Variety (Sep 1946)

24 RADIO WMCA, WNEW Set Up New Plans With Eye to WINS^rosley Threat Political Coin Starts Radioward; WJZ(N.Y.) Tees Off With 161/4 Hrs. WMCA and WNEW, both among ♦ the New York indies which face 1 stiff competition from the injection of Crosley Broadcasting Gorp, coin into WINS (purchased from Hearst | T.adio for about $2,000,000) are doing ■their, new season's programming this year' with a show of utter uhconeern for the newcomer in the field. Both stations this, week announced their fall and winter plans, and in, neither case did they indicate that they are worried by WINS' threat of tough competition. But the neatness <3f the program buhdies presented ;by both stations indicated their aware- ness of a change in the market situ- ation. Thirteen new shows were an- nounced by WNEW, while WMCA came through with nine, some of ■which are new while others are improved or revamped formats of former successes in the line of pub- lic service programming. And both stations came through with new plans for their musical departments, each of the stations having a new music director on the job. Prexy Nathan Straus of WMCA, and his new music head, Paul Gould, have worked out a formula which they seem to hope will give the sta- tion leadership in the "middle brow", music field. New York has two in- dies feeding much longhair music to radio audiences—WQ?"^ and WNYC. Several of the other indies special- ize in jazz music, WMCA will hit hard on those , musical programs which fall in between the two ex- tremes. New Music Combos WNEW, on the other hand, through program director Ted Cott and its new music master, Ray Ross, has worked out a number of new mujsical combinations. This station will use small combos in varying periods; there will be a combo con- sisting of Hammond, bass, and elec- ■ trie guitar; another made up of ac- cordion, clarinet, vibraphone, piano, bass and guitar. -The small groups will be blended at certain peak pe- riods so that they will make up a larger orchestra. But the smaller units will be used lor new styling in music. WMCA's re-styling of shows this year will accommodate various pro- grams to spot and announcement business on hand, altering shows from time to time. "We don't want a jingle to interrupt a program of sweet music, for instance," said vee- pee Leon Goldstein. "So if we want the business represented by the jin- gle-r-and we do^we'll recast the show in such a way that the jingle (Continued on page 36) 2 New AM Outlets For D. C. Suhurbs Washington, Sept. 17. FCC, acting with record speed, okayed construction permits here last Friday (13) for two new stand- ard broadcast stations in the Wash- ington, D. C. metropolitan area. Ac- tion iwill give the capital 11 AM out- lets, with four other bidders still in the market for stations .here. One permit went to Tri-Suburban Broadca.sting Corp. for a daytime op- eration in Silver Spring, Md. Joseph Brechner, chief of radio for Veter- ans Administration and a radio writer and producer for the past nine years, win manage this outlet. Grant to Tri-Sutaurban came as real triumph, since station was earlier tabbed for hearing with two other bidders applying for a different wavelength in the Wa.shingtOn area. Mustering former FCC precedents, the company protested the hearing and won a permit within 48 hours : of the time its petition was'filed by local counsel, Cohn & Marks. Second permit went to Broadcast Management, Inc., for a new station in nearby Bethesda, Md. Pre^sident of this firm is Willard Egolf, former NAB counsel, now in private radio practice. Premieres (Sept. 18-Sept. 28) Sept. 18 Ford Show, starring Dinah, Shore with Robert Emmett Do- lah Qrch, Peter Lind Hayes, George: . Montgomery, : others; 9:30-10 p.m., W e d n e s day s; WABC-CBS; Ford Motors; J. Walter Thompson. K^y Kyscr Show, variety: 10-11 p^rri. Wednesdays (will switch t6 half-hour, 10:30-11 p;m., beginning ,Oct. 2); WEAF-NBC; Colgate - Palmolive - Peet; Ted Bates., Sept. 20 Alaii YouBis Show, variety; 8:30-9 p.m., Fridays; WEAF- NBC; Bristol Myers; Young and Rubicam. People Are Funny, with Art Linkletter; 9-9:30 p.m., Fridays; WEAF-NBC; Raleigh; Russell M. Seeds. ■. . Ginny Simms Show, with Danny Thomas, others, variety; 9-9:30 p.m., Fridays; WABC- CBS; Borden Dairy; Young and