Variety (February 1950)

1950 VBi.Bvisfe]V The FCC i»pp®ars to have released a keg of worms in the restrictive i)oVvei‘s'it has placed on NBG ini the web’s bid to inaugurate its highly- touted *-Saturday Night Plan'* for TV^ iThis isTthe two-and-a-half-hpur weekly entertafement parlay with both New York and :Chicago origi- naiions which, in essence/i^a carryover of radio’s '^biock progi^mm^^ techhiquO into network tele, since NBC would be committing affiliates ' to stick with it for-the; full 150-minUte Tide.' By OEORGB ROSEN The “battle royal-' is on iii video for the No. 1 Hooner-Nielsen lau- rels in the dramatic field. Behind the move of *‘Lux Radio ! The FGC/with considerable prodding from DuMont, which also initi- ated moves to enlist the sympathies and action of GBS has, in effect, | told NBC: ?‘You cah’t do this!” ‘ The restrictions thus put on N^^ which now iirtds^tseif committed to sustain an ela borate, co stly Sat- LThentee^iievei^ Brds) to" abSotiii- ^ < ,uuv,uuu .urday ehtertainment pattern, with afl^iates permitted to “cOme iri”, onl ‘^Screen Guild players,'’ the 30- i a half-hbur basis, make it a precarious financial undertaking. j minute radio dramatic showcase ! which Caihel is drOipping: at the i Love TKal: < Godfi^ey! Arthur God^^^ ptoved his value to GBS in a new way this week, Oodfrey, who is sponsible for about $7,000,000 It could be that the “Saturday Night Plan” .will be a major flop. On ‘ end of the current season, is a re-1 the Other hand, it may evolve into TV’s most exciting formula to date, ; ported “looking to the TV future” both 'in terms of entertainment arid in establishing a selling pattern: ' when the Driver hierarchy plans to ■ NBO^ 'ris such, deserves eve^ opportunity to give it a whirl, v ; [ move, into the video, sweepstakes |' ■ ^ ^ i ' and duplicate the phenomenal sue-' Show business hks thrived Oh a “survival Of the fittest ’ coneept. and cess of its Monday night Lux • The 'chnW-rnirirtf*/!- inim’<»carir» u/lfh ; . • . > with TV it should be no diff The Show-minded impresario- with Vstknza. the best should rate the mbst in the payoff colunin.- B^ at the r-i.nyi ok expense ,ot shoving th..cG{#e^^^ : > _ 1- / ? _ii_* _ j- j • 1. • ‘ 1 • A ^ arid teleyisioh shows, was elect- ed to' the - board of Hi-V Corp., makers of frozen Orarige juice. On Monday (20), the outfit 6 p- tioned the 7:45 to 8 p.m. slot Tuesdays arid Thursdays bn. WCBS-TV, the. web’s Nv Y. 1 Videb flagship. No program has yet. been deriided on for the spot, With the .starting , date to be depend- ent on that. Franklin Bruck VPerhaps DuMont is justified in crying "'nionophly" at NBQ's bid fortrfSr^ agency handles the account. ^ exdusivity on 150 miriutes of valuable time segments. . What guarantee efanza’ itself And vvlth a monnnolv • ' ^ «ili epntinue to be 'the best without: ,! constant competit on . i ures its major TV headache wiU be But NBG, too, has a point; When should injectiori of show busi- ; : . ness (and. busiiiess) into TV be dictated' by the number of lines avail- : ”bW, Lux Radio^Tbeatre, able?. Or who is tb say whether 15, 30, .60 or 150 minutes constitute ' v ^ block programming? .And since NBC iri compelled to confine its project j to affiliate stations/perhaps the tiriie has come, too, for TV to break ^ lo^don spot. away from the old AM pattern of network affiliated statioris (a move j . champibned years ago by ex-FCC chairman James Lawrence Fly), to i : permit for a iriore flexible mode of operation. | It behooves the FCC to solve the technical limitations before it can be in a pgjsition to rule on innumerable other questions that will cori- stantiy arise. . Until that’s done, the growth of Saturday Night and all other TV nights is bound to be stymied. Extension of television’s coaxial cable to other cities is expected to draw intensified demarids from af- filiate stations for a better deal from the networks. While the clamn.u frbria viewers Will force thri affiliates to hitch onto the cable as soon as it is available in their ter- ritory, most stations now contend that they can make but much bet- ter financially as non-intercorinect- , ed outlets. Being able to take their network shows live, instead of via kinescope, will actually cut into their operating rieveriue. Situation is based on the usual demand of the webs for more net- work option time once the cable coriies in. Affiliates are thus forced to give up part of their local op- tion time, on which they can get j 85riri Of their card rates (100% minus .the agehey. commissions), for