Variety (Mar 1949)

Wednesday, March 2, 1949 TBUBflSiaN 29 NBG-m 48% IN 'NEW MONEV TV Must Develop Camera Technique To Capture Big Show^-Liebman By NAT KAHN WNBT's Tun With Arts^ "Fun With the Arts," a quizzer packagecl by. Jq Ranson aiid Dick Piack,. indie flacks/wilt be launiEhed Y , on m-director of the new Admiral- - -showTs'a revision of "The Seven sponsored program, Admiral, Arts Quiz" which was given a test Broadway Revue, has come up run in 194T for Jello, via YftR, A year ago a constant murmur in television was that program- piing would have to go far to reach the - technical advances. of ' the new medium^ The shoe has apparently been switched to the | ^u^tg-*Vng" hy" WN^^^ N other foot. Max Liebman, produ-! jyjarch 10 with a show whose scope and size, he feels, is at present a little ahead of eUrtent'day video.:,. He believes it's a healthy situation. "Now," he says; "the engineers will find a way to meet the camera's needs before a revue-type program can be tele- vised with maximum effective- ne'ss."- Liebman's show . has received some criticism that "it lacks in- timacy"—that it fails to bring pro- duction and audience together. But he has an answer for: that. "You can't relegate production values of a show to suit the needs of the camera," avers Liebman. "Just because the camera can only focus on, perhaps, two or three performers at a time, or just part of a stage setting, is no reason why the show should be planned withr ' in those limitations. If that were the case, a show would lose its 'feel,' its warmth, its real per- formance value." In short, Lieb- man tlilnks that a regular theatre sliow must be presented—that it's now up to the engineers to devise •. way in ; which to capture the whole picture. Vaude TV Gets Nix . "If intimacy were the sole un- qualified purpose of television, then the best- format certainly is the straight \ variety entertain- (Contlnued on page 40) Chicago, Mapch 1^ NBC threw the television book at its affiliates hel:e, today ; (Tues.), comiilg up . with! « ronhdrtobin of iigurgs ' aiid .sales potentials that had eyeii thfr-ihost hard'bit^fen' oii the' AM drum-beaters doin^ sdme eye-rubbing.. The "NBC Story." revealed for the first titrie at today's closing ■sessioh of the two-day affiliates', ine^tjng/ ,b .r o U g h t pairticularly heaftiSningv nfews to the station operators,: who have long felt that AM would be the first to take it on the, chin wlien the commercial video ball started rolling iii earnest, Herei are sorne Of the , dis- closures made by Harry C. Kopl,- NBC's administrative sales veepee, which Jtadlthe affiliate meiiibeicihip:! Seeing MuiB' ,Ty-: Skies:, A total Of 48% of NBC-tV ad- vertisers represented new ihOney —clients who did not use network radio in li948. Figures for the en- tire industi'y show tbat 24% of tele revenue came froin advertisers who were riot in radio in '48;- Of all tele network advertisers, 61% of top-name radio talent it has re-1 did not use AM facilities last year, cently latched onto, revealed this t^^us adding up to new money for week that it will have almost all the web. these stars on video before the No Radio Coin Cuts start of the summer. Spokesman | While 39% of current NBC-TV and is based on Ranson and Pack's "Quizbook of the Seven Arts.'^ George Wallach will be produc- tion assistant. CBS Radio Name Talent Due on TV Before Summer CBS, in the first disclosure of its television plans for the long list Set Prices Continue Downward Trend; Help Build First Trade-in Market Cars Come High The "heavy industries"; in television, notably represented by the automotive clients^ find tliemselves in a dilemma over the commercials in their in- ability to do them live. • . Ford; for example, currently represented by its 60-minute TV dramsitic series, and with its upcoming high - budgeted "Crystal Ball" CBS show, is known to favor a "live" com- mercial whereby the cameras could be trained directly on the product and the announcer. But as yet there isn't a studio big enough to permit for the live display, with result that it entails an investment of sev- eral thousand dollars to film each series of filmed commer- ci.ils. Berle Again Ahead in Feb. Milton Berle's "Texaco Star Theatre" again copped first place in the N. Y. TV Hooperating for Febrary, maintaining its place. at the top of the heap With a hefty 76,6. New listings reveal several newcomers in the charmed circle, including the "Admiral Broadway Revue," which gained third spot during its first month on the air; "Your Show Time," series of half- -■houf fltSis sponsored "By "American Tobacco on NBC-TV, and "Colgate Theatre,'' the only live dramatic sltow to hit the top 10 for the web declared that plans are now in full swing to build individu- al packages around each of the per- sonalities and that the venture will not necessarily await the start of ' the fall season. Web has recently bought a kine- scope recording unit, which is now being tested in N. , Y. for shipment to Hollywood as soon as all the kinks are worked out. With most of the new CBS talent roster head- network advertisers are using the I web's AM facilities, actually up to | the present time none of these i clients have cut-their radio ex-| penditures because of their entry i into TV. Advertisers who have not! used AM