Variety (Nov 1948)

Wednesday^ Pfovember 24, 194S 27 Replacement Need Accents Tele s Perpetual Headache-Tube Shortage Television industry, already con--*' ■ fronted with an acute shortage of [ , , ., , „ , cathode-ray tubes, will find the) JOSeiOVltS TV Package f°K'lt*?Km"^^^^^^^^^ On Tunesmiths at Work to start worrying about producing i Songwriter Teri Josefovitz is enough tubes not only to make new I preparing a video package, "Meet sets but also to replace the burnt- vn,„. c„„„ •* .. u 1 - out ones in sets that have been. Songwriters," which is cur- sold until now. Manufacturers ' *'®"''y being considered by CBS. look for 25% of all tube produc- - Idea of the show is to get recog- tlon during the next couple of nized tunesmiths to present their years to be diverted to replace-' own songs and tell of the intrica ments. cies of the publishing business. Estimated life of the average Josefovits hopes to give amateurs tube is from two to three years, ac- i an inside on ' he workings of the cording to U. S. Television prez \ music industry. Hamilton Hoge. With more than I Format will simulate a film 700,000 sets now in circulation i studio in which a short is made. throughout the country, he de- > dared, the "big sleeper" in set'pro- duction now is the servicemen's Stockpile of replacements^ Military requirements, too, may be super' • Imposed, which would cut Into the available tube supply even more. Despite that, Hoge predicted the :lndustry would be able to turn out between 1,200,000 and 1,600.000 KTSL Adds Kidshows To Boost Schedule By 7 Hours Weekly V ' Hollywood, Nov. 23. new sets in 1949 and over 2,500.000 beS^bAwe^Pn^ fi anH ?7'h^^,?« in 1950. as compared to this year's | SfTlevlsi^on Tows'w^^^^^^^^ total production of some 700.000 , ^s schedule seven hour, "e, units: : Tube bottleneck has been (Continued on page 33; ped its schedule seven! hbuirs : per : week. Starting Sunday (2iJ Garl- ! ton Winckler, progtam director, ■ I began inserting ' kidrsh0W§ ihtb I early evening slots to strSdE*^ air l-time. •■■ . :'■•■;. I KTSL has been signing on at CTiCr TAD TI7^17DC ' '=30 and cutting out at 11 on Mon- OlArf rUIV IV UlOlday and Friday, 10 on Tuesday, Wednesday; Thursday and Satur- NBC SHUFFLES COAST Toledo's 4,500 Sets Toledo. Nov. 23. Number of television sets in Toledo totaled 4,500 as of Nov. 10, according to n survey conducted by the city's radio distributors. Of these, 150 are in bars and restau- rants, with the balance installed in ■ homes.'.■ ,, > WSPD-TV, owned and operated by. Fort Industries, is the only sta- tion operating here. Video Rate War Shaping on Coast Hollywood, Nov. 23. : Television rate war is slowly gathering momentum on the Coast witli four Hollywood stations beam- ing pictures nightly to 57,000 video receivers. Two outlets have already slashed their rate cards, thus grab- bing sponsors out from under the hooks of a third. Stations are slow- ly stretching their schedules in an effort to surpass one another but sponsors aren't yet to be found to' fill the additional time. Insiders are certain that with the advent of . ithe network stations KNBH, KECA-TV, and KTTV there will be a full scale rate card throat- cutting battle. NBC's KNBH will start beaming during the latter part of January, KTTV, CBS- I Times-Mirror station, goes on .Ian. jl, and KECA-TV opens its doors I sometime later. Push TV Scripters Gu3d as Screen Writers Balk on Tele Jurisdiction Chi Daily News-WENR-TV Space & Time Exchange Chicago, Nov. 23. Chicago Daily News tiein witli ABC's WENR-TV is up for ap- proval by John Knight, publisher, and Bob Kintner, ABC exec vee- pee. Deal calls for an exchange of air time: for' black-and-white; with no cash involved. Under the proposed pact the Daily News would get a 15-minute strip to showcase its wares while WENH-TV would receive equivar lent ad space. Station, also would have first chance at the Daily News relays and other events. ' Daily News, tele application through WIND is in the FCC freezer. Hollywood, Nov. 23. NBC personnel was reshuffled last week to staff the television de- partment of KNBH and effect'other promotions. Moving over to TV are Don Thompson as: operations supervisor,"Jack Lyman, studio di- rector and Robin Black, assistant field director. Added to the AM production •taff were William Verdier, Raj- iinond Dietrich and Warren