Variety (May 1946)

26 HAM* Wednesday, May 8, 1946 Hep Showmanship Plus Sock Ideas Draw Kudos From Columbus Judges Columbus, May 7. - List of nwards in the 10th Ameri- cnn exhibition of educational radio programs' in connection with the Ohio State Institute reveals—per- haps more so than ever before—an appreciation of showmanship tech- niques as applied to programming. Awards were made: in three classi- fications: (1) programs broadcast by national networks; (2) regional pror gramming; (3) local organizations and local stations. Overall senti- ment o£ Institute participants was trat the wards were merited in each instance. To the committee of judges on rc- gionul shows, it was revelation that so much programming of sock duality was being accomplished among stations in parts of the coun- try not generally identified with live programming. Mitch Grayson, . of New York, for example (ope of the judges) was of the opinion that a large segment of the shows under consideration from non-key produc- tion centers was on a par with the <iualitative programming in N. Y., Chi and on the Coast. National Webs Awards in Classification No. 1 follow: Religious; "The Eternal Light," Sunday noon NBC show produced by Jewish Theological Seminary, Honorable mention: "The Catholic Hour,'' NBC Sunday evening sus^ tainer produced by National, Coun- cil of Catholic Men. Agricultural: "Columbia's Country Journal," produced by CBS. Hon- orable mention: "National Farm Radio Forum," produced by. Cana- dian Broadcasting Cotp.; "National Farm and Home Hour," produced by NBC. Women's: "Consumer Time," pro- duced by NBC. (Footnote calls on webs to overcome "admittedly low level of daytime programs beamed exclusively to women listeners" by investigating possibilities of present- ing important material of interest to women as a public service feature.) Cultural: U. S. Steel-sponsored "Theatre Guild of the Air" ABC Sunday night show; and CBS' "Invi- tation to Music." Honorable men- tion: Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s ' "The White Empire." . Dealing With Social Problems CanacHanv.-Broadtagtinfli i^I o r p.' s "Here's Your Health" series. Hon- able mention: Mutual's "I Was l Convict." Dealing With Personal and Fam ily Problems: Mutual's "Don't Be I Sucker" put on in cooperation with Better Business Bureau, and NIJC's "The Baxters," produced by National Congress of Parents and Teachers. Honorable mention: NBC's "Home Is What You Make It." Presenting Public Issues: 'Town Meeting of the Air'V on ABC; hon- orable mention: Mutual's "American Forum of the Air." News Interpretation: Raymond Swing on ABC. . Interpreting Civic and Service Organizations: No first award; hon- (Continued on page 42) Cobblers Sans Shoes Columbus, May 7. The boys who came out to Co- lumbus for the annual Institute for Education by Radio to kick around the thematic question "What's Wrong With Radio?" suddenly found the answer on Saturday afternoon, when Derby Day cued a wholesale beeline toward receivers. But there wasn't a radio, in the whole joint. Hearst FCC Slug Tied to Actions Vs.WBAL.WINS • Columbus, May 7. The all-out blast directed at the FCC by the Hearst newspapers, which started to unroll last week, was the subject of much on-and-off- the-record discussion here. It's generally agreed that Hearst has sounded the clarion call for a "fight to the finish" battle, which will in- vite a wholesale gangup of opposi- tion among publishers, etc., against the FCC, and that the campaign to restrict the functions .of the Govern- ment agency to the mere assignment of wavelengths has just begun. The report is that the "let's pour' out-our-venom-on-the-FCC" ."