Variety (Mar 1948)

S2 RADIO WedniCBdwy,, lUiareh 8, 1948 FCC Asks Nets' Policy on Duplicating AM Shows fo Non-ATiliated FM'ers Clients Jockey = Continued from page «3 s Washington, Maich 2. Another step toward duplication of AM programs over FM stations has been taken by the FCC which is seeking to clarify network policy preliminary to pushing the webs Into duplication. Eventual idea appears to be to have the nets not only feed their programs to FM outlets owned by their AM affiliates, but also to per- mit independent FM stations to buy such progtams where there is rip other available transmitter. The Commission made its request for new information to the four major networks over the weekend along linos which have been in- formally urged by the .FM Assn. FMA has also filed a petition "With tha Commission for a firm rule on duplications, now that James C. Petrillo has apparently given it % green light. ■ In the letter to NBC, CBS, Mutual and ABC, the FCC reminded that each net had stated its willingness to make programs available for FM facilities of its own AM affiliates but had been prevented, from doing so by their contracts .with the Amei:ican Federation of Musicians. "It is understood that since the date of your letter," wrote FCC, "the four major . networks have reached an agreement with the American Federation of Musicians which would apparently permit the simul- taneous broadcast of AM network programs over the facilities of both ■AM and'FM stations. In order that the Commission might have- com^ plete information concerning this matter, in connection with its con- sideration of a petition filed by the FM Assn., you are requested to fur- nish information concerning the fol- . lowing matters: "May AM affiliates broadcast the AM network programs simultane- ously over the affiliates' FM facili- ties? "If affiliates broadcast some of the AM network programs over the FM station, /are they required to carry over the FM station aUX network pro- grams which they carry (>v6r' the AM station? . "May non-affiliated FM stations in communities where there are now no AM affiliates carry your network programs? In communities where ment 61 the General Foods adver- tising picture in line with the re- I ported tendency from witliin the your regular affiliate' does not carrj j combine to decentralize the divisions the network programs on FM, may j and grant them greater autonomy ot operation and evojvement of policy. This development is ex- another non-alfiliated FM station carry these programs?" The nets have generally taken the position that if and when their af- filiates duplicate on FM, they should carry the full AM package and not merely, select the best of the AM offerings. Their position haS' been furtbej) that the FM feeds should be limited to their own affiliates. So far as permitting FM stations to take the programs in communities where the webs do not have AM affiliates, the belief has been that this might interfere with programs sent by clear channel affiliates in other communities. : It, is interesting, to not* that at the recent FM Assn. huddle in Chi- cago, Leonard. .H." Marks; attorney for the FM'ers, offered a resolution asking FCC to call a meeting at which the four webs, would be grilled on their duplication policies. While this resolution was tabled, the Commission appears to have adopted the sense of it in its letter to the nets. Look Like WAIT May Have to Wait for Tower Chicago, March 2. WAIT. Chi indie, hit a snag last week in building a new 420-foot tower in Elmhurst, 111., to replace one toppled by a windstorm on New | . Year's Day. Zoning enforcement i niche. officer of Du Page county nixed a | Toms motive for moving pected to bring about a revised level of thinking in radio buying, with circulation costs taking precedence over prestige value. ' ■ Toni vs. DoSota 3. Cancellation of "Crime Photog- rapher"- by Anchor. Hocking may precipitate a battle between Toni Permanent Hair Wave and DeSota Cor the Thursday night 9:30 period on CBS. If Toni goes through with its deal for the Thursday period along with the "Crime Photographer" program, the network will encounter . some stiff repercussions from the DeSoto account. The automotive people last weekend were trying to contact Frank Stanton, CBS prez, in Atlanta ,to ask him how the network had not made the spot available to th^m as he had promised, according to their impression, some weeks ago, DeSoto, handled by BB! " makes the contention that whei asked whether it could .have the next period that became open be- tween 9 and 10 p.m. Thursday for "Christopher Welles" Stanton had assured it of first choice. Last week when Anchor-Hocking Glass can- celled "Photographer," Toni advised the network that it would take ovet the show four weeks hence if CBS could in the meantime , clear the list .of required stations lor ; the ■ aC'' count's soap opera,, "This Is Nora Drake," In Columbia's 2:30-2:45 p.m. Inside Stuff-Radio Radio critic John T. McManus closed his desk at PM, N,Y., last Friday (27) to begin an indefinite leave, of absence during which he'll serve as secretary to Rep.