Variety (Dec 1942)

84 IKAPIO ; Gas Rationing and War Jobs For Women May Explain Drop In July-Sept. Day Time Listening Wednesdajr December 16, 1942 Station Eiqienses in nnjKiiig Wa^ Bonds Deducbliie for Tax Purposes Fishbarn Quits NBC For &ant Agcy. b Chi Chicago, Dee. 15. Alan M. Fishburn, member of the NBC director sUA in Chicago, has resigned, clTective Jan. 1, to join the Grant agency, as assistant to Lloyd CBucky.') Harris, radio di- rector. Currently directing the 'Help Mate' serial for Cudahy Packing, through the Grant agency, Fishburn has directed various programs orig- inating in Chicago. Some Stations Falling Revenue Worrying OWI .. ._ . . „ m,ifm "MBfW* Washington, Dec. 16, Office of War Information is making a study of the drop in ad- vertising revenue which threatens to put some of the smaller broadcast- ers off the air. Gardner Cowles, deputy OWI chief, disclosed that his organization is concerned about the problem and thnt, in addition to its own checking, it has asked the Ad- vertising Council to survey the situation. Chairman James L. Fly, of the Federal Communications CommLs- sion, recently proposed that some Governmental program must be worked out to continue broadcasting service by radio stations which are facing serious losses. FCC chairman is not sure whether this could be done by loan, by pay- ment for Government programs or through tax relief measures. He did say he was reluctant to see the Gov- ernment 'get any sort of stake in private broadcasting' such as would result.from subsidizing stations with loans. OWI's interest in the problem arises from the fact radio is a me- dium for disseminating information about the war effort and that many (Continued on page 31) AXEL GRUENBERG, STARK FORM PRODUCTION FIRM Axel Gruenberg and Richard Stark, respective director and an- nouncer of 'Against the Storm,' have formed a new program production Arm, Gruenberg. Stark & Co., and are already offering a list of eight shows for possible sponsorship. Gruenberg has directed several pro- grams besides 'Storm' in the last couple, of seasons, and Stark is cur- rently also announcing 'Life Can Be Beautiful' and Phil Spitalny's 'Hour of Charm.' Washington, Dec. IS. By broadcasting Informatioi^ as to the necessity of buying war bonds, radio stations are carrying on one of the functions for which they an organized and the expenses incurred in connection with that are deduo* tlble as ordinaty and necessary busi- ness expenses for Federal income tax piuposes. That is the substance of a ruling handed down by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to Russell H. Place, counsel for the National Association of Broad- casters. Test of whether expenditures are deductible from gross income la whether they are ordinary and nec- essary expenditures directly con- nected with or pertaining to the tax- payer's trade or business. The Bu- reau has ruled that expenses in- curred by newspapers' in directing public attention to the vital necessity of the success marketing of war bonds are deductible as ordinary and necessary expenses. Badio Like Press Ruling was based on the recogni- tion that It is the business of news- papers, among other things, to dis- ^Af'iiM^M^^ dis- interest. Thus, in promoting the sale of war bonds, newspapers are con- sidered to l>e engaged in carrying on one of the functions for which they are organized and the expenses incurred are identified as being di- rectly connected with the business of operating a newspaper. Radio stations are in much the same light. In addition to broadcasting war bond information, radio stations may receive mail orders for t>onds and see that they are transmitted to an issuing agent, or sell bonds as issu- ing agents, either by mail or over- the-counter, using their own em- ployees for this purpose. Expenses Incurred in carrying on such activities may also properly be considered as expenses for institu- tional or goodwill advertising, which are also deductible from gross rev- enue under section 23 (a) of the In- ternal Revenue Code if reasonable in amount, according to the Com- missioner. Wamow Orch, Murray Choir to Replace Info Please' for Lucky Strike Mark Warnow's orchestra and the Lynn Murray choir draw the as- signment for the new Lucky SU'ike broadcast, which will replace 'In- formation Please' on NBC. Pro- gram will originate each Friday night from Carnegie Hall, N. Y., be- ;inning Feb. 12, probably the flrst time that a pop-style radio show has been scheduled to emanate from there. 