network shows on which they get paid Only 33%. In addition, the fact they must take their net- i work feeds simultaneous with the ; programs’ origination cuts into (Gontinued on page 38) I ThU Is TV? TV Ripley of the season is the use Of those earphoiie props by Robert Montgomery during the between^acts com- mentary on the . NBG'TV “Lucky Strike Theatre” pro- gram. The earphones are. strictly a throwback to early radio, “and by the furthest stretch of the imagination how do you asso- ciate them with TV?” as one baffled Viewer put ft. Di*ama Contenders . . Top contenders for . leader- ship in the ’i'V dramatic sweep- stakes follow: “Lucky Strike Theatre” (NBG, Mondays). “Studio; One” (GBS, Mon- days), , “Kraft Television Theatre” (NBC, Wednesdays). “Ford Teleyision Theatl’e’! fCBS, Fridays). : “Silver Theatre” (CBS, Mondays). ■' “Ghevroiet Theatre” (NBC, Mondays). “Colgate Theatre” (NBC, .Sundays). “Philco Television Play- house” (NBC, Sundays).. “Actbi’s Studio” (CBS, Fri- days—Sustaining). . “♦■ NBC television will take one bf the longest gambling odds in- recent broadcast history star^^^ Saturday (25), Confronted with an EGG nix on its rriethpd of ordering af fill a tri station time mr f be twb- and-a-half hour' spread, the web has cbiripletrily vvithdrawn all time Orders. ' .instead, it Will proceed with the $50,000 per week show on ' a \ standard sustairiirig ba.sis. That riicaris both the affiliates and advertisers will have an oppbrtuni- ;ty to view the shOw .at the web’s . expense,iand judge -it against com- peting networks’ programs before 'committing themselves.' , i . lilven with NBG’s ; changri ^ plans, it’s believed the FGG; might still reprimarid some Of the stations Which. had previously subscribed. As far as the Commission is con- cerned,, stations . which accepted ♦ the web’s . offer have; violated ;the chain regulation,s. This was ;made plain by the EGG in setting aside ; license renewals (granted by over- sight since the original NB(^ offeri of; WPT?:. . Philadelphia,, peridirig . determinatioh. of whether hearings | \vill be held on the renewal appli- , cations. Sixteen other .stations, which accepted the . NBC plan • miglit also be vuluerable to .COmr- . mission action when their yearly , Chicago, Feb. 21., ’ renewal applications e x p i r e. , Dissent ^arnong NBp-TY^ toppers • Whether they'will be let. Oil will . : here is reaching a new high .With -depend on the explanations giveii I the latest eause for anger, the mov- ! the Commissi.dn by the deadline j ing iri of the Nevv York home Offico ' imposed for Friday (2). I force and the takeover of the Chi-.i ■. Commission had also postponed j cago hour segment of the Saturday i license reriewal of WTMJ-TV, Mih [night; 150-minute Variety show,- Up ; waukf>e, hut reversed its decision to last .week project had been a ; on receipt Of a sworn statement Windy City, programming witlv.i'ronv.manager V/alter Damm. that I accent on the informal presenta- Ition., similar to “Garroway at ■ Large.” What irks the local head.s 1 was the boycott by the major talent [ agencies, who refused to submit { talent in the early stages, princi- pally MCA and William Morris, after survey in. which Jack Ru.sseh, head of Mutual Entertainment, found virtually untapped talent for I yideb. However, the major ageh- (Confinued on page 35) ciekat first refused to deal through And the Lever braintrust, wffh an | as booker •I awareness of the future and the | for the hour, but both later agree The wages and hours committee of the Television Authority ha.s: I agreed dn a wage scale for several I'• ‘._.xT ' _ r - i-' !. -.i— . and salaries ha.s been arrived at. Demands are expected to be pre- sented to the networks shortly, in- asiriuch as TVA feels that unless an agreement With the video webs is: arrived at soon, performers will it Wrill hold the same commandirig ; Then J;ack Carter and William lead in teleyision. . i Morris moved in with the bles.sing I Blit the competition is getting : of Pat Weaver,' NBC tele operations : plenty rough. Already American - head, witlr complete crew coming Tobacco Co., via its “Lucky Strike: in from New York to do the pre- Theatre ” which has Robert MonU' liminary engineering details. Tecli- gomery as host and producer, has ; nical men are reyamping the i ijg taking an economic loss, staked a major claiin In a bid to ; Stiidebaker legit h 0 U.se, which was Tentative scale on dramatic inherit the Lux mantle In TV. Vin- ‘ leased for 13 weeks at $1,000 i shovvs will be. $100 