Variety (Sep 1946)

Wednesday^ September 25, 1946 RADIO 45 CIRCLING THE KILOCYCLES FIttvburxh — Florence Sando, for last several years femme commen- tator for Kaufmann's store on WJAS, has resigned to become di- rector of women's activities at WCAE. She takes over the Polly Malone show, and other duties, Miss Malone switching exclusively to Horne department store's "News- reel" program on WCAE with de- t)arture of Polly Howies for New York. Miss Sando is a graduate of the Carnegie Tech drama school. Rita Conlin has been promoted from the program department to th£! promotion staff of WCAE, there- by following in the footsteps of her sister, Peggy Conlin, who was pro- motion manager at the station be- fore her marriage to Jimmy Murray, now KQV sales manager. Miss Con- lin replaces Nancy Maxwell, who quit to become publicity director for WJAC in Johnstown, Pa. Toronto—Musical director of sev- er Canadian Broadcasting Corp. program series, Albert Steinberg has resigned to become concert master and assistant conductor of the Van- couver- Symphony -orchestra. : First program, laid on Washington's Stillaguamish River, is already in the works, and pair is working on others in the series. Boston — Two .Monday through Friday morning quarter hours were signed by WCOP, Boston, last week. Cluett Peabody is taking the 8:45 to A.M. period, and Coco Wheats the .;45 to,8 A.M. slot. Cluett Peabody program started Septi 9 with Nancy Dixon doing a commentary quarter hour in behalf of sanforized prod- ucts. Contract is for one year with Young Se Rubicam as the agency. Coco Wheats program debuts Sept. 30 with Happy Hank. Rogers & Smith is the agency. Kansas City—Myron Curry, an- nouncer, was moved upstairs to post of continuity editor at KMBC here last week. Robert Liggett, who has been KMBC's continuity chief, has gone to WCAH, Pontiac, Mich., to take' up duties as program director. Kansas City—Big Six football Will get a double-barrelled airing locally. Walt Lochman, KCMO sports di- rector, announced last week that he will spiel games under sponsorship of Crown Drug Co.. This will bring two local broadcasts, since Sam Mo- len of KMBC has been signed to air a weekly game for Dodge dealers. Lochman teed off with the Kansas U-Texas Christian opener played at Blues ■ Stadium here last Saturday (2'), as did Molen. £ach will broad- cast what he selects as the "top" game of the weeki although it, may ■i)ot be! ;the same game for each : each week^ Cleveland^WGAR's seeking means for promoting public service has gone out to the station's transmitter at the small suburb of Broadview Heights. Villagers can now call transmitter to report fire, and transmitter, which maintains round thc-clock vigil will notify volunteer firemen. New Tork—WWRL, Woodside, be- gins a new football feature Sat. (28) at 9:15 p.m. titled, "The Football Scoreboard," with Jocko Maxwell, vet sportscaster, as emcee. Program will feature analysis of the day's . games and forecast of- future grid- iron scraps.' Clevelana—Ralph Worden, WGAR news editor since 1936, upped to new post of director of public affairs. Will work with program director David Baylor, devoting full time to advising labor and civic groups on use of radio. WGAR's Charles Day named acting news ed. Don Hyde, WOWO, Fti Wayne's news ed, also to join WGAR news staff. Des Mo|ne»—Cornerstone for the transmitter building for KCBC, Des Moines, has been laid and construe tijn of four 200-toot towers is to start next week. The 1,000-watt sta ti I will begin operation Dec. 1 with studios to be in East Des Moines, The Capital City Broadcasting Co, < operate with the following of- ficers: George 0!Dea, president; Sid ,ney Pearlman, veepee and general manager and Hugh Gallagher, sec retary-treasurer. Denver~"Aid to veterans" is the theme of a new series of weekly discussion broadcasts conducted by Mack Switzer, special events man at ICLZ. Cooperating with the Vet- erans Advisory :CbunciI of Denver* programs have broadcast valuable information on how ex-GI's go about applying for pay for unused furlough time, aired appeals for emergency housing for vets who wish to attend Denver U but who can find no place to live and pre- sented problems in general facing discharged service. personnel as ■ they return to civilian life. Seattle — Local radioites, Johnny Forrest, eommentafbr, and Bob Fer ris, announcer, are readying a new series of . quarter-hour programs based on the romance and adventure on and along the rivers of America everybody knows WBIG means good broadcasting 5000 WATTS DAY b NIGHT Real People Named On Air Ask lOOG Although Claiming No Skmder Chicago, Sept. 24. Charging a radio program broad-, cast five