Variety (Jan 1949)

100 RAmo Fortv.lhird U^RkE TT Anniversary Wednesday, January 5, 194,9 Neatest Trick of the Year: Serving Two Masters By EDGAR KOBAK (Pres., Mutual Bfoadcasling System) Boioie I start saying what I have on my mind, I want to be sure tliat my position with regard to television itself iS quite clear. Don I cet me wrong, I believe television is the hottest thing ever in adver- tising in entertainment, in education and in public communications. I have been a television enthusiast for many years, and had a hand in laying the commercial toundation back in 1935. when u.is with the National Broadcasting Co I have been an enthusiastic television looker and listener for the past few years and I am thoroughly convinced that it has the greatest future, both in terms of the contribution it can make to civilization and in terms of the commercial success it is bound to '"'in^'spite of the fact that I have more than the average familiarity ' with television, both from the inside and from the audience viewpoint, 1 I do not consider myself a television expert and I do not propose to 1 make a lot of .statements as to what it will do or will not do. . Right now I am busv building a bigger and better Mutual AM net- I work and I still find radio a fascinating and challenging field of activity. I So fortunately, do a number of others who continue to give most ot . their time to radio, AM broadcasting still has many years of useful life ahead, and still needs sound and wise leadership, and the benefits | of long experience. . 1 i am not too keen on the present tendency of many radio organiza- 1 tlons to mix their television with their radio and try to operate both : enterprises with a single staff and in common departments My think- ing tends toward setting up a separate division to handle television and not trying to run both. In the first place, because of the fascination which television un- ' doubtedly has for anybody who gets into it, the temptation is to dabble. ' It becomes a fascinating hobby and it inevitably diverts a lot of atten- tion from other things which maybe we ought to be doing. To play | with television when you are also in the radio business, is in my opinion hot fair to radio. 1 have never satisfactorily solved the problem of 1 serving two masters, and 1 doubt whether very many other people have developed a fool-proof system tor performing this neat tricky either. _ . ■ Robbing Pettir to Pay Paul, Heigh-Ho Everybody— Tele Is Here to Stay • By ELAINE CARRINGTON- ED EAST M.C. "MEET THE MISSUS" CBS Pacific Coast Network rv p.nckagos—"Mort the rhamp," "Ea.fy iJoo.s It" a,n<l -'Wlio's .N'rxt?" It Can Happen To Yob, Too Us=By FRANK PULASKI=- It was a sunny fall day in Montclair, N. J. The year .%vas 1922. Nothing in particular was going on at the Center, with the pcssible exception of some teen-agers humped over chocolate sundaes at the drug store on the corner, when suddenly from nowhere a monstrous voice blared out. The teen-agers rushed out into the street. So did the shop keepers. So did everyone else in the neighborhood. What was this voice—WTicre did it come from—what was it saying? To their blank amazement, they found themselves listening to a play-ljy. play description of a football game which was taking place at that moment hundreds of miles away. It was radio. Montclair's first taste of it. It stopped trallic The police were called out. They had a hard time breaking up tlic frantic crowds. Everyone wanted to own a set of this awe-inspiring gadget; even though the cost was prohibitive—even though the cheapest set I came to around $350. But they must have it in their homes, tliis fascinating plaything—this tremendous force—this magic. And ihcy '.got'-it;.:' If somebody bought the space on a white Sign in Times Square today and projected a television show on it. I dare say the same tiling would happen—traffic would be blocked—the police would be helpless, and everyone would want a set. And eventually, when.the price came I jilown, would get it. I In other words, what is happening today in television happened over 25 years ago in radio. Pattern the Same 1 Ts to the influence of radio in terms ot television's future program- j —an asset owned by seven out of niing and business development, frankly, I cannot think of the two 110 men. And, of course, I had The pattern is almost the. same. Those early radio shows gave ttie public talks aboiit food, helpful household hints, descriptions ot .sporti events—doesn't that sound like television today? Remember Rudy Two short years ago, the micro- luncheon hour, broadcasting from his Heigh-llo Club? phone and I weren't even on nod- ; "Hejgh.ho everybody—this is Rudy Vallee and his Connecticut ding acquaintance. I had never , Yankees." That was the year 1926, when NBC was formctl. been in front of the little monster ^ those days there were very few dramatic shows. Dramatic shows which can be so-frightening and ' ^^^.