Variety (Dec 1942)

26 RADIO Wednesday, December 30, 1942 Ad Agencies Take Note of Squawks About Spice on Air; Inform Comics S..v.MiiI a<l\riti.-ing agencies last wcpk luol; M)ccii)l cognizance of a siorv ill Vai ici.v .s' Dec. 23 issue tell- iiii; of aclnioiiiiiOMs received from lo- c:il bioadt;i>iors about the growing tendency of ncmorlt comics to dip inio blue material and of certain network script shows to deal in pro- fanity and double entendre. The agencies obtained extra copies of the ailicle and mailed them to their comics Hiid associated material writers. One a;;ency radio exec explained that the article's publication had proved quite timely as far as Tie was concerned, since he had been troubled of late with one of his comedians over that very subject. Appended to the story was. a let- ter from Barron Howard, business manager of WRVA, Richmond, in which he warned that if radio didn't apply the damper soon to these proc- livities the medium would find it- self the target of the reformer ele- ment. Premieres Dec. 30-Jnil. 10 RUPPE GOING INTO MAHI Louis Ruppel, former CBS pub- licity director, quits his present Job with Crowell Publications In about thre« weeks to become a First Lieu- tenant in the Marine Corps. He expects to be assigned to the •erial photography and map-making branch of the air branch. WSIX AND MUTUAL RENEW RELATIONSHIPI WSIX, Nashville, and the Mutual network have patched up their dif- ferences and the station has re- sumed normal Mutual service. WSIX dropped the Mutual line a couple of months ago on the ground that the network violated its con' tract when it discontinued - sustain- ing service on the insistence of the American Federation of Musicians. The latter situation developed from an employment tangle between WSIX and the AFM's Nashville lo^ cal. WSIX also has been taking the Blue network's service and ap- parently will continue to do so. Dec. 30 'Mr. and Mrs. North,' comedy- drama based on Owen Davis play version of Richard and Frances Lockridge sketches; Wednesdays. 8-8:30 p.m., WEAF- NBC; Woodbury soap (Jergens), Lcnnen 8c Mitchell agency. Jan. 4 Oracle Fields, comedy-song series expands to 15 minutes; Monday-Friday. 10-10:15 p.m., WJZ-Blue; Pall Mall cigarets (American tobacco), Rulhrauff & Ryan agency. Jan. t 'Sincin' Sam,' songs by Harry Frankel; Tuesdays, Thursdays, 8-8:15 p.m.. WOR-Mutual; Bar- basol; Erwin, Wasey agency. Jan. 1 'Music Hall,' with Bing Crosby, Victor Borge. John Scott Trotter orch, shrinks to half-hour; Thursdays, 9-9:30 p.m., WEAF- NBC; Kraft cheese, Thompson agency. Jan. 8 Kale Smllb, with Ted Collins, Olyn Landick, contracts to half- hour; Fridays, 8-8:30 p.m., WABC-CBS; Jello (General Foods), Young Si Rubicam agency. Jan. 1* John Charles Tboma^, John Nesbitt: Sundays, 2:30-3 p.m., WEAF-NBC; Westlnghouse, Young & Rubicam agency. 'Si«operao,' comedy-quiz, with Col. Stoopnagl* (F. Chase Tay- lor): Sundays, 6:05-6:30 p.m., WJZ-Blue; Schutter candy; Roche. Williams & Cunnyngham agency. 10th Annual AWARDS based on WHAT LOCAL RADIO STATIONS ARE DOING FOR THE WAR To Be PublUlied in the 37th Anniversary Edition of . OUT NEXT WEEK FOR NOVEMBER 1942 1941 Blue $1,780,000 $1,200,000 CalDmbIa 4,160,000 3,860,000 Matoal 910,000 960,000 NBC 3,870,000 3,700.000 Total $10,710,000 $9,720,000 FOR FIRST 11 MONTHS 1942 Blue $14,100,000 Columbia 41,300.000 Mutual 8,775,000 NBC 39.950 000 Total $104,125,000 1941 $11,000,000 40,350.000 6,350,000 38.000,000 $95,710,000 H-48 -1-7 —5 -1-5 -t-10 % -I 2B + 2 H-3B ■1-5 'I 9 4 Nets Gross Continued from page 1 YANK NETS OK OTTAWA FOR PEACE TALKS Pitt Brewer Bays 2 Shows for Sokfiers Pittsburgh, Dec. 29. Pili.iburgh Brewing Co., has just siKned with KDKA for six quarter hour musical .shows weekly featuring two dilTcrent sets of talent. On Men days, Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:30 p.m., Jeanne Baxter and Buzz Aston, singers, will do 16 minutes «f request melodies for soldiers, and Tuesday:>. Thursdays and Saturdays brewery will spotlight the Tech Las- sies and a lad in 'Songs for Service Men.' Group is composed of Gene Price, Alice Camp, Miss Baxter and George Held. On Saturdays, Bill Sutherland, stalT announcer, will also occupy a portion of the program with a resume of the week's sports news. Representative Detroit, Dec. 29. As if two sons In active service . was not enough representation, Val Clare, CKLW news commenta- tor, last week saw another member of his family into the armed forces, His daughter, Betty, 18, joined the Navy as a