Variety (Jan 1948)

32 RADIO Wcflneeclay, January 14, 1948 FCC Mn§ti)edde 1H1 Hearst Subpoena To See If He Sets Poky in WBAL Case Washington, Jan. 13. ' The FCC will have to decide 'Withiti the week whether it will re^ quite testimony from the' principal stockholder in stations, w ho s e licenses are on the , hook or will he.- satisfied .with representations made by the stations' hired hands. ■ Specifically, the FCC will have to lace up to a request by counsel for columnists Drew Pearson and Robert B. AUeij that 85-year-old William Bandolph Hearst be subpoenaed to testify in behalf of a renewal license for his 50-kilowatter, WBAL, Baltimore. Pearson anS Allen filed 8 competing bid for' the WBAL wavelength after FCC tabbed the station's license for hearing in 1946. Commission ducked,,,two earlier requests for a Hearst subpoena, but this time has requested a copy"" of the" voting-trust agreements by which Hearst governs his vast radio- newspaper empire in an effort; to learn what role he.himseff plays in fixing policies at WBAL. Commis- sioner Rosel H. Hyde ruled last week that the Commission will decide the question once and for all after studying these papers. Meanwhile, the FCC . bench ac- ceded to anothe? Pearson-Allen re- quest and requested testimony from Charles B. McCabe, president of Hearst Radio, Inc., at a resumed ^ Shearing here Jan. 26. Pearsott and. Allen counsel, Coiin & Marks, de- manded full info from JrfcCabe on ■viho sets polity lor .Hearst' radio operations. ■; - ■ Request for the Hearst subpoena sparked plenty of fireworks df 'a motions 'hearing before Comnjis- sioner Hyde last week, William Pempsey, Hearst lawyer, called the request a "mere fishing expedition" and maintained that Hearst, because of ill healtll and advanced age, has taken "no active part in WBAL sta- tion operation or policy." Leonard Marks, counsel for Pearson aiid Al- len, charged that Hearst still sets policy for his empire and that telsti- ■ m'ony from WBAL execs won't stand up for the future since Hearst can fire them at will. ' What's in a Name? Hollywood, Jan. 13. ^arriei-s KFWB is taking on the tone of a motion picture studio lot due to surprising sim- ilarities between the -naijies of staffers and some ^ big- show names. Station has a -Fred Al- len, salesman; Marie McDonald, secretary; Jane Russell, record . room aide, and Lennie Hayden. When paging is done over the p.ft. system strangers do double takes. ■ Chef Boy-ardee Spots Chef Boy-ardee, an American Home Products brand,, is buying daytime minute campaigns m 55 cities through Voung & BubJcam. It will be a 10-week campaign, starl- ing Feb. 3. The Orders'will be for batches of 10 io 25 announcements « week. Friendly Takes Over Hub WBMS; Report WCOP For Sale.at $1,000,1 I Elect Nelson Case N.Y.AFRAPrexy Nelson Case was elected president «1 the New York local of the Ameri- can Federation of Rajlio Artists at its last membership meeting. The only nominee, he received 301 votes. Clay- ton ^Collyer,. Jr., incumbent presi- dent, received 158 write-in votes. He was not « candidate for re-elec- tion. , • Carl Swenson was elected fir.st vice-president. Others named were Eugene Lowenthal, second v. p.; Joe O'Brien, third v. p.; Virginia Payne, fourth v. p.; John Neher, fifth v. p.; Ben Grauer, treasurer, and Anne Seymour, recording secretary. AH were on the single nominee slate. William Adams received a substan- tial write-in vote for vice-president, and various others received scat- tered writcrins. for different offices. Only 483 valid ballots were cast In the election, possibly because with just one slate of nominees in the field, the result was regarded ^s ^a foregone conclusion. Also', the real struggle for power in«the chapter was settled last fall with the de- cisive victory of the Independents over the Artists Committee _faction in the election of members' of the local board. Since ' that election there apparently has been no or- ganized political activity by any croup withip thB local. It's expected that the new regime vill attempt to Increase membership participation in the affairs of the local. An immediate move will probably be the expansion of vari- ous committees to include represen- tatives- from the membership at large. In the past, virtually all committees in the- local have con> Misted only of board members. Court Gives Blue Book Going Over ■ Washington, Jan. 13. FCC's Blue Book received, rough treatment in a U. S. court of ap- peals deci-sion here yesterday: (12), but the . court concluded 4hat it laclced authority to review or' set: asidfe ft government publication like, the -prqgrsim report The judg^ di^-: missed a complaint from Hearst Ra- dio, Inc.-, which sought a • declara- tory judgment , to purge Blue Book statements about' the Operation of Heafst-owned. WBAL,: Efaltimore, Hearst claimed that the FCC chsirges were "false and defama,tory'' and should be stricken from, the "rec<- ord before the.. Commission acted on WBAL's bid for a renewal: license. The solons found themselves pow- erless to act but showed plenty of sympathy for Hearst's position. The Hearst complaint, they said^ clearly "pictures a legal wrong." . Referring to the Blue Book's com- 'parison of promi.ses made by a for- mer owner of WBAL in 1927 .with actual performance of the station in 1944. under Hearst, the court de- clared "The comparison from which the Cominisslon , drew an unfavor- able conclusion as to appellant's op- eration ■ was unjustifiable." The ruling affirmed a 'decision of the V. S. district court. AsMLandi^onWOR, WNEW Paves Coni'l Way Martin Block is at last going to have his Mutual platter show heard in New York. WOR, the web's N. Y. flagship, which couldn't carry Block's Kreml-sponsored segment because of his contract ■with WNEW and re- fused to air the sustaining portions of -the Show,.dn Monday. (.12) finally pencilled in Blbck's Monday-Wednes- day-Friday conunerclal stint for- air- ing starting Feb. 2. ' ■ ' " - * : Way :was: cleared, lollowing many huddles . involving WOR, Mutual,^ WNEW, Biock and Kreml's agency, Erwin Wasey, when WNEW waived its ban on WOR carrying any portion of Block's -MBS show ^ieh adver- tised 'products in competition with those ^tionsorin^ Block on the indie. Presumably-'the waiVer also opani the way fofc the web to interest pros* pectlve bankroUers for. the Block stanza who formerly couldn't be of- fered a N. Y. outlet. . BC Headache Powder is reported- ly a prospect for Tuesday-Thursday sponsorship of Block, now that WOf is on the line. ,. The platter spinner and Mutual weren't the only ones unhappy with the fact that his iShow wasn't aired in Gotham. Kireml and Erwin Wasey are 'understood ,to. have been press ing the matter heavily for weeks,* • W.OR rheaiitime also has decided to air Mutual's newest cO-op, John Nesbit's "Pasfilhg Parade," across, the board at 1:30 p.m., starting the same day Block goes in- at 2:30. No.local sponsor has yet been signed, but WOR, which i.sn't prone to carry MBS sustainers indiscriminately, ap parently is confident of lining one up a bankroller ^efore the teeoff date Mutual has retained-^ Walter Schwimmer of the Sehwimmer & Scott ad agency, Chicago, to super- vise production of the Nesbit oo-off. Show will be plattered in Hollywood [State Dept. Senatfe action and aired on the web at 11-11:15 a.m. pected w.ithifi the jmontji,., - i Seattle AFRA Negotiates Seattle,'Jan. 13. Local Atnerican Federation of Radio Artlssts is now negotiating with both network and independent stations for new contract to replace one that expired Jan. 1. Work is going along under the old pact, and chief change asked is an upping of minimum rates for com- mercials, i ADen Appt. Seen Offsetting Russo Propagandizing V . Washington, Jan. 13. . State Dept. made