Variety (Nov 1948)

AGENCIES BOW TO PACKAGERS Sy Siegels Got a Network Sy Siegel, director of New York City's municipal indie, WNYC, may have been rebuffed In his determined effort to get tlie FCC to let the station stay on overtime to broadcast last night's (Tues.) ' election returns,'as it has done lor the past 24 years,. But, as a re- sult, he found himself with 14 outlets taking a feed on WNYC's vote coverage. i Oddly enough, one of the stations that didn't choose to join; in the wholesale move to take WNYC off the spot was WMCA, to which CBS prexy Frank Stanton reportedly made such a pitch.. Network topper's suggestion to the indie was motivated by a feel- ing that the FCC nix put CBS in a bad light because, while day- timer WNYC operates on the clear channel of GBS' WCCO, Minne- apolis, the web had no objection to the muuy station's overtime one-shot. Stations that jumped in to take election-results feeds starting at 10 p.m., when WNYC had to sign off, were: WEVD, WINS, WNEW, WMGM -and WOV, all AM'ers, and the eight-station Rural FM Net#orl^; Which blankets most of upstate Ni Yv^' W of course, was kept on the air. Siegisl himself, as in thc.past, generalissimoed the ballot report- , ing, with some 300 persons engaged in helping round up the local returns. Eight remote pickup points were used, including the major parties' and candidates'headquarters: and Times SquMe. Geor^ A^ak Conrt Slaps Down FCC, Orders WGST to Fuii Pact ILL m OP PRODIICTIOII ^^^"^^^ (Thurs.); Picketing Delayed Atlanta, Nov. 2. * Federal Communications Com- mission overreached its authority when it ordered WGST, Mutual afmiate here, not to fulBU its con- tract with Southern ^Broadcasting Stations, Inc., according to deci- sion handed down last week by State Court of Appeals. Contract in question required WGST, owned and operated by Georgia Institute of Technology, a stale-owned school, to pay South- eni Broadcasting Stations, former lessees of WGST, 15% of the net billings through 1950. Appellate court ruled that FCC cannot annul a contract entered - into by a licensee radio station or Interefere with the private opera- tions of a station. Its ruling up- held a decision of Fulton Superior court in favor of Southern Broad- c'astmg Stations for $155,000. The judgment was against the Georgia Board of Regents, nominally the . operators of WGST. Regents bought lease of South- ern Broadcasting on WGST in 1943. Part Of consideration was payment of aforesaid 15% vt net billings. WGST met these pay- ments through July, 1945, at which time FCC refused to renew sta- tion's license as long as 15% con- tract was in effect, contending that • such a contract jeopardized the station and was against; public in- terest. Regents, although not denying legality of contract^ claimed that they had been prohibited from car- rying it tut by order of FCC. It was then that lessee sued and got judgment for $144,968.83 principal and $10,991.31 interest on past due payments. Anna Sosenko's Op • . Nov. 2. Anna. Sosenko is okay • now after a throat operation.: Hildegarde's manager is resting at the Ambassador hotel here. EZ $1,0M - Sale Confirmed Hollywood. Nov. 2. It's more than idle gossip or: cocktail time scuttlebut. that. the; ad: agencies are thinking seriously about getting out of show business and back to their old line of en- deavor-^buying time and space and taking their 15%; It's being talked in the big commission houses and many of : the toppers have actually held meetings to sound out sentiment of their com- petitors. . Reasons for the bowout are said to be twofold; poor shows jeopard- ize accounts and by shifting the responsibility to agents or pack- agers they can" get out from un- der, and the relief from production allows. staffers . more.; freedom: of movement and affords the oppor- I tunity of getting in on -television I without putting the agency to add- ed expense of bringing inTY ex- perts.'- ..