Variety (Jan 1949)

W SQUEEZE HDRl^ MIDDLE GUYS Hk Old Order Changes Oiie of the more astonishing aspects of the current "radio fright" attending the TV upsurge is the revolutionary change in thinking* and sweeping compromises, jparticularly on network policy, in a )>id to retain AM's i^tatus quo as long as possible. The things permissible on network radio today Were strictly in the "Undreamed of" realm as recent as a year ago. The succession of counter-plugs and mention of rivar networks on comedy shows On the byplay attending the capital gains maneuvers is but one evidence of letting down the bars. NBC's willingness to permit ^ stars to transcribe their programs (CBS is already doing' it) repre* sents a far cry from the days when the two major webs clung to tlie'contention that live programming was the basic element that kept the networks flourishing; "take that away and you don't need networks." And perhaps more disturbing than'anything else^-^you can buy cream time on all the webs, including NBC. Indie Stations Get Mike Fright As Competbh, TV Talk Menace Billings Significant of the times is the^* Increasing apprehension among in- die station operatots, particularly in tele-conscious New York, on future billings. The fact that Jan- uary has been - a below-normal month on sales is viewed .with jiftmething more than the per-usual ' Alarm,: with some taking the posi- tion "this is it; from hereon in let's prepare for the inevitable^-'' The indie'operator in the Man- hattan area finds himself virtually completely surrounded by TV talk; It's become depressing to him. He sees the signs posted, too, in the 'teraific competition for biz among the stations. He sees how listening has fallen off at night when the blgtlme TV entrants appear before the cameras. He hears, too, of how the opening of the co-ax to the midwest was accepted with: some* thing akin to -the same excitement ' and anticipation' as: the first rail- road : coming' through to the mid- west, with the attendant spread of apprehension to the indie oper- ators in other parts of the country. As One N. If. indie manager put it: "Let's not kid ourselves. The handwriting's posted. We can shout all we want about radio's continued place in the sun, but when it comes to nighttime habits, the Sooner we reconcile ourselves to the fact that tele is more and more grabbing off our audiences, the better off we'll be. We're only postponing the inevitable." Bilingual Buttress As an indication, of how some indie stations are trying- to stave off ■ TV inroads on listeners and biz, at least one N. Y. station is in the process of revamping its whole pro- gramming format.. . WLIB, the Dorothy Thack- rey-owned Manhattan station, is gradually inching Itself into a fulltime foreign language operation, with manager Her- man Bess inviting billings on that basis. Station has already launched . Spanish programs and is identifying itself more and more as a bilingual; with some taking the position that "there'll always be a place for the bilingual radio station." NBC Dances Songwriter Kurt Maier has written a new BMI tune called "NBC Polka." It's built around the network's chimes.- NBC Is giving it a "world preem" via video soon. FEE! Pliy SCALE E A major segment of the creative element in radio—the middle- bracket actor, writer,, director and producer—is caught in the tele- vision squeeze. , The transitional period finds him in a precarious financial posi- tion, confronted with the dilem' I ma of accepting radio assigments | for a fee that adds up to peanuts' in contrast to the -coin intake of a couple years' back, or: completely breaking with AM for the fling into video. If he chooses the lat- ter,, the compensation: today is even less. The economic cutbacks in radio (which is all part of the TV fright era and the determination to shave AM costs to help defray the: video freight) is taking its toll on the creative middle -guy almost right down the line. Acting assign* ments in radio are more scarce. ■ With the word passed on to scripters to "tighten up on char- . ■ j. , . , acters," programs are noW using 1that the dii-ectorates mmd was even made up in advance to string along with ABC, despite the fact that NBC prexy NUes Tramroell himself made; the presentation for the sTVitch over. NBC's 8:30 half-hour is now sustathlhg V and the .9-9:39 time otiens up when Sterlihg.jDrugs can- cels out on its "MahhsittaAi ? ftleri. ry-Go^Round" musical. . ; ^ There's one consolation for NBC, abiiities" for directoVs "and " pro-! whose execs are breathing easier NBC Extends Its Welcome Mat To Norman Corwin, Colmnbia s Gem U. S. Steel Nixes Moving of'Guild' U. S. steel has decided to con- tinue to throw in its lot with ABC network on its Sunday night 60- minute airer, "Theatre Guild of the Air," with NBC thus losing out in a bid to capture the show and plug the 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. sustaining hole. U. S. Steel board of directors met yesterday (Tues.) but report. WNYC Five-Man Film Unit to Produce Tele Shows for N. Y. Stations Decca s Crosby Nixes CRC Coin Although Bing Crosby becomes a Columbia network