Variety (Oct 1941)

Wednesday, October 29, 1941 BADIO 31 MUTUAL-NBC BEER BRAWL BinER CHIlllGLS ON NBC'S INAIS One of Radio'* Name-Calling Competitive Situation* De- velops as- Blue Wins Ac- count — Ballantine W il 1 Finish 13-Week Cycle, . However 'FLY' IN THE SUDS cles, but all ot which havp been con- fined to the Blue link concern the acceptance of laxative accounts and the use of recordings over a hookup. Says Thompson In defending Its position the Thompson agency pointed out last week that the move was In line with an understanding it had with NBC at the time the agency failed to ob- tain facilities on the Blue for Bal-' lantlne. According to the agency, NBC was informed that if it ever changed Its policy on beer to let Thompson know immediately. Thompson got the word from NBC last Tuesday (21) and, according to the Mutual version, was given 48 hours in which to turn in an .Qr.der.ior the Friday evening .period. The agency asked Mutual for a re-* lease from Its contract, which cov- ered 52 weeks but bound the ac- Radio was faced last week with one of iU bitterest compeUlive squabbles when the J. Walter Thompson agency disclosed that the Ballantine program was switching suddenly from the Mutual Network- to the NBC Blue. The furor sub- sided Monday (26) as NBC took the position that it would prefer to have Ballantine complete its present 13- week cycle on Mutual and that it did not want to be a parly to an account's abrupt . walkout from a competitive network under the cir- cumstances that prevail. The sudden dissipation of the proposed immediate transfer was preceded by a vigorous bombard- ment of charges from Mutual, with the Blue network the principal target. That the event possessed nasty litigation and publicity possi- bilities was immediately apparent to all when Mutual accused NBC of going to the extreme of reversing Its own policy against beer adver- tising to ,wcan away the account, of giving guarantees to the agency and the account against any action for ■ ; dauiBges, and of taking the program from stations presently receiving it through Mutual only to feed it back a halt-hour earlier the same night at 40% less compensation to the rtation. The guarantee angles was stoutly denied by both NBC and the Thompson agency. MBS' Fear- Caiarges of 'dirty pool' were espe- cially stressed by Mutual because of Its fear that the blow Will be used by rival radio salesmen and echoed by the thoughtless. Including radio and other columnists, as a dispar- agement of Mutual. The Ballantine program with Charles Laughton, Milton Berle, Shirley Ross and Bob Crosby, was not only an important account financially but brought Mutual a'name-studded cast, some- thing extremely vital to its cxpan- •ion and prestige. The Ballantine blow was followed by rumors that NBC would go even further In competitive appeals to I Coca Cola, the second big name- atudded series which Mutual lined up for this season. This program has not yet begun broadcasting. Both NBC and CBS tried desperately to land the Coca-Cola contract but faUed, because in some measure ASCAF music was unavailable on NBC and CBS and was available on Mutual. Personal acrimonies grow- ing out ot earlier phases of the ASCAP situation also played a part Sudden switch of the Ballantine Beer program may also become em- broiled as an Issue in the current controversy over the Federal Com- munication Commission's new regu- lations on network broadcasting. The Mutual management arid legal stafl^ave held several huddles on the matter but no decision has been made as to what trend the web's loss of the Ballantine business will take. J. Walter Thompson, agency on the Ballantine account, had an- nounced that the show will move Into the Blue's Friday 8:30 to 9 p.m. spot Nov. 7. It would have made the first time a program had been transferred from one network to another (competitive) within the Initial 13-week cycl€. Acceptance ot the Ballantine account Involves a drastic reversal in policy on the part ot NBC. Latter network had been offered the business before the pro- gram went on Mutual five weeks ago but NBC at the time refused to I budge from the policy tabooing beer which has been in effect since 1036. Other recent revisions ot NBC ooli count only for 13 weeks, but Mu- tual not only turned down the re- quest but advised Thompson that the account would l>e held liable for the billings entailed in the remaining five weeks of the 13-week cycle. This obligation amounts to $45,800. Ballantine's appropriation for time over the 52 weeks is $200,000. When Tliompson, according to Mutual, asked for the release it gave as its reason for switching networks the fact that the Ballantine program had been dropped by the Blue's af- filiates in Providence, Cleveland, Bridgeport and Jacksonville. Mutual took the matter up with Ballantine Friday (24) and the account stated that it would go along with the agency on the proposition. The last jatings- on 'th&£allantine- .<:how- have been 2.9 on the Co-operative Analy- sis of Broadcasting and 4.8 on the C. E. Hooper reports. Jamestown En joys VepL Store Boom Following Merger of Newspapers Jamestown, N. Y., Oct. 28. WJTN here is the beneficiary of a number of favorable outside de- velopments. First there is Edgar Kobak's piling up of new commercial on the NBC Blue of which the sta- tion is an efliliate. Second the mer- ger of local dailies and elimination of the morning newspaper has made some new accounts available. Of these, the Carnahan-Shearer store -is. a -direct result..._It's.-.no.w .sp.ojav soring WJTN newscasts. Department stores are increasing use of air time, with Abrahamson- Bigelow having five 15-minute pro- grams and intensive spot announce-"' ment campaign; Nelson's has a new spot schedule of two one-minute an- nouncemenU daily, while Lock- wood's has bought six-a-week an- nouncement spoU and 15-minute bowling program. Brooks (apparel) has five recorded shows a week, and. Stewart'* (women's specialty shopj, 'Holly- wood Headlines' five times a week. Hutchinson, Kans.—Margaret Watta has joined staff of KWBW. EFJeclive Novemter 15, The Nation* StaKon makes available, througK the Consumer's Foundation, a Premium Testing Service for both network and spot advertisers. Such a service, we believe, will b« helpful to both advertisers and listeners. Advertisers will benefit from this pre- testing plan which will give an un- biased appraisal of premiums by a group of typical consumers. Listeners, on the other hand, will be guided by the decision of fellow consumers in determining the true value of the premium offered. The result, we feel, will be a potent added impetus to the promotion effort as a whole. Advertisers who use premiums will appreciate the promotion possibilities of the endorsement of a group of bona APPROVED BY' * PREMIUM TESTWa .CROUP WIW CONSUMER'S FOUNDATION, fide consumers. Announcement of premium apprqval will not be counted as commercial copy In your WLW continuity, and for network advertisers, cut In announcements will be made without charge. The Foundation also; makes available the Premhmi Seal, for use In newspapers and magazine ads. For sponsors pf regular programs^ WLW s Premium Testing Service l» joptlonal. For direct sale advertisers^ it Will be mandatoiy. Premiums will be submitted to Testers two weeks itt advance of the first air announcement.; and they will be asked to evaluate these premiums in terms of the pn>< poled Qver-the-air offer. The Premium Testers Group Is especially selected from approximately one thousand mem-< bers .;of the Consumer's Foundatioit who; have been engaged, since the early part of the year. In testing pTod-< ucts submitted to the Foundation by advertisers. These housevtrives live In; all sections of. WLW-Iand: represent all economic classes. Tills tiCTC Premium Testing Service Iwill hdd still more effective Impact to your WLW dollar , i . will add< also, t<* WLWs enviable success legend .'with advierUsers who use pre* mlumi. We Invite your further Inquiry^ (NoTemlxr 1. 1941) THE NATION'S Most Merchandise-Able ★ * ★ STATION