Variety (Sep 1947)

30 TELEVISION Wednesday, September 3, 1947 'Celluloid' Net in Place Radio-Type Seen Closer Due to Fairbanks Films Replacement of the radio-type net- • ■work for television by a "celluloid network" established by individual advertisers was seen in the trade this week via interest shown by ad- vertisers in the recently-disclosed Jerry Fairbanks films produced spe- cifically for video. Although no deals have yet been inked for the Sims, McCann-Erick- aon's Russ Johnston, Fairbanks' spokesman in New York, revealed that at least one topcoin advertiser has sought exclusive rights to the first series of pictures. Advertiser, Johnston said, wants to place them on every station currently in.opera- tion, with the intent of adding each new station as soon as it begins broadcasting. If the plan goes through, therefore, stations tied in ■with NBC. CBS, DuMont, Mutual and the other tele "webs" would all be running the same shows, but the network thus set up would be con- trolled by the individual advertiser and not by a single broadcasting ovtnt. Radio nets, as they're known to- day, came into being through the necessity of local stations to affiliate themselves with a network that could offer them topdrawer shows on which they could make a profit, Johnston pointed out. If radio tran- scriptions in the early days of the AM medium had been. developed to their present technical excellence, the present radio nets would prob- ably have developed only for air- ings of- on-the-spot pickups, such as sports events. With film forming video's transcriptions, it's believed entirely possible that tele networks comparable to those in radio will only exist for the same type, of on- the-spot show. Entire premise, of course, is based HARRY SALTER MUSICAL DIRECTOR It Pavs to Be. Ignorant, CBS; Scotland Yard, MBS. Variety (Aug. 27); "Harry Salter's sock musical job on the CBS 'We Went Back' documentary still excit- ing considerable trade comment." Direction-M.C.A. GF Pulls in Tele Coin Reins; Sez It Wants to Research on the question of whether filmed shows will play as large a part in rtele programming as film proponents optimistically hope they will. There's still much to be said, it's argued, for the belief of top NBC, DuMont and other, tele execs that live studio shows offer the type! of spontaneity and intimacy that tele should have. Question of economics is even more important, it's',pointed out, since any film show mtist pre- sent quality comparable to that of a live show at the same or lower cost to the initial producer and to each station carrying the program. New Rate Card In line with that, Johston has re- vealed the rate card to be put into effect immediately for the Fair banks films. All-embracing rate structure has been set up for all existing stations and for those still building, based primarily on the number of sets in circulation in each city and the population. New York, of course, tops the list at $1,500 for each film in the series, followed by Chicago at $750: Los Angeles, $750; Philadelphia, $500; Detroit. $500; Washington, $400; St. Louis, $400, and Schenectady, $3f>0. R-tes are also given for 30 cities in which construction permits have been g -'nted, ranging from $500 for San F "ncisco to $100. for Ames, la. Discount of 10% of the total is to be given for any advertiser buying the films for five or more markets; 15°;- of the total for 10 or more markets, and 20% for 20 or more. Under Fairbanks' present plans of lens'ng onlv 17 films in each series at the outset and permitting two rcneat showings of each film gratis, Johnston pointed out. an advertiser buying the service, for . N—would pay only $500 a showing. And that, he declared, is certainly much less than the production cost of a 20- minute live show. Johnston declared that a celluloid network such as he envisages would only be a temporary expediency but exoressed the belief that film would enjoy at least a three-year period all its own, when stations will be linked together largely through film. "We can't kid ourselves," he de- clared. "Television must develop as a network. If television is going to be of value to the people of the U. S.. they must be able to see the ■world series, the championship fights, races, etc.. as they occur," High cost of the coaxial cable or a radio relay, only