Variety (Nov 1948)

WUkBEm 2S NBC IN POST-ELECnON FORMAT! Gov.-Elect Bowles' Radio Hypo Hartford, Nov. 9. As a result of the election of ex-huckster, ex-OPA head Chester Bowles to the govenior's seat, there Is a definite feeling among radio men and politicians statewide that radio electioneering is in for A Chang* of fare and pace. Successful campaign solely by ether Uy Bokles: has beaconed the path for a new type of radio politiking. Bowles, concentrated entire fire on radio campaigning utilizing all methods known to advertising agencies. He knew tlie defects of the ordinary political campaigner and avoided pitfalls encount- ered by them. He made his programs interesting and to the point, without sidestepping issues. He emphasized terrifically trained seal and soap selling methods of ad agencies. Bowles campaign was masterminded by himself and Douglas Bennet. Latter told Variety that radio methods of electioneering are in for a change. Said Bennet: "People don't want entertain- ment when subject matter is of a serious nature." He said that 'listening should be made easier to "listen to." Trade Poser: Is Client ivn^Ad k Axing %ow After First 13 Wk? Look Wko's Back! John J. Anthony^ after several years' absence from the' airlanes, has been ticketed by WMGM, N. Y., for a comeback try via a full-hour weekly show on the Loew's indie, Mondays at 8 p.m., starting .Nov. 22 General Foods, currently going+' into a Hoopier tailspin with its trio of new shows, has become cancel- lation-conscious, much to the dis- tress of CBS and ABC. All three are Young & Rubicam shows,- Bankroller bowed in the new sea- son with the Jane & Goodman Ace "Mr. Ace &; Jane" and the Jack Carson progr^lm as its Friday night 60-minute (8 to 9) parlay, and the Meredith Willson show as part of ABC's sock Wednesday night line- up. However, GF feels that the "Ace" 5.1, the Carson 5.6 and Will- son's 5.3 don't add up to a proper per point payoff. Talk.is that the Ace show, de- spite the kudos It's won in the trade circles as mature comedy in the satiric idiom, is slaied for ax- ing after its 13-week cycle runs out and it's reported that Ace, in anticipation of such a move, has already booked reservations for Miami this winter. Fate of the Win With WINS " :Lew Fisher, who does a daily.4 to 6.30 p.m; disk jockey 'session for Strauss Stores on WINS, N. Y., gives a gentle nudge to his gabby fellow-plat- ter-spinners in billing his show. He tabs it: "The only record show in radio whicii features Tnusic.'* Weaver Rides Out Merry-Go-Round InY&R Melee SEEN IN PICTURE Informed quarters within the trade, : putting together the post- election pieces and tying, them in with the current unprecedented | jockeying among the networks for I dominance, see some interesting I developments shaping up, particu- larly as they apply to NBC. One aspect of it concerns the split in relations between: Mutual network president Ed kobafc and his exec veepee, Robert Swezey, program has already been sold who; it's reported, may be wooed to Norton Corp., makers of Sural, over to the NBC family as one of; New "John J. Anthony Hour" will the higher echelon. A year ago, it's be substantially the same format been confirmed, NBC prexy Niles as his earlier stanzas. "Books on Tramraell made overtures to Trial," "now in the Monday at 8 Swezey, but the latter turned I segment, will be moved to Tues- them down, preferring to string I days, along with "his longtime associate * ' and friend, Kobak. ^ ' ' Another facet of the inner-circle speculation concerns the: ultimate operational powers of NBC's exec veepee, Charles R. Denny, the for- mer chairman of the Federal. Com- munications Commission,, whose political ideologies, jibe with the continuance of the Triiman'Admin- istration. That Benny, with his pro-Demo- cratic sphere of influence in the :all-important Capitol Hill-White i House circles, will emerge as an' Trade Ma^ermmds Effect, If Any, Of GaUup-Roper Election Fiasco On Hooper, Nielsen & Co. Radio Ratings Pat Weaver; who joined Young j Rubicam about a year ago as I Carson and Willson shows are still in doubt, although It's reported ., . , Carson has a firm 39-week contract vice-president in charge of radio and cannot be yanked. (and television, is reportedly .under - Attitude of the webs— and a : the same sort of top-executive large segment of the trade^—is that i pressure as harried his , prede^ GF is perpetuating one of the oW- ' cessors. Situation is understood to est evils in radio in its demand i have reached a climax recently in for an immediate p^off without | Weaver submitting his resignation giving a show an opportunity to to Sigurd S. Larmon, agency board develop audiences. They point to I chairman and. • president. Latter, the list of top-bracketed Hooper, refused to accept it, however, and shows, from "Fibber . & . Molly" j Weaver is remaining, down, as evidence that the Hoopers I immediate subject of differences don't start rolling in during- the between Weaver and the executive initial 