Variety (Nov 1948)

TEUCVISWir SHARP UPSU RGE IN SPONSORS Romid-Qeck Stride Here to Stay As Didlont Programmnig Makes Good jjow in its secbnd Week of op--f7- eration, DuAIonl's daytime prO'l gianuning lias apparently accom* plished wliat it set out to do. Num- I ber of advertisers buying time on i WABD's (K.Y.1 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. log ' Hoagy Eyes Video Hollywood. Nov. 9. Hoagy Carmichael .is working e.xceed even the optimistic hopes out video ideas with his agency, of the DuMont sales toppers, and I Famous Artists, the programming itself, while not j Carmichael is tossing around 0 Tek in Canada for at Least OF 100% 10 49Si ^ ^ CBC Freezes All Bids Bearing out the predictions of television officials that their med- ium would continue to attract new advertisers as it e^ipands, a check of TV sponsors revealed there were 495 as of Oct. 1, as against the 243 who were using TV four months comparable in quality and scope to I both I've and film ideas with his earlier, on June 1. Number of tele roost nighttime TV shows, is ac-! current radio format in the fore 1 stations in that period jumped ceptable fare for the housewives, for TV scripting. shxitins and moppets who consti tute the largest part of the avail able dajtime audience. And that is all any DuMont spokesman ever claimed it would be. While DuMont itself vrtll con- tinue to consider its daytime inno- vation as an experiment for the first 13 weeks, it seems apparent that TOund-the-clQCk TV program- ming is hei-c to stay. Web is al- iready setting plans to offer it on a network basis to any station desir- ing a feed. Questions on how soon other tele broadcasters in Godfrey s 90-Min. Video Spread For Lipton s> Ch'lield With Arthui?: Godfrey; set. to .make N.Y. ihis television debut Dec; 6 via a take the plunge and how it will' simultaneous pickup of bis AM effect daytime radio listening and "Talents Scouts" show on the CBS- sponsorship remain to be seen. TV web, he's also pacted with When the final word is in, though. ,Chesterfield for an houi-long TV the credit will have to go to Du- variety show scheduled to tee off Mont for originating the stunt. jJan. 5 in tlie Wednesday night 9 Those responsible for the day- to 10 slot on the same network time innovation, Including Com- Godfrey will emcee the show, which mander Mortimer E. Loewi, exec carries a $10,000 weekly produc- assislant to prez Dr. Allen B. Du- jtion nut. Mont; program chief James L, Cad-' Newell - Emmet agency, digan, sales manager liumboldt J, handles the ciggie account, is cur- Greig. network chief Lawrence' rently tiffing with Godfrey over Plullips and WABD station man- the show's format. Comedian would ager hon Hole, wisely confuied |like to carry over the casual, in- Uieir planning to the limitations of .formal personality he's built their programming facilities. As'throughout his daytime radio I itself, such as Waico and Polaroid a result, llicir margin for error has'shows. Chesterfield, on the other | tele filters. IMost of these have con- been considerably- reduced and hand, would rather build a more | centrated on spot campaigns, what comes over the viewing dignified show, similar to the theme j Breakdown of the tele adver- from 20 in 11 market areas in June to 38 in 21 market • areas by; Oc^ tober. :•■.. ■ i'.: .Fact that radio billings this ySeai: are highest in that industry's; Wis-. J tory^ indicates, according, to TV; ofiicials, that most of the mon^y pouring into tele represents n«iw ad budgets. Majority of clients i entering the newer medium, inr stead of; draining money fr<>rti their other budgets, have allociated new funds to. tele. In addition, sev eral of thtit-top-spending vidra adr vertisers are those who. used yfei-j-^ little radio advertising in th^ past, and those who had never employed radio to pitch their sales messages to the public. : Among the latter category arie the fashion and textile manufac- turars, who bypassed .radio because it lacked the necessity visUaj-.jpfc* quirements they needed. ;Aii^ ex^^ ample of these is Bates Fabric§, : ?i textile house which is now spend- which i ing approximately $200,000 yearly to bankroll a single half-hour tele network show,v Kj'le MacDonneU's "Girl About Town." Also new to teje are those .manufacturers pro- ducing articles' for the niediiun Fairy Tales Variety has a hunch its rep in New Haven is a cutie. Last week he sent in a yarn about Yale using a video set on'the - bench so that the head coach could get all angles of the game. Two weeks ago the same story appeared in the dailies about Harvard.. : Variety further thinks both yams are fairy tales because if the coaches had the same cameraman Variety did at either game the coaches still don't know what hapiKjned. Toronto. Nov. 9. Any television broadcasting in Canada has been stymied for at least two years, and then set own- ers will lilMly have to pay a $10 annual fee, with that of such pub- lic outlets as bars, etc., paying a considerably higher tariff. Thcjse statements were incorpo- rated in the decision of the Cana- dian Broadcasting Corp. to defer all applications for television st;|- tions in this country and the indefi- nite postponement of any such in- dependent IV outlets until the federal-subsidized radio systeiA in Canada arranges for further tech- nical development and secures ear- marked funds from the fedeml government and from any consid- ered private stations, for tins pur- From the hearings on applica- tions for private television stations here, it is manifest that the CBC intends to freeze out any possible TV competition until this govern- ment body makes choice of chan- nels for its own television program: Witli CBC reserving two channels in the Toronto-Montreal area, this leaves two open for private sta- tions—if the CBC does not arbitra- rily decide that it wants these two additional outlets itself. Six appli- cants were turned down. Most important of these was Fa- mous;' Players Canadian, with 640 theatres across Canada, and CFBB, (Continued on page 34) (Continued on page 38) incorporated in its current "Supper | tisers discloses, the percentage of Club" AM airers. What form the i advertisers bu.ving network shows Philly s Pre-Ballantine Fight Segment a 'Must' For WCAU-TV Sponsor , Philadelphia. Nov, 9. CBf, major entry into the \'<1'^« thus attempted to'stymie any deal sports, picture is pa>ing dividend-s chcslerfiold Latter firm had h) U-, dfliliales \\CAlj-l\, Uu ^^^^^^ demands on (he fact it show will finally take remains to be determined. Inking of the pact wWh. Chester- field makes the ciggie firm the winnei- in a running Jigumenl with Lipton's Tea. wliicli bankrolls the "Talent Scouts" program Lipton's had demanded first refusal on God- frey's talents for video and had fiisi CBS affiliate, has accepted a reservation from Scott & Grauer, local Ballantine Beer and Ale dis- trib. for sponsorship of a 15-ininute segment inimedialely preceding an\- Ci^S sports event sponsored by Ballantine. • ■ Ballantine has already shown s))onsors a part of Godfrey's mom- ing show on CBS-AM. Scheduling of the forthcoming TV variety show on Wednesday night places it directly opposite, "Kiait Television Theatre" on the ' NBC-TV web, which has consistent- ■ ly maintained a place among the strong indications that it means to ( Hoopcns Parallel situation capture much of the TV boxing audience, and the station antici- pates little trouble in clearing the lime for Scott & Grauer. Local distrib grabbed at the pre-fi,i!iit quarter liour before the recent Jimmy Bivins-Ezard Charles fight, which CBS telecast from Washing- '•ton.'' ■" ■■ ■ will thus ensue as on Sunday waM'- now. when the "Toast ol the Town" vaudeo show on CBS-TV biRks dirMly the "Philco Tele- usion Theatre" on NBC. British Circuit Maps NAB, PiX CODES GOOD ENOUGH FOR TELE: TBA Pointing up the common censor- varied only slightly from June to October. Number of network spon- sors in June was 14, representing Q'^c of the total of 234, whereas, those in October numbered 33, rep- resenting about 6' 2 Wr of the total of 495. Spot advertLsers showed- a jump of the number in-', creasing from 76, or 32':c, in June to 181, or 3G'/'2f'r, in Octolier. Local , retail merchanty. representing the preponderance ol