Variety (Jan 1949)

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34 TELEVISION We^nesdajf, January 2C, t94l9 British Biz Eyes TV Sharply; Still Unknown Factor in Trade's Future By HAROLD MYKRS- On Costs Even Before Off-Cable Stations Beat Newsreeis on Inaugural Four major television networks, extending ttielr pool pickup of the President's inauguration ceremo- nies service Video Vable .By ARCH OBOLER. filiates, processed 51,000 feet of film during tiie yai-ious events. Transcriptions were furnished to stations at cost, attout , $140 per . >, n il« hour, with the stations keeping the Operation Gets Kolling^fl''" any subsequent use they r " ^. want to make of it. With a potential audience for a I WOR-TV Swinging Axe single showing equal. to an eight; months' West End theatre run, the; importance of television in the j entertainment sphere is now as-1 suming serious proportions and is j causing concern among all sections. j ^ ., , i. i.-, ■^■•j,-- in show business. ■ P"sh«tl off its debut- until mid-; ^^^.^^^^ ^^^^ country, with some sta- Altliough television in Britain is J""*-' 'and tiguros in so doing it s, ^j^^^ ruiming them Friday and for the time being restricted to the f.^^'^JS » wad ot comJ has siasned ^^^^^^ Saturday. These off-the-cable London area, there are today | "s blueprint So deep has kniie . stations were thereby able to beat around 100.000 home receivers in cut jnat statters say it na^s^ gone newsreeis, since the recordings WOR-TV, N. y., which has; Recordings were air-freighted use and the number is rising further than the bone-right into were filmed, developed and printed month by month. Factories are' "°.^„'*^*"aM in N. Y., whereas the reels were jRVitching from radio and cpncen; i ,J*P^^^^»^t'^8^ budget is being ham-|f^„g^ ^^^^^ f^^tag^ j^^^ trating olriost entirely on the TV "le^L Troc"XcJi-Te's'oTdTe^ i50% of the origma, plans fore they come off the assembly -^^Pe^a^U^a" rifwi, ^ Mrir.^..^ f^r. * 1 x,^^^ thclr radlo opcFation. Tolenti pTO' With a license fee of $4 a year, heaAi and maniiEtpmpnt will the income received for the state I SiJ""! "eads and managem^^^ television monopoly is totally in-i f^ie of^erings'^ just siS^ ''''".^'^^'^^["l^rfrr.iS'tJrTl e I ^e»- sked sS'brass and is heavily subsidized to the -„;,„ ■„ ^,.™„i.„™«vi tune of approximately $4,000,000 «g^'^««°«^h.ring^ annually from the income earned; sP^^al techn^^ the from radio by the British Broad- ."J^^tj*' «Lsts havenT'been casting Corp. ^ ! oared however Despite the limitations of the |^o'jj,^ vei^rB^n personalities- pr(-f,ent-day service, Londoners aie , j^^^^ Gambling, Martha Deane, turning more and more to televi-, g^^,^ Lomax-and other stars are Washington to N. Y, to get it to the sion as an entertainment. It hasn't, ^^j^ ^ ^, j yet been possible to gauge its effect; pggi on the boxoffice either for picture theatres or legit, but undoubtedly ^ gUcing is the high-and still t If.? 1%ZJ^ rising-cost of TV-ing. in the reduced take during the past 12 months. ' 1 As to programs, generally speak-j Ing they're sufficiently, varied to, satisfy all of the people some of; the time. Bulk of the playing time is taken up with straight dramatic shows, vaudeville items and occa- sional sporting events, with an odd motion picture to fill the gap in j the program. . I Up till now telecasts on the BBG' Forced sharing by the; four ma-^ jor television networks of the east to midwest coaxial cable lirik has effected several changes in the „, , . .„ , , , .broadcasters' programming struc- Trade jignificance of the^ bud-1 ture, one of the most important of ^j^.^j^ the new emphasis given Friday nights by NBC-TV. Witli more time on the cable Fri- days than- ariy other evening and, with advertisers. clambriitg; for^full'- est possible .fcoyerage. 'lhe wieb :is bUildihg Fridays l^ato' a 50^^ that outstrips even Sutidtiy nights in the number of corrimercially- sponsored shows. Fact that any suhseciueat changes of program time, when TOore cables ease the current pinch; Aiight interfere with established viewing habits, ■indi- cates the current ; tiine structure will hold indeflnitely. -Since Frl- Pirates Nixed For Next Summer TV Pittsburgh, Jan. 25. Sports fans got a piece of bad service have been restricted in news over the weekend when the time, the usual procedure being to management of Pittsburgh Pirates have an hour's entertainment in! announced that-its home games at . . v . , the afternoon and roughly 90 Forbes Field this season would not "^^."