^ ^.^^^ expensive, .lust as they are today on television. It was four I awe-inspiring. I had only one as- , ^^^^^ before the daytime serial made its first appearance. To , set in my lavor—a pleasant voice j.^^ ^^^^ ^jj^^g there were concerts, public service programs— you haven^t lorKOtten the Sisters of the Skillet, have you? Or Dr. M(ICann, who talked about food and general items of interest? All thdt was early radio. It wasn't until 1932 that my first serial, "Red Davis'' later to bocome made its bow oh the air waVe.s: It Wasn't • in any other terms than vigorous competition, I think such vigorous , never even seen a television cam- competition will be best for both. I am not happy about the idea of [era. I was .lust an ordinary guy ^ ^^^^ trying tff'makc them live together in one stable, or to jog along robbing! with 2'.2 years in the Southwest ..pypper Young's Family, .... „ ,. Peter to pay Paul. If you have real competition between them, both | Pacific under my belt, and a hor- ^^^^^^ ^ggg ^^^^^ years Irom the start of radio, that daytime serials will gain from the efforts they make to win the audience away from rible boredom with my postwar ^gid that every housewife could tune in on her the other. I say "let the best man win," and I realize that the best job. lavorite story and visualize herself as the suffering heroine, man will not be the same in every part of the United States, lor many But I had another "asset" ... a ^11 this is to say that what has been done before can be done again, years to come. In some places, television w ill undoubtedly have the , good friend, who kept at me to That television will take over the audience now listening to radio is upper hand, at least at certain hours of the day or n'ght- J" f I "try radio." inevitable, in my opinion. But .just when it will do this is a horse "You have a good voice," he of a diflerent color. It could be as close as three year.s. from nowi or said, "Why don't' you try to get as far aWay as seven or eight. ; :' ; ' .X' ''.^ ;, V a job as a radio; announcer?" : . Who thought: 20 years" ago ihat there would ibe ::30' mijlioiv Vadt« But how to break into radio in j sets in the cbahtrV? Seop^^^ the biggest city in the world . . ^ but they couVdn't stay aiw^y .T^^ it and a.s the • iiitenfei's' sw^ That was the question. . i BUniber, -as the scts^^^^^^^ prograiiv cpnleilt ■"Spend . a few years in^:small■! changed. . ■ •' ' ^j / - " V:;,' everyone ; "That is just what will) in my opinion, happen in television. . For the said, "And then . . ^ ri^ybe . . . present, it' has tremendous problem Obviously, it will someday, you can "get on 'a New ! net :be; ppSrfW^^^ Mhdivided attention, xlue .tb' places, radio will continue to have a clear field and in still others, the battle between them may well be a ding-dong afilair. How in the world such a competitive setup can be handled under a single management- active management, I mean--is something which I look at with a very doubtful eye. This skepticism is based on experience. One network 1 I worked for didn't really get going until its creative and selling tunc- ' tions were Completely separate and "on their own." I think it will be, | just as hard to run a TV network and an AM network with the active 1 !„,-,= management and personnel "doubling in brass." It looks to me like towns at small stations -I a rare case of "united we stumble—divided we standi" . Hold Off on That Obit By MARK WOODS (Pres.i American Broadcasting Co.) The past year has been.'in evei'y sense, a television year. r household activity. With tiidio, she cari llsteri \Vhile sevyi^ngy cooldhg,: ironing, minding the baby. But it is not possjble to do all this and look at a television screen at the same time. ^ s : \ ' , I don't know how this will, be aqc0rrii)li5hed,'biit^ *^^ 1* economic pressure, there arc always ways ■made pOssfble tp meet that pre.s.surc, and a process will be found. "~ . The reason I say that daytime serials wiirevehfually appear On th« television screen is because they are by .far the most satisfactory -sloi'y'' telling