■ .Plan is said: to be so far along that, it wouldn't surprise insiders; if: the :pereentage' bf outside-pro- duced: shows exceeds the current 70%- by next season. The change- over would be gradual but com-, plete. Latest Hooper pocket piece lists 231 commercial shows on the networks and of this numlier the agencies have little to do but act in a supervisory capacity and see ' that the commercial copy is proper- ly handled.: Most of the high . budget programs are controlled by MCA or William Morris, and CBS I is riding herd on quite a few of j its own. ;Then there are: such pack- agers as Jimmy Saphier, Ken Do-; Ian, Bernie Shubert and Prank Fer-' ' rin, who; keep the agencies happy i. by holding their shows on even ikeel. ■ ■:: Break in RWG Stifte May Devekip FM: Fading Money Jersey City, N. J.. Nov. 2. WFMO, the FM station, here, suspended operations last Sat- urday, night at 11 o'clock after having been operating since Sep- tember, 1947. Station, which is re- puted to represent an initial in- vesbnent of $150,000, had difficulty iif, getting regular sponsors. Em- bassy : Newsreel Theatres a n d Brunswick Laundry here being the only regular buyers of air time. Francis C. Wood. Jr., head of Fidel- ity Media Broadcasting Corp., is a Newsreel Theatres veepee while owners of the Brunswick ;Laundry are stockholders in Fidelity. Newsreel Theatres operates the Embassy on Broadway, N. Y., and other newsreel houses: in. N. Y. and Newark. That corporation had no coin tied up in the venture, it was explained this week. Wood'being interested strictly in: his-own be-; half. Denver, Nov, 2., Confirmation of the sale of KLZ,' the CBS affiliate here, and its sister, station, KVOR, Colorado 1 Springs, to a group of prominent i Denver business leaders, was made | here over the weekend by E. K. i Gaylord, Oklahoma: City publisher. The sale has yet to be approved by the FCC, where an application for transfer of ownership will be filed in the next few days. The purchase price is reported to be near $1^000,000. : Purchaser is /aaddin Radio and Television, Inc., headed by Denver i , . „ . . i civic leaders and motion picture i embarrassing entertainment, un executives, Harry E. Huffman^ ! Mpk KEYD Preems With A 'Non-Embarrassment' Policy on Shows, Com1s MinneapoliSj Nov. 2. KEYD, city's newest radio sta- tion, has begun broadcasting under a broad policy calling for "non- president; Frank H. Ricketson, Jr., I treasurer; Albert J. Gould, secre- tary, and Hugh B: Terry, present manager of KLZ, who becomes exec veepee and general manager of the corporation.. Other Aladdin stockholders are Ted Gamble, Portland, Oregon; Elroy McCaw, Centralia, Wasliing- ton, and .stock participation will be . Judge B. C. Gardner, who wrote i available to certain key employes the opinion for the Second Divi-1 of the two radio stations and Den- sion of the Court of Appeals, said , ver tliealre companies, the Communications . Act of Con-1; in confirming ; the purchase an- . gress was not intended to place | nouncements, Aladdin officials said niatters of a private nature before .no change was: contemplated either der command of Lee Whiting. Policy applies also to commer-. cials and was defined when reports circulated the station would ban film plugs on the ground they were too hot to handle. : That's not the case, said Whiting. Motion picture advertising will be accepted when it does not point up possible immoral aspects of a picture. Some film plugs, he said, exaggerate picture situations, and. he cited "Foreign Affair" commer- cials as example. , ^ Glass A stock in .station is owned .sludy FCC Unsnarls Dayton FM er Washington, Nov. 2. FCC last week unsnarled some of the red tape it had:, attached to the licen^ng of an FM station last March 18 to Skyland Broadcasting Corp., at Dayton, O. Upon petition of Skyland, the Commission dropped a previous ruling that-, a; Skyland stockholder, must dispose of his stock in a station in the same area before the grant could take effect. Sl^land' got the : edge in. a Com- mission decision on the FM fre- quency over Radio Voice of Spring- field, Inc., licensee of WIZE, Springfield, G., after a competitive hearing. FCC, however, in okaying the application of Skyland, stipu- lated that the right to go ahead with the station would be condi- tioned