two systems developed thus far for networking live shows, have yet to be proved economically, he pointed out. "Al- though we have network operations available now," he said, "film will not hold up development Of net- work operations." Young & Rubicam's dwindling tel- evision billings will take it on the chin again after Sept. 25, when Gen- eral Foods is slated to drop sponsor- ship of the Thursday night 8:30 to 9 slot on WNBT (NBC, N. Y.). Money that G-F saves via the move will be channeled into "a more extensive television research program .this fall," according to Howard M. Cha- pin, head of the firm's tele commit- tee. Y. & R. earlier lost another half hour on WNBT. when Bristol-Myers decided to cancel its sponsorship of the "At Home With Tex & Jinx" show on Sunday nights. Agency is now left with 'only the Gulf-spon- sored "You Are an Artist" show, which is aired on WNBT Thursday nights from 9 to 9:10. G-F, mean- while, continues as sponsor of the 8 to 8:30 Thursday night slot on WNBT through Benton & Bowles, the weather signals on DuMont and as co-sponsor with_ Ford of the Dodger baseball games over CBS tele. Decision to drop the half-hour time segment doesn't mean that G-F is losing interest in tele. Chapin de- clared. With the firm's decision to conduct more research into the me- dium, however, it was necessary to find addit'onal funds for the work from the fixed video budget, and so the time was dropped. G-F tele di- rector didn't snccify what form the "expanded research" was to take. but4fs believed to have been started already via a "television diary" which B. & B. has mailed out to tele set owners throughout metropolitan New York. Since the only tele show- handled by B. & B. is that of G-F, it's bc'ieved that at least a part of the funds for this type of research will come frojn_jthie_Jofld-organizaT tion. . Diary is to contain a record of tele- viewing of each family, its guests and neighbors who might drop in to watch a show. Set owners are asked not to change their habits of viewing because of the diary, but to keep an accurate record of viewing by 15- minute periods of times when the set is turned on. the station tuned in and who is viewing. B. & B. "in- vestigator" is to collect the diaries at the end of each week. Under the "who is viewing" category, set own- ers are left space to differentiate be- tween men and women and children from 5-11 years and 12-18. | Television Reviews * ********** ♦■»-♦•■» ♦ ♦ ♦ * AMERICAN LEGION PARADE Producer: Bill Garden 570 Mins.; Saturday (30), 9 a.m. WNBT-NBC, N. Y. WNBT established a new mara- thon record of some kind in cover- age of the American Legion parade in New York last Saturday (30). Station went on the air at 9 a.m., when the 13-hour affair started, took a four-hour break at 2 p.m. to pick up' the Davis Cup tennis finals and then returned to the parade at 6 p.m. to remain on the air until the last weary Legionnaire had dragged his tired dogs past the re- viewing .stand at 10:3C Saturday night. , ■ ■ As with other such events, tele coverage was comparatively a sim- ple affair, requiring only the train- ing of cameras on the centre of activity and. keeping them there. Despite that, the NBC crew per- formed an admirable job. Outfit did as much as possible to break up the boring aspects of watching hun- dreds of thousands of marching Legionnaires, bands and drum and- bugle corps parade past the corner of Fifth avenue and 41st street, by. employing a constant variety of shots. Crew also brought in as much human interest as possible, cutting to the reviewing stand and specta- tors at interyals, getting full screen clpseups of the pretty drum major- ettes for cheesecake effects ad fol- lowing the moppet majorettes in their baton-twirling antics. - Three cameras were located at strategic points around the review- ing stand. Announcer Jim Stevenson confined his ...remarks to an occa- sional explanatory note to the au- dience, letting the Legion's loud- speaker system on the scene pro- vide most of the description. Show must have represented a hefty out- lay of money by NBC for air time and facilities and the station is to be commended for an all-out job of public service programming. Stal. DAVIS CUP TENNIS With Bob Stanton, announcer Producer: Garry Simpson 130 Mins.; Saturday (30), 2:15 p.m. RfcA-VICTOR