■ edict comes direct from the San Simeon chieftain. What particularly burns the FCC Blue Book supporters, who fear a wholesale swing into the Hearst fold, is their contention that the publisher is motivated by purely selfish reasons. Claim is that the new Hearst cam- paign stems from the FCC brace of deeds slapping down WBAL in Bal- timore, and the FCC's refusal to go along on the $400,000 worth ■ of Hearst paper plugs as a provision in the sale of WINS (N. Y.Kton the grounds that it may curb freedom of control in station programming. "THIS IS KLZ, DENVERl" GLEN MARTIN As Important as any program on KLZ are the voices that speak for it arid Its sponsors. Glen Martin is one of KLZ'b chosen voices and an able m.c. on several local programs, KLZ, DENVER. DX Panel at Columbus Ducks Issues, But Chile Diplomat Pulls No Punches Denny's Handiwork ■ Acting FCC Chairman Charles R. Denny authored the anli- Petrillo bill which is now on the statute books. At request of Congressman Lea, head of the House Interstate Commerce Committee, Denny wrote the legislation. An earlier bill, drawn up by an FCC attorney, was rejected on the Hilt as too "soft" on Petrillo. AM Sabotages FM? Durr Sniffs Plot Vs. New Bdcstrs. CBS Plans Global Show Cued by Corwin Jaunt In Memory of Willkie Columbus, May 7. Davidson Taylor, CBS program ming veepee hefe for the Ohio State Institute panel, on "Has Radio Re converted?" tipped off a forthcom ing United Nations series of pro- grams to be produced by Norman Corwin upon his return from his round-the-world Willkie Memorial jaunt. Corwin, who starts his global cir cuit. next month, will be accom- panied by Lee Blanc, one of the CBS supervisors on network operation and former program director of WKRC in Cincinnati. Corwin and Blanc will take a recorder into all of the countries for a factual exposi- tion of the, thinking, hopes and aspi- rations of the peoples of the world, upon which, the United Nations se- ries will be based. •Network's UN show Is intended to succeed the current bilateral scries with Great Britain, and is being pro- jected on a permanent basis, with additional CBS producers, writers and other staffers to be sent to vari- ous countries in an extension of the Idea. Cut Plugs, Drugs Straus Tells IRE Columbus, May 7. Four-point program for ■ the im- provement of commercial radio call- ing for less commercials, a thorough industry study of time given over to commercial plugs on the kilocycles, the elimination of dubious medicinal cure plugs, and less program policy domination on the part of advertis- ing agencies were advocated by Nathan Straus, president of WMCA, N. Y. indie, at the Columbus gather- ing. Straus, known for his aggressive public service policy, was one, of a flock of panel participants includ- ing FCC Commissioner Clifford J. Durr, H. B. McCarty, Director of WHA, Univ. of Wisconsin; Justin Miller, NAB prexy, and Davidson Taylor, Veepee and program director of CBS. Ah unequivocal "no" was Straus' retort to the "Has Radio Recon- verted?" question propounded. He saw no reason why commercial broadcasters were in an uproar over the recently issued FCC report, pointing out that the industry itself should welcome criticism, much of which, he contended, was justifiable. Looks at Liquor Broadcasters today face a situation similar to that of the liquor industry in the'20's, Straus asserted. He re- called that as a member of the New York State Senate from 1920 to 1986, the prohibition issue raged in the legislative halls, with the industry turning a deaf ear to much needed correction of abuses. Result was the enactment of Prohibition, "and (Continued on page 42) ************************************************ Morgeothan to Address United Jewish Appeal Henry Morgenthau, Jr., former Secretary of the Treasury, now a gabber on WMCA (N. Y.) plus a private net, will be principal speaker at the Radio arid Stage Artists Divi- sion's luncheon in New York for the United Jewish Appeal on Tuesday (14). Morgenthau will urge support for the UJA's ■ current drive for $100,000,000. Network committee of the division is headed by .George Heller, chair- man. Co-chairmen are Harry Ack- erman, Carter Blake, Walter Craig and Bert Lytell. Columbus, May 7. One of the more ominous notes sounded at the 16th annual Institute for Education by Radio was the sug- gestion tossed out by FCC Commis- sioner Clifford J. Durr pf a con- spiracy between the standard broad- casters and the manufacturers to hold off oh FM in a move to prevent newcomers from entering the field. Discussing radio's reconversion to date, Durr took a swipe at the man- ufacturers'' of receiving ' sets for thinking in terms of" the old rather than the new." He was equally steamed up over the. standard broad- casters' blueprint to use new FM stations merely as an additional out, let for their AM shows. Durr recounted the results of the recent FCC