WREN. Trenton (N. J.) Station Employees Claim They're Striking for Back Pay Trenton, Dec. 29. A strike of employees of radio sta- tion WTTM here remains unsettled. A score of announcers, staff work- ers, advertising salesmen and cleri- cal help have been out since Dec. 18. They are members of a recently organized local of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (AFL). A spokesman fo>- the strikers said the stoppage of work resulted from what he termed a screwy system of paying the help. For several months, he said, the station made only part payments on salaries; the rest was 'owed' to the employees. The man- agement, he claimed, finally had be- come more than $4,000 in debt to the hands, most of whcm, of course, had no written contracts. So, he declared, the strikers would return to work gleefully if they could be guaranteed regular salary payments. The station contends the back pay amounts claimed are ridiculous. Some advertisers have backed off, but so far there has been no serious curtailment of station business. The station has a contract with the booadcast division of the CIO. It claims the strike is a wildcat. The studio, located midtown, has been picketed. Conciliation with the aid of federal mediators and IBE^ rep- resentatives has been going forward. Official* of the four major Ameri- can networks look with favor on a proposal advanced by several Cana- dian newspapers that the United Na- tions make Ottawa, Canadian capital, the scene of their peace conferences. A situation of this sort, the webs point out, would suit them perfectly. They wouldn't have to worry about the unpredictable troubles that come with shortwave relays or time differences, as would be the case were the conferences to be held in Europe. It would also be convenient for commentators to cover the gath ering and maintain their regular commercial commitments. tions are that the webs as a contin- gent will be able to hold their own for at least the first quarter of 1943. The batch of new business set to start after New Year's should suf- fice to make up for the reduction of the time quotients of such shows as Kraft Music Hall, Kate Smith and Camel Caravan. Columbia is figured to lead the network gross list for 1942 with ac- cumulative billings of $45,500,000, as compared to $44,550,000 for 1941. NBC will be next with $43,800,000, compared with $39,750,000 for '41. The Blue Network, it is estimated, will do $10,200,000 this year, v.hi'.e in 1941 its gross was $15,200,000 The 1942 estimate for Mutual is $9,- 700,000. In 1940 that network grossed $7,300,000. All networks excepting Mutual last month ran ahead of their No- vember, 1941, grosses. Columbia's $4,150,000 gave it a plus margin of 7f;. NBC got $3,870,000, or plus 5%. The Blue grossed $1,780,000, which was 4A% over what the tally had been for November, 1941. Mutual's $910,000 represented a slide of 5%. ADAGCYS.FREE WITH BONUSES Bonuses flowed freely among the advertising agencies the day before Christmas, but the year-end gift at Young Sc Rubicam turned out to be a double-barreled one. Y & R em- ployees not only received an extra check representing 7V&% of their accumulative 1942 salaries, but the news that the firm had also estab- lished a profit sharing plan for them. The average bonus was 10% of tht accumulative sala^^: although then were lots of cases of an extra week's I'-yn.ent. With J. Walter Thomp- son it was two weeks' extra salary for those earning up to $3,000, and the usual week's bonus for the upper bracket.s, plus dividends for the em- ployee stockholders. Van Nostrand Now Has Green Light From Draft B(LtoJomOWIinN.Y. COLWELL OFFERED NEW OWI POST I A. L. ALEXANDER MOVING IWEDIATION BD; TO WOR Clifford Evans Back Clifford Evans resumes as news commentator and analyst for WLIB, Brooklyn, Monday (4). He had been off the air during a two month tour of the nation to sample public opinion. Evans, in addition to his thrice weekly air comments. Is a columnist for the Brooklyi) Daily Eagle. A. L. Alexander is moving his wailing-wall program. 'Mediation Board,' from WHN, N.Y., to WOR, N. Y. It will have the Monday. 9:15-10 p.m. slot on WOR. sUrting Jan. 11. Series will go Mutual four weeks later. 