Variety (Dec 1942)

Wednesday, December Si 1942 RADIO 29 OWI CONVENTION IND. C DEC. 28 Washington, Dec. 1. All radio consultants appointed to assist in the functioning of the re- gional and local broadcasting of the Office of War Information have been called to a three-day meeting In Washington beginning Dec. 28. William B. Lewis, chief of the OWI radio bureau, has announced that the consultants will meet in Washington with the regional di- rectors and the oSicials of OWI headquarters to perfect plans for the coordination of Government pro- grams originating regionally and lo- cally. Some 35 consultants are expected to attend the meeting. Fred Dodge Moves Into Program Directorship At WKRC,Cincy,YiceCorneU Cincinnati, Dec. 1. Fred Dodge, former program di- rector and assistant general manager of WFIL, Philadelphia, took over Monday (30) as program director of WKRC. He succeeds Syd Cornell, whom Ken Church, general manager made sales service manger, a new post for the Times-Star station and Mutuel affiliate. Cornell moved up as program chief last' February, when Brad Simpson took leave after an 18-month stay. Dodge's appointment is the flrst major change made by Church, who became g.m. two months ago when Hulbert Taft, Jr., entered the Army Air Force. Taft's dad is president of the Times-Star and also of the station. Retains His Touch Philadelphia, D«e. 1. Isaac D. Levy, chairman of the board oit WCAU, la a member of the bar, but, due to pressure of radio business, has been Inactive ai • lawyer and hasn't had a criminal case In years. Last week, while conducting his ion and friends through the city's, courts, Levy was called upon to act as counsel for an un- defended prisoner by Judge Vin- cent A. Carroll. The defendant was accused of a morals charge. liCvy consulted with him for a few minutes', then proceeded in winning his acquittal. Crandall Gets Title As CBS Publicity Director George Crandall, acting director of publicity at CBS since Sept. 1, has been given the director title, effective at once. He was formerly assistant press head to Louis Ruppel. P&G SEEN MOVING 'HAPPINESS'TO N Y. * Cincinnati. Dec. 1. 'Right to Happiness,' NBC serial originating io Chicago for P. & G. laundry soap, will probably be moved to N. Y. by the sponsor, Procter & Gamble. Rights to the program are to be bought by the soap firm from Irna Phillips, the owner and originator. Compton will continue as the agency on the show, but it would be assigned to an outside package producer and a new scripter would be named. Art Gladd, now writing it for Miss Phil- lips, is about to go into the Army, and Miss Phillips does not want to take over authorship herself. Changes would all be effective Dec. 28, at the start of the next 13-week cycle. P. & G. has definitely decided to buy 'Snow Village,' William Ford Manley's strip serial version of his former half-hour evening program, as a replacement of 'Against the Storm,' which goes off NBC Dec. 25 for Ivory soap. Compton is the agency and Harold McGee will be package producer and director of the show, with Parker Fennelly and Arthur Allen resuming their leading roles. REMEMBER THE OTHERS Conlson Urges Stay-a(-Homes Divert to Draftees Louisville, Dec. 1. A timely suggestion on Christmas giving has been brought forward by Lee Coulson, manager WHAS, to employees of the station. Coulson's plan is for the staff, instead of ex' changing Christmas cards and gifts with each other this coming holiday season, to spend an equivalent amount for gifts for the boys who have left the station for the armed services. Quite a list of the staff members have left, and some are about to leave soon, and Coulson thought it would be a fitting thought to remember them with cigarets and gifts of a practical nature. So for the coming Yuletide season, ex' change of cards and printed greet- ing are out. ' NEW ARGENTINE NEWS CONTROL RULES MAY HURT US RATHER THAN GERMANY mTH'REPLACING THIN MAN' DEC. 30 FOR JURGE Jergens, through the Lennen & Mitchell agency, will sponsor a ra- dio version of 'Mr. and Mrs. North' as a replacement of The Thin Man' Wednesday nights on NBC. The change will be effective with the Dec. 30 broadcast. James Andrews, L. & M. radio head, will direct the show, with Charles Paul conducting the music and various freelance scripters adapting the Aichard and Frances Lockridge material from the New Yorker mag. Cast for the series will be audi- tioned this week and next in New York and Hollywood, but any film players selected will be brought east, where the program will originate. Anyhow, It All Depends on Spirit Behind Interpreta- tion and Enforcement—Text of Decree Kept Secret for a Month Buenos Aires, Nov. 26. Details of measures by which Ar- gentina—generally considered the chief communications link between this hemisphere and Germany— ex- pects to control all communications henceforth, were revealed this week by government. But test of whether the rules will hit democracies instead of dictatorships is something that still has radio and other communica- tions people plenty worried. Regulations are contained in a de- cree issued last month by the Minis- try of Foreign Affairs but just now published. Its explained secrecy was because decree contained certain measures whose application might be affected if they were made known at the time. Although nothing was said in the official handout about regulations having been put in because of state- ments made by Under Secretiary of State Sumner Welles In his Boston speech (during which he said that Axis agents were using Argentina and Chile to broadcast information causing sinkage of United Nations ships) it's generally believed that the new rules are intended to show Ar- gentina's doing its share to stop such practices. Admitted generally, however (Continued on page 55) Do. 6 OF A SERIES-WHAT THE HEN WHO MOVE YOUl KERCHANBISE THINK MOOT WMTIHE MVERISIM. S*Ti N. E. KKEUZBERG, Salei md Advertiiing Mtnager ci 75 U.B«-S«e Fovd Sloru •••eciattd wirh THE UMA-KINTON OlOCntT COMTANT, Ltmt, Ohio. As I see it, ihe fate of all food manuiaclurers is now entirelY in the hands of the retailer. From my own personal observations, the retailer is generally interested in some private brand that he suggests and generally sells, should the ad- vertised brand be out of stock. "It appears that unknown brands are quite likely to make great strides unless all possible-.adver- tising support is continued for known brands in the retail food businejss. "No right-thinking retailer can blame a manu- iacturer if war shortages make it impossible to iBupply normal amounts of his product. But he can find fault if advertising and point-of- sale support are withdrawn altogether. I "Continued advertising is essential even A though it may indirectly result in the B sale of private, brands due to unavoid- ^ able shortages of natioiially advertised merchandise. "This may seem to be a "reverse" role for national advertising— hMi the im- portant thing is that it will keep alive the consumer's desire to buy nation- ally advertised brands ... and it will help the retailer slay in business. "Therefore, such a policy will pay big dividends with those retailers when manxifacturers are able to produce consumer goods in abundance once more." I VLW