Variety (Dec 1942)

Wednesday; December 9, 1942 RADIO 33 22 AIR SHOWS MARK PEARL HARBOR First anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was given an extensive observance on various network and local shows over the week-end, through arrangement by the Office of War Information. Num- ber of special programs were broad- cast and many regular commercial shows were devoted to the subject. In addition, there were references to Pearl Harbor on countless other stanzas. OWI schedule- listed 22 specific shows treating the subject over the weekend. They included both com- mercial and sustaining, comedy, dra- matic, musical, special events, quizzes and even religious programs. Several had pickups from Pearl Harbor and some also included re- motes from other war zones and United Nations capitals. The Fred Waring program Mon- day rtght (7) on NBC for Chester- field included the induction of 2,211 Naval Aviation cadets in 126 cities. •Vox Pop' had pickups from Pearl Harbor, after Bromo-Seltzer and the Ruthraufl & Ryan agency had agreed with Parks Johnson that he and Warren Hull should not fly to Honolulu to do the broadcast be- cause it would u.se Clipper space that could otherwise accommodate 600 pounxls of Christmas mail. Complete list of shows carrying OWI-arranged Pearl Harbor mate- rial included Mutual's 'Radio Chapel,' the Blue's "Deliver Us from Evil,' the 'Army Hour' on NBC, Mu- tual's American Legion program, Campbell's soup's 'Radio Reader's Digest' on CBS, Columbia's 'Report to the Nation,' 'This Is Our Enemy' on Mutual,' all Sunday; 'The Lesson of Pearl Harbor' on CBS, a memo- rial service by Archbishop Spellman I on CBS, a Hawaiian war bond show on NBC, the Blue network's 'Men of Land, Sea and Air' end 'Honor the Dead,' a special Requiem Mass on the same network, the Frank Parker- Squibb show on CBS, Mutual's The Avengers,' 'Vox Pop* on CBS, du- Pont's 'Cavalcade of America' on NBC, the Lux 'Radio Theatre' on CBS, Mutual's special events 'Amer- ica Today,' Lady Esther's 'Screen Guild Theatre' on CBS, Fred Waring on NBC and ceremonies of scrapping the battleship Oregon on CBS, all Monday, Smith broke up Ted Collins so com- pletely on her noon program Wednes- day (2) that he had to break oft his spiel at one point. She picked it up, but was obviously having trouble not to laugh. They didn't explain what happened. . . . 'One Man's Family' continues in form Sunday nights on NBC, but suffers because all the characters talk and think alike week after week. But the integrated r'eischmann's yeast commercial at the close is a honey. . . . Marjorie Main is broadly comic and a wel- come addition to the Bergen series Sunday nights. ... Dr. William Agar was unspectacular, but quietly a-thoritative and impressive Wednes- day night (2) on "Freedom House Review,' via WEVD, but transatlantic atmospherics m;-. .e the recorded talks of Herbert Ilorrison, Ambassa- dor Winant aiwl Lt. Com. Herbert Agar from London too murky for easy intelligibility. . . . 'The Man Who Missed a Year,' drama by Neal Hopkins on NBC Sunday afternoon (6), was reasonably imaginative, though not always too clear in in- tention. But it achieved what was apparently its main idea, to crowd a record of the year since Pearl H rbor into a half-hour. Tom Ben- nett's score was a beauty. Three Small Towners On CBC's French Hookup Montreal, Dec. 8. Extension of the French regional network of the Canadian Broadcast- ing Corp. by three stations affiliated to the net has been effected. They are CKRM, Houyn; CKVD, Val D'Or; and CHAD, Amos, bringing the total of stations up to 10 together with one short wave station.. The exten- sion became effective as of last week. CBC is having 26 weeks of operetta and dramatic plays broad- cast, starting with 'La Fille du Tambour-Major' Dec. 7 and with 'Edith Caveir Dec. 9. They are for an hour every Monday and Wednesday night and are being di- rected respectively by Georges Du- fresne and Guy Maufette with local talent for singing and acting parts. Both will be sustaining. New KEYS Owners Corpus Christi, Texas, Dec. 8. Reorganization has taken place here of the Nueces Broadcasting Co., licensees of Station KEYS. H. S. Lockhart, present manager, and E. C. Hughes, commercial manager, have each purchased a quarter interest in the present partnership, which consists of Earl C. Dunn, local law enforcement officer, and Charles Rossi, oil operator. Deal, which thas been approved by the Federal Communications Commission, gave Lockhart and Hughes their shares in the partner- ship for $4,032 each, with Dunn and Rossi each also holding a quarter interest in the station. KEYS operates with a power of 2S0 watts on a frequency of 1490 kilocycles full time. Follow-up Comment Continued from page 32 i STATIONS HIT BY FALUNG REVENUE MAY REQUIRE AD) FROM GOVERNMENT na.