Variety (May 1946)

32 RAMO Wednesday, May 1, 1946 Thiquita Puts Bananas in Storage In $250,000 Spot Splurge Vs. Famine In one of the unique postwar lie- ♦ lips of a spot announcement with a Government project, United Fruit Co. is yanking all its "Chiquila Banana" spots on stations around the country and is plunking down $250,000 to plug revised "Chiquila". lyrics appealing to the. nation to support the food conservation pro- tram. The United Fruit project, which has already received the blessing of President Truman and the Dept. of Agriculture, tees off soon as a 13- week venture. Last week the board of directors of United Fruit assem- bled in New York and kicked around the new lyrics, written: by Robert Foreman, head of radio copy for BBD&O, which handles the account. United Fruit, is expanding its cov- erage to" several hundred stations for the duration of the appeal and is dropping the usual sponsorship tag line. Transcription was cut at BBD&O last week by Elsa Miranda, the original "Chiquila" girl. The revised Chiquila lyrics are as follows: I'm Chiquila Bunaiia tuilh a mes- sage grave .About u million, children i.hrit ire leant to suve Don't lei tlieni.slurve anil liere is what to do. Eat more fresh vey'lables and fresh fruit, too. Then we'll send them fats und wheat ^4rul oil sorls of food in <:«— ans, You'll agree if yon examine This is lioto to beat the famine; For when yon eat fresh vey'lu- bles and fruits you're in the fight auuiiist starvation, So lei's all hold a helping hand out^-to every other no I ion. Please—please. UPTON CLOSE GOES A-BEGGING IN PHILLY Philadelphia. April. 30. The Upton Close show, dropped by WIBG, is being peddled to other Philadelphia independent stations by Mutual—but so far has found no takers." Indies approached have informed Mutual that they have no lime .avail- able for the Close program. WIF.. Philly Mutual outlet has refused to carry the show.; WIBG carried it until recently when it announced that it was being cancelled as of May 7 due to "other commitments." The program and its sponsor, the National Economic Council, have been the target of protests by liberal and labor groups. Chief criticism of the program came from the Inde- pendent Committee of Arts, Sciences and Professions. Harold L. Ickes. national head of the ICC, last week '"repudiated," in effect,"the .action of the local branch, lie said he was 'in- complete agree- ment with an editorial in the Phiily Record which blasted the group for urging removal of Close's show as an infringement of free speech, despite, fact that Record violently disagreed with the committee. KLZ Farm Program Publicist LEWIS THOMAS Ilis principal joh: ITamllliiK pulilie. 'relations and publirliy for K Lift's I Kami Reporter pro»irani: In ail- |,dlilon he authors acti|ii.i fur several Important KLZ local production!!. KLZ, DENVER. Is This the Mfllennium? Philadelphia, April 30. Prominent' editorial in Thursday's <251 Philadelphia Inquirer, titled "Public.Service Comes First," coming to defense of FCC against the NAB. has excited much interest. Inquirer, saying it fully realized the responsibilities it had assumed for operations of WFIL, which it bought recently, asserts that the NAB would be better employed in correcting the faults of radio which the FCC outlined, than in defending them and railing at "the quite proper stand" taken by FCC. Idea of a station owner defending criticism .of itself is still unusual enough to warrant comment. But Inquirer, stating that "a newspaper or a radio broadcasting, station merits its franchise only by virtue of its public interest," went further, averring "we are solidly against pig- gishnoss in the use of the public's airways for private gain.'.' 11 Cleve -Akron Bidders Fight For Area's FM, Some Sure to Be Nixed — : — : — ♦ Cleveland, April ;iu. MORNING GLORIES FAVORED I cw^t'iSty. ^ '£!■ passed when FCC grants are hand- WEAF Inks 'Jinx' Tab, Can Be Had at $1,200 Week; 15 Mins., $125 WEAF 'N..Y.) which unwrapped the Jinx Falkenburg-Tex McCrary "Hi, Jinx." show last .week as its contribution to the Vbrcakfast cir- cuit," has set a minimum of three quarter-hour segments per week for bankrollers interested in picking up the tab. A four-way sponsorship nib- bling is already on tap with likeli- hood of early wrapup. Husband-and-wife team is spotted half-hour 18:30-9) Monday-lhrough- Saturday, and all It quarter-hour segments can be had for $ 1,200 a week (exclusive of time ). On sustaining basis, team is inked for $750 u week, with coin intake ad- justed upward under sponsorship auspices. Presentation made to agen- cies otherwise offers "Jinx" at $125 for each 15-minulc period. WNEW PACTS LUTHER FOR MOPPET SHOWS Frank Luther, whose Decca record- ings of nursery' rhymes and other platters for kids from pic-nursery to young school age has run into millions of copies, becomes dliector of children's pro;ir-amniuu> for WNEW, N. Y. indie, next week. Luther will start off his new chores with a 25-minule sub-moppet disk jockey job to be aired Sundays at 9:35 »im.. beginning May 14. Plan of station is to stretch that show into a full hour in the fall. Title of Luther's own show will be "Chil- dren's Coiner" which, incidentally, js title of his latest Decca album.. In addition to doing his own shows. Luther will also work with WNEW in scheduling other children's pro- grams. One