frank admission that it is engaged in all-out. psych0« logical warfare with the Soviet ■"Union'with White. House nomination last week of George V.'Allen, pres- ent Hi S. Anibasi^ador to Iran and expert in-Soviet affairs, as Assistant- Secretary of ■■ State .'to handle the overseas information program.. State Dept. said Allen's first as- signment in /iirecting the "'Voice of America" DX shows would be to counteract "Russian efforts to cr^e- ate mistrust of the Marshall Plan" and. to meet the "growing volume of attacks abroad misrepreSentiiig mo- tives' of the U, S. in world affairs." President ' Truman named two other -State Depti loareer men. both of whom are familiar wjth Soviet proisaganda techniques, to a.ssi.st Al- len. They are Charles W. Thayer as chief of the International Broadcast-* ing Division and Leland Barrows as deputy director of the 'Office of In- formation Exchange. Meanwhile, the . Senate Foreign; Relations . Committee reported out last week .Sh amended version of the Mundt 0^11 establishing a perma- nent information program .within'the is. ex- Boston, Jan. 13. WBMS, . classical music station here, signed,tentative sales agree- ment with the Friendly Group of Steiibenville, O., this week. Final sale to the Ohio" chain is probable in the next fortnight, though at lea.st one Hub group is interested. Price is believed in neighborhood of ■$300,000. ' \ Station, operating at 1090kc. on 1000 watts on daytime basis, entered Boston field, in November, 1946, making eight local outlets plus a half dozen suburban stations, includ- ing powerful WLAW, on greater Boston dials. Fortnat follows WQXR, N. Y,,.in airing classical music only, and achleved<a wide listenership de- spite generally low Hoopers. Local upperel^s .accounts jaever sold -on the station/with result it lost $50,000 or more the first year. ^ Station is piloted by Ivan New- man,, who supervised construction, program format, etc. If Friendly Group comes-'in, it figures on fol- lowing same, general longhair format which has caught plenty of local public Interest but few buyers, .Meanwhile, WOOP, ABC outlet in Hub, is believed up for sale in ear- nest. Cowles station has long been rumored available, but price of $1,000,000 is way out of sight. Station hasn't proved a profitable operation even with net affiliation.vWLAW's 50,000 watts 10 miles away is crowd- ing it on the net outlet, - No pros- pective customer is mentioned so far, though the Boston Globe, long reported interested, remains a pos- sibility. Station has only occupied new street level studios in N. E. Mutual Insurance building for about a year, and is geared for FM and video, plus AMj With possibility of 50,000 watts in. the forthcoming clear channels hearing. Ra-Best to Package 'Em Ra-Best Featur.es, "a package pro- duction firm, has been formed with I.arry Elliott, president; S. James Andrews, executive vice-president; Bernard Silver, secretary, and Vin- cent Andrews (no relation), treas- urer. S. James Andrews, the only ene of the four who will devote full time to the venture, is former vice- president and radio^director of the Lenneo & Mitchell ^eeacy. Pulse Rates HY/s Top 20 Local Daytime Shows The iolhxoing ratings are derived from. the December New York Pulse. They ore- averages of all the Quorter-Hiour Mori4a.y-thrmiigh-Frji.day ratings achitvei-by the prbgrams during the'entire-broad- cast period. AM prograps listed are local iue„ yion-netiootk). Pulse is the rating outfit, «j)ecinlizinsi in, measuring Iqcal audiencest , . . ■ ' ' Frogfiim Averoees of all ' Prorrams Stations ^ ^tatotel-'Hour Ratines 'Gambling, Musical Clock, 7:15-8 . ... .. >v......... WOR ' • 5.1 ' ■ ■ Kate Smith.Sings, 12:15-12:40 'WOR ' . . 4.5 ■•Make Believe Ballroom, 5:30-6 WNEW • v • 4.3 •' ' Dorothy & Dick, 8:15-9 ..'