Rubicam. Sept. 24 Bob Hope Show, variety; 10- 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays; WEAF- NBC; Pepsodent; Foote, Gone, and Belding. Sept. 26 Eddte Cantor ' Show, with Margaret Whiting, variety; 10:30,- 11 p.m., Thursdays; WEAF-NBC; Pabst; Warwick and Legler. Wednesday, September 18, 1946 KLZ's CHIEF NEWSHAWK EARL McCAllS Correlates work of local .staff and •string :o£ state corre.sponAenls ,10 ftive, with, AP and INS wires, the best all-around' news service to listi'nors oC the Denveir region. KLZ, DENVER. Juve Sins Concern I Network Shows One of the most ambitious series of network shows aimed at combat- ting juvenile delinquency is on the NBC agenda and is scheduled to tee off some time next month. Program, tabbed "Are These Our Children?," will be spotted in the 4:30 to 5 Sun- day afternoon period and will ema- nate from KGO, the web's San Fran- cisco owned^and-operated station. Series will be based on actual po- lice records and will be scripted by Richard Breem, KGO staff writer. The programs will hit hard, with no attempt made to soften the impact of th3 juve delinquency problem. Series is the curtain-lifter in ABC's initiation of a policy to originate shows from its o & 0 stations outside of New York. Juve problem will also be tackled on a lofty scale by CBS via a 60- minute show as part of the web's pattern of spotting a series of hour-, long documentaries on vital issues, similar to the "Operations Cross- roa Is" show a couple months back. The documentaries will also embrace such subjects as housing, the occu- pation of Japan, another on Ger- many, etc. Plan is to produce 10 to 12 such broadcasts annually, with CBS establishing a special Documen- tary Division to prepare the shows. New unit is headed by Robert Heller, producer of the "Assignment Home" series. WIEU STEIKE ENDS Erie, Sept. lY. : The 28-dayrOld strike of employees Of WLEU, Er-ie,, Pa„ has ended, with employes returning to work Mon- day (16). Wage increases of 20 to 40% w^re granted in the new contract. Work- ers also won a 40-hour week, tinae and one'half for overtime, RWG Tosses Gauge After 4-A Effort To Keep Talking With the American Assn. of Ad- vertising A g e n c i e s practically pleading for continuation of a 14- month-old courtship between the 4-A's and the Radio Writers Guild, the RWG has broken the, engage- ment and now it looks like trouble. The RWG's national executive Committee met' in Hollywood over the week-end, and issued a state- ment announcing that RWG-4-A negotiations are off.- There was a dark hint that some drastic steps— perhaps a walkout of top radio scripters from commercial shows— is in the offing. But ' the official statement merely said: "The Guild now recognizes that other measures will be necessary to gain its demands. The basic plan for these measures has been agreed upon at the current meetings. All details of its (the plan's) execution have been referred to the national strategy committee and will be presented to the membershir at an early date." Significance whS attached by those in th^ know to the fact that Sam Moore, Guild prexy who is- sued the official statement,'had be- fore him a copy of the 4-A letter which asked that negotiations be continued. That letter was sent by A. K. Spencer, chairman of the 4-A committee, last week in time to reach Moore and the RWG national exec sec, Dorothy Bryant, before the Coast confab. , ' In his letter, Spencer declared that the Guild and ad agency com- mittees had actually gotten together on a number of points, including arbitration, air credit, liability, pay- (Gontinued on page: 36) How Hooper Rates 'Em The commercial programming picture is beginning to take on a brighter hue, as witness the latest (Sept. 15) Hooperatings. Only' two summertime fiU-in shows managed to survive the Top \h class ("Man Called X" subbing for Bob Hope and "Evening With Romberg" in a.s replacement for Fibber & Molly), with the regulars swing- ing back into their estalilished ' groove. . ^ Here's the Top 15: "Mr. District Attorney",... 14.6 Charlie McCarthy... . ... .... 14.1 ••Screen Guild Players"... ,13.1 Walter Winchell......... .... 12.9: "Burns & Allen".... 11.9 Judy Canova.. 11.6 "Lux Radio Theatre"...... 11.5 "Dr. Christian" 10.9 "Hollywood Players"....... 