<ihlngton—Harriett Miller has joined the staff of WJSV, as assistant to Bob Ehrman, production chief. She was formerly with WINX and KSTP Minneapolis. Storm Clips 3 Hours From Charlotte Station Charlotte, N. C, Dec. 8. Station WBT, local CBS outlet, was oR the air about three hours last Tuesday night (1) when the top section of the transmitter tower was toppled over during a tornado and electrical storm. Fending full repairs, the station is operating with emergency equipment. Jess Willard, WBT manager, and staff engineers worked through wind, rain and mud to make the necessary repairs to get the station back on the air after the transmitter tower fell. PbiladelphU. — Betty Sheldon has taken a leave of absence from the WCAU news room to join her hus- band. Pvt. Wally Sheldon, stationed at Army technical school, Sioux Falls, S. D. Pvt. Sheldon is an ex- WCAU announcer. Dayton Lummis, formerly of WCAM, Camden, N. J., has joined announcing sUff of W69PH, WCAU's F-M station. Payment for U. S. Programs, Loans or Tax Relief, Fly Says, Possible Solution for Keeping Soma Broadcasters Solvent Washington. Dec. 8. Some program must be worked out for continued broadcasting ser- vice by radio stations which are facing a falling off of revenue from advertising. Chairman James L. Fly of the Federal Communications Com- mission told new.ipapermen Monday (7). FCC chairman said he did not know whether this could be done by loan, by payment for Govern- ment programs or through tax re- lief measures. He said he was re- luctant to see the Government 'get any sort of stake in private broad- casting' such as would result from subsidizing stations with loans. Chairman Fly was asked to com- ment on a report that the Internal Revenue Bureau is drafting an amendment to the tax law by which radio stations could deduct as busi- ness expenses the time they devote to war bond selling and other Gov- ernment announcements. He said that such a step would be a break for the stations, but that he could not take any position for or against a tax proposal. He said, however, that he did not think that the reported tax proposal would be comprehensive enough to take care of the major problem of keeping stations on the air. Worcester — Philip Brook, acting chief announcer, has been made chief announcer at WTAG. He has been with station for three years, first as staff announcer and then ai special events reporter. Vacant post of special events chief goes to mike- man Bob Dixon, with Louis Chapin, Jr., recent addition to staff, named supervisor of sound effects depart- ment. THE HEROES DEPABT With the Army welcoming IS-year-olds, with kids by the thousand rushing to enlist at once, it occurred to' Westing- house Station KYW that Philadelphia's first contingent deserved a real salute— and that Philadelphians deserved to hear and feel the mood of the departure. So Will Osborne's dance band, tiie sing- ing Andrews Sisters, and the KYW audience dedicated a half hour at the railroad station to the war's youngest volunteers. Dedicated? They never had a better time! The audience heard, not a sad-fare- well, but a picnic, a jive session, and a block party all In one. The kids took over the music, the girls, the station, and the whole salute. Wisecracks and rumbas mixed hilariously with farewell kisses and catchy songs. And KYW's millions dried their tears, and laughed imtil the tears came back, and realized the war was in the right hands now. Advertising men sense this mirror of America in Westinghouse programs. They recognize it as an essential public service, as the essence of modern showmanship, as a sure-fire audience guarantee. WiniNGHOUK RADIO nATIONS he WOWO • WM • WBZ • WiZA • KYW • KDKA 'A