on the sale, within 90 days, of stock held by Ronald Woodyard, Skyland stockholder, in WIZE. Woodyard is a substantial minori- ty stockholder and was once active in the operation of WIZE, con- trolled by Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer. Woodyard's testimony , in t:h e hearing for the FM outlet; was cited in the Gommi.s.sion's decision in giving the nod to Skyland over Sawyer's WIZE. In vacating the condition of the grant to Skyland, the Gommis.sion said that si nee Radio Voice of Springfield, was denied, the requirement that Wood- yard must soli hi.s stock in WIZE was no longer necessary. : At request of Skyland, the Com* mission extended, pending further the 90-day period It gave the FCC, which, under the Act has jurisdiction over radio stations as interstate-public utilities. The opinion also cited ruling.s, of other courts that the FCC has no authority: (1J To regulate the business of a licensee. (2) No supervisory control over- programs. (3 No-power to control the busi- ness management or policy of a radio statiofl. by Family Class B- is Whiting and 60% to religious busir or policies oi ivi.^. j „essmen's group. Whiting said sta- Everett Shupe, Col-1 ^.^^ commercial and not relig- continue as .^^^ general aspect. Sbthe 1 err> win p(.eaching programs are spotted Ifi I early n.m: ^and^ Simiiay* mornings. 1 '!Non - vembarrassrneht!' policy I will esctend also tb ,disk: jockey I broadcasts. Jive arid jump are out, ' and such tunes as : ''Ddin' Wl^^^^^ ; Comes Naturally,'' cited: by; Whit^^^ : ing, also won't be played; - m personnel or policies of KLZ and KVOR. orado: Springs, -M'ill manager ot KVOR continue as KI.Z manager. Broadcasting Corp.,' Woodyard to dispose of his stock distributed 40% to in WIZE before a grant for a new AM station at Dayton to Skyland could take, effect. iCoffimisd^ Walker, Sterling and Jfines, the lat- ter a former Mockholder Jri Sky- land, did not participate; in the. de- cision, PHILCO'S $6,631,000 9-MONTH EARNINGS Philco Corp, earnings in the first nine months this year amounted to $6,631,000. nearly $1,000,000 greater than in corresponding pe- riod last vear when company earn- ings totalled ,$5,6.'?2,000, according I to announcement last week by Wil- |liam Balderston, company presi- dent. These earnings totals wore Continental FM Network Adds 1st Coast Outlet : i Washington,: Nov. 2. . Continental ;FM Network added its firsi, West Coast.affiliate Mon- after writing off inventory reserve day (1), when Everett Dillard, and roseai-ch reserve in botli in- pre.fy. announced completion of stances. Tins yiwi- (lie coipoialion ■.a.ri-angojiVents- ■ With " .ICSB^,. San--ket aside: $2,100,000 for mvcntory: ■ Ij'ranqiSco, to carry the net's pro-i reserve as compared with $1,500,- ,grams.': . - :.: , . ■:■: ; ,. : ■:'.l OOO- last.',year,.wliile $586,000 vyas;; Piog[-jms will be transcribed on appropriated for icsearch reseive , high-fidchty Rangcrtone tape si- against S.)96,000 a .year ago. ; multUneous with eastern broadcast After these writeoffs and pre- and air-expressed to West Coast, ferred dividends Hhilco ' snowea KSBR operates with 250,000 watts $4.23 earnings on common, as com- , ufl'ecLive radiated power, | pared with $3.90 last year. t Anything for a Gag Minneapolis, Nov. 2. KSTP's new headquarters, in midway district of St. Paul, imposes new tax problems. KSTP building, surmounted by television-FM tower, is ex- actly on intercity boundary, and arrangement had: to be worked out to split taxes be- tween Minneapolis:, and: St. Paul, Location, however, gives Stanley Hubbard, station pres- ident, opportunity to ask visi- tors in offices on Minneapolis side to "step over into St. Paul for a minute." New England School Tosses Into BBC's Lap Radio Student Exchange ♦ The week-old Badio Writer* Guild strike against nearly 60 net- . work radio shows was still in ef- fect yesterday (Tues.), although there were signs that the scripters and the "unfair" ad . agencies against whom the action is directed might resume negotiations tomor- row (Thurs.). Meantime,: the writers, who had scheduled picketing to begin