Variety (May 1946)

Wcrinewbr, M"7 h **** BAM* 35 NRCs Ho Can Do' to Fitch NBC has chimed in with a "no dice" to Dick Powell's "Rogues Gallery" as summer replacement for Cass Daley due to the continu- ance of that series on the Mutual net work..;■ Both would be under •Filch sponsorship. Nix reportedly stems from ieeling that such an arrangement would help build an audience for the Powell show on a competitive network in the fall. Understood the ruling, without prece- dent, prohibits the broadcast on NBC of a show of identical type and title, airing on another network. Quality of the program could not have been questioned inasmuch as "Rogues Gallery" filled the summer spot for Fitch Bandwagon on NBC lust summer. Fitch.had planned to continue the "Rogues" broadcasts on Mutual while Powell would All the NBC Fitch time during layoff of Miss Daley. Only the scripts were to be changed on the separate broadcasts, three days apart. NBC's Bid to Clients, Agencies For Chi-Biiled Shows to 'Come Back Home' How About Tires? Bob Hope, who's been in the market for a new-car for some . time, has parlayed himself into a new Lincoln. Hope does a guest shot on the Bob Crosby-Ford show on CBS tonight (Wed.)., on condition that the payola include one of the new super Ford Motor produc- tion jobs. Chicago, April 30. ♦ As a group, -net execs around Chi are playing it very cozy with the local origination situation, appar- • entiy eyeing the entire setup with a lot more calm than that exhibited by talenl involved. Of the four major offices here, only at NBC Is there an indication of unusual con- cern. '*'"■.- According lo Chick Shqwerman. new veepee over the web's central division, sponsors and agencies who 'bill'through 'Chicago on NBC, but who originate their-shows elsewhere, will undergo heavy pressure from the-net lo bring their shows to this city wherever possible. Showerma'n said thai meetings will be held with -agencies-, and sponsors in the . near fuUire at which strong arguments will be presented to have Chi-billed 6hows brought home. Excluded, of course, will be such programs as Bob Hope and others which require name stars living out of the city. „' Show erman stated that the . fault with Chicago radio lies not in the networks or the talent, but with agencies and sponsors who turn down Chicago originations for the more glamorous (and more expen- sive! Hollywood or New York out- lets. Showerman .maintained "there is more than enough talenl in. Chi- cago, including writers., producers. directors, it's well as actors, for dra- matic productions. For musicals, we have, sonic of the country's ttncsl musicians." Pro and Con On the oilier hand. Les Allass. veepee over CBS office here, said that if thf talent wns good in either cities, there's no reason to force shows lo move to Chicago, no mai- ler where Ihe billing. "We have as much as we can handle now." exec averred. AI ABC. where the policy has been to build away from the soapers. Ed Borroff suited that network head- quarters were enthusiastic about the break fast type show which lias been 'successfully built in Chi. and that plans were to continue the creation of such shows. Sponsor is bcin.i; hunted for the "Teen Town" and ''Club Matinee" shows which have oriniiialed here. Meanwhile efforts vt ill. be directed toward building Similar programs. While Mutual has the type of ■slw-.v on Chicago billing that re- quires Coast origination, web is plan- ning to bring one or more sustaining network programs to Chicago. Chief under consideration is "Married for ;Lirt'." an aud-participation layout. Plans have been under wav for sev- .. , oral weeks to establish a network- George Heller, temporary national program department in the'' central! exec-secretary of the American Fed- division. lo work in coi'Uinetion with ! eralion of Hadio Artists since the that of the outlet. WGW -Midden .resignation of Emily Holt a ' — '• - 1 month ago. was unanimously se- | lected for the'post permanently at an AFRA national council meeting : in New York last week. At the same time.-.Heller was- given i the option of deciding whether he wants to hold the national job or | ielinquish the position of executive : secretary of AFRA's N. Y: chapter. '.He expects tp make a decision by July 1. If he keeps Ihe -national 1 post, he said, he will have until i .fan. 1. 1947. lo decide about holding , on lo the N. Y. position, i Ray Jones, exec secretary of AFRA's Chicago local, was elected by the council as national assistant : executive secretary, the job previ- I inisl.v held by llellcr. Jones will have | in'give' up his Chi post by the end -of the year. Indie Grocers To Battle Chains Via Day Strip Show Chicago. April 30. Move to gel the thousands of members of the Independent Gro- cers' Assn. behind a specially tran- scribed quarter-hour daytime show. "The Jeffersons." is being started here by the national office of IGA. Plans are lo have the independent grocers throughout. Iheicountry audi- tion the forthcoming, teeoff platters and gel them lo underwrite the series on their local stations. Thought behind the i.mbitious program, which IGA execs won't ad- mit but which is paramount nonethe- less, is the furtherance of their long and oilier light against chain gro- j ccries. and is indicative of price I wars to come. OPA put everybody ion the same level during the war but a revival' of competition is com- ing-and the new platter series is one of the ad weapons the indies are forging in preparation for the big bailie. Formal is along the line of soap- ers. except that there'll be no '-on- linuity from day to day. scripts be- ing based on daily comic happenings in the life ol a "typical American family." a- la Les Wcinroll's show. 