13-week cycle; that you have ^^^-^^ jo be the radio dc- to exercise patience in "nursing partnieut's handling of the Gener- -'em".into the bigUme. Foods account. Matters came to ' —~~ ] a head at a recent plans board * , flT'Iif* ! meeting, with. Weaver expressing I AlllVini&C /SUlv .resentment at what he called the IjlUUclllCO ItlvU {carping criticisms of A. V. B. ■ 1 (Tony ) Geohegan, v.p,::. and ^.mediai Idirector. After a bitter personal exchange j between the two men, Weayer re- I portedly toW off the meeting and: Unusual instance of a sponsor the general executive-flOor attitude buying an additional half-hour of I toward the radio department. - He network time on the same day for then went to his office, dictated a Virtual repeat of its program has j and signed his resianation, sent it Coke Wrjp Up Coca-Cola has bought the Edgar important link for NBC is re-' Bergen comedy show, which Stand- garded as a foregone conclusion, [ard Brands, is relinquishing. Deal These informed circles are of the ] represents a $l,730,00a time-and- opinion that Denny will be the one } talent buy. to move into the presidency of the | The soft drink outfit, in recent parent Radio Corp. of America, a years one of the major network post into which RCA board chair-1 clients on nighttime programming, man David Samoff lias been with an approximate $4,000,000 an- doubling since it became vacant a i nual outlay, currently bankrolls a few years back. , J brace of CBS half-hour shows In such an eventuality, it's re- i (Percy Faith-Jane Froman on Sun- garded as highly likely that Swezey 'days and Spike Jones-Dorothy Shay would take over the exec veepee on Fridays) plus the Morton Dow- role at NBC as No. 2 man to Tram- | ney NBC program. mcU-^the same position he's been holding under Kobak. at Mutual. "♦■ The Gallup-Roper election poll fiasco reverberated jarringly through the whole research field ; during the past week and: rocked ^' the radio rating status quo so bad-. ■ ly that the whole. audienceTmeas-:' urement ipicture: got slightly out of ; focus. Although C. E. Hooper, A. C. Nielsen and listener pulse-takinc brethren jumped in with don't- point-the-finger-at-us, too state- j ments (i.e., they measure, what's actually : happening Of what has happened rather than what is go- . ing to happen), broadcasting cir- cles buzzed with speculation on th» \ possible effects of the election polls' misfortune. «i : i Whole matter wasn't helped aiiy, ' either, by the Election Night cov- ; erage -'ratings issued by ..Hooper. He gave NBC 15.8 for 8-11 p.m. in 36 cities; CBS 14.1; ABC 11.4,; and Mutual /.O, with total sets-in- ; use placed at 54.7, Teleratings for N. Y., with 74.1 sets-in-use, were placed at 32.3 for WNBT (NBC), 15.0 for WJZ-TV (ABC), 13.6 for WABD (DuMont); 8.2 Jfor WCBS- TV (CBS),, and 5.0 lor WPIX. • Trade observers who ranged over' the: dial during the evening; found'; the figures as hard to believe as ; the election's outcome. ' : (Local ratings; to make matters ^' thoroughly confusing,; were far dif- ferent. In Chicago, Hooper rated WBBM (CBS) on top, WON (Mu- tual) second; WMAQ (NBC) third and WLS-WENR (ABC), fourth. (In Philadelphia. Albert "Sin- (Continued on page 30) fines 750G "Repeat'Melody! Coca-Cola is said to be dropping the Faith-Froman musical program, heard in the 6:30-7 p.m. period, since, with Bergen continuing as a Sunday attraction, the client obviously doesn't want two Sunday shows competing with one another. Coca Cola is keeping Bergen entrcni!hed in the Sunday night at 3 NBC slot, thus meaing the loss of a half-hour in billings for CBS with the exit of the Percy Faith program. Bergen, a $25,000 weekly pack- age, was sold via Music Corp. of America. cropped up in. tlie case of the i Longincs-Wittnauer Watch Co. LtW currently bankrolls the Mishel. Piastro Symphonette pro- gram in the 2-2:30 Sunday after- noon segment on CBS. Last week it negotiated a contract with the web for the 5-5:30 afternoon time, reptesenting an approximate ad- ditional $750,000 a year time-and- talent outlay. ■ New show bows in Dec. 26. Only switch in format is that the latter m versions on (Gontinued on page 30) Weiss Yanks 'Song' From Theatre Studio To Comply With FCC ■."-■V''''v,..: HolLvwood, Nov. 9. ; In yanking "What's .■ The Name of That Soiig" h'bm Hiilstreet The- show will put more stress on semi- i ^a^"^ ^o Don Lee studio after classical and classic selection m two years, Lewis Allen Weiss, net prexy, Said the step; was. taken in compliance with FCC ' ruling that no show could / be airisd. from remotes where admission is .chatged,";':..-.;" ■;:.; ,■' ■■■:'■;,■.,■■;;:;■.