'Mediation Board^ is along the lines of 'Ciood Will Hour,' a series which Alexander created on WMCA, N, Y., some seven years ago. Robert T. Colwell, J. Walter Thompson v. p. has been approached about taking the post of radio copy chief with the Office of War Infor- mation. It would be a liaison as- signment giving him executive status under W.' H. Lewis, head of the OWTs radio division. The post would be newly created one. Col- well has had two oUier war-related connections under consideration. Colwell, whose specialty for the pasV 14 years has been ad copy and continuity planning, writing and editing, would have charge of all script contact between the OWI's radio division and advertising agen- cies. He would have a committee of agency radio execs, expressly ap- pointed for the purpose, sit in with him on consultations. Colwell would also split his working week between New York and Washington. Sao Francisco — Leonard Gross, formerly in charge of public service for NBC here, shitted to Hollywood in similar capacity. Vick Knight Ha8 hia own ideas abont 'The New Boss of Radio'' an Addnl Frnlnrr In 'Show Busines At War* thems of the 37th Anmvergary Number of The way has been cleared for Jack Van Nostrand, Young & Rubl- cam's production head in the east, to Join the New York office of the Office of War Information's radio division as aide to Pete Barnum. It will be a leave of absence with- out pay. Barnum is deputy chief of the OWI's radio section and Van Nostrand will be assistant deputy chief. Van Nostrand makes the change Jan. 13. After Van Nostrand several weeks ago accepted the OWI post, the Hollywood draft board, with which he had registered, sent him a card to report for a physical. It . wasn't until recently that the draft board acknowledged the OWI retiuest for his determent. Van Nostrand, who is married, will be 38 years old in four months. Ex-Pitt Radio Ed Wins Freedom on Parok Pittsburgh, Dec. 29. Darrell V. Martin, former radio editor of the Post-Gazette, was re- leased on parole from the county workhouse last week by Judge John P. Egan after serving 30 days of a six-month sentence on his guilty plea of embezzling $2,000 from a local couple. His release came after he had made full restitution to Mr. and Mrs. Roy V. Claypool, who had in vested the money in a radio maga- zine which Martin said he had planned to publish. In his plea to the charge last month, the ex columnist admitted placing the money in his personal account. When a $2,000 cashier's check was presented in court, the Claypools, in a signed statement, said they were willing to agree to Martin's release, Judge Egan placed him on a six- month parole to be terminated when he also pays the costs of the case. 'Dr. I. Q/on Hub Stage Boston, Dec. 29. 'Dr. I. q: will broadcast his NBC quiz program from the stage of the Metropolitan theatre here starting Jan, 18 for six successive Mondays. Program moves from Atlanta, Ga. It played Boston two years ago. WBZ will emanate show. BREWER BUYS ST. LB.B. GAMES FOR 3D YEAR St. Louis, Dec. 29. For the third consecutive year the Hyde Park Breweries, Inc., through Young tc Rubicam have signed a contract to sponsor tha play-by-play home games of the Browns and Cardinals on a seven- station Missouri and lUinola web, originating at KXOK. France Laux. chief gabber at KMOX, the CBS outlet here, will again do tha an- nouncing, having been brought for the stint for his third consecutive year. This assignment will not interfere with Laux' doing his own sports program each p.m. over his homa station. Cnnningham m Sales Promotion Post at WEEl Boston, Dec. 29. Guy W. Cunningham, formerly sales promotion manager for film fan mags, has joined WE£l in a similar ciipacity. He obtained his first radio-writing experience doing scripts for 'Voice of the City', advertising program spon- sored by Barron G. Collier and broadcast over WHN, New York. Dorothy LoweH Undergoes Emergency Ajipendectomy Dorothy Lowell, title actress of the 'Our Gal Sunday' serial, under- went an emergency appendectomy Friday night (25) in Beth Israel hospital, N. Y. She is recovering satisfactorily. Meanwhile, Vivian Smolen, who subbed in the part last year when Miss Lowell became a mother, is again replacing. Miss Lowell is the wife of William Spire, of the OiTice of War Informa- tion radio department. WHEC Gets F-M Permit Rochester, N. Y., Dec. 29.. WHEC received authority to esUb- llsh a commercial frequency modula- tion station to replace its experi- mental W8XAD. The new W47R will operate on an 18-hour dally schedule on 44,700 kilo- cycles with a power of 3,000 watts. It will use the same equipment as the experimental unit, so will require no construction materials. Akron.—Russel Lengs has joined WJW, replacing Gene Peterson, an- nouncer, who was recently inducted by 'the Army.