Variety (Nov 1948)

Wedn«8ilar» Ifovenilier S, 1948 RADIO tl MUTUAL'S STATE OF UPHEAVAL Top 15-Now and Year Ago {.Hovper Report, Nov, 1) 1918 Walter Winchell 23.1 Radio Theatre 22.5 Fibber & Molly 22.0 Jack Benny 21.9 Bob Hope 21.1 My Friend Irma 18.2 Duflfv's Tavern 17.6 Godfrey's Talent Scouts 17.2 Fred Allen 16.9 Phil Harris 15.8 Crime Photographer ... 15.6 Bob Hawk 15.2 Mr, District Attorney....' 14.8 Charlie McCarthy 14.7 People Are Funny..... 14.5 Burns & Allen 14.5 1917 Bob Hop« Fred Allen Fibber & MoUy Charlie McCartliy Radio Theatre Walter Winchell Jack Benny Musie Hall ...; Atnos 'n' Andy Red Skelton Phil Harris ,.... Hr.. -District, Attorney:.. Bums & Alien........ My Friend Irma ■Truth or Consequences. 23.2 23.2 22.9 22.1 22.0 20.3 20.0 19.6 19.6 19.4 18.0 17.3 15.9 15;7 15.2 Theatre Gufld, Ford Slugfest Accents Rivalry in East for Top Pic Names Intense rivalry for top film per-* sonalities has broken out on New | York-originating network dramatic programs. Heretofore it's been a I ■situation that^s applied mostly to shows emanating from the Coast, gucli as "Lux Radio Theatre" and the "Screen Guild Players." However, the maneuvering for top film names currently going on between "Ford Theatre," the high- budgeted Friday night CBS show, and the Sunday night ABC "The-1 aire Guild of the Air," has assumed ] proportions that even dwarf the bidding on the Coast. , \ I Tlie situation in the east came ; to a head last week when, after '•Theatre Guild" had reportedly niade unsuccessful attempts to pact Itlgrid Bergman, coincident with the Manhattan premiere of her ' Joan of Arc" pic, "Ford Theatre" came tlirough and clinched the guest sliot. The star Will appear in a dramatization of "Camille" on Fridax-, Nov. 12, the day after "Joan's" preeni at the Victoria the- atre on Broadway. "Guild" reportedly did a fast bui-n. since, to all accounts, It was the first on the scene with the bidding, bift the assumption is that the Ford coin outmatched the Guild ofl'er. Tlie fact that "Ford Theatre" also succeeded in wrapping up Dor- i-othy McGuire, another star eyed for Guild presentation, didn't exactly help salve matters either. 'Whatje Climb Up There?' St. Louis, Nov. 2. The question , of making annual Inspections, of high radio and tele- vision sending towers in this' butg has become a perplexing one for Building ComTnissioner A. H. Baum, who sees a solution by the introduction of an ordinance re- quiring radio stations to hii-e and pay competent engineers to make the inspections. In addition, the ordinance will require the radio stations to pay a $2 annual fee :for. the -filing, of- the , engineers' reports. Baum said, "I wouldn't, send one of my men out to do it. And I wouldn't climb one of those towers myself. Yet, they can't be inspect- ed from the sidewalk." Daytime Radio On a Star Binge; Ameche's Matinee Giveaway, Inc. Jn Counter-Offensive Tlie giveaway producers (who don't lilce that word, to begin with) had themselves a hand-hold- ing session Monday (1) in New York and tried to dope out a con- certed counter-offensive to the "one-sided" attacks-on their jack- pottcrs. But'a suggestibn tossed out by Bill Todman, who called the huddle, and seconded by Walt . Framer, that the group hire a pub- lic relations outfit to wage a pro- giveaway drive, came to naught. Nobody else seemed to think It necessary. There wasn't any doubt, how- ever, judging: from the turnout and the views voiced during the (Continued on page 31) WOV's Rome-Produced Show Gets a Sponsor Following less than two weeks on the heels of WOV's (N,Y.) an- nouncement of the formation of a production unit in Rome, the sta- tion has signed a sponsor for one ot the series of programs. S. A. Schonbrunn & Co. has contracted a IS-minufe cross-the-board siyip to run 52 weeks. Schonbrunn will advertise its Savarin Coffee and Medalia D'Oro Coffee. Sponsored show, airmailed on tape regularly from Italy to WOV, I if ? drama encompassing a ■ * t"' "f<^ slory in Italy at the turn Door " ''^"*^"'^^' Closed , While such star-studded daytime productions as the Elgin Thanks- giving and Christmas shows are still reserved ior. special one^day occasions, nevertheless the trade has been cognizant in recent months of the changing com- plexion of network morning and afternoon formats, aimed toward aehievemen( of a nighttime aura. As opposed to the years when it was strictly tlie soap opera for- mula and other femme-slanted shows that wooed the listener, to- day more and more bigtime per- sonalities are being projected into the daytime radio picture. Latest lo ,ioin the daytune ranks is Don Ameclie, with his new five- afternoon-a-day \'ariety program ■for Lucky Strike scheduled to tee olT on CBS next month Kay Kyser, long a Top 15 nighttime Hooper draw with his "Kollege of Musical Knowledge,'" 'Is now an afternoon attraction on ABC. Kate Smith is spreading her brace of "Speaks" and "Sings" shows over the noon- time Mutual kilocycles. Fred War- ing is dishing out his stylized choral-orchestral arrangements at 10 in the morning on NBC as well as holding