Lewis, the latter as director. Ask FCC to Throw Out CBS' Boston Tele Bid Washington. Nov. '23. The FCC was asked last week to throw out CBS' application for a television station in Boston lie- cause the network has pendniR an apiilieation to acquire the viclt'o construction permit assigned to Raytheon Mfg. Co In a petition filed by Boston Metropolitan Television Co.. . a competing applicant for a video outlet, it was asserted that under FCC rulings no applicant can liave simultaneou.sly pending two. appli- cations for the same type of facili- ties in the same area. ^ *r . Applicants for video in Boston include two film interests: New England Theatres, owned by Para- mount, and 20th-Fox New England. I day and 9;15 on Sunday.- New ' hours call for a daily 6:30 .signon. i Winckler is inserting his juve 1.programs between signon and 7:30. I Jimmy Scribner has been set as a five day half-hour show and -Baron j Keyes "Clickety-Clack Revue," a I puppet program has also been ink-. ' ed. Others are being lined up to • fill in the . remaining four hours. ' KTSL has also added an hour and a half, 3 to 4-30, to its test pattern I schedule. ! Scnbner's show is titled "Sleepy ! Joe" and will be an "Uncle Remus" ' type telecast. Scnbnpr will go be- • fore the tele cameras in. blackface and lull costume. Program tees oft on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Tluusday schedule starting today i23i. Beginning the week of Dec. 6, toleshow will go Monday through Fiiday. CBS Signs for Telecast Of Robiiison-Belloise Bout CBS-TV, continuing its fight promotion activity with the Tour- nament ot Champions, ha.s signed to air the Ray Robinson-Steve Bel- loise fight Dec. 9 from the Jersey City (N. J;) Armory. Ballantine will sponsor, through the J. Walter' • Thompson agency. Russ Hodges is • to do the blow-by-blow. ■ Fight is the second T: of C. pro- motion to be carried by CBS-TV. Web recently aired the Tippj Lar- km-Charlie Fusari fracas Irom the same city. Robinson-Belloise bout will be aired in N. Y., Philadel- phia, Washington and Boston. Spitalny in Lead Colgate decision on an N.BC tele show is e.vpected by the end ot this ■■■week." ;■■■■ Phil Spitalny and his all-giri orchestra are understood to be lead- ing the pack, although other shows have been auditioned for Colgate by Lennen & Mitchell and oilier agencies. PERSONNEL CHANGE DUE ON 'FACE THE MUSIC '•Face the Music." CBS-TV's 15- niinute musical strip, IS due for a I change in personnel. Web program- ming chiefs have auditioned sever- : al male and female vocalists dur- ing the la.st several weeks in an attempt to find replacements for : both Johnny Desmond and Sandra ■ ' Deel. who have co-starred in the I show since early last summer. : Switch in talent is to be made, according to CBS execs, in order to inject "more sparkle" into the show. Attempts to line up a spon- sor to date resulted only in a few I nibbles and. according to a CBS- ' TV exec, "we can't keep the same show going indefinitely without a spon.sor." ATS Sets Film Forum American Television Society's first film forum of the new season IS to be held next Wednesday (1) at the Museum of Modern Art, N Y Emerson Yorke, ATS secre- tar.v and fihn committee'chairman, 1 is m charge, I Panel discussions will: be held in ' network operations, advertising, ' film production and distribution, camera lenses and their uses, large screen operation and technical problems relating to films for video. AGVA to Sue KTLA, KLAC-TV for Telensing Acts Without an Okay Hollywood, Nov. 23. Florine Bale, coast chief of American Guild of Variety Arti-sts, and Sam Shayon, its local attorney, have been advised by. National headquarters ol the Guild to file a civil lawsuit against two telesta- tions, KTLA and KLAC-TV be- cause broadcasters have iailed to clear up two chji<;('s made by AGV.-V that membci.s oi outfit were telensed without their pei- mission. • ■ Last Labor Day, KTL.