personality in the fall, he's taken all necessary precautions in his negotiations with CBS' Bill Paley to keep the subsidiary Columbia Records com- pletely out of the picture. For Crosby's Decca affiliation is some- thing else again —r and neither Paley nor .Columbia Records can have any part of It. When Paley acquired Jack Ben- ny and Amos 'n' Andy, it involved payment of coin from the whole CBS stockholder setup, which takes in the recording subsidiary. However, in the Crosby acquisition, it's specified that only Columbia four and five thesps, where seven or eight were given employment before, the expedient of "dou-. bling" now being a common prac- tice; Save for the handful of top-" shelf writers fortified with 52-week contracts, the radio scripter has the alternative today of accepting $75 and $100 today (for a job that fetched him $200 in the past) or giving it the nix. The job avail- Norman Coi"win for years Cot- lumbia Broadcasting's No. 1 pres- tige boy, may wind up in the NBC columns this , season. Corwin has' just arrived east from the Coast with his wife, Katherine Locke, for production of his first Broad- way play and to discuss his future plans in radio. Corwin's contract with CBS ex- pired at the end of '48 and al- though he's had conversation with . Columbia's board chairman,: Wil- liam S. Paley, during the latter's Coast visit over the past, couple of' weeks, right now • it's a tossup ': whether: Corwin switches al- legiance to NBC. or signs up again with CBS. Main bone of contention on the CBS deal is said to be subsid rights and length of contract. Corwin, it's known, has been hud- dling with Ken Dyke, NBC admin- istrative, veepee in eharge of pro- gramming, since his arrival east the .'latter part of last week, NBC, foe one, .would consider it a f^ath- : er in its cap if in could land Cor- win as part of its new bid for house-built programming emin- ence in the Wake of top comic de« : sertions. ducers also encompass pay checks far below the standard applicable to 1946 and 1947. With tele costs mounting and the inevitability: of sponsor toin being siphoned from radio for the plunge into tele, the squeeze vic- tims in the creative field are rec- onciled to the fact that the AM picture will : grow' increasingly gloomy, That's why many today i have decided to throw in the AM sponge and jump on the TV band- wagon; They know that, for; at least a couple of years, they won't grow richer transferring 4heir tal- ents into the video medium, but figure that since they're getting it in the neck anyhow, they might as well establish a foothold as sight-and-sound creators and be ready when the big payoff comes; over the decision of Bexall to stay put with its 7:30 Phil Harris-Alice Faye program rather than move it over to CBS. Deadline for Rexall to serve no- tice of cancellation for the web ex- pired last Friday (21), but none was forthcoming, thus assuring an automatic renewal. Show-looks set on season. WNBC Airs an Apology To Forrestal for Ad Lib Crack on 'Author' Show WNBC, N. Y., last Sunday (23) aired an apology to Defense Secre- tary James Forrestal for an ad lib remark that Forrestal had a ma}pr financial interest in a cartel con-: trolling I. G. Farben, the German chemical trust. According to WNBC, the re- mark was made by Ira Hirschmann, author of "The Embers Still Burn," NBC for the balance of the defending his book on WNYC, N, Y., municipally-owned .station, is prepping for video oper- ations. AM-FM outlet has plans to ! Broadcasting money be involved, establish a five-man film unit to! ■ '——^— X^Tv'sSio„r'""' ^'"^ I Tuners Who Span 3 Shows Plans, which call for a five-man 1 staff, will be submitted in the near l future to the city's Board of Esti- | mate. As pencilled-in, staff would include TV supervisor, cameraman. audio man, electrician and pro ducer. The unit would operate un der the Municipal Broadcasting Must Stay for Season, Coast AFM Local Rules Hollywood, Jan. 25, NBC Stars Get Tape Go-Ahead : / , .i ■ 25. Further substantiating NBC's willingness to drop Its taboo on recorded shows, Charles R, Den- nj^, exec veepee of the network, ! and veepee John Royal have told j Hearkening ^^^J^'^J'^..^'''^^^' Ozzie and Harriet, Eddie Cantor, that they were being arbitrarily j j^j^^^ Gardner ("Duf possible head of Gotham's film unit is Clifford Evans, former WLIB commentator and ex-WHLI public affairs veepee. Ih the past Siegel has been ap- System, headed by City Radio Di- I dropped at whim of producers,, ,^ Tavern"), among others, that rector Seymour Siegel. Among ^^ency men or temperamental lea^ sponsors and those mentioned prominently as ^ff *T 'f".! v,r„H I the talent, NBC will agree to tape- any sideman or contractor hired ^ ^^eir nraerams for the first three of a series of^ ° ^W**?