forth Thursday nights on the same web. And Arthur God- frey, strictly bigtime in the night- time on CBS, is as potent a draw at 10:30 in the morning cross-the- board. , , Following the Kay Kyser lead, Sammv Kaye is angling for spon- sorship of a "So You Want to Lead a Band" daytime show. TEi SPLITUP In one of the major network up- beavals of recent years, Robert D. Swczey, executive vice president and No. 2 man of the Mittual net- work : has. served notice tb prexy Ed Kobak that he's . going to re- sign. Furthermore, Linus Travers, the exec veepee of the major stockholding Yankee Network, who wag appointed a month ago as a sort of super v.p. over Mutual's sales and program departments, has also resigned the new appoint- ment, : \ In effect, it leaves Kobak, ai$ the web's No, 1 man, to run the net- work alone as sole operator in the overall .^administration. Travers doesn't want to move into Mutual because he feels his new appointment (which. in some circles created: confusion as to the exact status of the key execs) has contributed.. toward the Kobak- Swezey schism and feels- that his own resignation prior to taking up his. new duties might help to ce- ment relations, ' The split-up of Kobak and Swezey:will come as a shock to the; entire industry, for the close tie between the two execs (both in and out of the office): ■ was probably unmatched in radio , cireles. Not generally known, for ex- ample, was the fact:: that a year ago Swezey was invited to move over to NBC as one of the higher- echelon, if not into the exec veepee. spot subsequently assumed by Charles H. Denny, at leasts on a top level basis, and it's considered probable that only because of the close relationship with Kobak. did he resolve to continue to throw in his: lot with Mutual. Because of the pre-election pres- sure around the network, Kobak and Swezey haven't conferred in nearly a week, but Kobak, feeling that Swezey'S-, gripe is unjustified; will make a bid tto his Noi .2 man to stay on. As Jfar as Kobak is concerned, Swezey has always been and remains the No. 2 man in the | operation and that if the: Travers i appointment suggested to some I that/it put Swezey in an untenable position, in reality it was not the case. Swezey; however, is adamant in the- position he takes, that the Travers role definitely usurps on his sales-program administrative, functions and that: it leaves- him with no alternative. As far as Kobak is concerned; there was need for another exec, the prexy's- own multiple chores, plus Swezey's pile-up of admin- istrative duties, made a new ap-! pointment necessary—and if it isn't Travers it will be someone else. The fact that a key Yankee official, representing Mutual's prinr cipal stockholder,:: was brought in for the job is believed to have aggravated the situation. As of now, Swezey remains firm in his determination to quik Kobak hopes he can be persuaded to stay. As far as the Mutual directorate is concerned, Kobak's the president and if it's necessary for him to go it alone, Kobak says he's done it before and can do it again. : CBS Votes the % Party' Met; Rules Out 3G Coddailoy Soirees Th« People (1) Speak Des Moines, Nov. 2. When an ordinary citizen walks into a radio station and buys himself a piece of time as he Would buy a hunk of bologna at a meat market, it'i at least unusual. Alvin 1^. Meyer of Van Meter, Iowa, walked into WHO : here and said he wanted to buy: some: time to praise the Demo- cratic ticket. It was his idea, he had written a speech and wanted to pay. for the time. The reason he wanted- to make the speech, he: said, was that he had financial sinking spells in 1932 and had now recovered his financial health to the ex- tent of 600 acres of land, 500 hogs, a cafe, a bulk oil plant and string of filling stations. Checking with Democratic state headquarters the station: found there was no objection to Mr, Meyer paying $85 for 15 minutes for a 10:30 spot the night of Oct. 27. 'Stagger Formula Seen as Solution To Xause Airers The problem of how best to "sell cause,s'' on radio has long been a tough one for broadcasters to solve. Up to now, they admit, it's been an ineffectual job, without leaving the, desired impact. The Salvation Army, which has a national campaign coming up,: has just blueprinted a plan which,, it's felt, might establish the cor- i rect pattern for "selling" its mes- sage via radio. The SA's Radio Committee has agreed to a plan whereby its radio plugs and cuffo spot programs would .be accomplished on a stag- ger system, with a barrage of per- haps 10 or 15 in place of the usual three or four to be concentrated over the first: week, thus heighten- ing the impact. In turn it would do a complete fade the second week, while another charitable- philanthropic organization takes over with a like barrage. Then the SA would be back the third week for another trip-hammered plug campaign, etc. • CBS' '.'party days," from all ac- counts, are over. Those cocktail- eries staged usually to mark th« premiere of an important new ra- dio program or as a gesture of welcome for a client