Variety (Sep 1946)

40 RADIO Wednesday, September 4, 1940 Inside Stuif-Radio One of tlic toufihcst criticiums ever voiced on the air against radio com- mi!rci!ils ciimo recently from Nat Hopkinn, exec at WJBK, Detroit, related to' the station's general inanasor, James F. Hopkins. Radio Reports, o£ New York, wliicli ha.s monitor.s aroLind the country transcribing, shows, is still swamped with requests (or copies of Nat Hopkins' remarks, aUhough they were made Aug. 24. Nat Hopkins and Ed McKeiizie run a .'jIiow tabbed "The Mail Bag." on Whiph they kick aroimd gripes and squawks voiced b.v listeners. On the Aug. 24 show, McKenzie read a long U'lier Xrom a listener, identified onlv by the initials L: kicking about;, radio comm.ercialis. Ti)o lett«;r mentioned, specifically, Wildroot, Aitapin and Procter &• Giunble. Iii nii- Swering that letter; Hopkins said; ■ ■ "In all probabiliiy. every station, including our • own,. offend.'! in. the direction mentioned "by this listciicr. But we can't agree that the program manager is the guy to clean'thinj^s'.ui) if- he would. The prograni mana.uer ViMip gpVWugH with his clie^ would find himself without a Station! Aceii iance of the slop thrt tlie a.<;oncy .sci-ipl writers dish up for radio -use Ls one of the condition-^ under wliieli radio can get along at all.... Commercials have beon gcttin'> steadily worse. They're more blatant, more repetitious, more insistent, and more generally insuUing to listener intelligence than ever." Unr'er McKcnxie's prodding, Hopkins got steamid up further, took a rap at cii arct aiU crtis crs. naming specideally Old Golds.' Lucky Strikes, Camels and Philip Moi-ris Finally, "however, he wound up on an amicable note with the assurance, that "radio, adveitisint; makes no. wilder claims than print*, d 'advct'tisihj;. ' ;0bnsumi;r heclt'''!?; ■ woulci:. do w^ll to iiicUld^ bpth types." . :■ ^ This If . .. WCBS In a move to consolidate all' its call letters in New York and to eliminate conJusion, CBS Is changing WABC, its flagship station, to WCBS. The same call letters will also apply to the web's FiVI (WCBS-FM) tele- vision tWCBS-TV) operations. Network has already gotten an FCC olcay, and the switchover w':U.take place around Nov. 1. Move had been contemplated for some time, in fact since the old Blue network changed its name to ABC, which created ■ considerable confusion in tlie nT'hds of listeners, . stripping . WABC ol its CBS afl'iliation .and tending vto link :it' .with Ed Noble's operation. Television Reviews Continued from pai* 34 Re Hucksfcriana. Pat Ballard, erstwhile network scrtptor,, recalls the aging sponsor who insisted on ^howin.g his, g,ues|. star,..Eleanor Powell, thq type of taps that pleased his ear. His demonstration' turned out to be a tired imitation of Pat Rooney with eleph.intino toework, but everybody said "Yes sir" (except Miss Powell ). The same tycoon told oft' the late Osgood Perkins who was doing a gueiasliot in a condensed version of the Broadway play. 'Goodbye Again." SiKmsor whined, "Mr. Perkins, I'm afraid you don't feel the charactev," lo v.'hich Pei'hins replied as he breezed out the door, "Why you blankoty blank, J croalcd thp part!'' Topper .was the sub.<!tiUrtion of a scene from .Ted Harris' "The Lake." After first rer hcarsal. sponsor (gasoline), opined,. "Wt;. can't have the. automobile crash in tlie lake, Usei:s of our gas don't have accidcntsi" Everybody said "Check" and a band number was ijubstituted as IT embryo ulcers were 'born.-'- ■ • CBS' two showcase shows on successive Sundaj-s, Sept. 22 and Sept. 29, will be framed as a single program, spanning a week from beginning to end, with eacli stanza lasting 90 minutos (3-4:30 p.m.). Plans were com- pleted last week, when director Bill Robson flew in from the Coast to go over the details with C.BS asst. prograni director William Fineshriber and director Bob Shayon. Shay on and Robson will co-direct both Sunday performances, using .talent from 40 sponsored shows/ Talent will be spotted in Studios on the Coast and in New Ypx-k, with open lines tying the two studios. First week's show will end on a"clifl:-hangei"'note so that the solution to the plot may lure listeners the following week. "Carnival Carousely" new combo platter and script show, has been lined up by Bob Farrell for the Tuesday, 8 p.m., slot on WNYC, N. Y.'s municipal station. Idea is to give a free ride to non-profit organizations' appeals. DiiYerent organizations, with its heads as guest speakers, will be given spot on the half-hour show to di-scuss their charities. Farrell will script and direct, with Frank Roser, Jr., handling the disk jockey chores. Teeoff stanza last week was given over to the Save the Children Foundation, with John R. Vorhis, prexy, as guest ' ABC Sticks to Guns Vs. CIO Kicks, KQW Airs Union's Story . 