^^^r been a big night for Hollywood, Jan. 25. t • • * Once upon a time, in a Closeup Land, there lived a very old hae to a joint :film transcription j . ^ f^ct that she was only in her late twenties, she had :e for non-.nterqonnected af: ^^^^^^^^ ^er short.life program, that she had giveaway bkgs under her eyes, she stuttered in three-minute segmie»ts, Snd'shie #as corpulent in the firont,; and empty in the head. AltJnfU, such a sorry mess w«$ she, that the folks of the town were beginning to close their doors the harsh repetition of her huckstering squeal;- v ! But just as conditions reacljed the pretty j^ass: where thfe oid hag's: right hand was stealing from the left, and'shoving herself up to the No. 1 Spot to Oblivion, the old hag opened her trsinsmissiori and found, quacking lustily, a golden goose with besiutiful orthicon eyes, a direc- tional neck, a broad cathode bottom, and an FM quack. At first the old hag turned up her amplitudes at the newcomer, but suddenly, everywhere she went, she heard the patter of Wehbed feet, and when she looked down, she saw the.Uttle..goose surroiinded by a faint golden hlmibuSr and: with each FM s^uaw^ Si tiny golden; egg^^w popping forth ift a'-flarc of fluorescence.;- ' V:^-; And the old hag, knowing a good thing when she s«\y iti^^;s^^^ up the small goose with a sharp outcry of C^Sh regtstersi ■ "Lay me more golden eggs," she shrieked. "Hurry! Lhrge ones! Larger ones! Larger, larger ones!" ^^^^^^^^^; ^; .The little golden goose was very distrait, for she had a faint feeling inside her focus that life was not all the-laying of larleir and larg^^^ eggs, no matter how golden, so she . blinked her Orthicons in rapid confusion and continued to lay in moderate order. * But the old hag took a firmer horizontal; hold on the- gosling khd, began to squeeze her harder and harder, and the little gooie's FM opened and out came a long succession of sqtleals-^ihd ; w6nder of won- der, they were the echo of the old hag's Moll<>'w huCksteiihg----un-. harmonious and tasteless—and the golden e£gs began to pop forth iiiore freely. ■ ■■■■•■•■■■■•■■■■.•■.■■■;.■..;■■;;:;•■■■■.:',■■■■.■■'■;■ But the old hag. was not satisfied; she cried out, "More! Larger!'' and she took a firmer vertical hold, and squeezed hiarder and harden arid sparks began to fly out of little goose's eyes, ahd tbe orbis took, on^^^ the shape of huge, greenish^inged; billboaifds :W|^tIi r^U and the eggs popped forth faster, and the hag squeezed :hiarder. . And suddenly, in the midst of her tabulating jubilations, the old Hag looked down and she saw that small replicas of her giveaway bags were under the orthicons, and the voice of the FM was strident aiid insistent,- exactly like her own voice, and even as the gosling's Cathodes grew from seven inches, to 10 inches, to 12 inches, and larger and larger-^ the golden eggs grew smaller and smaller,: ahd sonle; of them,: nciW, were tinged with red, and far in the distance th^ old hag heard the familiar slamming of many , doors, and when she .looked down again. She saw that the golden goose was a gone goose with tracked orthicons ahd splintered- scannersr;---^.-- ,■-':;„..;;■■;■ ■■;■.'' ;.,.■- Moral: He who squeezetH a j/oung goose ^oa httcKste*iwgly hoi'd-* .will- lay an' eventual egg.' NBC Building Friday Night Program Setup radio listening, the outcome of NBC-TV's experiment remjgiins to be determined. .J Web, now tees off the evening with the "Kulka, Fran and Ollie" sj^ow, sponsored on the full net- work as an across-the-board fea- ture by RCA-Victor in the 7 to 7:30 slot. Jack Kilty's "Musical Merry- Go-Round,'' a sustainer seen only in the east, holds down the 7:30 to 7:50 segment. "Camel Newsreel TV Helps Ice Show minutes to two hours in the even-! be televised. It was figured a ; ing. and there is little likelihood' cinch that the local National of this being extended for some . League club would follow the lead time to come. Certainly, Britain is: of all the other teams in the; a long way off from a continuous . majors, now that city has WDTV, morning to night television show.; its first video station. Pittsburgh -BBC's Limited Studios I has be.en the last town represented Until the BBC is able to build ; in the big leagues to get a TV out- new studios somewhere in the let. London region its output will be- Roy Hamey, general manager of determined to a large degree by: the Pirates, said that "when tele-] the restricted facilities available at i vision is developed to the point i Alexandra Palace. Here, there are' that will assure more complete • Theatre" draws full network cov- two studios, the largost of which and satisfactory transmission of a ! ^r^ge from 7:50 until 8 p.m., at „„„„„..t„^ n/r..