years ago was an "invasion of their privacy," a South Dakota couple last week filed an unusual suit for $100,000 in Circuit Court here, naming NBC, the Hussel M. Seeds ad agency, and Brown & Wil- liamson Corp. as defendants. Couple, John Gs and Jessie Hunter, of Cheyenne Agency, S. D., who are asking $50,000 each, charge that the program, "Wings of Destiny," spon- sored by Wings Cigarettes (B&W), portrayed them in an episode titled "Bundles from Heaven," broadcast on Sept. 19, 1941, using their real names and causing them undue pub- licity. Series was an actual history of air exploits of the AAF, taken from the files of the War Dept., with latter's permission to use the stories on the air. Hunter, who is employed by the Indian Service, a Federal agency, was portrayed in the "Bundles" pro- gram, which told of dropping food from airplanes to Indians during the heavy ^winter of 1931. Story de- scribed how Hunter prevailed upon the AAF to bring aid to the Indians. Although the couple do not claim they were slandered in any way, they say the show was a breach of their,privacy. * $l,5i,008 Preem Set for Wax Web With 18 Programs Already in Works . Advent of the Bing Crosby disk show into network activity has has- tened formation of a transcription; network that's been in the making the past year. Outfit, brainchild of Ray Green, producer of package transcription shows, and called the Transcription Broadcast System, has filed corporation papers, set up pro- duction: and sales staffs- in N. Y., Chicago and Hollywood, and plans: to be on the air sometime before Jan., I.,' Company estimates it will take $1,- 500,000 for programming operations the first year, and claims half the sum is already raised, all to be pri- vately financed. Firm has signed up 168 stations throughout the country thus far, over 65% of them being affiliated with one of the four pres- ent networks. Eighteen programs are already in works, as follows: A 15-minute strip show, five times a week; five-a-week, 15-min. news commentary; and a five-a-week, Ifvr min. musical show; also, a half-hour variety show, half-hour mystery, and half-hour dramatic show, last- named very likely with Orson Welles and his Mercurj' Players. Company has execs coming in from other radio jobs and from the outside. Green will be one of the execs, with Hay Block musical di- rector. Firm is represented by Dia- mond, Poletti and Mackay, attor. torneys, with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., of that office handling the ac- count., /, . ■ 'Fifth' Net TBS' stations are in major citie.<!, and outfit will call itself a "fifth" network. Firm's talking points to member stations is the elimination of the costly line charges in normal network operation; more perfect! shows in that programs can be re- recorded until satisfactory; and fact that local stations won't be bound down to any time schedule, getting choice of best time locally. Outfit is setting up a sales organ- ization both to sell locally for sta- tions as well as nationally, compa- rable to co-op setups on present live net shows. Local stations will share in sale of time, as well as benefit financially in otiier ways due to the setup. ■ „ Green and associates in his Ker* mit-Raymond transcription company (handling "Hollywood Open House," "At Home With Faye and Elliott (Roosevelt)" "Famous Fathers," etc.) will probably dissolve the K-R out- fit, with its properties bought by TBS. • Sept. 29tl) goes 5000 Day and Night fSeptember 29th, far-reaching WSPA will encircle the Midas-rich WSPA Piedmont with a notably stronger signal, intensifying its 16-county listening audience. September 29th,WSPA'8 newly installed 417-foot tower and 23-niile copper wire ground system will improve its daytime signal an estimated 40%. But more important—Septem- •ber 29th WSPA increases nighttime power from 1000 to 5000 watts. Right now WSPA sells to 124,908 radio homes* in the Spartanburg-Greenville market with a Monday-through-Friday daytime share-of-audience of 52.8* and Sunday- through-Saturday evening share of 74.8*. With this new signal strength-5000 watts day and night on 950 kilocycles-WSPA will completely blanket "one of the best'balamed sections in the entire country." And WSPA, more than ever, will swing the balance your way. ■ANtt w*Mti daytimt eireulation, CBS Liittnine trt«t, tthttfttttltM *HDOfier Station Liateninff hideXf SpriuoHlit . WS PA SPARTANBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA Represented by Hollingbery 5000 wotts day, 5000 watts night, 950 kilocycles Walter J, Brown, Vice-Pres. and Gen'l Manager GBS Station for the SpirtanburK-Greenvllle Markit VMtbore, n. t. ropr«i<nt«d by helliiigbety