coin as, yet to enter video 1 include Admiral, American To-1 bacco, Chevrolet, Colgate, General Foods, Gulf Oil, Kraft, Liggett & Myers (Chesterfield), Oldsmobile, Philco, Procter & Gamble, Swift No-Eastbound Edict Snarls Chi TV Plans quartering on the Coast, the plan and Texaco, is to originate the shows at KTTV (RCA's annual financial state- (Hollywood station in which CBS ment revealed NBC-TV's sponsors owns 49% interest) and then tran- had doubled during 1948. See story scribe them on film for subsequent on Page 25.) transmission over the entire net-1 Addenda to NBC's video story: work. Web has already begun dick-1 as of Feb. 14, advertisers using the ering for sponsors and, according to the CBS spokesman, ''we hope to be able to start these shows pn a commercial basis." While all the picts signed with j the new CBS tsilent are belieyed to ,include, fuU,; Arrangements: for TVi it was pointed out that most of the AM stars who had never seen video in the east had ex- pressed a desire to study the east- ern ptograms before rounding out the formats for their own. shows. Stars also wArit tg wiake certain "that the filBi' recording process is. good enOugiir to insure they'll look okay bh the screen. Some Of the talent may do an experimental one- Following is the list, based only | shot from N. Y. when they come network numbered 25. (CBS was second with 11, DuMont was third with seven and ABC had four.) NBC led in sponsored time with (Continued ou page 40) 96.1 50.6 48 on regularly-.scheduled sponsored programs in the N. Y, metropolitan area: Progrram Station Rating Texaco Star Theatre.. WNBT 76.5 Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.. WCBS-TV Admiral Broadway J Revue* . .WABD & WNBT ToastOf Town . WCBS-TV : Arthur Godfrey & .Friends WCBS-TV 46.6 Break the Bank.. W JZ-TV 34.7 Your Show Time. WNBT 32.5 We, the People... WCBS-TV 32.2 Arrow Show.... WNBT 32.1 Colgate Theatre . .WNBT 30.2 ; •• Aired on bot)i sUiVionn; rating ;, w the combined audience- for bath. east and Jack Benny, for one, has already agreed to do a one-time show on the Coast this month. OHIO HOUSE PASSES PART BAN ON AUTO TV Full CBS Day Airing Soon Full davtime programming on WCBS-TV," N. Y. flagship of the CBS-TV web, is slated to get under way within the next 30 days, CBS tele veepee J. L. Van Volkcnburg disclosed this week. No time iias been sold yet on the station for the new project, but the program- ming staff has almost completed its lining up of the. various type shows that will be presented during the early afternoon hours. Van Volkenburg said the station would tee off its Monday-through- Friday program setup at 12 noon, remaining, on the air continually until signoff. Station then plans to experiment to determine how Columbus, March 1. Ohio's House of Representatives passed a bill last Tuesday (22) pro- liibiting television receivers, with screens visible to drivers, in motor i far back to push the daily startmg vehicles on the roads of OHio. i time, with the decision depending As originally presented by Rep. | - ^ow manyjiew^^^^^^^^ Joseph X. Schwartz, of Cincinnati ■ Chicago, March 1. Chicago's- determination to be- come increasingly important as a network video production center suffered a severe setback and has station ops hurling "unfair, un-^ fair" at the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. In April, AT&T will have two more east-west cables in operation. At the same time, they will re- claim one westbound and the only eastbound cable until 6 p.m. Chi time. Reason given is that the heavy long-distance load makes neces.sary the use of co-ax for regular phone company biz. j This means tjiere will be two ! cables for westbound daytime TV, and none for eastbound. Chi tele stations now oi'iginate about 35 eastbound shows weekly. In its plushier AM days, the Windy City was heavy on daytime stuff, and it. was planned that Chi would see a rejuvenation of network originaf, tion, mainly in daytime and low: budget video. But apparently AT&T has axed those co-ax plans, i First victim of the no-eastbound- j daytime edict of the telephone i company .was_Irna Phillips' "These 1 Are My Children." which was can- ! ceiled last Friday (25). Soaper ! strip had just completed a four ! week run. However, it would have 1 been finished at the 4 p.m. hour 1 regardless, come April. NBC offi- I cials were sati.sfied with the pro- : gram, but since it is soap opera, ; they felt it didn't warrant a night- time slot, and cancelled it to put efforts on other shows: Plans call ! for "Children" to go back on the i screen when eastbound daytime is i again available. I ABC-TV is concerned about the ! situation because of hefty Sun- I day afternoon originations,, one of i which is "Super: Circus,'' now un- 1 der consideration for sponsorship ; by several advertisers. Further indications that televi- sion set prices will reach the mas* consumer level soon were provid- ed this week by a drastic slash by DuMont up and down the line on its new models and by similar price cuts by other manufacturers: : At the same time it was revealed that the rush to buy larger-screeri. sets by viewers who had owned re- ceivers for several years was build- - ing TV's first trade-in market. ' DuMont's price cuts ranged from $20 on its 12Tiinch table model (from $445 to $425) to $100 on some of the larger sets, such as • the 15-inch Savoy console, reduced from $815 to $715. Crosley, which manufactures sets on a cross-licens- ing arrangement with DuMont, an- nounced a reduction of $40 in its 10-inch table model, bringing the price down to $299:95, believed the lowest yet for any 10-inch set with ' FM. Westinghouse, meanwhile, brought out a lO-inch, table model to list at $325,' and General. Elec- tric introduced two new, sets, one -: a 12V^-inch table job at $399.95 and the other a lO-inch table model. at $325. General price reductions, it is believed, are mainly^ responsible for the number of sales to set- owners desiring larger screens, which, thereby established the trade-in market. Many of those are now: able to buy, the new 16- ' inch metal tube receivers for : slightly more than they might have paid for their original 10-inch jobs. The desire for the larger tubes has been noticed by dealers in: almost every price category. Thus, ac- cording to United States Televi- sion prez Hamilton Hoge, those with seven-inch sets now want the 10-inchers, those with lO's want the 121/i, and those with the 12W- inch jobs now desire the 15 and le^inch models. 10% for a Trade^n Most dealers will, offer 1C(% for a traderin if the: old set-is in good , condition. Dealer then, puts the.' set into good working condition: and offers it for sale at a reduced price and with a 90-day guarantee. Heaviest trade-ins so far have been (Continued on page 38) Inces Silent Pix Offered for Tele Hollywood. March 1. Sixty silent pix are being put on the television market by the' Thomas Ince estate. Films, all made by the late director^producer, include: subjects starring Hobart Bosworth, Charles Ray, Leatrice Joy and William S. Hart. ;Vaude-booker Eddie Sherman, who is repping the'Ince estate oH the footage, will get 50% of all video coin realized. Deals are afoot with KFI-TV here and with N. Y. Daily News' WPIX. Sherman I has a pricetag of $100 per telensing I on most of; the product. Buzzell Preps TV Package Of Pic Stars'Screen Tests -Hollywood, March: 1, Eddie Buzzell is working on a Video deal in which he'll package first screen tests of present-day stars with live-action as they are today. Director has already been assured the appearance of several I -- - , , . i. -^^ freslaiice players. | operated In New York is being Lineup of thesps will probably offered in the Legislature by Sen. the bill would have banned all TV sets in motor vehicles, but this was amended on the floor to limit the ban to screens visib)ie to the vehicle driver. Bill exempts emergency vehicles and those used in licensed televi- sion transmission. It now is in the Senate for action. Passage ap- pears certain. Albany BJU Prepped Albany, March 1. bill to outlaw tele in autos be wholly confined to freelance Players, since it's not expected stu- ttios will okay appearance of any M their stars on television, but Biwzell, nevertheless, will make P"ch for some of these, too, Thomas C. Desmond; Newbiugh Republican. Desmond said that a bill now pending in the Legislature pro- hibiting tele in autos is "hasty and inadequate." be available in the pre-noon period ''Once we get on the air," Van Volkenburg said, "research will point the way." In line with this; it is noted that WABD (DuMont, N. Y.), which originated full day- time programming, originally teed off at 7 a. m. dally, but recently switched its schedule to a 9 a. m. sign-on. According to the CBS-TV exec, WCBS-TV will attempt to do a ".sounder job" than the type of daytime shows which have been the rule until now, revolving main- ly around women's ehatter pro- grams. Station will carry its full daytime schedule up to the base- bail season and then program around the ball games. WCBS- TV signed recently to pick up all home games of the Brooklyn Dodg- ers, under Schaefer Beer sponsor- ship. WDLE' IN BIG SWITCH ON GOODRICH PICKUP A switch involving networks, , sponsors and time ' will take' place I as a result of Goodrich, picking up ' the tab on "Riddle Me This" in- I stead of General Electric, the cur- I rent bankroller. ! In April, "Riddle" will move i from CBS to ABC, occupying the I spot previously held by "Actor's I Studio," Sundays at 8:30 p.m. i ':'Studio" will be moved tp,another i: night on ABC. with Thursday as I the most probable bet. Reason for I the shift is that both shows are i World Video packages and are at , present opposing each other. Con- ( rad Nagel is emcee and Ilka Chase and John Daley regular partici- i pants on "Riddle." Benny, Lum 'n' Abner In TV Bow On KTTV Hollywood, March 1. In the first bow of CBS' new radio star talent into television, Jack Benny j Rochester and Lum 'n' Abner, have been set to appear in an hoiir-long variety show next Tuesday (8) marking the official dedicatory kickoff Of KTTV, Los Angeles Times station in which- CBS, owns a 49*'?; interest. Show will mark the TV preem of the' AM stars. Also scheduled for the program are the Andrews, Sisters, Bob Cros-' by and Margaret Whiting, all of ,whom have appeared in other TV shows on the Coast. Benny will emcee the pre gram and will also do a new hillbilly skit, plus a sar tire of his "Love in Bloom" rou* I tine with concert violinist Isaac I Stem. Murray Bolen will product [the show.