sijonsors, showed a slight drop .Tunc total was 144.' or about 62^r of all TV advertisers, while the October figure was 281 or about 56' j't . With all aucUenco surve.ss show- . ing tele cutting severely into radio listening and magazine and news- paper reading, the question of how long the new medium's competilioti ' for the ad dollar will be able to hold their own is problematic This factor, of coil'SC. i.s the basis toi j radio's . newli'-eniphasized protec- itiye .stance aga)h.st TV. ::,Tele ] officials, though, believe their ' medium will continue to attract new money, instead of draining off Admiral, Emerson Agency Switches To Cue Expansion Admiral Radio and Emerson Radio, two of the top-spending television bankroilers, are now eye- ing an expansion of tlieir TV bill- ings follo'wing a switch in ad agen- cies last week. Kudn6r agency copped Admiral's hefty $1,000,000 in annual billings from the Cruttendcn & Eget outfit in Chicago, while Blaine-Thonipson took over Emerson's TV account, representing about $275,000 yearly, from the Blow agency. Admiral reportedly effected the switch be- cause of dissatisfaction with its "Welcome Aboard" show, now aired Sunday nights over the NBC- TV web. Emerson, while satisfied with its "Toast of the Town" vaudeo show Sundays on CBS-TV, wants better conuncrcial -plugs than those Blow was able to turn out Admiral is now studying an hour- long revue, packaged for TV by producer. Max Liebman, legit and bor&cht circuit entrepreneur. Lieb-, park, Colo., the editors and pub- nian first brought Danny Kaye to ' lishers heard the Crosley Broad- Hioadway, bj importing the come-' casting Corp. president and board cUan iioin the borschl bell Until , chairman foj-ceast that FM would a decision is made on l-icbman's encouiitei loufih sjedding. mainly .show, .\dmiral will retain "Wei- because it oftered little tunda- conie " a half-hour variety show.' menUl improvement over AM, and Blaine-Thompson has already cautioned that (hey approach FM Shonse Called It On FM, So Editors Want His Seering on Video Cincinnati, Nov. S. - Because he pointed high on FM predictions two years ago, James D. Shouse will do an encore talk before the National Editorial Assn's lall meeting. Nov. 21, in (he Edgewatcr Beach hotel, Chi- cago, Ins .subject being "What's Ahead in Television." At their 1946 pow\vow in Estes instituted a new series* Of inte- grated commercials for Emerson into "Toaiit," the hour-long vaudeo show featuring columnist Ed Sulli- van as emcee. With the program now aired on five CBS-TV outlets on the east coa.st network, the client plans to expand to other tele market areas, either through kine wa'i-ily. At the time Shouse'S; views created considerable con- troversy and drew columns of rebuttal from many FM propo- nents, including Major Edwin IL Armstiong, inventor of FM. This tune Shouse will be equally I candid about video, is the word ' from those associated with him in Fullscale Theatre TV;*""fj,^i"' ««t«biished ad forms London, Nov. 9. Associated British Pictures Corp. is entering theatrical television with a video installation in every This belief is. of course, predicated on the assumption that the country will continue its- present era ol • prosperity. the operation broadcasting of all phases of ship problem's confronting most of ABC theatre as itb ultimate target. J TP Tripc TpIa Aoain " ' ' " Plans have been adopted for the ; AgdIII. eslablishnienl of tele stuclio.s and application has been made for of- ficial pcrmissiou in order to con- duct experimental tran.smi,s.sions in three of the company's London '-i V board meeting todai'" show business, the Television Bi oadcasters Assn. board last week reconiniended that the industry, at lea.st lor the time being, adopt pro- duction codes of the film and radio Industries to guide broadcasters Proposal was recommended to the TBA board by the organization's theatres, code committee after months of aBPC studying the situation. ' Stressing the broadcasters' need chairman of the firm s policy com tor guidance in developing now mittee, which will decide whether production techniques, the board, direct projection