'The' Penbodys." tor International Milling. Scripts-are being prepared under supervision of IGA's ad. dept., and are plallcicd by World Broad- casting. y AFRA BACKS HELLER, JONES IN AS ASST. TAKES TALLY The ex-GI interested in radio, whether he'd ever been in the field or hot, gets a real chance to look at the employment possibility scorecard today (Wednesday) at the McAlpin hotel, N. Y. There, the second annual radio, and business conference is being run. by the school of- business of City College of New York. And the session With the biggest advance.buildup has.been devoted to the subject "The Vet- eran's Chances in Radio." CCNY's confab, which opened yes- terday (Tuesday) afternoon, appears to be obtaining much greater trade cooperation this year than it did a year ago. This year, prominent lead- ers, from the industry sat in on the advance planning, and many of them participated on the 'eve of being Ohio-bound for the big show at the Institute for Education by Radio. The organization of the vet's ses- sion particularly drew a lot of at- tention: Ex-Capt. Joseph Carlton Beat.'flack', chief for the conference recently out. of the Army, had set this session. ' . The American Legion and the Vet- erans of Foreign Wars, the YMCA, the United States Employment Serv- ice, and "many other outfits inter- ested in helping vets get jobs co- operated in the advance promotion for the session. Plans were made to broadcast the session over WEAF (NBC) and New York's city-owned WNYC. while platters will make the proceedings available later to vet organizations. Instead of a gabtest. Beat had set the discussions in such a way that specific answers will be given to vets wanting jobs.. Charles Batson, himself a major in the Army before taking the chief information job with the National Assn. of Broad- casters, presides over the vet talks. Advice on where the jobs are, if any. how much they pay. their re- sponsibilities and demands will be given lo small groups -of vets in- terested in specific phases of radio. Advisers.will be: Ivor .Kenway, director advertising and promotion. ABC: casting. Mar- jorie Morrow,. CBS: Personnel. Ern- est de la Ossa. NBC: production, Herbert Rice. Mutual: programs. Bud Barry. ABC: research. Hugh Beville. NBC: sales. Ira M. Herbert. WNEW; scripting. H. L. Fishel. Mu- tual: special events, Leon Gold- stein. WMCA: talenl and pjogram development. Robert Novak. Mutual: and women's activities, Elsie Dick. Mutual. Al the opening session yesterday (Tuesday) FM's impact on radio and business was kicked around by a panel. 'Quick, Henry!' DDT To Swat 226 Stations New : .: yiituile transcribed variety shiny. "Pi; Frolics." has been placed on :>2(i siaiions across the country, ucling 87. on Keystone Broadcast- Show, sponsored by Stanco '. features- fact, that DDT. .war- ":.!-. insecticide, is now integral -r Flil. ■».. an MCA package, placed by ■ii-lirickson. stars Jimmy At- includes'the Flit Foursome Kerry Harold and band. Ken '"oerts is announcer. Harold also scripted new jingle for show, utili/.- Ihe w..k. trademark, "Quick, the Flit."' . hi ii 1 i I- i\ R lny Henri Martin Block Exiting WNEW in Dec, '47, For California Sunburn Hollywood, April 30, Martin Block left here Sunday 128) for his New York headquarters, after fortnight here.. Chesterfield Supper Clubber returns here per- manently in January. 1948. to estab- lish a permanent home, abandoning all but his network operations. Since arrival he has purchased a new home at Encino where he in- tends living Ihe easier life while raising his family. .His present association with WNEW. New York—his origination and start--to millionaire class—ter- minates in December. 1947. The contract will not be renewed, ac- cording to Block. He will continue willi Chesterfield and his Columbia Records deals only. .Majority of his work i.- pul into the iiidie station operations. Daily chores there net him considerable income, but not enough .'to compen- sate for the effort expended. With net shows he. still does very, well without knocking himself out. Since -izahle chunk ace- in taxes anyw.n. it's (Icured he'd be as well ofl .w/ii'i- nut the little extra coin hard work affords. "Blue Book Blues' Jives NAB Meet As Miller, Siepmann Meet Head-On Off to Work They Go It's becoming a habit for net- work veepees to put on overalls and go to work. Last week, NBC's Coast veepee Sid Strolz went on the air on the Burns and Allen show. On May 12. CBS' vice prexy in charge of programming, Davidson Taylor, is having a script aired on the- Columbia Workshop.' And to round out the exec-at-work formula, Taylor's show will be directed, by Guy. della-Cioppa, asst. to William S.. Paley. Davidson's show U a radio adaptation of the late Fran/. Kafka's story, "The. Trial.'' Written . before 1924. the yarn predicted accurately the devel- opment of the Nazi parly in Germany, even forewarning about the Gestapo. Taylor adapted the story for radio, be- fore the war. but has taken it out of. his literary trunk now. AFL-CIO to Wield Mikes in Hillbilly Battle for South ♦. The FCC's Blue Book got kicked ; around plenty, formally and other- I wise, at the NAB's 2d district meet- I ing in N. Y. last week. One thing • it accmoplished was to enliven