WNBT—NBC, N. Y. (J. Walter Thompson) WNBT broke into its all-day cov- erage of the American Legion ■parade up New York's Fifth avenue Saturday (30) afternoon to bring viewers the finals of the Davis Cup tennis matches from Forest Hills, Long Island:- Idea was decidely a good one, offering a neat and wel- come change of pace from the tiring AL parade. As with other sports it covers WNBT production crew has cover- continued on page 38) Western Union Bares Chi-N. Y, Tele Web Plans; Rolls in 6 Mths. EDDY ARNOLD "The Tennessee Plowboy and Hi* Guitar" RCA Victor recording . artist. Singing star Checkerboard Jam- boree. . Breaking all records' personal ap- pearances. Guest artist RCA Victor show, Sunday, September 7, NBC. Exclusive Management THOMAS A. PARKER SHIRTMAKER PACTS YANKEE GRID SERIES Springs Mills, Inc., men's shirt manufacturers, yesterday (Tues.) signed to bankroll all games of the N. Y. Yankees' pro football team over WABD (DuMont. N. Y.). Eight- game schedule tees off Friday (5) night with a game between the Yan- kees and Chicago Rockets. Price of the deal was not dis- closed. No ad agency figured in negotiations, with WABD toppers reportedly working directly through Dan Topping, chief representative for Col. L. S. MacPhail's football interests. Topping, it's pointed out, is a close friend of Elliott White Spring, prexy of the shirt outfit. Signing of a. sponsor for the Yan- kee games exactly reverses the situ- ation existing in big-league baseball this year. Baseball Yankees and Giants went a-begging for sponsors throughout the season, while games of the Brooklyn Dodgers over WCBS-TV (CBS, N. Y.) were bank- rolled jointly by Ford and General Foods. Football Dodgers haven't yet , latched—on to a -sponsor,- -while- the Giants preceded the Yankees by several weeks in signing with the Hoffman Beverage Co. for Giant broadcasts • over WNBT (NBC, N. Y.). v.. Detroit — Oldsmobile Motor Co. will sponsor televising of all home games of the Univ. of Michigan played at Ann Arbor, • it was an- nounced by D. E. Ralston, general sales manager of Olds. They will be televised over WWJ-TV. Michigan's schedule begins (27). Tele Package Operation Set by Duo in Philly ■ Philadelphia, Sept. 2. Les Waas and Len Bach. Philly ad men. have organized Tcicpak, a new television package show agency aimed at snaring biz from small budget advertisers who, they feci, "are greatly interested in television, but disregard the possibilities due to relatively high costs of presenta- tion." - In this connection. Waas and Bach said their firm will stess program material for production at minimum costs To accomplish this, they added, scriptors. directors and talent have hecn lined up as freelance as- sociates. Austrian-FCBTie Seen Cueing Client Splurge Into Tele Naming of Ralph B. Austrian as veepee over television for the Foote, Cone & Belding ad agency is be- lieved to presage the entry of some of the top-spending national adver- tisers into the tele fold within the near future. Austrian was formerly prexy of RKO Television. F.C.&B., which handles such ac- counts as American Tobacco, Lever Bros., Armour and Cities Service, has had a tele department in the past but has yet to produce Its first show on the new medium. Acquisi- tion of Austrian, who's been active in the tele industry almost since its inception, means that some of those accounts are almost most certain to inaugurate tele sponsorship. Austrian is currently on the Coast but a spokesman for F.C.&B. de- clared the agency is currently lining up shows for several of its clients on different tele stations through- out the country. First to go will probably be American Tobacco, which is slated to institute a one- minute spot campaign produced en- tirely on film and. with Austrian's known predilection for film over live shows, it's believed that F.C.