„o u * . sport so rich in scientific detail," [ which time NBC shares the cable ■ competitor, Maas regards it as ef- then the club may permit video DuMont for presentation I tectiye advertising broadcasts of games: i the . new "Admiral Broadway Re- — " Meanwhile this season the ivue.'^ Latter show, ah hour-long games will Continue to be aired one^ing. preems Friday <28). over WWSW, with Rosey Rowswell ! Web gives up the cable from 9 to doing the play-by-play and Bob [ 9:30 to ABC, carrying "Stop Me If r'.^LLUu.. 0.»-. D«.a-:-*.«- 'Prince the color and commercials. VaiiW Hnnrrti'hic" tu^^^^ UaDOerS, deZ DanniSter: probably for the same brace Of Detroit, .Ian. 25. I sponsors, Rieck's Dairy and Atlaii- Harry Bannister, manager of' ^''^ Major Filmers Plan Video Pix But Under Alias, as Salve for Exhibs ■f. Certain of the major film com- panies will be turning out special two-reel subjects for televifeion: within a year, but under an en- tirely different trademark. That'.s ' Milwaukee, Jan. 25. "Holiday on Ice" skating revue recently at the Milwatikee Auditor-1 the report brought back from Hol- ium was carried in entirety on lywood to New York this week by (Continued on page 40) Video Will Rid Country Of Its Phony Reporters, WVi7j, WWJ-TV and WWJ^FM, told Michigan Press Assn. mem- bers, that television Is going to rid the country of the fake reporter. TV Cool to Sox lOOG Demand Chicago, Jan. 25. Deadline for negotiations be- You've Heard This" on the eastern network only during that half-hour | under sponsorship of Bonaflde i Mills. That show, too, preems Fri-' day (281. From- 9:30 tO 10, NBC WTMJ-TV opening day. Week later Bill Maas, manager of audi- torium, reported video"^ showing had been definite aid in creating inter.< est, and in selling tickets. Rather than looking to TV as a CBS's M-Day TVPrf^rammihg NBC veepees Charles R. Denny and John F. Royal, who scouted some of the top film execs -during a two-week stay on the Coast.- Embarked on a missionary ven- ture, Denny and Royal attempted to accent to the Hollywood officials that the film industry should not fight TV but should cooperate with it, since the two could Work to- gether for the benefit of their mu- tual boxoffices. Their talks were entirely exploratory and no deals were consummated at the time for.' the flimites to produce pix for video. - .. 1 Along with their other current . .„„..i„ i„ , CBS television will launch full i worries^ the film execs fear TV's gets the cable again for '"Your i 2,^5''!'"* programming on WCBS-i effect on'their b.o. But many M Show Time," series of half-hour I r^'."®^- ^'."*^^"'?^***^'""' ^^^ like to make films for tation of prize fights from Madison i "^^ yesterday (Tues.) for ad Sq. Garden, N. Y., under sponsor- *8ency execs that the station would ship of Gillette Safe^' Razor. films bankrolled bv American To-'*" the next two or'three months. phVv Tadio"'commenWoT"'a^^^ Web then" keeps the link' ^^'f veepee J L. Vaiii fvind.^ pontician."'Telev1s?o'n has I for baseball TV was 4:30 p. m. to- from 10 until closing for presen-, l^^^^^^^iJJ^^^^^jL^^ "sounded the death knell" of all j day; (lues.), with video outlets cool amplitude modulation radio in most' to Sox demands for $100,000. cities. Bannister said. i ^-P- Charles Comiskey wants The radio commentator who; ^ne-year contract, with 10-day drama! izcd week-old news to give! allowing cancellation if,,n.,. nilll ¥ moi rrn» n it a fresh taste for an audience ' ^^'^eo cuts-mto at endance. Alter-[ |J(fJJ\ PHILLIPS TELE which couldn't watch him will be : "fii^%«"^^/„'s reimbursement by: i lUiiWHJ ILLIi f^nnicA hv t]i<i p-imoi-a pv« nf toi« I ^'dco for difference in actual and, vfJi,^^ ■ • estimated home attendance, set fori U ion ' 1949 at 1,000,000. I He said 130 newspapers now are sox drew 777.844 last cither engaged in television - ations or trying to get in. or seven years, he