one ■ session'-'which Seemed to start out as ' a clambake, but ended up with Jus-- ! tin Miller, NAB prexy. agreeing that [the radio industry was.at fault for i not having engaged in self-criticism' I of the type shown in the Blue Book. Miller, furthermore, conceded that some of the criticisms in the FCC nrogramming coal-raking job were .justified. But. he insisted. , the FCC ; was too anxious to show only one ; side, the "bad" side, of radio—and omitted to give credit where credit is due for excellent work. As scheduled, the .'Friday' (2(i) afternoon early session was to have had a paper read by Bruce Robert- son and a speech by a member of the FCC. Robertson's view was known in advance as. a rap against the Blue Book. No member of |he commission could leave Washington, because of the clear channel hear- ings, so it looked as- if Robertson would have the Held to himself. Gripe in Technicolor Said a broadcaster al the NAB meet in N. Y. last week: "the FCC Blue Book made our faces red. Now the darn thing is the bete noire of every session. That's the reason for that yel- low-jaundice look so many of us carry." The AFL and CIO. both of which have announced vast plans for or- ganizing the South, are going to turn the battle of labor into a bat- tle of hillbillies, with radio playing the principal role. That became known last week as AFL people in Washington and New York were reported scouting for top radio talent in every phase, in- cluding artists, directors and pro- ducers. At the same time, the CIO. which had amassed much experience in using the radio technique in campaigns in Detroit and through the recent steel strike, was also re- ported blueprinting plans. Representative of the AFL were reported lo have made collector's items of some of the CIO-radio spots used both in the Detroit and steel campaigns. Some of those spots, notably. "Yankee Doodle. Tell the Boss" and "Two Bucks More," boih widely" used in steel areas, were re- ported put down by the AFL people as the type they want to develop for their own use in the South. The spots were done by top artists —but the names of the artists were not used, since it was feared that they might lose commercial - radio contracts. However, some of the best hillbilly names in the business were being bandied about as pos- sibilities for the AFL spots being blueprinted now. The AFL is said to have set aside a heavy budget for radio, and one hillbilly balladeer. whose earnings are now in excess of $20,000 a year, was said to be under consideration 'as a fullime AFL organizer with a j South. He would be toured with a j sound truck, while his. recorded j spots would be played over local ; radio stations on time purchased by I Ihe AFL. j The CIO is understood (b have j two spot campaigns ready. One of I them would use a one-minute platter ; with a jive song titled '15.(100.000 j Americans Can't Be Wrong." The I other would play up the theme ■ "Your Neighbor Is Labor." [ Miller had not been scheduled to : talk this time., ,, It turned out, however, that John McNeil. WJZ manager and chairman of .the session? got the help of Ted Cott. WNEW program director. Be- tween the two of them they got Charles Siepmann. author of the Blue Book, to the session. And the fat was in the lire. Robertson's attack was directed not so much against the FCC report as at Siepmann himself. Siepmann upheld the contentions made in the Blue Book. He called-on the broad- casters to accept the criticisms in good faith, assured them "the FCC is here- to say," and mildly chided Ihem for not having produced that kind of report themselves. He in- sisted that FCC was fair to the in- dustry by spelling out its' program ideas'and giving fair warning of the criteria whereby license renewal 1 ? would be judged from here on in. Into the Breach It was only after Siepmann had spoken that Miller decided to take the floor. What he said against the Blue Book he had already said many times before. But his concession (Continued on page 48) Dry Goods Dept. j Radiomen are human, so shiil ! news should be of -interest lo then), j This is strictly a shirt ilem. I Emanuel Dannell. counsel' for ' WOR and Mutual, and Pelor7.an- phir. asst. director of promotion for the net. have quit their jobs. Dan- nell becomes yecpcc-v.i'iicral iiiin- .i-.i-i' ol Puhlix Shirt Corp.. /.anpliir !ii"n;iiiei- lor s;unc. i AI . ii ■ -. can you spare, a shut \W\-i,. 3a-leii8thjV Religious B casters Hit Discrimination Minneapolis, Apri' SO. Opening gun in a campaign for more religion in radio was fired here by Dr. Clinton H. Churchill. Buf- falo, president of National Religious Broadcasters, in opening annual con- vention of group al Firs'. Baptist Church. Dr. Churchill, pastor of Churchill tabernacle in Buffalo, charged radio chains and individual sta'ioiis "<iis- criminaled against religious groups" in refusing to sell'radio time. Religious institutions should be permitted to buy time with no more difficulty- than soap manufacturers, he said. He indicated he would ask his and similar groups to'back cam- paign io get more religion into radio. "All accredited religions bodies, Catholic or Proleslanl. .Ii-vyisn ' or. ■Gentile. ■■ liberal or con.ery..I:\e_, ■should be given' equal consideration with any other agency in nm clr. st; of lime." ho .said.- Tie adilcd ri'iiio stations have right In insist on hinh quality in ri;li".ioiis nro-rams. b,tl iu- 1c-c 1 they have no ri'.'hl te bar ac- cess lo religious organizations as 1 such.