■ ■: : Weiss .stated "in order to comply : with the regulations, interpreta- tions of FCC, it will be necessary ; iov us to atscfetinue qfigihatioh of all programs containing any conr tests or awards of prizes from any ',p o i n t at .which . admission is charged." ! . ' ■■, ';■,'-■:";/;■' ■; Mrs. Rita Williamson has been conducting program since the death of his band. Tomorrow's (10) airing is from Huss Auditorium, San Diego, after that from the studio. "Name" ha,s ;'been;;a;'Cloast: favpr^^^^ •1 for many years. ■■.;■,:,;;.; ■ ■..' V ■ contrast to the "pop: the 2 p.m. program. . One show will plug Longines, the other Wittnauer watches. Chesebrough's ABC Show Chesebrough Mfg. Co., in an evident expansion of radio bank- rolling—since its longstanding ."Dr. Christian" .series on CBS appar- ently is on solid footing—-ha.s bought a new dramatic mystery stanza for Saturday night airing on ABC. Program, titled "Little Herman," ^ill preein Jan. 1 in the 9-9:30 time segment. It's the first billing hy Chesebrough on ABC, Agency is MeCann-Erickson. Hollywood remain in show. Brill's 'New Faces' For Ameche's Tobacco Show Hollywood, Nov. 9. Leighton Brill has been inked by Umon A^[le May Baik52-Wk.PlaB ■ Whether or not NBC or CfiS"- will: be able to carry through on : their plans to keep the comics and top programs on the air on a 52- , week basis by means of transcribed repeats during the summer layoff stretch is still dependent on th« attitude, of the tateni-uiiii^^ Although CBS has already cir- cularized agencies and advertisers . with an invitation to "come on. in" under the easing of the transcrip- ■ tion ban, NBC is still holding off on definite action until it gets the go-ahead from the American Fed- eration of Radio Artists and th« Radio Writers Guild. The AmeH- can Federation ojE ;^usi£]iahs .is un- derstood to have given its okay in advance. Chief hurdle to overcome as far as the talent unions are concerned is the question of second perforin- ance rights. Since it's one of the basic issues involved in the current RWG dispute with the advertising agencies, the union's decision, of course, ■ will.: be predicated on the outcome of . the' current, negotia- tions. ■,■ ;■:■■':' ;'i'''.'''}.,; As far as AFRA is concerned, 1 O'Dwyer, to whom WNYC direc- j George Heller exec secretarjf, has tor Seymour Siegel appealed for notified NBC that the union wants ! clarification of the situation, got > t" aPP^a/se the whole situation be- : City Councilman William M. Mc- makmg up its mind. A lot of j Carthy to introduce a bill amend- AFRA-ltes, it's conceded, won't ing the city Administrative Code. It would create a n^w Division of Radio Broadcasting, subject to the mayor's supervision, and headed Chevalier Emcees Paris Show For Taping to U. S. • Paris, Nov. 9. 'Maurice Chevalier has been signed to emcee a series of-half- hour shows from the Rue de la Paix cafe in Paris. Program, which will be a combination of pro tal- ent and audience participation, will be taped in Paris and flown to U. S. for broadcast next day. Ray- mond R. Morgan closed the deal in Paris and upon his return to New York will negotiate with net- works and sponsors. . Making the trip to Paris with Morgan were Sam Pierce, former Coast radio head of Ruthraiiif & Ryan, and William N. Robson, on j works commissioner, Frederick H. leave from CBS production staif in I Zurmuhlen, discovered the setup One or the other will | was legally under his jurisdiction Paris to produce the ' and made a gesture to take over. Mayor O'Dwyer Moves To Clartfy Siegel's Status as WNYC Boss N. Y.'s Mayor William O'Dwyer moved this week to take the Municipal Broadcasting System (WNYC and WYNC-FM) off the "who's boss?" spot. Since the late Mayor F. H. LaGuardia's days, the city^owned indie has been under direct supervision of the mayor's office, but recently the new public Bernie Schubert to supply talent by a director of radio communica- for the new daytime American' tions. That would be Siegel. Tobacco show, "Your Lucky | Strike," starting Dec 6 on CBS. ' ; rx i cm -ei. -n i- Schubert packed the five-a-week I JS O Owi Shltt FrOWlmg, "New Faces" layout which will use, McdicO Tclls HCrShfield 20 people weekly with Don Ameche ' like the idea of the webs doing transcribed repeats during the summer months, since it will cut off ; live programming and knock off one of their principal sources of ' income. A bunch of the AFRA boys say they looked forward to the summer semester for work, and figure that, once the tran- scribed idea takes: hold, "the hon- eymoon's over." emceeing. Same Station F,lmo Roper originally sched- uled his post-election CBS topic as "The End of an Era." After the vote was in, the pollster rctabbed the sequence: "The Mandate of the People." I . Harry Hershfield, after less than ; two weeks on WOR's (N. Y.) mid- j night air as a cross-the-board prowler of Gotham's nltery circuit, I has ankled the assignment. Doc- I tor's orders, says Hershfield. ; Benny Rubin took over the spot i starting last Friday (5) night. Hershfield, however, keeps his 8:55-9 p.m, storytelling segment oii the Mutual key. J. SOULARD JOHNSOII UPPED Chicago, Nov. 9. J. Sou lard Johnson, former as- sistant manager of KMOX, St. Louis, has been upped to western division chief of CBS Radio Sales- Television. He will headquarter in Chi. Johnson joined KMOX in 1937 a sales promotion chief.