^^ . . „, commercial chain broadcasts must I „ Move follows on the heels of be retaihed throughout the season: ; CBS complete capitulation on i n,ellers, pointing out that this kind Union interprets a season as con-• transcribing of sho\vs (Bing i-ros- of ghow pulls a; i^^^ Local Brewer Taking Three Drama Shows on WOR,N.Y., On 'Run of Station' Basis WOR, N. Y., has wrapped a package of three shows for a lo- cal brewery, first time one malt- and-hops outfit will be repre- sented on the airwaves with that many half-hour dramatic stanzas. Unusual gimmick in the deal is fact that the shows will be skedded on a "run of the station" basis. Programs will be aired on week nights sometime between 8 and 10:30. p.m., which is network op- tion time, but with no specific slot guaranteed. Dramas Will be spot- ted originally in an open period and will be shuffled to another day or another slot whenever Mutual sells the time. Programs involved are two tran- scribed packages from Hollywood, "The Cisco Kid" and "The Damon Runyon Story," latter being dram- atization of the columnist's yams. Third airer, "Charlie Chan," will be a live origination from New York. WOR programmers advised the brewer to take the adventure-type preached bTmo'st TV stations"?; »i ting orSQ weeks, Txcrpt in cases : by <^--l^-Z\':^t'Sl^S\r^ i with skinlimVct SpVsorT who ... .. "y mosi 1 V siauons m .^g^ams which continue under I when he moves from ABC to Co- I „^ j,is desk for ink- the city for programs dealing with municipal affairs. The video unit would provide the telecasters with programs on safety, public health and information to aid consumers, such as market reports. In addi- tion, unit would cover special events such as the Golden Jubilee, parades and expositions. It the city solons give their ap- sponsorship. through the summer, These are classed as 52-8tanza shows. Edict, promulgated without con- sultation with agencies or sponsors, a musician does holds that if a musician does a satisfactory Job for three, consecu- live programs there is no reason, ion here among top talent as to why he shouldn't be retained. Un-1 whether non-live shows are Proval, productton"of°films"can net i der the ukase, however, there's ■ good for radio as a \yhole. Jack under way in a month or two nothing to keep a sponsor from Benny, for one. says he'll stay live ^ Although prima^T purpose is to I dropping a batoneer. | regardless; that he's being translate government iX terms' —- ' f*"^ » t°P"=«l lumbia m the fall). | j^g j,„g j,a^ experience with news NBC's go-ahead comes as hap- ] show* in the past. py news to grousing talent that — ^ __ has long envied Crosby, Groucho Marx (ABC) and other kindred recorded shows. However, there is divided opin paid doesn't CBS' 'Yours Truly' With Coca-Cola dropping the Jane Froman-Percy Faith CBS musical, the network has whipped, up a new private eye show called "Yours Truly, Johnny Dolan" to take over the Friday night 10:30 slot. It's scheduled for a Feb. 18 and will originate from Author Meets the Critics." Shortly after the broadcast, NBC prexy Niles Trammell received a call from John T.- Cahill, whose firm, Cahill, Gordon, Zachery & ReindeU has represented both Forrestal and NBC. Parley was immediately called with Cahill, Trammell, Martin Stone, owner of ^'Author," and Jim Gaines, manager of. NBC owned- and-operated stations: Following the talks. WNBC decided to delay its 11 p.m. newscast to air the apology. The statement pointed out that the broadcast was ad lib and that participants express their own views. "Mr. Forrestal has informed NBC that these statements are false," the apology ■ continuedi,: "NBC regrets that these state- ments were made and offers to the Secretary of Defense its pro- . found apology. Mr. Hirschmann has been shown the foregoing statement and regrets that his sources on Information were in- correct." Interesting sidelight is that the ■ confab was going on during re-: hearsals for the TV' repeat of "Author." Show started at 8 p.m. with Hirschmann's se^t empty, but the author slipped m unnoticed three minutes afterwards: No ref- erence to the charge was made on the WNBT show. Hirschmann, . who is head of WABF, New York FM station, told VARiBir he had nothing to add to the NBC statement. His book is based on his trip to inspect: DP camps in Germany in 1949, as perf sonal emissary of UNNRA (£ief Fiorello LaGuardia. Deems Taylor Sponsored On Over 100 Stations Chicago, Jan. 25. Highgrirle Food Products, through Maxwell Dane agency, is Concerts people carunderXnd thP «^ STATION IN DET. PREEM think it fair (either to the sponsor preem and wil originate from ' through Maxwell Dane a will akn hBin „.f^r . 'ivT . ^ TYofvnit T«ti 2-5 or the listener) to record a show Hollywood. It will be" directed by sponsoring Deems Taylor M inal*^}? publicize New York Detioit, ,Ian. 25 I ^ygg^j i„ advance, Dick Sanville. on WOR, New York, WPEN, Phila- mecca ni^Lr^^^^ and tourist! UAW station made its ^ebut toee oi lour weeKS^m Network is yanking "Romance" delphia, WNAC, Boston. CKLW, S' n?^"?"?' '23). i,.„,Hp,<=t bad ihowmpnshio and he main- out of the 10:30 Saturday morning Detroit and WHEN. Buffalo. Yoiftn Program tests ^'^^e I'roadcast ^'Stably it must ^^^^ slot and reviving the "Escape"; Taylor show.is now sponsored drive t tu"""? publicity from 4 to 8 p.m. on WDET new, \^^^ ^^ f mevuaoiy dramatic stan»a as a replacement. I on more than-100 stations^ vuve to attract more tourist biz. I FM radio station ot the UAW. i me swih.