10.5 "Suspense" 10.3 "Grand Ole Opry". 10.2 "Evening With Romberg".. 10.0 "Man Called X" lO.Q "Dr. I. Q." 9.8 "Album of Familiar Music.. 9.7 "Hit Parade".............. 9.7 NBC CROSSES FINGERS ON NEW VALLEE SHOW NBG is taking Rudy Vallee and Blow : agency at their words—that the new Vallee show for Philip Mor- ris will get progressively better; Because Vallee failed to submit to NBG a recording of his show before broadcast time, the initial airing, in- sofar as the network is concerned, actually counted as the , "audition" show. NBG programming veepee Clarence Menser was far from happy over the initial show'last week (10), but he's taking a "wait and see'' at- titude. Alan Courtney Recupes As Denver Disli Jock Alan Courtney, New York disk jockey who gave up work in the east several weeks ago to head "west for his health, resumed- part-time work this week on KMYR, Denver. Order- ed to the Denver area by his doctor, Courtney gave up a disk show on WOR, N. Y., to Barry Gray. On KMYR he has inaugurated a disk program under the title, "Cam- pus Club," daily stint. Tot' Switcheroo Put On Eversharp Agenda For Possible ABC Slot Looks like Tums has started something, now that its' bringing "Pot o' Gold" back to the air via ABC network. Schick-Eversharp, which has bought the Friday niglit at 8 time on the same network to replace the current Monday night half-hour on CBS, is kicking around its own version of "Pot" which may go into the Friday period. However, this one goes the tele- phone gag one better and introduces a shortwave gimmick. Studio short- waves message to guy in a car to go, for example, to such a street, iwo doors from the corner. Whoever answers gets the jackpot. Show, tabbed "Mr. Opportunity," is a Larry White package;, Schick is still undecided, and may decide to forget all about it and just pick up the tab on "Fat Man," also a White package. WHDH's Bid Via '2 PV Technique Boston,, Sept. 17. Add WHDH, the Herald-Traveler owned outlet here, to the parade of indies pushing their way to their markets' upper crust. And to hear William B. McGrath, managing di- rector of the outlet, tell about it— it's "the two P's" that's doing it-^ the letter standing for Programming and Promotion. McGrath, former promotion head of the Bulova-owned New York indie, WNEW, has been heading WHDH since March. He points to the Hooper station listeqing index to prove that the station's audience has increased by 80% in the May- June period over March-April. In the corresponding periods, the Hooper figures show for WHDH a rise of 23.'7% in the afternoon audi- ence, and an increase, of 16.2% in evening audience. McGrath thinks the increase in the station's popularity has just started. He puts a lot of faith in still further audience favor to come through the sports schedule signed by WHDH. The station will broad- cast home games of the two big col- lege groups here—Harvard and Bos- ton College; as well as the pro foot- ball games of the Boston Yanks and the hockey games of the Bruins. Just to complete the sports picture, McGrath has obtained an option for the Boston home games in the new pro basketball league. : Jordan Marsh, a department store, is spon- soring the pro games, both football and hockey. The college games are sponsored by Atlantic Refining Co. And just as a fillip, under the oil :5pons()rship, the station will broad- cast the Yale-Columbia game this fall.' ■ .:. McGrath attributes the rise in morning audience to the Fred B. Cole show, "Carnival in Music,"; broadcast Mon.-Sat. from 10 a.m. to noon. But in additian' to the program- ming, McGrath has shown the town something in promotion. While the station is owned by the Herald- Traveler, he has taken full-page ads in all of the Bcston papers, plugging the station and its: new programming. The .station has also issued wads of publicity and pro- motion material tied, to its prospec- tive move to new studio quarters. *■ With the 1946 political campaign just getting under way, the political coin is already rolling into radio, ' and the big concern of rswlio opera- tors is not how much they can get ^ from the parties — but how much they dare turn down. Setting the pattern of the radio parade, perhaps, is the experience I of WJZ, ABC's N. Y. flagship which ■ already has booked 49 political I shows for a. total