-eleot Leo Isacson, Wallace-backed Bronxite, \vhose baU lotbox victory made headlines recently. Trade won't be surprised if Isacson turns up on the receiving end of quite a few air interviews, McManus is ex-Time radio ed and ox-prez of thp N.Y. Newspaper Guild' It's expected Seymour Peck, who formerly handled radio for PM, will get the chore again. In renewing his pacts with Armour ("Hint Hunt") and Quaker Oats ("Man on the' Farm") emcee Chuck Acree insisted on deletion of the ban on flying in both .contracts. Prime reason is his weekend cabin in' Wisconsitt within easy flying distance of Chicago, but n.S.h. for railroad excursions.' Eventually he plans to buy a six-seater for use in p.a. hops. Virtually any Lps Angeles indie station can bt; had for a price these days, i* appears. When last .week KFVD was first reported sold' a sta- tion-peddhng binge Was kicked off with some live- others indicating by grapevines and otherwise that they, too, were open to bids. General re- trenching at majority further points up the now vivid fact that the "gravy train days" are but over for all. Station brokers, traditional drummers- «p of interest, are heightening situation with tlieiv activities at trying to make commissions, with asking prices ranging from a quarter million tor the light bulbs to $750,000 lor the 5,000-watt tonier Juke boxes. Ad agency circles point to share, of audience figures recently released by A. C, Nielsen as beariiief put the observations they have been making for the past several months that circulation levels'have been shifting in favor ol the unafliliated stations. In other words, while it is true that network homes have increased, the increase has not been in the same proportion as their shares are being cut by unaffiliated stations. Th« Nielsen figures' referred to are those showing the relative share of audi- ences for each of the networks and unaffiliated stations as a group for ■1947 as compared to the 1946 sliceup of the audience pie. permit for the -tower, following beefs by operators of the Elmhurst Airport, which adjoins the transmit- ter site. Airport ops argued the tower would be a hazard to air traffic and a violation of zoning restrictions. Ed Jacker, WAIT chief engineer, points out that the tower has occupied the same site since 1937, whereas the airport is only several years "bid. Issue will be decided by the Du Page county zoning board of ap- peals Thursday (4), Golenpaul Continued from page S3 'Drake" out of its present 11-11-15 a.m. slot on NBC is twofold; one's to get away from the rising competition of the Arthur Godfrey-Chesterfleld stanza, and^the other is to benefll from the discounts' earnable as sponsor ot three programs on CBS, the third being "Give or Take," which Toni has bankrolled on that web Satur- day matinees for some time. CBS may have another ticklish situation accruing from the latest Toni proposition, if it materializes.; It was but a few weeks ago that it installed the Elaine Carrington soap opera, "Marriages for -Two," in the 2:80 spot. CBS' matinee schedule with the Toni deal would become all loaded up, that is excepting 5:30 to 5:45. Ed. Murrow Continned from page. Zt at a Carnegie Hall (N. Y.) ceremony April 27. CBS' Miirrow, who gave tip a vee- pee job last year to^ return to the air, will get the duPont award made annually to a newscaster lor out- standing news interpretation. Elmer Davis was last .year's winner. Couple of other awards in radio also are made by the duPont committee, but. the recipients (mcluding Mur- ro..') won't be officially announced until the time of the dinner, f John Daly of CBS is chairmaning plans for the Overseas Press Club shindig, which will take place at the Waldorf, N. Y. Speakers will include Bernard Baruch, Gen. Omar Bradley, and John Jay McCloy, pres- ident of the World Bank. DON LEE PLANT WILL BE READY BY MAY 22 • Hollywood, March 2. Don Lee's new $2,500,000 studio at 1313 Vine St, will be ready for the ceremonial dedication May 22. After a speed-up ultimatum to the con- tractors, Lewis