&B; might advise canned shows for all its clients. American Tobacco, meanwhile, will plug its Luckies on football games this fall through the N. W. Ayer agency. Firm assigned this account to Ayer because the agency had sewn up tele rights to all games of Army and Notre Dame, both of which Luckies wanted to bankroll. Austrian, former assistant vee- pee of RCA, has been prexy of RKO Television since the end of the war. .He-served as chairman of the- Tele- vision Broadcasters Assn. program committee in 1945 and was general chairman of the TBA's second an- nual conference last year. He's a fellow of the Society of Motion Pu> ture Engineers, a "member of its tele committee and has been nomin- ated treasurer. He's also a senior member of the Institute of Radio Engineers. ' Chicago, Sept. 2. Western Union, in a meeting be- fore members of the Newspaper Television here last week, revealed that it would have a tele net be- tween Chicago and New York in operation within six months. Web calls for three microwave setups: one, via«Albany, Cleveland, and De- troit; two, via Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Detroit; third, via Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. Net will be the first of a proposed country- wide hookup. E. Z. Ziezel, Chicago division man- ager, revealed that work has al- ready started and towers are being erecjted 30 to 60 miles apart. Real estate and right-of-way have been cleared. Web had "been con- templated since 1940, but war in- terfered with proposed plans. . The telegraph- company will offer the facilities, on a leased basis, to individual broadcasters or to nets, or as a common carried service to sta- tions that desire it for short periods of time. This will enable sponsors to feed programs to stations direct at time intervals that they wish. WU, which was a spectator at the Washington hearings on A. T. & T. coaxial rates, said that tariffs for their service would be radically cheaper. Also presented before the group was the plan by the four newspaper photo agencies to submit still photos with added continuity for telecast- ing. New service presented by AP, UP, INS, and Acme will be avail- able to all tele stations. While news- reel companies were not present, in- dications were that they would sub- mit plans for interchange of news- reels among stations. Delegates who were here for the three day exchange of information regarding station operations were George Burbach and Robert Coe, KSD-TV, St. Louis; B. O. Sullivan, Daily News Syndicate, N. Y.; C. E. Denton and Ken Stowman. WFIL- TV, Philadelphia; Woody Magnuson, WBEN-TV, Buffalo; R. A. Thorn- burgh and R. W. Clapp, WFIL; L. W. Herzog, WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee: J. Hanrahan, Scripps-Howard, Cleve- land; N. H. Swanson, WMAR. Balti- more; F. Van Konyenbeyer, WTCN, St. Paul; K. Berkley, WMAL, Wash- ington, D. C; Harry Bannister; WWJ-TV, Detroit; Frank Schricber, Frank Brooks, and Carl Myers from WGNA, Chicago, and H. W. Batch- elder, WBAL, Baltimore. Meeting was one-time shot to dis- cuss technical- and sales problems. Following problems were discussed: studio lighting, live vs. film pro- grams, production techniques, studio construction, microwave links for remote pickups, selling and pro- graming, and the use of the Zoomar lens in television. KXOK Into Tele St. Louis, Sept. J. KXOK. owned and operated by the St. Louis Star-Times, a p.m. sheet, is prepping to enter the local telebroadcast field now occupied solely by KSD, owned and operated by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Pulitzer), another p.m. rag. Firm of Richard W. Hubbell and Associates has been engaged by KXOK execs as tele and facsimile consultants. Station already is ac- tive in the facsimile and FM field. Chi Tele's Juicy Grid Plum; Inks American Tobacco Chicago. Sept. 2. . WBKB here pulled out the juiciest tele plum of the 1947 sports season last. week with the signing,.of the . home games of the Notre Dame and Northwestern Universities football teams. Games will be sponsored by American Tobacco Co. through Foote, Cone & Belding. Lineup will give Chicago station the heaviest game schedule of any video caster in the country. Schedule includes the coveted Army-Notre Dame game Nov. 8. Other N. D. games are Iowa-N. D., Oct. 25 and Tulane-N! D.. Nov. 22. Northwestern tees off with Univer- sity of California at Los Angeles on Oct. 4, followed by Michigan. Oct. 18; Wisconsin, Nov. 1, and ending with Notre Dame at Northwestern Nov. 15. WBKB also televizes the Chicago Rockets, pro football, who opened with game against the Los Angeles Dons (29). Other contests are Buf- falo, Sept. 19; Cleveland, Sept. 2(5; Brooklyn, Oct. 7; New York. Oct. 21; Baltimore, Nov. 7, and San Francisco, Nov. 21. Remotes are sponsored by Keely Brewing.