medium They fill an actual need ,of the audi^ because the; basic story structure of daytimei radio tiah fee tf^^^^^^^ to television. On the .stage, on the .screen, and on television, the And there it was; the first step ' human interest story^the .story in. which the woman or luan in the an audition. Let's se^ . . ." audience can visualize herself or himself, can live vicariou.sly. will I York City station.' ! But that was too vague, and be- < sides, where was one to .start? I "Well, there are always audi- tions." you say to yourself, "if you ' can talk . someone into listening ' to you." I And where was a better place to audition than in I'adio's capital, 'New York City During the last 12 months the medium has undergone almost unprecedented expansion—new stations coming on the air, new programs undertaken, exten.sion of cable facilities, the programming of television networks and the presentation to the public of some of the outstanding news events, such as the national conventions and elections. Amongiother things the past'year has produced, insofar as television . . .— j ni is eoncerned, is a bumper crop of predictions and forecasts of ^what i where??? Well, suppo.se you start ] have a deathless appeal, a medium largely on the basis of our experience in broadcasting, at WQXR. You listen to their pro- 1 The only rea.son t'lat Some of these have been pretty bearish so far as radio is concerned, 1 grams all day long, and halt the '' Some have gone so far as to see the disappearance of radio into an night, you know a little about all-consuming television maw. ,compo.sers and symphonies. See if Personally, I can't go quite that far. lyou can wangle an audition there ■ I don't, for example, think that television will completely ab.sorb . . . and so on, musing and think- our radio broadcasting system. I do thinlc that it will build itself as j ing the thing out. a medium largely on the basis of our experience in broadcasting, 1 So up to WQXR for an audition, complementing and supplementing our present radio system. And in that growth, I think that the programming techniques we have devel- oped in radio will be of vast benefit to the new medium. .But I do not believe that television can take over without change tho.se program techniques, just as a matter of course. I feel that to a large extent it will have to create its own program format, drawing cotton in you throat, and the few from radioes experience to help it. i sounds that do manage to sq;Ueak Television, from the viewer, demands intense, concentration as corn- radio cannot be transferred to television at once IS because of the cost to the advertiser in ratio to the number of listeners available. Will it be worth while for the client at. prCijfellt to garner so few listeners at such high cost? vThey hand you a script, and you ! start shaking all over; and by the , , time you are called to read, you are so nervous that the words i don't get past that piece ol dry ' Reshaping Living Hahitft ^ That is the reason I say that while thcre> is no qucsiion that the appeal of television is' greater now than the appeal of radio, the prc.s« ent cost of a television set practically limits the home to bne receiveft ■ But that does hot mean that in the future there will not be televisibn sets available at low cost for Daddy, Mommy, and the kiddies. Not only that, but I firmly believe people will want to see television so much that they wiir revise'their living habits aecordingly. Tli'ey SW'U. orgainize their day so they can li.steii to certain programs, ; ' , ■ Now j want ;to present to you the opinion 6f a real expert-^Procter: out are so weak, that you know 1 & Gamble's Director of Radio, Bill Ramsey, who knows more about pared with radio. Therefore, I think the trend in programming it will .you've failed miserably, and you • radio in one minute than I shall ever know in a hundred thousand be more in line with the current of film programming than with that slink out of the studio. years. I asked him his opinion of the probable future effect of tele- of AM broadcasting, | But you don't give up. "You i vision on daytime radio and, more specifically, on dramatic serials. For television can ignore neither the aural nor the visual appeal of j need experience," you tell your-^ Here is what he says: each presentation. In the field of music, for example, we cannot ignore | self, "And .you've got to get it "Naturally I have tor a long time been giving a great deal of thought the demand for such program fare but at the same time we must face ; somewhere." Let's see if we can to the entire subject of television and what it is likely to do I0 radio the fact that the symphony orchestra and the virtuoiso ofl'er a type of ,flnd .some small station that will listening generally, both daytime and nighttime. Briefly, my coffclu- entertain ment d irected primarily to the car r ather than the eye. jgive you a break. So you get the 'sion is that television will come clo.se to destro Watch That Contour _ , . - . - - , - -.