'Info' drops off after broad- cast of Feb. 5. Basis of Warnow's programming will be a 'Hit Parade' of songs dating back 20 years or more. He will use an orchestra of SO musicians. The Co-operative Analysis of Broadcasting last week released a resume of listening for the July- September quarter which showed the nighttime level moving upward and the daytime quotient going the other way. In seeking to rationalize the latter Index, the C. A. B. sum- mary speaks of gasoline rationing and Increased employment, presum- ably for women. The quarterly review disclosed that average ratings'were off 7%, and that of the three months the largest volume of nighttime listening occurred during July. That same month accounted for the largest pro- portionate decrease in daytime audi- ences. The Interest in news broad- casts also hopped above the level which prevailed for the like quarter of 1941, Following is the C. A. B.'s com- parative index of listening: NIGHT Menth 1941 1942 July 18.7 19.9 August i 18.7 ..lft.7 September 22.3 23.0 Go?. Neely Settles Libel Suit Vs. W. Va. Station Fairmont, W. Va., Dec. 15. Libel action of GoV. M. M. Neely, of Neely bill fame, against Station WMMN which was" named for him (having a W before his Initials) has been settled out of court. Terms were not disclosed. The suit grew out of statements made by opposing politicians in the recent campaign. Nets Can Take FCC Regulations To U. S. Sup. Ct '— ' 'Sm SAM'MAY GO ONMBS^BARBASOL Barbasol may spot 'Singin' Bam' on a Mutual hookup for a schedule of two quarter-hours a week. This would be supplementary to the news trick which John B. Kennedy re- cently started for the account on CBS. 'Sam' was associated exclusively with Barbasol for years before tak- ing up on disc with Coca Cola. HRE REPORTER GETS SPONSOR Boston, Dec. 15. A sponsor appeared on the scene as a result of an outspoken talk by Joe Dinneen, Boston Globe column- ist, broadcast over WORL, in which he labelled many local niteries as ilretraps, following the Cocoanut Grove disaster. Steaming nightclub operators threatened law suits, while Dinneen's listeners applauded his re- marks, then a representative of the Royal Crown Cola Co. brought forth a contract. Dinneen started for the soft-drink concern Monday (14) and will l>e heard Ave times weekly at 6 p.m., gabbing news of local interest and patterned after his column, 'Spilling the Beans.' David Malkicl agency handled the transaction. Linkletter, Coast Gabber, Under Indictment For False Citizenship Claim San Francisco, Dec. 15. Art Linkletter, freelance radio an- nouncer, was indicted by a Federal grand jury here on charge of falsely claiming U. S. citizenship. Assistant U. S. Attorney Louis Mercado said that Linkletter, born in Canada, ap- plied for naturalization papers on Sept. 29 of this year and that two months later, on Nov. 27, he claimed to be a citizen in applying for a pass to KSFO and the short-waver, KWID. According to Mercado, Link- letter also voted in the Nov. 5, 1940, election. In a formal statement, the radio m.c. said he never knew until the fall of 1942 that he was an adopted child and that he had been born in Canada. 'Immediately upon discov- ering that we came from Canada when I was about two years old, I went to the Federal authorities and told them the story. At the same date, I applied for naturalization pa- pers and am now waiting for them to come through,' Linkletter stated. Maximum penalty for conviction on the charge preferred against Linkletter is five years in Federal penitentiary, $5,000 fine, or both. MBS Adds 2 More Mutual network acquired two more affiliates last week. They're WBHP, Huntsville, Ala., and WLAY, Muscle Shoals, Ala. Former is a 100-watter, the latter 250.. .watt5._..Bflth. are full time Radio will get varied treatment by: Maurice Dreicer Alan Lipecoll Lester Gottlieb Ted Colt Phillips Carlin Storm Whaley Eve Merriain Ralph Edwards in 'Shotv Business at War' tiieme of the 37lh Anniversary Number of Gruenberg will also probably take over direction of 'Right to Happi- ness,' Procter St Gamble s«-ial, which the Compton agency is bring- ing to N. Y. from Chicago, effective Dec. 28. Edward Aleshire Joins Up As Red Cross Exec Chicago, Dec, 15. Edward Aleshire, manager of the H. W. Kastor Sc Sons Advertising Co., is taking an immediate leave of absence to join the Americtin Red Cross. Following a brief training period at national headquarters in Washington, he will leave for an overseas assignment as chief of the Red Cross radio section at one of the foreign operation points. Benjamin J. Green, who has -been assistant manager of the agency's radio department for the past four years, will take over Aleshire's former duties. Bill Baiiance,. recently of KOA, Denver, isn't in the Army after all. Instead, he's announcing for KSL, Salt Lake City. , ROBERT BENCHLEY AS STAR OFNEW PROGRAM Robert Benchley is starred in a new comedy script show by Roger White for audition this week by an undisclosed client of the C. L, Miller agency. It's a 30-minute series, with