Variety (Sep 1946)

Wednesday, Septenil»er 11, 1946 RADIO 43 Inside Stuff-Radio Broiidcast Measuremont Biirmu has started work on the fuft of two films which it will ii-se as an orientation course to t«?ach different groups in the radio industry how (o use the BMB data which has jstaited pouring Iron the presses. T*irst pic, a two-reeler, will be aimed at advertising agencies and clients. Shooting, under direction of Harold Young, with Charles Curran as asso- ciate producer, started Monday (9). Film is expected to be ready for ."-howing at convention of As.sii, of National Advertisers which meets at Atlantic City Oct. 2 Second pictuie, expected to be ready in time for the convention of the National Assn. of Bioadcastcis in Chicago, Oct. 21. will be aimed at stations and networks l.onng Smith, Frank McNcllis and Roy Walling are appearing in the fiiSt tllm,, . , ■ Veterans Adminisli ation and AFRA ha\e settled their Coa.st difficulties with bureau okaying lefre.sher: courses for talent with G. .1: bill financing. Plan was held up lor sevetal weeks when Robeit Light, administrative head of union school, tailed to get approval from bureau for changes in curriculum. Originally plan called' for 25 hours weekly on courses thht union felt should be cut to 12 because the majority of students are working part time After haggling it was decided the cou'r.se will include three hours of pri- vate instruction, two hours of lectures and seven hours of actual broad- casting or workshop. Government will fool bill at cost of $462 per student Frank Cooper, now an indie agent. Was with Geiier.il Amus Corp. when he handled Frank Sinatra—eventually bought by MCA—and George B Evans, of course, is w.k., in the business for the swoonalra buildup. Both were slighted in Pavid G. Wittels' recent Satevepost series (four parts) on the Music Corp. of America "octopus," but both are quite piominent in a forthcoming New Yorker "profile" on Sinatra, which 15. J Kahn. Jr., is writing. .'■'rv ■■ ■ k:.. • - ! Leave It to Malone I Mutual's Saturday night "Leave It 1 To The Girls," femme quizzer j which, incidentall,y, switches to the 9;,^0 p.m. slot next week (14), is. i.going to have a male emcee for the first tiine in the year it's been op the air. r.,":"':^",'; ! Robin Ciiandler, one of the gals I who's been on the airer from the, 'beginning, is q uitting. Her place I. at the "experts, " table will be taken 'by Paula Stone who's, .been emcee- I ing the show until now, while Ted : Malone takes over the helm post. I Paula Stone, too, is leaving the ; show-soon, for a short time; to have ' a baby. There's a possibility that . her sister, Dorothy Stone (from "The iRed Mill'-' legiter) may take over. I Latter had her radio comeuppance [recently, by narrating on a music 1 platter show over WNYC (N. Y.), ! and was judged to have good radio ;! presence which needs - only a bit I more experience for a mike spot. I Trouble with fitting Dorothy Stone would arise, however, through time ' conflict between her legit role and the show's new time on the net. Church Groups To Train for Radio, Aim at Rehgious Listener Appeal Nick Gerhardt, lormer announcer with WOAl. has resigned his post :for a similar , job at KTBS, Shreve- i port. ■ Chicago, Sept. 3. An international collaboration of Protestant, groups to join efforts in training personnal and selecting the most gripping of religious programs, IS the highlight of the work of the Univ. of Chicago's ''Religious Radio, Workshop." ■'. , Confronted with, the knowledge that a religious program must pre- sent something of pronounced "list^ oner appeal," jf: it is, to enjoy,'it.s tree time; on, the.'iair, the church, leaders have 'resolved^ to prpve they can compete witn anything radio can offer.; , In the .ior.efrorii ol the : movement,, which now inclii les eight denomina- tions from the United States, Clahada, China, Korea and the Phillipihes," is' the Rev. Everett C Parker. , Preacher has been working with rtpresentaliyes: 01 these groups :since Aug. 5, sharing techniques and for- mulating policies to improve, relig- ion-radio relation.s. Main points, of this church-radio work are: : t.oca| churches should handle their programs with . local stations, but should see to the training of their personnel for the specific problems radio presents. Where local faciJities are inade- quate, and radio talent inefTeclive, the national agency of the