\ picked up a show of outdoor acts in the Coliseum The 20-odd acts were booked in at $3,000 to entertain AFL unions staging their annual jamboree in the saucer. AGVA ordered KTLA to pay acts double what they got for show, or a total of $6,000. Station since has been balking. K L.AC-TV picked up a eharity swimming show, on which a couple ot pro-divers, AGVA members, were working for $7.5 each; Union demanded double rate lor these, too, because station had not re- ceived acts' permission for telecast; KLAC-TV has ignored the Guild thus far. Theatre Wing's TV Course. Expands to Meet Demand; New Management Course Pointing up the growing interest' of radio actors, writers, directors, etc.,, in television,- the American Theatre Wing's TV course which tees off Dee. 8 will admit for the first, time non-veteran, members of the various AM guilds. Many mem- bers of both the Radio Writers Guild and Radio Directors Guild have already enrolled for' the work- shop course. Wing is also, offering for the first time this year a course in tele station management and op- eration. , V Wing's entire professional train- ing program is now under the direc- tion of Charles Vance, who re^ placed Winston O'Keefe. Latter resigned recently to become man- aging director of New Stages, Inc., Vance, a former dialog director at Warners, has also been an instruc- tor in the Northwestern and Stan- ford drama departments and or- ganized the Manila Symphony orch while serving in the Philippines during the war. Carl Beier, former writer-produ- eer-di rector for CBS-TV, tele de- partment, is replacing Byron Mc- Kinney,, who's' now a director at WABD (DuMont, N. Y.). Wing's tele workshop course will continue to produce its own shows, using the facilities of William Still's experi- mental station, W2XJT, at Jamaica, L: I. Studio has been expanded and: furnished with tconsiderable new equipment. As in former years, aiL trainees, will work in all phases of production, .taking their turn, at camera work,^ set designing; acting, writing, etc. It's" planned to pro- duce two original shows weekly, which will be aired on a closed- circuit transmission. Hollywood, Nov. 23. Screen Writers Guild and its af- filiates. in the Authors League of America are split on the subject of television jurisdiction, particularly as pertaining to video films. So far, no satisfactory solution has been found and the parent organ- ization is reported planning to go ahead with-the formation Of a new Television Writers Guild, to have jurisdiction over all TV scripting, including that via picts. Delegation from SWG was recent- ly east for powwows with Leagu* oft'icials. The film reps are 'under- stood to have pointed out that with approaching negotiations for a new contract with the producers, SWG must be able to bargain for tele in this area or-the companies will be able to play one League affiliate against another. League heads in New York are reported to have conceded , the jus- tice of that stand and to have of•• fered SWG temporary video juriS'^ diction here with the proviso that, the SWG commit itself now to re- lease the jurisdiction later to the Television Writers' Guild; But the SWG doesn^t believe it can bargain: efl:ectively if the producers know that it's jurisdiction is temporary, so it's unwilling to commit itself at present. On the other hand: League offi- cials' claim, they can't organize ■ a TWG without a guarantee that it will have all phases of tele juris- diction. But SWG leaders aren't sure they'll ever be able to, re- linquish jurisdiction over TV-film : without risking the future exist- ence of the prganization. For if, video ultimately supplants theatre ' exhibition as a means of . film disr iribution the whole field would be- long to TWG. As the SWG heads see it; the pro- fession would still be screenwrit- ing, regardless of the means of dis- tribution of the product; So what. they would like to evolve is formu-^ )a jfor differentiating TV-films that- are shown in theatres for an ad- mission price and ones that are shownm homes for free. The lor- mer would presumably be under SWG juilsdiction and tlxe latter w ouid be in the - domain of the TWG. Judy Gershwin on TV Songstress Judy Gershwin, niece of the late George Gershwin. maU-.s lier television debut Frida.\ night on NllC-TV's "Musical Minia- tures" show "She'll hold doun the femme vocalist spot on the pro- gram lor the next several ^\eek.s. Mai'y Ryan, regular on-"Miiiia' ,tures." will skip the show tonight (Wed.). G-AIL STEVENS DIVORCED ; Detroit. Nov 23 The wanderlust thai sent E.4-, Capt Harry J. Mur[)hy to the U S, Mcirines when he was 17 and to the \\o\a\ A\r Force when he was 19, le'^'ultod in his being divnroerl here by Mrs Patricia Virginia Alurphy, 23. a television actress,; professionally known as Gail Stey;- ens. She told Circuit Judge Vincent, M. Brennan t-hat her war hero wandered away again and did not 'h-eturn. New York Paul Gallico named permanent moderator on General Klecti-ie's Sunday night newsreel quiz show on CBS-TV, which has been retitled "Stop, Look and Listen", .