of IG'A hours. Pur- thermoi'e, a number of these are for ABC's entire New York State Net- work, and some of the others are to tie in with a group of stations in New Jersey. In addition, WJZ-has already booked a number ot sta- tion breaks, these being for the most part of the "get., and register" or .: "be sure to vote" type. . Heaviest radio spender, so far, is the Republican Party, which in N. Y State is concerned with re-electing , Gov. Thomas E. Dewey as a prelude to his possible Presidential nomi- nation in 1948j By the .same token, ' the Democratic and American Labor Parties, going all-out for a Dewey defeat, are expected to pour large ladles of coin into radio too. WEAF, the NBC key station in N. Y., has thus far signed up only four political broadcasts, one of them to hit the N. Y. State regional setup of this web; But : station execs made ;no secret of the fact that they hope 'they don't get too much of this type of programming. "Thejr scare the audiences away," this exec said. ■ Thirteen spots urging registration and a heavy vote, on a non-partisati basis, have been put together by producer Mildred Fenton for the In- dependent Citizens Committee of ■ the Arts, Sciences and Professions,: i plus the: National; Citizens Politleai: Action Committee. These spots, written by Abe Burrows and Herb Baker, feature Jerry Wayne and Mary Small. The CIO PAG will un- wind its own spot campaign at a conference called for next Monday (23) by Jack KroU, successor to the late Sidney Hillman as head of PAC's labor wing. Just how much money the politi- cal parties will spend this year is anybody's guess, as yet. But best projections of present plans indicate that the total may reach $500,000, Generations Battle For Haila'sSuds Saga Latest recruit from the legit ranks into radio's daytime serial field is Haila Stoddard, who recently appeared in the title role of Elmer Rice's Broadway hit, "Dreain Girl." Miss St-oddard has been added to the cast of "Just flain Bill," heard cross-thc-board on NBC 5:30-5:45 p.m. Serial starts its 15th year on the air tomorrow (19). Letiigh Coal Sponsoring 'Yankee Weatherman' Bo.ston, Sept. 17. The Lehigh Coal and. Navigation Co., Phila'^elphia, has signed a 52- week contract with the Yankee Net-, work to sponsor a new show, "The Yankee Weatherman," Mondays through Fridays, from 8:15 to 8:2Q a.m. Seventeen of Yankee's stations have started carrying the program, while the remaining stations of the regional web will carry it as fast as the time slot become available. Yets Face Town's Brass Rochester, N. Y., Sept. 17. There was an unusual fight staged here last week when the Veterans Broadcasting Co., composed of 38 co-owners of whom 37 are veterans, lined up for Rochester's remaining AM radio wavelength against seven of the town's outstanding citizens who have formed the Rochester Broadcasting Co. The battle, lasting three days, with sessions running into the night twice, was staged before an FCC examiner, Mrs. Fannee B. Litvin. The FCC held the hearing here in deference to the vets, 32 of whom appeared on the witness stand. The vets want the 1280 channel to build a 5000w outlet here. The solid citizens of the town—including the president of the university,, a , bank president,. and: others of - an older generation—say they should have the wavelength. There are three stations in Rochester—WHAM^ NBC affiliate; WHEC, lindd up with CBS; and «- die WSAY which takes both Mutual and ABC feeds but is more closely, aligned, with MBS. A new, daytime 250w station is under construction, and another 250 waiter is also being built at Geneva, in the Rochester suburban area. . The vets insisted they should be given the new local channel. They Jiaid' they had $60,000 ca.sh, and an- other $75,000 in bank credil-s. The local newspapers, both owned by Frank E. Gannett, played the Rochester Broadcasting Co.'s claims against the vets, the latter firm in- sisting that it too was offering ,20'i of its stock to ex-GI's. Gannett is said to own 60% of WHEC, and the attorney representing the older men's. group is tied in with Gan- nett. I The fight came down to a battle of youth vs. middle age, both groups being thoroughly solvent and ca- pable. It's up to the FCC to decide whether the vets gel the wavelength or the town's brass hats.