for a full hour cent Riggio, AmericanTobacco weekly, and dption.ST In the present, plus $6 per-hour rehear.sal ’ prez, has established a choice time, phasci Carter has the nix b?. | fee. Same rehearsal fee will be 1 franchise^9:36 to 10:30 Monday ^ talent, arid accordingly, Winiam i fpr all show.s. Actors on I nights on NBG—and feels confi-: Morris garner.s the largest share of [ iihlFhoiir di.splays will get $67,50 1 dent that the Montgomery auspices [ talent, it being ^ their package, those on quarter-hour shows will be a natural sesame in latch-' While Dorothy Glaire is set for the |^,m getting $50. [ing on to choice pix properties first show: a replacerriont, possibly] This scale was aiT^ since PhilartAlnhia Feh 21 ! personalities that otherwise Lina Romay. may take her place m the committee ■ Tolcvislonshfiwt^that hav/been !. We_ permanent company. Dojalfi tele working conditions :are ■ orltestcTm S video form S - the competition in the race Richards, former singing lead of different than in most other fields staU oCrformancer ^ ! *® translate the Lux radio; payoff .F’hh'n^s i of 5 hoiy-busine.ss. General run of over WFD TV .ta Monday '"to TV doesn’t stop there. West- rie Abbott line make up the resL ^ actor can do many shows per S arrange i ‘RSHousc, Ford, Kraft, Chevrolet; ; o.r the pormanentA.a.rt.^Interesting , ^ fn b/ tWflrst of Its Colette; international Silver—alt sMeJight fs that Miss Cl.aw'e 's an ; commUled will be able to do only .ment, believed tc/be the fifst Of _ - MCA property, while Mi.ssRomay : FiTgidalre is", taking i ment, peii^a m pe jne o^^ ^ Uie video dramatic ; MCA property, ^ i-"v i" ^ has .been [ pishing for the top audi- beiortgsto WM. , w'prfced put in conjpncUon with, the • ance hid. WB.stinBhoiise. with its , When tiie shew ^ (Con ti riued. pri . page 38) all-star lineups, . , ! Saturday dvenings preceding the; Two broadcast date.s .already i The Saturday matinee. picked ; a!* Easter . and^; Mother s pf perform- Day. with the-likelihood that the Igp in of the TV cameras. stanzas will also be skedded on Father’s Day, Thanksgivirig and Christmas-—with other dates to be. added if series pays off saleswise. Nut for each show, will bri around .$100,000—of wliich Bob Hope v ill, get $40,000 for his stint, which inr cidentally will. mark his bow in commercial’TV; All four video nets are pitching for the busihess, which will go to The Berwyn Playhouse series, over WFiL-TV will employ pro^ ; (Continued on page 38) Hub’s 2761100 Sets Interest in the TV drarnatic sweepstakes was heightened last- Hooper Theatr second presentation (“Kitty ; video operation.^: ■ : Ronsph is picking; tip the tab'for I a 13rvvcck seiie.s of “20 Questions” j OP; ABC-TV rind WOR-TV, N. Y., WaqliinfTton Feb 21 i iri .a Friday Evening Spot, starting Grbiip of television' tcchniclahs frbm : Austria. Belgium,. Czeeho- siovakiji. Penniark. FranGCi Hun- b, a red via Italy, NetherJeands, Swoderif or me auuio. The. te^eversion is Boston, Feb. 21. Hub area video sets sales rapidly - t. the web'that can line up the best mounting I clearancris. Problem of inking vey by Hub s W^Av-TV arid WBZ-; outlets is a toughie, because at TV showing 276,900 sets lustallcd , least two of stanzas will air on ; of. Fetj i^ ! * Sundays, oii which there is a multi-' This is; an . increase of 28,617 sets : plicil v o'’ co.ndiets: Deal is being over the previous month. Break-1 hand’ed by the Chicago office of down shows 272,098 sets in homes i Foote, Coiie & Beldirig. ' and 4,882 in public places. 1 Foyle”) shooting far out in front of CBS’ brace of compet- ing Monday night shows. With Columbia’s opposition “Studio One” getting a 19.0 and “The Goldberg’s” a 20.0, American Tobacco and BBD& O execs were doing hand- springs over the big-time pay- off for “Luiicky Strike Thea- tre” in its second time up. They will come as guests of the . State Dept, to. Nine. ABC-TV stations have Avatcli demonstrations in New already been iriked, but more'may ; York, Philadelphia and Washing- be added. Whether. WJZ-TV'will. ; I 0 D/ also carry the airer in Gotham Among blhcr things they will hasnH yet been decided. Teleyer- ’ see our developmcrits in color TV. sion will take a 10 week summer Group, representing countries in hiatus/ but return to WOR-TV on ithe Internatibnal Radio Consuita- Sept: 8 . with the probability that I live Gommittee, will seek to lay ABCtTV will pick up on Septi 22 ' down Intcrnationalttechnical stand- and run “ 20 ” through . Dec. '15. l ards for teirivislon. i Agency Is Grey.