Variety (Dec 1942)

Wedne sday, December 9, 1942 f^ibdiEfr RADIO SI AUSSIES PURIFY SUNDAY AIR A / WCAU, PhOly. Buys 8-Story Buflding To House Its Television After War TONING DOWN RAOIO BLURBS No Mention Permitted on Sabbath of Laxatives, Body Odor, Liquor Brands or Patent Medicine Cures LIMIT LENGTH, TOO Sydney, Dec. 8. Australian Government has called on the commercial stations to put a silk hat and cutaway on their Sab- bath Day programs. The new ukase Is for a more cultural and intel- lectual atmosphere and a sharp ton- ing down on the type and urgency of sales copy. Beginning with Jan. 3, these sta- tions most of all on Sunday must cut out all mention of laxatives, liquor brands, the b.o. angles in soap ap- peal and the effect of medicinals on the human body. The new rules for Sunday also apply to the running time of announcements. They are to be limited to 150 words per quarter hour. Senator Ashley, who heads up radio for the Government, has sug- gested that a portion of the Sabbath be devoted by the commercial sta- tions to lofty and uplifting pro- grams. As it is, listeners have been complaining about the super-lofty air surrounding the Sunday sched- ules of the Government-operated non-advertising stations and giving preference to the much brighter fare offered by the commercial out- lets. With a wartime economy and mode of life imposing enough res- traints of thei. own, listeners can't understand why the Government should go out of its way to augment the blue outlook of a Sunday. OpposishPolideal Party Claims BBC Restricts Sale of Network Time Montreal. Dec. 8. Gordon Graydon, national chair- man of the Conservative party, the official opposition in the Federal House at Ottawa, last week criti- cized what he terms refusal of Canadian Broadcasting Corp. to sell network time to the National Con- servation' convention committee; 'Recent point-blank refusal of the Board of Governors and the new general manager of the CBC to per- mit the National Conservation con- vention committee to purchase a half-hour period of time over the national network has all the signs of the opening round in a major fight for the right of democratic freedom of speech over the air in Canada,' the BUtement said. The Conservative party opens its convention at Winni- peg tomorrow (Wed) and will there pick a leader and lay down its prin- ciples and political aims. Rev. Dr. James S. Thomson, new CBC general manager, offered the newly-elected choice of the conven- tion time on a sustaining basis at a date subsequent to the convention. St. L. Radio Buyers St. Louis, Dec. 8. The Columbia Brewing Co. is cur- rently bankrolling 'The Shady Val- ley Folks,' a hillbilly ensemble orig- inating at KWK and piped to 128 stations on the Mutual net. The Italian Swiss Colony Wines, Asti, Cal., is sponsoring Today In History,' a twice-weekly historical program originating at KSD. Record- ed music is included in the 15 mins. program. Noxema is bankrolling the 'Quiz of Two Cities' in which contestants from St. Louis and Kansas City com- pete for the cash awards. Quiz is conducted simultaneously with John Jacobs handling the KMOX end and William Shipley at KMBC. Current : ontract runs for 26 weeks. Jerry Sears Replacing Don Bryan at WMCA Jerry Sears, currently house con- ductor at NBC, shifts to WMCA on Dec. 27 as musical director of the station. Replaces Don Bryan. Kesten Resting Paul Kesten, CBS v.p. and gen- eral manager, has gone oft for a vacation of three weeks. The boss, William S. Faley, noticed that Kesten looked work-worn and he urged the g.m. to take a re.st .'m- mediately. MEX STATIONS MUST FILE INVENTORIES Mexico City, Dec. 8. All radio stations in Mexico have been given until Dec. 15 by the Ministry of Communications and Public Works, ruler of air affairs in this country, to register the amount and nature of their apparatus and receive a special permit for their functioning. This, the ministry ex- plains, is a wartime protective measure. Stations that fail to register by the deadline will be regarded as clandestine and their apparatus and other equipment will be subject to confiscation hv ihe governnnent, the ministry warns. Philadelphia, Dec. 8. The WCAU Broadcasting Company last week purchased an eight-story building —ihe Perry Building —at 16th and Chestnut streets, in the heart of the city. The price an- nounced was $505,000. WCAU plans to house its tele- vision facilities there after the war. Until then the present tenants will not be disturbed. The additional space is needed by WCAU because its present building, situated nearby. is completely filled by standard and F-M broadcasting facilities. The Perry Building, built in 1904, was one of the city's early 'sky- scrapers.' The property is assessed at $1,029,600. St. Louis—Lloyd Clay, continuity director for KMOX, has joined FBI in Washington. His departure makei eighth exec of this CBS outlet to join the war. WLW Wo live now in a now world of action. As Amorico strippod tho fabric of poacotimo living from its poople to preparo for bitter war, there were those who felt that advertising, as a symbol of more care-free days, could have no important port in winning, that war. Now we know this is not so ^ For in the months since Pearl Harbor the words of our radio and the pages of our press have shown our real and stubborn strength. Competitive American enter- prise, itself made stronger by the means which give it voice, fans-^e^ury of a free people fighting for its very way of life ... hurls its own shout of defiance at our enemies ^ This we believe t that no p^wer en eorth con bring-us to our kriees save-a spirit of-ilefeat. And history may well record tomorrow that Freeclom's battle finally was won on a front lost to our enemies before a single bomb was dropped—the indomitable will to win of a free people in- spired by the politically untrammelled, economically independent voice of Its radio and press» "Shout of Defiance"—a new book fusf off the press—presents significant observations on advertising in total war—ten by important business executives, three by govern- ment officials. And the comments of dealers on wartime advertising, surveyed in the WLW coverage area. A copy of "Shout of Defiance" will be mailed on request.