or the interme- declared nonetheless that "because diate film process will be emplojed the cITects of these techniques for the video screenings Tele- both on television programming i \ision. said Warier after (he con- and on the television audience are clave, is going to provide a *ill'P i „,,;,,v„„j as yet largely unknown, it is not which theatres will be needing I-^i^'j^'^^"'- ■possible ;or even desirable to atr next year. ; tempt at this stage to formulate Seattle's KRSC Ready Seattle, Nov. 9. When KRSC-TV puts out its first standards of practice." TBA con sequcntly .sent copies to all mem- bers and stations of the film indus- try's production code and the NAB's "Standards of Practice," , ^, Until the industry has acquired television shows here Nov. in there further experience, TBA said, it will be appioximatclv l,0()0 receiv;; won't propose to have any quan- ing sets in the u\\ according to 1/ titative limitations set'for spon- .ocal pet dihtnbuloi.s Figure is ex- sored shows, - peeled to reach 3,000 by Jan. J. With N%^^^ l^^ Genera l ■ Electric,' following /its ouster oi :the ^'iDehhi.s Jaines .Cir- nival" on the CBS-TV web after only 6ne perfornfiance;- w make ano.th,br Stab;it tisle bahkroliing^o i , J c- FIT -II?.,.**,. 11*'^ same web Sunday (14i night ' .^l*'"'-.*,.'!. «";„v'",li?io!!^„^^^ a sho^v, a., yet untitled. Format; will comprise a- panel oi experts guessing th:i? ■ Iflehttti'' oE persons .or pldces shown; to them and the ■■'vliewing audi taneously via film clips. ', "Carnival," which marked the on-andH)(V coinmerClal fade in tele's young history, was aired only on pet. 29. Following nt)tifie'atip,n; '•fi'oM';'.'Gj;.':,:ttillt:;!i!L.' was-'- still interested iri establisiiing. ^ franchise on the new medium, CBS pitched it the netv. ork-packagcd . "Winner Take All" as a TV produc- tion, but GE nixed tliat in favor of . the quizzer. "Winner," with a lal- ■ Prit . nut of $1,600. is currently pay- ing off: with one of video's lop J ratings.•r'-'::-- :.•;'^ ' scope recordings or a direct feed from N. Y, when the east and mid- west networks are linked .Jan. 12. Mario Lewis, veepee of Blaine- Thompson, incidentally, is also co- producer of "Toast" with Sullivan. Agency, according to Lewis, is' now working out Its own tele cx-j p^u Spitaliiy and his all-girl 'pdn.sion. It recently placed a.series jorch, mLssing from the airlanes of spots on various TV stations for I since jast sea.son when General Popsicle and it now wrapping up j Electric cancelled out, were audi- COLGATE AUDITIONS SPITAINY TV SHOW a half-hour show for Messing Bakeries, which it hopes to launch on CBS-TV within the next several weeks. lioii^ed by the l4Hhen .& Mitchell agency tor Colgate last: Saturday night •:/6) at Radio City,'.Ni Di^g oiitfit is sHopfeiiii; ibr « lihow jfor 9-30 Monday nights on NJBC YOUNGMAN MX. ON {m^^^^^'^'^'^'^'^ Closed-circuit lost .set up by TURNDOWNS PACKAGE i^"^'" ^'^^ ^he lUlinUUnnO invnnui4 ^o<.t elaborate, fulKscale showcas- Heniy Youngman has packaged Ings yet staged for a prospective a new half-hour weekly tele show client. Films were employed in a called "Turndowns," with Danny number of sequences for novelty Shapiro as scripter and Herb Mos.s i effect. During a medley of college as producer. Pi-qgram will taxing on songs, shots of gridiron scenes were show biz personalities who, since >superimposed, during the orch's their original turndow^i, h a v e |plavinR Oi"Sabre Dance," Russian hit the bigtime, with Youngman as, ballet .scenes overlapped .shots of emcee, tieing .in for a reprise of the femrae mu.sickers. Spitalny ar- their original acts. ; ranged special orchestrations ' to Meanwhile Youngman may go in suit the li'yout. as a regular on the Kalser-Frazer-' The several agencies handling sponsored Guy Lombardo Satuiday portions of Colgate's billings aire night .show on Mutual He's cur- oxppcted to audition shov,'s for the rently set for an additional four-1 bankrollei:,s before a choice Is weeks at the Diamond Horseshoe, wade. The Spitalny showcasing. N. Y.. nitcry, making total run of'however, apparently stands a good ;iZ weeks. ■ ' bet to get the nod.