churches Would supply trrm^eribed progran^s of high quality. Churches shoulit carry budgets for . radio broadcastin!' and talent, in.' stead of expectirtg everything free. . National Clearance- The program also contemplates tiiat the various local churches In the nationwide setup should regard the national agercy m the nature of a "clearing hou.sc" to request radio time. This, of course, would elim- inate the difficulty and bother of a station or network being called on con.stantly ' by this small group or that. ' Prof. Davis E.lwards. in charge of the training of person,s in radio speech for this movement, sums it all up by .saying: " We realize th:\t we can't and won't ask, stations to pu' on poor religious program.s. If a radio actor were as unskilled as are some ministers who broadcast, the actors wouldn i have a job."-. ■ ■ . ■ WOKO GOING ABC IN TRI-CITY SHUFFLE Albany, Sept. 10. WOKO, which bows out of the CBS web on Dec. 31 after 15 years' aUiiiation, will join ABC as of Jan. 1. Slot in the wen will be filled by WTRY. Troy station owned by Col. Harry C. Wilder, which ha.s already .-.imounced its intention of becoming me CBS outlets (or the trj-city area on New Year'.s. , Switch is comolete in that WTRY has had an ABC tieup lor the last five years. An intensive campaign to acquaint listeners with the change in dialings will be Inaugurated by the Troy outlet beginning in early December. ABC, jt',« believed, is the logical web tor WOKO to join, ina.sinnch as the other, three networks have tie- iip.s in this area. WGY, Schciiettady. has , been ah NB(~ outlet for many years and was fperated by NBC at one time for Genei'al Electric, it.s owners. WABY, sister slatioh Of ■WOKO, is part of the Mutual chain; , r.nd CBS will v.ow have its new alfiliato with WtRY. NAB III Lather : Continued from iiage 3Z s station in a community which can- not support another facility, the Commission has no authority to re- fuse the grant for this reason." The NAB official wound up on a note of optimism, however, pomlint; to the day when there may be more radio wavelengths than applicants fo. them. As new areas of the speC- Irum are opened to broadca.^ter.s, he said,-FCC may be rele,£;iVted to posi- tion of techpical traffic cop since with, plenty of channels to go around there will be no need for the type of omnibus cortlrol now exerted by government. ' ■ Only when that day come.s. he concluded, will radio be truly free "in same s,en.se that we have a free pre.s.s." Whitney, Johnson Bid I.ooUs OK : Wa.shington, Stpt. 10. FCC ended a four-year battle yesterday (9) and propo.sed to hand out a permit to the Cleveland Broad- ca.sting Co. — two of whose stock- holders are Railway Brotherhood leaders, A. F. Whitney and Alvan- .Jey Johnston — for a five kilowatt station in that city. At the same time. Commission, in a tenative finding, ruled out Scripps- Howaid Radio, Inc., which was ap- plying for the same facility. FCC favored Cleveland company becau.se nearly all of its 11 directors were long-time local residents. FCC also looked favorably on fact that com- pany had no other radio or news- Paper holdings. Principal stockholders feo-:* > are law partners—Ray T. Miller and ner Democratic bo.ss and Hornbeck former Republican boss of the city. Donald W. Hornbeck. Miller is for- Saii Antonio — Fred Semann has been named musical director of .WQAI. .He replaces Mary Louise Boertman,'rtsignetf. • • ■v iH Most folks consider tasty flapjacks a real morning treat . . . and when it comes to morning radio fare most Chicagoland listeners turn to WGN. Yes sir, the last two Hooper reports on Chicago radio listening show that from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m., Monday thru Friday, WGN has a greater audience than any other Chicago station. While this doesn't surprise us, since WGN enjoys a distinctive "station-awareness" in Chicago, 'we do think it's of interest to radio advertisers in this important market ... for it adds emphasis to what we have always believed: a good show on WGN is the correct answer to successful radio in the Middlewest. ^ Clear Chajmel Station Serving the Middle West Wf4 CHICAGO 11 ILLINOIS ;o,0Ao Watti ' 720 On Your Dial MUTUAL BROADCASTING SYSTEM EMtern S»lc< Office: 120 Eaat <l2nd Street, New York 17, N. Y. WestCoa'nt Rcipresentatlvea: Keenan and Elckclbcnl 23S Montftomery St., San Franciaeo 4 . 411 W. Fifth St., Lob Angeles U