of these may be a half- hour show advising parcnis on'-the most modern methods of music edu- cation for the very young. Midwest Stations- Program Scramble Kansas City, April 20. The change of daylight time In key cities has. scrambled local radio time tables almost beyond recog- nition, beyond that of any other year. Time change has called out the greatest U3e of transcribed re- broadcasts the industry has known here, at least for the first week of the change, with situation pretty much prevelant throughout this sector of the country. Although the change benefitted some sponsors, it hampers as many, but in any event is a headathe for station programmers, who expert the matter to continue a jumble for at least a fortnight after which, they report, it should settle down tor the summer. A proposed resolution that would have brought daylight saving time to Kansas City from May 5 through Sept. 29 fell by the wayside by a 2 to 1 vote in a city council commit- tee meeting April 26. KSTFs Political Dilemma Over NBCsUNProject So D. C. Knows What It. T.IUet, Ayera Bollrrplale Is Back Washington, April 30. Washington likes its "morning men" and no oilier type of breakfast radio fare will nil the bill. WOL. Mutual outlet here, after experi- menting with" a variety of 15-minute slots in the 6 to'9 a.m. "wake up" period, since last September, fell in line this week with five other D. C. stations and announced that Cliff i Allen would go on the air as Mu- Bdict by. Stan Hubbard, operator , tual's morning- man. of KSTP, the NBC outlet in Min- neapolis, may spark a live contro- versy within the. industry as to where public service ends and po- litical broadcasting begins. Hubbard has held up on okay on WINX. the Washington Post indie, tried the same experiment several years ago. but soon reinstated its "WINX Waker-Upper" program. Poll conducted by the indie at that lime came up with the same cohclu- tieing in with- NBC's United Na- i sion as other D. C. outlets, who all tions Project, pending a ruling by ! have their morning men—that Wash- his attorneys as to whether station's ! ington listeners wanted a variety of carrying the lineup could be con- j popular music, some local xossip, the strued as participation in a political ; news, and plenty of time and involvement peculiar to Minnesota. ! weather reports. Network project provides for four j — months of international program se- ries and special events, culminating |' in. a nationwide United Nations ; Week in September. NBC affiliates i throughout the country have , been j asked to devote the week to local FCC Relaxes Rule ions n Washington. April 30. FCC yeslerday i Monday) opened the way for networks to send tran- scribed shows into some areas with- out announcing'that each is a re- cording. Reason is the confusion in schedules caused by partial daylight RADIO UNIT SHAPED BY WRITERS BOARD Radio Committee of the Writers Board being whipped into final shape. Principal activity of the committee will be a semi-monthly letter to a list ot several hundred of the most active radio writers, aimed at arousing thought and discussion on (he promotion of tolerance by writers. Committee headed by Hobe Mor- rison, thus far comprises Jerry De- vine, Clifton Fadiman. Jack Good- man. Stan Joseloff. Robert J. Landry. Goodman Ace. Harry Ackerman. Abe Burrows. Stephen Fry. William H. Ramsey and George'Rosen. programs and special events for their communities. Hubbard says station is not in a position either, to reject or accept UN participation until advised bv lawyers; Further contended by Hub- bard that while Congress has made official U. S. participation in UN I and that while under ordinary cir- ... leumstances KSTP in the public, in-j saving'time in the nation | terest would not hesitate to carry; ..ABC was authorized to try out | V N programs, the election situation • the new system for 30 days to de- | in Minnesota puts station in ticklish termihe how it works. Joseph A. ! situation. This is based on the fact 1 McDonald of ABC wrote to the • that U. S. Senator Shipstead. run- Commission requesting suspension of j ning tor reelection, is being attacked the rule during "the summer, by Candidate Thye (now Gov. of i FCC set up the following condi- Minnesota) and supporters Young-' lions: The waiver will not be ap- ! dahl and Stassen on the basis of his plicable where an individual station ' stand on UN. | makes an off-the-line recording. It i Thus to carry the UN .series. Hub-I is applicable only where the web I bard maintains, might place KSTP ! makes the recording in Chicago or j in position of taking sides in Min- ! Hollywood and broadcasts the disks ed out, according to observers "who sal through a commission hearing on bids of contenders for stations here last week. Hearing, before FCC ex- aminer Sam Miller, wound up Fri- day i25)i Speculation is that FCC may follow pattern already laid down in Washington FM, and re- serve a few. channels for later "ax- i signment. Although seven FM slots were originally tabbed for Cleveland, and throe for Akron, Miller let it he ! known that FCC reserved the right to amend this division of the KM spectrum as a result of the hearing. Further hearings on engineering., details of Cleveland-Akron FM will come up before FCC in Washington-, beginning May 3. Most heat here was generated wilh testimony of Allen