survey, in which 85 manufacturers of radio sets replied to a questionnaire on their contem plated production of receivers dur lng the current year. "The total re ported production of these manufac- turers was approximately 22.000,000 sets, 9,000,000 more than the largest volume of radio receivers previously old In any one year. Yet, accord- ing to their reported plans, of these 22,000,000 sets, only 1,800,000, or about 9%, are to contain FM bands. In the interest of the rapid develop- (Contlnued on page 42) That Weekend at Columbus **************************** ** . ******************* BBD&O agency did a "sneak preview" of its revised "Chiquita" lyrics at the Ohio State Institute. The United Fruit-sponsored bid to win support for the Government's food conservation program via the "Chiquita" tran, scription copped the evening's honors. Agency sent a producer here to test it for audience reaction. He went, home happy....Ed Kobak doubling from Institute to Chamber of Commerce where he spoke on Friday (3). institute participants competing for room service at Deshler-Wallick with Shrine convention. Bob Heller excited about CBS' latest find, John Faulk, a Texan out the service, who's currently being groomed on a web affiliate in the south prior to launching him on the blgtime. He'll do a one-man "Workshop program next week, with Heller producing.., .Jo Ranson, the WHN pi\b licist here for the public relations panel in which, for the first time, the flackery brigade , was selling itself and not selling sopraltos, one of two N. Y. indie press rep around, other being WNEW's Will Jollen Dave Taylor says the upcoming Milton Berle "Kiss and Make Up" comedy stanza developed by CBS will go into the first half of the "Lux Radio Theatre' Monday night biatus spot. Taylor, incidentally, becomes a father in July. (Ed. Note: Wonder if this is meant to be a non sequitur.) "Nothing too good for the press" motto of Institute this year, and as the topper for the week—journalism students were put at the disposal of press boys "in case you want them'to cover things for you"... .Jack Gould doing daily coverage for the N. Y. Times and 25 or more reporters present indicates increased interest this year in Columbia meet... .That brace of top awards to Raymond Swing for news interpretation and furthering international. understanding cued general comment: "The Institute's come of age"... .Guy taking biggest ribbing is Jean Clos, of WHAS, Louisville, who "went the wrong way." With all roads leading to the Kentucky Derby, Clos had to do a day-before exit for the Columbus meet Scarcest item around Deshler-Wallick hdqs. of Institute is a copy of the FCC Blue Book. FCC boys brought along 100 copies for distribution and within few hours "hot copies" were being peddled....Hal Totten, WGN farm editor and one of radio's pioneer announcers, brought his bride along, parlaying Institute into a honeymoon — Morris Novik regaling gang with (Continued on page 42),. New Acts-Radio ED KOBAK, Emcee, With CLIF- FORD J. DURR, JUSTIN MIL- LER, NATHAN STRAUS, DAVID- SON TAYLOR, H. B. McCARTY 128 Mia*.; Frl. (3) 8 to 18 p.m. (one shot) Sustaining IER, Columbus, Ohio Here is radio's newest comedy find. For years identified with the administrative-sales-policy end of the industry, Ed Kobak, Mutual prexy (ex-ABC, NBC, Lord & Thomas, etc.) wrapped up the offi- cial opening of the Ohio State Insti- tute for Education by Radio. at Co- lumbus on Friday (3) and whammed over an emcee routine before a jam- packed audience of 1,000 in the ball- room of the Deshler-Wallick hotel. For two hours, Kobak punctuated a panel discussion on the overall topic: "Has Radio Reconverted?" with a succession of gags and ad-libbing for a comedy payoff that out-Hoopcrcd any show on. the Mutual network. A reasonable facsimile of Groucho Marx (sans mustache), Kobak par Iayed an otherwise listless 120-min ute session into the. lavigh treat of the four-day Institute, with the re sultant demand that next year he major domo the. whole Columbus operation. • The Mutual - prexy-turned-come- dian was In fine fettle from start to finish; he gave the entire evening a lift and touch of showmanship that could have served other facets of the Institute in good stead. He kidded the pants off CBS and its program ming veepee, Davidson Taylor, but by the same token Mutual came off no better. And for FCC Commis sioner Cliff Durr, NAB prexy Justin Miller, WMCA prexy Nathan Straus and WHA's (Univ. of Wisconsin) H B. McCarty, he piled up a succession of nifties that provided the source for corridor gag material for the re- mainder of the Institute semester. If "the world's largest network" is looking for a potentially sock box- office comedian to serve its 301 af- filiates, he's right on their front door step. , .;'.