Allen Weiss, general manager of the coast skein, was as- sured the plant would be ready for occupancy b^ that date. E'or the first time Don Lee will play host to a meeting ot the Mut- ual board of directors May 19 and 20. with no alternattv«i biut to sue the network for damages. "Info" package owner claims, for example, that while Chesapeake & Ohio was paying $5,100 a week for the show in seven major markets, an investigation via listening posts disclosed that about 60 stations were picking up the commercials "The results of this survey," says Golen- paul; "established that the entire Mutual operation in connection with 'Info' was chaotic." According to Golenpaul, his deal with Mutual calls for a guarantee of $7,500 a week, plus 60% of every- thing above that up to $15,000, and 40% beyond that. He claims that, despite Mutual's original assurance of a gross between $22,500 and $30,000, the gross has been around $10,000. Mutual execs have declined com- ment pending study of the com- plaints. Deep South Continued from page Zi Ford Theatre Continued from page 24 555S I southern stations probably scheduled the series before or without even knowing about the format switch, risking wrath much closer to home than Mutual was. And the expected flood of listener reaction turned out to be a dribble, most of it in praise of the program. Up to the first of this week, Mutual had received - exactly three listener letters from the south, two denounc- ing the stanza (as "highly inflamma- tory" and "unconstitutional") and one lauding it. Arnold Perl, who scripted the'dra- raatic version and bitterly decried Mutual's ditching of it as out-and- out censorship, is seeking a way to get his Interpretation (which the network didn't deny was a brilliant piece of writing) plattered and made available to stations throughout the country. Three N. Y. stations, in- cluding WNEW, have expressed in- terest in doing his show, he .says, but Mutual has not yet seen fit to sell or grant the script right's it pay Perl for. lirst season. Lineup" revealed a de^ termined effort to inject aji wide ap- peal as possible into the show's repertoire for the last, and perhaps decisive, lap ol its first semester' oh the airwives. -' Next Sunday's (7) production ol Ben Hecht and Charles Mac Arthur's ';'20th Century" will be followed bjr: March 14, "Autumn Crocus;" March 21, "It's a Gift," an original by Lee Bloomgarden; March 28, "The In- former"; ApUl 4, "The Goose Han^s High;" April 11, Agatha Chris- tie's "The Murder of Roger Ack- royd;" April 18, cither Sidney How- ard's "The Silver Cord" or Rose Fran ken's "Another Language;" AprU 25, Laurence Riley's "Personal Appearance;" Maj 2, Booth Tarking- ton^s "Alice Adams;" May 9, "Tug- boat Annie;" May 16, either "A Free Soul," based on the novel by Adela Rogers St. John, or Elmer Rice's 'Counsellor-at-law;" May 23, to be selected; May 80, Edna Ferber's "So Big;" June 6, .either "A Star Is Born" or Sinclair Lewis' "Arrowsmith;" June 13 and TO, to be selected; June 27, "Meet Me in St. Louis." Cincinnati — Listener ratings on Alvin . Heifer's five-minute com- mentaries are climbing steadily and Appalachian Coals, Inc., the spon^- sor, which started the series last Dec. 1 on 58 stations, has lately added nine stations to tiie string and is considering lurther . extensions. Outlets, mostfy Mutual stations, are in 14 states and Washington, D. C, stretching from Canada to Georgia, and west to Wisconsin. BOBBY DOYLE'S PITT SHOW Pittsburgh, Marcli 2. Bobby Doyle, young Pittsburgh -singer and navy veteran' who had hi.s own network commercial for a while and was also featured for a while on Connee Boswell'.^ CBS airer, has returned \o the airwaves here on a sustaining program for WCAE. He's being given a buildup on a quaiter-hourer twice weeldy at scvtui in the evening backed by Barion EUliott's staff orch. John BIgir & Co I Buffalo. — RalpJ^ HuljbeH, Buffalo ' .-poi'tycaster for 17 years, became sports director o£ WBEN starting ; Fell. 29. lie succeeded ,)im WcH.s ref>ls;n(>d to become as-'i.slant to ; .James F. Breyill. owner ot the Buffalo all-American Football Con- ference team. • IDEA for Television Carreon charaetar unlvertally publf- Cisedt avdilabl* i« tit-up. Hat Itiit liesslbllMes Ictr I mavtvi f(idt«!r comU ifil* Md merehoN- dblng. Mulw ally prefitabit arrongem*** with original « 0 py r i g ht owiMT. Writ* lox 4522, Variety, IS4 WMt^4«Hi fthNOt^ lU It. 5,433,574 PeopJ« REMEMBER what they .Ke«r on . . 1 PHILADELPHIA ! PIONEER VOICE WIP BASIC MUTUAL "*^/?yprs;en/^.d nalionally by EDA^RD PETRY &-c6.