Savior, radio di- rector for the United Automobile Workers tCICO, oh union's bid for a Cleveland outlet. Union came to hearing without a balance sheet, but asserted that the UAW International would finance the station for a year and then throw slock' oprn to all union comers, including AFL locals. Savior was quizzed on the per- centage of alien members in the. UAW fold, but maintained that few- er than 20"i of the UAW member- ship fell in this category. Union, which recently won a grant without hearing in Detroit, lesliflrd under cross-examination that it would veil lime to present the "management" point of view; Switched Markets A weakness cropped up in bid of the Telair Corp. for a Cleveland station, when it was disclosed that principals in the company were all i Continued on page <6) Moore Exit Cues XMOX Changes St. Louis, April 30. Departure of David Moore as pub- licity director at KMOX, CBS out- let here, for a post under Don Kelly of WBBM. Chicago, has . resulted in several changes made by Wcndel Campbell, general manager ot the SI. Louis station. J. Soulard Johnson, looal sales manager will become public rela- tions director and Jerry Ilnekstra will step into the post of special events - director. Wildberg-Ahrens Teamup On Radio Production John Wildberg. producer of "Anna Lucasta," has organized a radio pro- gram production partnership with Tom Ahrens. Ahrelis has been a producer-di- rector at WTOP. the 50.000 watt CBS-owned outlet in Washington since he got out of uniform".''Ahrens has resigned from WTOP. He han- dled the "Vox Pop" show in the summer of 1945. I nesota political campaign and might j jeopardize station's license rights. NT. Daily News Doesn't . Think Jewish Group Has Right to Protest Its FM Washington, April 30. i The' New York Daily News has . protested a petition filed by the 1 American Jewish Congress, which is | seeking to intervene in an upcoming : FCC hearing on the paper's' bid for i a N. Y. FM outlet. an hour later. Each station that receives the transcribed programs must announce the fact once a day j between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. " | "It is the commission's intention.' the letter concluded, "during the 30 day period to determine whether i any permanent changes should be made in the rule." CONTRACTUAL SNAFU ON W0R-BERLE SETUP Mutual Mood Medley Spots T. Dorsey In Second Tune Parlay The Mulual-WOR "mood pro- gramming" technique gets a hypo i next month when the new Tommy Dorsey coast-to-coast sustainer goes on (he network in the Friday night 10 p.m. segment effective-May 17. ! Show, tabbed "Dorsey's Tune Shop." is in addition to his WOR "Endorsed by Dorsey" programming-produc* lion chore. Aim of Dorsey is to dc« velop new talent via the network airer. "Tune Shop" will f o 11 o w the Harry James-Coca Cola show, pro- viding an hour of "mood program- ming," while "Endorsed" is curenlly spotted back-to-back on WOR wilh (he Xavier Cugat coke program for the same reason. In addition to his two-way WOR- Mutual job, Dorsey is also, skeddvd '5 STAR' CLIENT WRAPUP WM.CA, New York indie. h:is sold -three days of its niglhly ' Five Star Final" documentary 15-minnle show to Modern Industrial Bank: Deal, for 52 weeks, was put through by Metro- politan agency. Crawford Clothes already had Tuesdays and Thursdays on the oross-lhe-board show. The bank lakes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fri- days. Deal for Milton Berle to move in as comedy programming supervisor at WOR, N. Y.. was tangled up in The. paper claimed (hat FCC does ' ™T*T* not have right to weigh an appli-! "j ob " is salaried one Berle hav-! to re,um « ' th » summer as a replace «i«M/£Sl^^«*=« MONET -106 PACKAGE i to hit the air soon i. ' Tc - W,f!h group earlier called | Move is in line with station's ex- FCC, s attention to what it lermed r panding policy, similar to recent ap- aiHi-Scmitic' articles in the News. I pointment ot Tommy Dorsey as WOR's director ot popular music. Specific mention was made of a piece written and later recanted by Washington correspondent J o h n O'Donnell on the now famous Gen- eral Palton-soldier slapping incident. 'STARS' GETS TOP BILLING "Stairway to the Stars." which was a spot on. the Philco "Radio Hall of Kk»«..' riiv" -r^i .1 Fame" ABC show through which em- Kansas Clly-Tcd Millard has re- I cee Paul Whiteman introduced new- turned to KCMO as engineer after Jy-discovcrcd tnient to the radio au- three and a half years, in the Signal Corps. Barbara Draper has joined the continuity staff. She formerly was with WNOX. Knoxville, and WLOF, Orlando, Fla. dience, has grown up to a full show. Beginning Sunday (5). "Hair' be- comes "Stairway to the Stars." Show will change back lo old title in the XalL CIRCUITS AGENCIES With Campbell Soup (Ward Wbccloek) letting its Mickey Rooney option lapse 'reason is under the third crouton to the left in the big soup tureen at Camden, with all $16,000 package Is currently circuit- ing the agencies.- J. Waller Thump- soli agency, has submitted show to three clients: thus far no nibbles. . Reported that JWT would like Rooney in order to prop the Bob Crosby-Ford shtiw, but it's strictly an all-or-nothing package deal, being handled by Wm. Morris office, with Cal Kuhl inked in as producer. Bid to agencies . stipulates that Rooney show is available as of Jan. 1, '47, not before.