-Arthur V. Jones in from the Coast witli his "Marriage Clinic" discussion tele package, which MCA is ped- dling. . . Maurice McMurra.v, lor-: mer sales chief for KMBC-TV (Kansas City), heading up the C. K. Hooper organization's sub.S'cnbor relations on tele reports "Sex Education in Schools" rset as topic for the "Voice of the People ' show tonight (Wed.I on the N. Y. Daily -News' WPIX Carl I-Viedfandcr, former prexy ot Aeronta Aircraft Corp.. named salesmanager tor Telespots, Inc .NBC newsrcel, sponsored by Oldsmobiie dealers, Upped ironv 10 to I.') nimutes once \veekl.v and is to be fed to the mid- west web when the co-ax link goes through Wl'IX scheduled to an Mflcv'.s. annual ; Thanksgiving . Day purycle t o m o I I 0 w 'Tliui s ' WPIX's "Comics on Parade ' \\eek- days now starts at .'5 p ni , with "Pixie Playtime" follo-.vjns i'l minutes later P .1 Kenncdv & Sons. N. Y Catholic book pub- lisher, first pub to use TV spots to • plug an individual book. Minute spots are to be aired nightly lor three weeks over WFIL-TV iPhil- adelphia ^ , Shakespeare's "Julius , Caesar," in modern dress, set for [CBS-TV's "Studio One" series tn I January by producer Worthingrton : I C. Miner, .,. Comedienne Imosrene \ : Coca replacing Jerry >Berg:en as i I star of ABC-TV's "Buzzy Wu-zzy" ' I show. It's an M-J Productions | [package. - ] George M. Burbacli, manager. «f { KSD-TV fSt. Louis), added to the speakers' slate for the Television Broadcasters' Assn.'s one-day clinic Dec. 8 a't the Hotel Waldorf-As- toria . •, Gale and Harry Ingram. lininK up tele package: ba.scd on ; "Kncjclopedia of Beauty and! Charm," penned by Alma Archer, N. Y. Daily News' beauty editor. LEONARD EXITS WSAI FOR CROSLEY TELE Cincinnati, Nov. 23; ; James Leonard Is resigning Dec. 1 as program director and disk jockey of WSAI to rejoin the Cros- ley Broadcasting Corp; as manager of its television station in Colum- bus, which is expected to be, readied for operation within sev- eral months. Leonard joined the Crosley fold in 1936 and filled sundry assign- ments on both WLW and WSAI until several years ago when the latter station was sold to Marshall Field and he transferred with it m an exec capacity. In the mean- time he has continued to have, a hand in some programs originated, on WLW for sections of NBC web- bing, one of them being the Circle A'rrow series. , , : A grad of the University of Florida, where he teamed in radio work with Red Barber, Leonard trailed Barber as a Crosley, staffer. Barber exited from the Crosley ranks in early '39 to start ball- casting for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Hollywood Larry Finley formulating plans for 13-week video scries titled "Sunday Afternoon Up at the Foy's' KTSL is presenting the Don Lee Television Workshop" as a.once weekly; half-hour show. .Sta-, lion will telecast a dillerenl pack- age every week and seek viewer reaction as a .sounding board for planting well received material on i-esrulai .schedule. KTSL is looking ovei'' TV packages as Well as build- ing Its own NBC's KNBH will begin regular test pattern trans- ini.s'sion tomonovv (2.'5h Station, which, will operate on C'h. 4. is skedded to transmit from 10 to 4 on Wednesday,. Thursday and Fri- (Continued on page 32i Bakery Buys CBS-TV 'Messing Party Game' New half-hour audience partici- pation show, in which the partici- pants will play party games belore the cameras, was bought this week bv Messing Bakeries through the Blaine Thomp.son ad agency. Show is stated to preeni on WCBS-TV (CBS, N. Y.) Dec, 6 in the 8 to 8:30 p.ni: -slot, which will put it imme- diatclv ahead of the simultaneous TV pickup of CBS' "Arthur God- frey's Talent Scout.'-" radio show. Tilled the "Messing Party Game," the new program will be aiied from the stage of the Maxine Klliolt theatre, N. Y, Bill Sluter will serve as emcee, with Minna- besH Lewis assisting. Included among ■ the - stunts will be such events as peanut - racing, potato- sack racins, pie-eating, etc.. VY'ith pri'/^es to be awarded the winning contestants. .