'Washington, Sept. 3. A new flurr.v. of protests from labor unions on getting radio time has , Itit the FCC .'in recent -weeks, with ABC and the CIO: principals in tlie latest scrap, details of which wore released by the GiimraissiOner liei'p'last Week; FGC made public correspondence beiweon the ABC net and CIO over refusal of ABC-owned KGO, ■ San Francisco, to sell time to CIO for two 15-minutq speeches on merits of preferring the CIO over the AFL in an NLRB election (Aug. 29-30") among California cannery workers, i ABG vecpee Don Soarle wrote the FCC that he had first bkayed-,the time sale to GIO but reneged when he discovered sub.iect of the ad- drct'.ses on ground that it lacked suf ficient public interest to . listen- er.s in the Bay area. Meanwhile, Donald Henderson, • president of the CIO local,, sent a second wire to FCG losst week to the effect that KQW, Frisco, had given the union two free 15-minute slots to discuss the same NLRB election. On another front. FCC spokesmen admitted receipt of unofficial pro- tests from representatives of the Confederated Unions of America, which claims membership of several hundred thousand independent unions. , ■ telccuster in this day and age could conceive that such amateurish slap- stick makes for entertainment. Orig- inal script by Bernie Gilor, as well as tlio thesping, came from the bottom drawer, and even Lou Sposa's usually capable direction wasn't up to par. It would be gallant to point to something on the credit side to counterbalance the debits, but there just wasn't anything like that. Show was supposedly a comedy skit 111 winch the commercials were integrated into- tlie script;-' As it turned out, however, the script seemed to be integrated into the commercials'. With all the squawks being voiced about slogan-happy eominercial radio, it must have been especiall.v tough oji the viewers to heni' a guy , who spoke in slo.i'ans and anotlier one who.-sounded like,a broken record on a spiel like "dip and then rinse—rinse and then dip'' ad iiau.soam. ■ One of tire articles demonstiated wtis a Hoover vaccuum cleaner. Actov.s. w'ith no lines to speak of, were forced to sliQut to make tliem- selvo.-i lieard above the hum from the eleahor's innlor.,. Comiiiercials were backgrouncled by a weak-story in- volving a couple, on the verge of divorce, reunited tlirouglv a squabble with another couple who'd coulo to look at their homo witli an idea of buying it after the, dissolve, , ■yideo broadcasters have . cor.sis- tently maintained that their art is more advanced now than any other medium has been at a similar stage of development. They'll, have to do better than this to hold on to that belief. . Stal. Mgt.' LOU CLAYTON CNtlWD BEXALL DBVO CO. Friday—CBS^10 l>.in. DST Ted Friends''Mr. & Mrs/ Coast Show Set for KPO San Francisco, Sept. 3. The Coast's first husband-wife chatter show has been signed here, to air over KPO, local NBC outlet, sponsored by Mark Hopkins hotel. Team is composed of Variety muggs Ted and Kay Friend. He was former night club editor for New York Mirror. Tabbed "The Friends," show, ; a 15-minute item, will air at 2:45 p.m., three times a week—Tuesday-Thurs- day-Sunday. Contract is for 26 weeks. ILGWU Continiied from paRC .13 ruling on its application lOr an FM station in New York City. It has received conditional grants for FM stations in Chattanooga and St. •Louis, and has an application pend- ing in Philadelphia. Acquisition of WOV would have: been no mean "IN TOWN TODAY" With Ben Grauer, announcer : Producer: Garr.v Simpson 20 Mins.; Thurs. (23); 7:30 p.iw. Sustaining WNBT-NbC, N. V. Apparently attempting to get the .lump on other tele broadcasters be- fore they get their long-awaited RCA Image Orthicons, NBC television is eurrontly using the suiJer-sensitive I.O.'s wherever it can line up a show for, them. To this end, it moved its "In Town Today" show, in vhich Ben Grauer interviewed whatever visitiitg celebs the web could, lure into its studios, out into the streels. For tlie RvA remote stanza two weeks ago, the cameras were set up in Times Square andi for the second one, Graue.i' invaded the privacy of tlie name CustOmer.s who happen;'d to be eatihg at the 21 Club last Thursday .(22) nighl As was t.'i be expected, in view of the novelty of televising from a restaurant and the amount of w.k. talent avi'ilable, the sluiw came off very well. With the exception of Daiitpii Walkei', 'w.-ho seeinedVtO take his ."Man of Pi.stinctinn" tag tPP seriously, tlie . other celebs present cooperated fully with (Jrauer and didn't seem to mind at all the an- nouncer's squeezing his way ii'to a seat at thoiv erpwded tables. With his: usual glib gab, Grauer informal tete-a-tetes with such as jSonja Hcnie, Arthur William Brown Patrice Munsel, Ray Bolger; John Loder and others. Perhaps the fact that Grauer gave each of these in- terviewed a chance to plug his own private endeavpr had something to do with the welcome he got; Re- gardless of that, however, it was a good show. With a bit pf . squeezing, producer Garry Simpson was able to get two of the I.O.'s into tlie crowded confines of the 2,1. Picture from the camera on th,e left was excellent in all in- stances but the other camera, shoot- ing from a right-side angle, present- ed a dark, cloudy hnage. By cutting from one camera to the other, Simp- son was able to; maintain