new to th« network, are considered an unwar- ranted extravagance In these econ- ttmy-conscious days when the webs are grabbing every available dol- lar for siphoning into tolevision. Even the most modest of cock- tail parties usually runs about $3,- 000, and it's been the practice of the network and the agency han- dling;' the show to split the tab. With the blessing of the high echelon at CBS, however, it looks like the party-minded agencies will have to solo it henceforth. Last week N. W. Ayer, agency on the "Electric . Theatre" CBS show, cooked up the idea of tossing Helen Hayes a shindig on Nov. 14, the night she makes her belated premiere on the program. CBS, however, said that, ■ coin-wise; it couldn't be a party to the party, with sales veepee Bill Gittinger's nix getting a hearty toprbrass en- dorsement. And the sentiment of the web press dept. boss, George Crandall, wa^ that, since such shindigs repre- sent as much a sales as a public relations pitch, why should it come out of the press dept. budget? Th«: upshot is that Ayer will go it alone. It's considered possible that the CBS "no party'' decision might have been partially inspired by the recent midnight fiesta in the swank Waldorf-Astoria Bert Room, N. Y., following the preem of the "Ford Theatre" program, at which time CBS really blew its top and budget : to welcome the Ford clan into the Columbia family. It's estimated the shindig set the network back at least $7,000. For years the agencies and webs have tried to outdo one another in the field of cocktaileries, despite the awareness in most quarters that, aside from flattering the client, they have a dubious: v$lu« at best. WCCO UPS MICKELSON . Minneapolis. Nov. 2,. Sig Mickelson has been named director of public affairs and pro- duction manager of WCCO. by Jylrrlc Jones, station manager. He had previously been director of news and special events, Morey Amsterdam Can't 'Yakapuk' for Lombardo 'Cause of CBS Exclusive Kalser-Frazer, which has just taken on sponsorship of Guy Lom- bardo as. a 'Sunday - night::Mutual attraction, sought to negotiate a deal whereby a Morey Amsterdam weekly insert could be spotlighted. However, CBS reportedly nixed it on the basis that, as far as net- work* presentation is concerned, he's a "Columbia baby." he's a "Columbia baby." Neverthe- less Amsterdam did a one-.shot 'Y'akapuk' on the Lombardo preem.. CBS, which currently features Amsterdam in a Tuesday night comedy show, also has tele aspira-. tions for the comic and did a closed-circuit audition last week of a "Life With Morey" XV pro- HELEN HAYES TO BOW ON CBS WITH miNA' ( Although the new $9,000 weekly^ budgeted Electric Theatre has been on for several weeks, in the Sun- day night at 9 slot on CBS, the show "officially" premieres Nov. 14, when Helen Hayes takes over as the permadent star. Show has been using guestars during Miss Hayes' absence in Londoii, where she starred in tho"Glass Menage- rie" legiter. She's due to arrive in this country on the S. S. Amer- ica on: Nov.- 11. .' Initial airer will be "Victoria Regina," one of her most solid Broadway legit smashes. She'll fol- low with Stephen Vincent Benet's "The Wobbin' Women," and "An- gel Street" as her third production. N.; W. Ayer, agency on the Elec- tric Cos. account, will party Miss Hayes the night of the preem broadcast. ATLANTA'S 4-HOUK SPONSOE Atlanta, Nov. 2. WQXI, Atlanta indie, Sunday (31; premiered what is believed to be the longest commercial show ever sold on regular contract basis. Program, titled "Stars of the Milky Way," is sponsored by Irvin- dale Dairies, locally, owned', and oc- cupies four solid hours from 8 a.m. to 12 noon each Sunday. CBS Hangs Out SRO Day Sp ■^or the first time In years, CBS next month will be completely sol4 out on its daytime schedule. Deal has been set for Lucky Strike to move into the 4:30-5 p.m. cross- the-board segment with the new Don . Ameche variety show pack- aged by Bernard Schubert. Show is scheduled for a mid-December kickofif. Meanwhile, Procter Gamble has negotiated for the purchase of the 2:45-3 p.m. cross-the-board Slot which. Manhattan Soap is exiting this month when it drops the "Evelyn Winters" soap opera. P. & G. plans taking over the strip on Dec. 27, although the program and product haven't been decided upon as yet. . Lucky Strike decision to latch on to the Ameche show for a big- time day splurge with a "night- time format"- reportedly followed a two-way test in which Robert Q. Lewis was also considered serious- ly for sponsorship. Dorothy Dix's Day Strip for Sealtest Sealtest looks all set to invade the daytime program field, with a cross-the-board Dorothy Dix show packaged by John Gibbs. Network facilities are still undecided, al- though probably either ABC or Mutual will get the nod. . Novel sponsorship arrangement is being worked out for the pro- gram, with cut-ins by local Seal- test dealers, who will pick up the tab. New show will give Sealtest a two-way network ride, with the new Dorothy Lamour Thursday night NBG shov,f representing a $12,500 weekly talent production,