added., ever city of over 50,000 -which can be penetrated by television impulses . . „ - will have a station. Cubs, a.sking S.'i,000 from each TV i both audio and video audiences- program 16 hours per day Monday through Friday by late spring. CBS thus becomes the second major TV web to go into continu- I ous daytime logging on such a SOAFER IN MON. BOW l D«Monrihose WA^^ oox tirew last year.' *„„ ?.tiij ,. ,' ' the-board. Both NBC and oper-. Comiskey said TV was "present I „, ^^^J^t PWldren," Irna p,an exDerimentinB^v^^^ In -SIX blind alley with unlimited future," P'""'P*ne* A^Vtmi. video serial,; fn'^^J^'P^^g'^J^Xi^^ NBC i, sched y .but one station manager accused ^P^s Monday (31) to NBC-TV. 'Jjey"!"!^^ fj"**'.,^^^ e him of "reading too much about Show will be tele ^Innovation in' a „r w c»t 1 ^ f i, S ™^ !s get-rich-quick television." Chi i that Miss Phillips is writing it for * two-hour show Rochester, N. Y., Lining ^'"^^ w gn-tv and wbkb . Up TV Affiliations m>|| « »*> Rochester N Y , Jan 25 I MlllrOSe UaHieS On IV outlet, already have inked pacts: she feels it's unfair.to ask house- wives to stop work to watch day- time. ^TVv- for the early forenoon as its ayem break-in on WJZ-TV, N. Y. Yesterday's clinic, attended by some 17* agency toppers, was staged by CBS officials in the Star- JdiS^w«tl"h^^„"tt,f"''i?5f.' 1 »8ht Roof of the Hotel Waldorf- ' Rochester's future television sta- tion, WHTM, will have network fa- cilities available by June, accord- ing to William A. Fay. veepee of Sti-omberg Carlson Co., owners ot the video outlet and station WII.-VM. Stromberg CarLson is investing $400,000 in the Pinnacle Hill trans- mitter which will bring television to Rochester. Local telescts ai'e now beamed for Buffalo channels. Network telecasts may be by radio relay . links rather than ciable, says Fay. trade is watching hopefully, think! Xltoria N Y as V follow.m Millro.se Games from Madi.son '"eth^t Miss Phillips'success may! lift weekend's ^e'ssioAs for the Sq, Garden, N. Y., will be televised ^'^V^ fend to bring Chi back into ! web's affiUate station onerators Saturday .29) night by CBS-TV as "^^^or importance as net produc-j Another cUnic is scheduTed for the first of five major winter track center, meets to be carried by the web.' Minimum sets and rehearsal ^ clients. Camels cigarclR spon.sors all five time, new lighting and camera tech-1 ^ thi-ouKli the William Esty agency, "'Que are planned. Characters Willi KTWMTCBWiW'Q put ■onci' Other meets scheduled are the be typed to permit integration of ^^^JttJIULttfflAH S tHl fO&T New York Athletic Club. Feb. 12; commercial inlo slorv. For tele u-n ^- l^hicago, Jan. 25. National AAU funiios, Feb. 19; Miss Phillips is emphatic in her Zimmerman, sales manager IC4A meet. Feb. 26, and the dislike of fore and aft commer- hLc h^i"'"" Advertismg Produc- Khights of Columbus meet. March eials. ^lons ^ moved up to the presi- .■5. Announcers to call the races ri'»<^»H .--m i^^ncx ot tliat^organization, succeed tele to take up the current studio lag and to get their feet wet in the iniedium. To placate exhibitors, however, the majors won't allow, their names to' appear on these films, but will turn them out under an indie banner. Several of the majors might also come up with a large-iicaie deluxe trailer for test runs on TV, Such a move will also be a method of placating the exhibs since, if the tests pan out, the film boxoffice will be helped. For these trailers, of course, the company's name will be given full prominence, same as in standard theatrical trailers. Desire of some of the top name stars in Hollywood to get on east- ern television may also prod the majors into moving faster into the medium. These performers are. jealous of the reams of publicity being given the TV stars in the east and resent the companies' ban on their. appearance - on live - video shows. As a result, they're expect- today (Wed) for advertiserK anrff°'"'=« ^heir way into luudy ^vyeu.) loi aavcrtis^rs and gi^g produced especially for video or else gain permission to do iiVe shows which can be, kinescopeV recorded for ; transmission over eastern stations. . , J u J, , " ■T—' Closed circuit co ax will iji,jb ma. Aioien Kndnpr Milwaukee—It's a TV baby for,;-* Sprague Voiner, of WTMJ-TV motion department. Seven half pound boy, first f)>^ Voiners, was named T. V. Thomas Victor.