......' WOR ' : " 3^ Make Believe Ballroom, 10-11:30 :. WNEW . , ■ "' 3.5' Daily Dilemmas, 2:30-3 WOR ■ ' ■ ^ ' 32« Tello Teat, 11:15-11:30 WOR , ,- . , 32" Bing Crosby Records, 11:30^12 , WNEW ' • " - ■ '• ^ 3.r . Martha Deane, 10:15-11' ................ WOR 30 Missus Goes A-Shopping, 10-10!30 ..... ^. ...... WCBS - " " s'o An.swer Man. 12:45^1 WOR 30 Arthur Godfrey, 6-7:45 ........."....,.,....... WCBS - .' ■ 2.9 Phil Cook Show, 8:15-8:30 ..- WCBS 29 This is New York, 9:15-10 ............. ........ .. . ...... WCBS ' 2^8 Mary Margaret •McBride,. 1-1:45 .' WNBC , ' 2 7 • : Margaret Arlen, 8:30-9 .. .............. .. WCBS 27' Hi! Jinx, 8:30-9 .'. WNBC ■ ' : 24 This is Nora Drake, 11-11:15 i WNBC 2.4 Luncheon at Sardi'.s, 1-1:30 WOR 2.4 ' Green Light Review, 5:15-5:30 .. WNEW Pulse's Top 10 Local News Shows Prescott Robinson, 8-8:15 a.m. .v... WOR B.8 Harry Clark, 7:45-8 a.m ........ WCBS 5.7 Van Deventer, 6:30-6:45 p.m WOR 5.1 Kenneth Banghart, 6*6:15 p.m. .... WNBC 4.2 . M. Elliott, 7-7:15 a.m. ..: WOR ' . 4.0 Kenneth Banghart, 11-11:15 p.m.. WNBC 3.9 C. F.-McCarthy, 7:30*7:45 a.m. WNBC 3.7 Prescott Robinson, lUll:l5a.m,-.......... i WOR 3.7 Walter Kiernan, 6-6:15 p.m> .. WJZ 3.5 Joe King, 9-9:15 *.in ...» WCBS . 3.5 SittttrdsSF^^ Sunday Top 10 Daytime Shows Children's Hour, 10:30-11:30, Sun WNBC 6.0 C. McCarthy, News, 1:30-1:45, Sun , WNBC • 5.3 Bing Crosby Records, 11:30-12. Sat. WNEW •• - - S.O Make Believe Ballroom, 10-11:30, Sat, WNEW : 4,3 •■Notre Dame-USC Football, 4:45-6, Sat. WHN ' '' 4.3 Bing Crosby Records, ll:30-12;i5. Sun. WNEW 4.1 Five Mysteries, 2-2:30, Sun. WOR 4.0 Pr&scott Robinson, News, 8-8:15, .Sat WOR • 4.0 Author Meets Critics, 4:30-."), Sun , WNBC 4.0 Gambling's Musical Clock, 7;t5i8i Sat. ViOB 3.9 * Program continued after 6 p.m., but these ratings are not included in program average quoted. Directors Set Wage Scale Prospects of a settlement of dilier- ences between the networjis and tne N, Y. local of the Radio Direclor.s Guild (AFL) appeared to be im- proving thiayweek as negotiation.^^, virtually stalemated Several times in recent weekSj finally resulted in a tentative agreement on wage hike". ABC, CBS, NBC and the Bambt - ger Broadcasting Service (WO', N. Y.) have offered the Guild a iu.u- wage pact raising staff director:-' weekly salaries from $100 to $).'••> and associate directors' pay from $ 0 to"-$95. : RDG negotiators have ac-_ cepted on the proviso that the loc.ars' membership approves. On this basis, the salary question was laid-aside while the negotialo. s for the two sides went into othtr contract question.s. such as 'RDC's demand for definition of directo ■ duties. The Guild wants a clau.'-'e which would prevent the webs from using associate directors to direct .shows on a permanent basis, thereb.v in effect actually reducing salary ..costs ina.smuch as directors now 'make $100 and associate directory under the new setup would get $9.'). Theweb and RDG reps huddled yesterday (Tues.) at ABC's board room, but no further progress was> reported. There are still plenty of contract points to be ironed out, including the status and pay of television directov.s. Guild reps are hopeful another week I will see a final settlement, but admit I the talks could easily drag out or even now: break down again, CBS SHAPING BOOTH, GOODWIN PROGRAMS Ernie Martin, CBS' Coast program executive, is currently in New York for huddles with his boss, Hubbell I Robinson, Jr. Martin brought with I him the script for the proposed new I Bill Goodwin show, based on the jBotts tractor series, familiar to j Saturday Evening Post readers. [ Network is also going ahend with I its new Shirley ■<>i>th comedv-tli-iima • .series, being sc rpted by Don Elt- j linger. Both shiiws are high on the I CBS comedy roster agenda for the I coming season, along with (lis- pvo- I posed Morey Amiiterdani }ii(i.'!nii'''i< i oii which the network proKrnir minf? rdvpartment is. still at wuik u-ying ' to establish the correct foimui...