some sem- blance ef motipn, despite the fact that the only action vi.sible was from the manipulated silverware; ■ For even better results, Simp.spn slvpuld take pains next time to warn the waiters, cigaret girls, etc., to keep out ot tlie way. Employees at the 21 seemed tp have nu addictipn tp serv- ing -whatever table Grauer happened tp b;-' at, with a consequent lilurred' image on the viewing screen. Stal. Tele Followup NBC telqvisiPn producer Fred; Cbe . turned out another sock murder mystery as the third ;of his '.'Lights Out'' series over WNBT Sunday (1) night. This one, titled "De Mortuis," was adapted by Cue from a short story of the same name written by John Collier and was as gripping a, video show as the lii-sl in .the series.. I«ittor'_s stiU receiving kudos jn^ the' industry. Cast, topped Ijy film star John Lo- der, was e.^cellent but it was Coe's ina.stcrful manipulation of his cam- eras that really put the show across, Reasons for the sudden intex-ruplion . uf the stery by narratpr Larry Ser mon to Iransoort the audience via flasliback tp the beginning.s pf the' plpt were difficult tP understand at the time, but the rest of the show iustilied the move as a new and in- teresting e-xpprimen' in story-telling. With new receiving sets promised by hipst manufacturers for the com- ing months, it's shows like thi.s that will sell telc\-ision to the public. KCMp is up to something feat in its prcposed radio dynasty, , moved from table to table! holdin But within a few days the whole | WO'V deal cooled off. It had heard , of O'Day and his financial tie-in, and didn't want to got messed up in any law suits. . , | The Meste'r Bres., incidentally, , haven't given up their fight. They've appealed the FCC nix in the Brook- lyn courts, and intend to battle on; Bulova himself has left matters in the hands of his advisers. He left BBC Blues . Continued from page 33 HAKVEST mk iN A REGION PLENTY last week for another trip to Swit- zerland in connection witfi his watch interests. As far as he's concerned, WNEW is his New Yofk "baby," new that the. .?aulist' .Fathers •have withdrawn in their fight to recap- ture the statien; His only prpblem now is; Who's going to buy WO'V'.' KANSAS CITY 6, MISSOURI ■ ••f« Ate f6r miD-AMimCA NAtliOM At RirKISIN-TATIVI..^ JOHN I. »IAK SON <0, R & R Continued t't'oni p<if!r« 33 Morgan program for Pall Mall into FC&B hands, with the additional billings spotlighting FC&B as one pf the dpminant agencies in the field. , Fer . R&R, it: brings the total ampunt ■ of billings leaving the agency since the Sullivan, StaulTer & Co. exodus, to appreximately .$9,000,000, one ef the tPughest blows dealt an agency in recent years. When Sullivan and Stauiler de- parted, they took: along with them the Noxema and Smith Bres. ae- cpunts, totaling $4,000,000. Then the new S S B & C agency was invited in to share the American Home Products billing.s, which gave them pessessipn pf the Beb' Burns and "Ellery Queen" properties, both out of the R. &. R stable, for an addi- tipnal $2,000,000 sock. And to cap it, G, W. Hill turned the Benny and Morgan shoWs over to FC&B. General consensus is that th« $9,000,000 blow will lead to a drastic, reduction in personnel at K&R. fers of $1,500 a show for Radio Lux-- embourg or Eire. For the present, those who are interested in furthering the project of privately-owned radio here are tying in with these stations at Lux- embourg' pr Eire, using them as tal- ent devolppers and prpgram build- ers. Neither Pf .:tliese: stations is fully under way as yet, but these who dream of commercial radio here want to help the development of these eutside outlets as a prod to British radio. ...One thing is certain, they say. Unless British radio, develpps 'ways ,of using the talent built up and de- velpped by BBC, and ways tp give this talent oppprtiiiriity for further growth—most; of these "people; will be iost to British radio. They are already quitting BBC in droves, and they will continue to quit. There is another criticism of BBC which may or may not be real. Some pepple on the talent and production side say that BBC's administrative setup is much too big^they ' say there are about five administrative and clerical people to Pne on the productipn - talent - engineering side. But whether this is se pr npt—and if this is so, tliat's where much of BBC's budget goes—the fact is that the civil service salary freezes, and all the other hobbles, do not help talented people to see theffiseives growing. Those who can go into journal- ism, the stage or films, dp sp. Others, a few, go to the ad agencies. The remainder—and they are looked upon as the backbone of British ra- dio—are going Into anything they can find, from haberdashery to fann- iBg. And they can't be blamed; Plenty of everything here! 8 ot the world's targeit manufac- turer] of their kind . . . 1(01,362 people within our OtS MV/M co,{i- tour . ; . and plenty of farms — Ohio'* most populous rural region. WHBC has plenty of evcry- thins toot Listeners, programs, ideas and promotion. WHBC advertisers harvest dollars the year around.