an orchestra background.' Ira Ashley directed it as a free- lance assignment. N. Y. Herald-Trib's Radio Ed Moves to Town Hall Betty Colglough, radio editor of the N. Y. Herald Tribune, resigned this week to become assistant' to Mrs. Marion Carter, director of the radio forum division of Town Hall, N. Y. Her successor has not yet been selected, but the paper will continue to confine its radio cover- age to daily program listings, plus a short column of 'highlights' in the Sunday edition. As assistant to Mrs. Carter, Miss Colglough will be active in the preparation of the 'Town Meeting of the Air' program on the Blue network and the new local series on WMCA, N. Y. DAT Month 1941 1942 JiUy 14.1 12.6 August 14.4 13.0 September 14.2 12.9 LAST CBS TELE EXEC GOING INTO NAVY With the resignation of Leonard Hole, acting executive director of television, CBS will probably cur- tail Its television activities dras- tically. Hole will report Tuesday (22) as a lieutenant (]g) at the 9uonset Point (R. I.) Naval Base. He will probably not be replaced. Last of the executives to leave CBS television. Hole leaves a skele- ton crew of four men. Company will probably air only four hours of films a week, as NBC has been do- ing since ^uly. Because of the shortage of manpower and technical equipment, particularly tubes, the FCC is not enforcing its earlier edict that the television companies would have to operate on a 14-hour weekly schedule. Cleve. Broadcasters Put Out Welcome Mat For WJW, Bhie's Affdiate Cleveland, Dec. 15. Broadcasters in Cleveland gen- erally favored the removal of WJW from Akron to become the Blue af- filiate here. One spokesman said the move would offer additional 'com- petition, which is healthy and good.'' Meanwhile, WHK-WCLE, which formerly used the Blue here, but which left that chain to use Mu- tual exclusively except for Blue commercial programs, will lose ap- proximately 27 programs, includ- ing 'Lone Ranger,' 'Jack Armstrong,' 'Don Winslow," 'Inner Sanctum,' •Gang Busters,' 'Breakfast Club.' Several other changes are being a-sked by Cleveland's stations. WGAR is seeking a change on iu wave length to permit better re- ception In this area, and WCLE i.s attempting to operate beyond 6 p.m. Texas as Program Subject San Antonio, Dec. 15. The many-sided story of Texas' contribution to the war effort in man power, production and civilian activity is the subject of a new se- ries of programs aired over WOAI and the Texas Quality Network each Sunday afternoon for a quarter- hour. The series, titled 'Texas at War,' started Sunday (13), .spon- sored by Texas Gulf Sulphur Co., originating through KPRC, Hous- ton. Washington, Dec. 15. The question of whether the Fed- eral Communications Commission holds the authority to regulate rela- tions between networks and their affiliated station is slated for another argument before the U. S. supreme court. The latter tribunal yesterday (Monday) granted permission to NBC and CBS to bring up for appeal a recent ruling of a three-judge Fed- eral court in New York that the FCC is invested with such regulatory power. When NBC-CBS counsel were pre- viously before the Supreme Court it was to dispute the same lower court's finding that it had no right to inter- fere with the FCC until after it had ordered the anti-network regulations into effect The S.C. agreed with the networks and ordered the Issue back for trial. NAB, m? LEAGUE AGREE ON AD CODE Washington, Dec. 15. Code committee of the National Association of Broadcasters and offi- cials of the Co-operative League of the United States, after two days of conferences, today (Tuesday) agreed on a set of themes and principles to be used in radio copy advertising co-operative ventures. The meeting and subsequent agree- ment was the outgrowth of the pro- test that the League had lodged with the Federal Communications Com- mission after NBC and CBS managed and operated stations had turned dowif 'co-operative' business. Shirt Outfit Drops ISpot Deals Jan. 1 The Sanforizing Division of Cluett, Peabody & Co., is withdrawing from its alignments with spot radio at the end of this year. The move will affect seven markets and schedules of quarter-hour programs. Young & Rubicam is the agency. KXOK, St. L, FuU-Time St. Louis, Dec. 15. KXOK, the Blue outlet here and owned and operated by the Star- Times, p.m. rag, has started a round-the-clock sked. Jerry Burns, gabber, conducts a 'News of Our Neighbors' program once weekly, in which news items from small town rags of interest to lho.se who recently have moved to St. Louis are aired. In return for the air credit, the oul-of-lown sheets are using stories of the new station policy. New Castle, Pa.—Ray Edwards, formerly of WKBN, Youngstown. has become program director of WKST here.