Mon- day (1) in New York, Chicago and. Hollywood, again postponed order- . ing out the lines, this : time .until : tomorrow, at the behest of J.'R. • Mandelbaum, assistant regional di- rector of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. . Possibility of a break in the . deadlock developed over the week- end when Mandelbaum parried to RWG a proposal by the agencies and their adve^is^. clients, to re'* sume talks tomorrow, "uijder ceiv . tain conditions," which were not' J revealed. The guild strategists ac- cepted the proposal, but added - a condition of tlieir own, also undis- ' closed. .Mandelbaum immediately .: carried the writers' counter-pro-C posal back to the agency group. : But it was not expected, 'Owing to the election holiday yesterday, that the management reply would bo ' forthcoming until today (Wed.). In ,the interim, -the guild : "re- ■ straining order"—issued by its parent Authors League, of America —against members supplying ma- terial to any of tiie struck shows, continues in effect. If any of thar programs were suffering by the script blackade up to this point,'; the agencies were keeping it strict- i ly to themselves. There are mounting indications that the strike is having: a unifying: effect upon the scripters. Action has. also turned into a terrific rallying: force. in other writing : fields, according to reliable .sources,' ■ with an amazing Surge of support for RWG developing among drama- . tists, novelists and others in the ALA. At the same time, reports are- spreading that,' should the strike enter *the picketing, stagej a con- siderable - defection can be. ex-!-/^ pected among agency personnel as well as among freelance directors, actors, etc. Some agency personnel, . such as script editors, supervisors, and talent men, have joined RWQ' . .so they wUI .have an alibi for re-: . fusing to; work on struck shows. Individual members of: the Radio;. Directors, It's said, will in some ; instances simply fail to appear to direct their shows, and many non- contract actors will decline to ac- cept calls. High-level execs of major adr vertising clients flew in from many sections of. the - country for th#; weekend huddle of the agency-:: sponsor group. Mandelbaum said it was the first time in the history of :: labor negotiations in radio that the- ; sponsoring companies ■;faave as- sumed active roles in a contFoversy affecting their .programs. Guild reported that two shows, "Meet the Meeks" (NBC) and "The Listening Post" (ABC), bad been removed from the "unfair" list during the past week. RWG strike is directed again.<it < agencies ' and': Independent pro- : : ducers who ha^vc refused to- accept. agreements similar to those in ef- .: feet with^the four major networks^ Recenf talks between the Radio : and Television Directors Guild and; the ABC network regarding the: union's desire for. a contract cover- ing the web's television directors; associate directors and floor man?, agers in New .York have. al,s«i As a result^. members of the N. Y. local voted; Monday night (1) full authorization to the RTDG council to "take sucli, deemed necessary, in- BridgeportrConn.i Nov. 2. | New England School of Radio f Broadcasting here has tossed a plan to the British Broadcasting reached a stalemate I Corp. which might . result: eventu- ally in An exchange of radio stu- dents between the two countries. Local institution has forwarded jaction as _ „ . a suggestion, as a starter, to BBC eluding the calling of a strike that an exchange of program ideas, I Guild claims .100% membership scripts, logs and even personal let- i among ABC-TV's dlvectors, as.socl- tefs be established between the' ate directors and floor managers, students here and those in Eng-! According to guild spokesmen, land. Neil S. Robinson, super-j however, ABC takes the stand that visor of the school here, suggested the-directors and floor managers that exchange of students would {are supervisory employees, and build a better understanding of ! therefore refuses to negotiate. : radio as it's operated in tlie two I RTDG has one TV agreement I countries. ' thus far, with CBS.