- — - — 'oying AM during the I 'phone book, and find WGYN 1 evening hours but will efiect only relatively mihor changes in the A similar problem is posed by the televising of dramatic productions. Stage presentations, per se,, do not make for good television. Many of them move too slowly for the pace of television and many are too complicated in action for presentation on the home television screen. Wc of ABC believe we have made a good approach to the presentation of such programs with our "Actors' Studio." which is an attempt to develop television plays expressly contoured; to the medium w^hether requiiing adaptation of standard plays, one-act dramas; short stories or other literary forms. In the field of news and special events. I think that television will also have to develop new formats combining the best advantages of the radio and the motion picture presentation forms and ultimately emerging' with .a technique and a format all its own; ; listed. It's a new FM station, and ; right here in New York. You go isee the station manager and poUr out your heart to him. He happens to be a very nice guy. pattern of daytime AM. listening.' ''The rea.sons for this conclusion must be obvious. During the evening most people are relatively at leLsure and can thus give to television programs the more concentrated attention -whifh ti" Mieir very nature they require if they are to entertain effectively. During the daytime, on the other hand, the average woman has tar too much For 'Nothing a Week' , „- - , "Not bad,''l'ipTays, when he has . to do to be able to sit down and give her attention solely to the tele- heard you.' "You have the mak- ^'s;?,"* .screen, ^ > ' ings of a good announcer *' So ybu *t *S conee^vablei'. of course, that the ultimate pattern of daytirne finally win him over to the idea | *?1^»''^P» P*<'S*ahiming couple df hours in W of letting you Work around the afternoon (between 2 and 4 j);m,, for I'hstance) of coBaJheWlaHy sp«<n^ Station, doing odd jobs, and even ^ored programs on the theory that of all tjse diiytlme hours these are ^„.^ „ , „.. reading a newscast and doing a ' **'^<'i" whiqb housewives ar^ likely to have more But I feel that radio will continue to grow alongside television, 'show once or twice a day . . . all ! such a pattern develops, however, 1 .think it most unlikely that it Inasmuch as it has qualities that insure continued public acceptance, for "nothing'' a week; noUung, , would appear on more than one network or at the most two simul- It has immediacy, selectivity and a circulation that television probably that is, except a world of experi- |'■'J.",®?,"^'*'', J^'* ^^'^^9 .Pi^nty of room for AM P^gJ'^J^f/ ■u'ill not achieve for some time. It has by no mean.s even approached lence. : " "" ' the saturation point insofar as listenership is concerned; It has proved I After a few weeks it isn't so its sales potentialities and is an accepted pAvt of our business as well 1 bad; you can read without the as our amusement and cultural pattern, | shakes, and you even find yourself So, while no one is. more sanguine about the future of television getting' better. But. you need than r am, I don't think it's time to start preparing an obituary for ;plenty of training, and you start radio. I think both media will march forward side by side to new ito look around for more work, and peaks of efficiency, effectiveness and public service. ; (Continued on page 168) and the total net effect on the serials particularly should be negligible. "In other words, my feeling at the present time is that the better serials on the AM daytime air will maintain positipns which are vir- tually impregnable to the onslaught of television. On the other hand, such shows as audience participation, etc. can be adapted to television production at relatively small cost increases and for that reason i think we're likely to see more such adaptations when television re- ceivers are installed more broadly in homes throughout the country.