-, Rose. Columbus, May 7. For two and a half hours sonic of the top brass of DX radio sarin on a panel discussion of "Radio and the International Scene" r.nd got practically nowhere; At least inso- far as most of the audience at ihe portion of OSU's 16th Institute for Education by Radio was concerned. But 10 minutes later, Benjamin Cohen, short, stocky and smart pro- fessional diplomat from Cinlc. an- swered a lot of questions fie panel had ignored. For where'the panel had dodged the important issues and applauded the obvious, Senor Cohen was putting some cards oh ll-u table. The UN, as its info exec put it," realized some of radio's yioblcms and so was putting in a script and transcription ■ service department to aid local stations get coveiage. In addition, although UN felt that radio had done a good Job, they nlso knew, thanks to a mail query, that 400-odd stations wanted to do more. So an across-thc-table confab with radio- men is coming up at which lime UN wants radio to provide a.group of advisers. Meanwhile the UN itself has call- ed a meeting of its experts to plan a telecommunication center which would be built wherever the UN finally sets. And since this setup would serve ■ international as well as domestic radio—and thus pose plenty of prob- lems of state and finance—even a temporary communications facility, will not be in operation for maybe three or more months. And the final installation would not get off the planning table until the UN de- cided where it would live on a per- manent basis. Not Immediate So although there was no imme- diate relief in tight it was obvious from Mr. Cohen's words that some- thing was in the works and would be available soon as possible. To domestic operators this might mean immediate scripts; immediate e. t.'s and, not far off, a setup whereby UN provided facilities for a live pick-up whenever the station re- quired, and providirfg the station put a line into the UN meeting place. The latter point is important since currently many an out-of-New York operator is stymied, financially, from taking the meet live by having to install permanent lines to get pro- tection. Thus the long-lines division of the telephone company cannot in- stall a line unless it gets . at least four hours notice. Since station men have no way of knowing when Hie UN meet will be newsy, they have not installed lines. But, If as outlined, the. UN will maintain an open mike and advise stationmen when the hot news may be expected to break, it would help a. lot. Actually the UN rep went even further. As he put it: "We'll go to bat to help anyone get any- thing they now cannot get, if only (Continued on page 42) KATHLEEN ML LARDIE NAMED AS AER PREXY Columbus, May 7. Kathleen M. Lardie, in charge of radio for the Detroit public schools, is the new president of the' Assn. for Education by Radio. She succeeds Dr. I. Keith Tyler, of Ohio State University, who directs the annual Columbus Institute. Dr. Tyler held the post for two years, as did Col. Harold Kent the two previous years. Other officers elected to the AER include: Jennings Pierce, of NBC, Hollywood, first vice president; Wil- liam Ladd, of the Seattle Public Schools, 2d veepee; Gertrude Brod* erick, of the Office of Education, Washington secretary. George Jen- nings, associate director of the Chi- cago Radio Council, was reelected treasurer. N 250G Cantor Ballyhoo Eddie Cantor's coming switch to the CBS Pabst-sponsored slot being vacated by Danny Kaye will not go unnoticed, if the new bankroller can help it. A $250,000 ballyhoo fund has been set aside for promotion incidental to the switch. At least part of that money, how- ever, will be. tied in with -Cantor's special public service campaigns. These, by contract, will have to be folded intp, his,format..