued Friday (20). so the advertising is 'boPked' as fol- lows:- How Did You Meet7 Jclnuary-^powder, ■ .February—soap. • March—one week soap, three weeks powder, ^April—one to fill. "May—one to filK June—one to fill. July—powder. August-^soap. Tony Martin January—cream. February—soap. March—one week soap, three; weeks powder. April-T^ne to filL May—one to filL June—cream. RCA-VICTOR BACK AS NBC SPONSOR ■RCA-'Victor went back on the air last night (Tuesday) for 13 weeks tion routine over 20 stations and will to~appM7Yor"ebca^ln'atiori''b^^^^^ way until the required trial on Jan. 23 by Supreme Court | time is cleared on one of the net- Justice Ferdinand . Pecora. in con- j works. Deal was closed through the nection with Lyons' suit against the : Ruthrauff & Ryan Chicago pHice. . corporation. Order for the examina-j . Transamerican obtairjed the rights from the Chicago Trib-N. Y. News syndicate. Until a few months ago kXiv Vjnmpvrvo'a liknv 'Little Orphan Annie'was sponsored hUlU StUbLHTEK S BOOK by the Wander Co. through the Blacr Abe Schechter, director of news ; kett-Sample-Hummert agency.'- This , ^j.j, . „ -^n^mfi^^ i<? «o and^speci^l. events for NBC, has a ; ^.kes the strip's second%ccount. It: .^^^^^ ^wf^^^ij;^*^"^^! jmute Pe- book coming out In a week.or so. [had been• on for Wander, for over 1,'^^!'y^t qJ^Je^Lf t^^^^^ carries Ben Cirauer with foreign news; second sells Red Seal classical records and the time is devoted to the playing of samples. First ses- sion turntabled,: recprded Toscanini music. Glen l^iggs is announcing the second portion. He used to i handle the RCA morning record ses- sion on the same station at 7:45 a.m. Grauer has been riding the 11- 11:15 slot with news bulletins, for soqiie time. Commercial copy, he's to spiel concentrates on the short He'll be It's tagged 'I Live on Air,' and was nine years co-authored with Edward Anthony. Stokes is the publisher, and the book is a personal history of news* coverage by radio. XODAY, neitKer medliclne nor mer- .cKiincIisincf' can oliagnose Wisely from mer* ■urface indications.^That's wKy consider It pur job to digf for the basic factors affect- ihjf any spot-broadcasting situation, and to present tKem \yltbout color or bias. John Blair & Company National Representatives of Raidio Stations f^EwYoRK ■ CiiiCACo ■ Detroit. « Sr. Loins « Los Anoeles « San Francisco Columbia Seeks Excuse From Pre-Trial Exam On'Birth of a Nation Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., applied to the N. Y. supreme; court "Thursday (19) to vacate a no- \ tice of examination before trial- of 1 w^v^e angle^pf RCA radios, its secretary, Joseph H. Ream, set "se.<i only four nights^ a week, the in conjunction with a suit, by the sponsorship of the show covermg Epoch Prbducing Corp; against it. CBS claims that the questions sought to be answeired are improper and* immaterial.,-.; Plaintiff seeks an accbuntihg of profits,, an injunction; and damages for the alleged unauthorized use pf. the title 'The. Birth bf a Nation,' on a radio program broadcast Sept, 2, 1940. Plaintiff has owned the. film since 1915, and claims to have spent $600,000 in advertising it. CBS ad- niits the broadcast, on historical-sub-; jects; and claims that the .program, which was supposed to -be a series,; was not heard after thie first broad- cast It asks a dismissal. each night except Saturday arid Sunday, when they'll aiir sustaining: ■Wednesday nights Grauer .does the Kay Kyser Lucky Strike commer- cial, Lyle Van will replace on RCA. ■■■ joe Ries' New Title Cincinnati, Dec, 24. Joe Rle'Sj 'Wi.W's educational di- rector for the past several years, be- comes director of public service programs for the. Crosley 50,000- watter with the turn pf the yeat".' He has been assigned by James D Shpuse, general manger, to •. Philip Morris :has to date .bought in Oh but one hillbilly show,- the WLS Barn Dance,, but the Biow Co agency on the account;'is still on the outlook for programs of this type Which have actually proved them.; selves.. The: agency is reluctant to tie up,with a hillbilly, program that hasn't had something ..of a. run or soniethinjt that a statioii has merely put together on paper for preserita-: tion. . Cig company's sponsorship of the Barn Dance is confined to the Chi- cago area arid the -period betweeri lO and 10:30 p., m. The previous hour of this: same Saturday night program will continue to be. under- written by Alka Seltzer, over th» NBC-red. Albert Noble, WLAC, Nashville to Miami <pr sunshine. Recently ill. WLAC Added to Lisjts Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 24.; Four network shows will be aired through WLAC after the first of the year which have not had a local outlet. • Colgate's 'Strange As It Seems' and 'Ask It Basket' start Thursday, January 2, . Lipton's. 'Helen Hayes* begins Its run the following Friday night and on Saturday the five miriutes news- cast bankrolled by Curtis Candy will inaugurate its biweekly run. Spencer, Xytie's Sound Track Dayton, Dec. 24. Lester Spencer, WHIO program director, and Ed Lytie, announcer, are working lor the army air corps have I on a film called 'Flying Cadets.' charge, of Teligious programs, cprri-' They're doing feound-track comment, munity affairs, social service broad- Paul 'Katz, conductor of the Day; casts and all programs relating to/ton Philharmonic .orpHestra, has civic organizations, plus educational ..charge of the' musical background matters. I for the picture. WHEELING MERRY CHRISTMAS HAPPY mW YEAR r—nnd-r^ THANK YOU —for—-. WWVA's BEST YEAR