Variety (June 1950)

Wednesday, June 21) 1950 RADIO-TELEVISION Tele Chatter canjdian w Series fCC Okays Multiplexed FM Tests New York ; Bob Bloch, production assistant a — “jcathi Norris Show,” incapaci- 1 ? n foAor 15 weeks in a skiing fra- cas hback on the job with his leg inest on ABC-TV’S Paul Whiteman stanza Sunday (25) , ' a- ' Charles Columbus, national director of Fred Astaire dance studios, work- a Ine on routines for upcoming tele- , !;pr«?ion of “Lucky Strike Hit Pa- ( rade" n . WOR-TV launching "TV , premiums" tonight lWedJ at 8 , cm under sponsorship of TV Pre- t £m Stores" Inc. Wilbur Stark- j Jerry Layton outfit has signed Red Benson to emcee . ,. Edith Atwater j to play f emme lead on CBS-TV s “Play’s the Thing” adaptation of . “The Good Companion” Friday j CBS-TV’s new Garry Moore show scheduled to preem next ; Monday (26) in the 7 to 7:30 slot ] across-the-board, with the show to , start on a simulcast basis the fol- ] lowing Monday ... Worthington - Miner sailed Friday (16) aboard . the Saturnia for a European vaca- , tion. Before leaving, he set 13 ve- hicles for next season on CBS’ “Studio One” . . . National Televi- sion Film Council celebrating its second anni next Wednesday (28) with a luncheon forum at the Ho- tel Warwick . . , ‘NBC’s “Mo- hawk Showroom” originating from WNBW, Washington, next Monday (26) as part qf the web’s experi- mental colorcasts . » . Richard Seff inked for featured role on “They Live in Brooklyn,” new situation comedy series preeming Tuesday (27) on WPIX . . . Dennis James recuperating from a vrius infec- tion, in a New Rochelle hospital. Don Russell is subbing on his “Okay, Mother” daytimer via Du- Mont, with Charles Stark replacing James on DuMont’s wrestling , . Walter Hart, director of CBS-TV’s “Goldbergs,” pacted by Paramount to direct the film version of “Rise of the Goldbergs,” being lensed on the Coast this summer \ .■. Stanton M. Osgood named manager Of NBC's film department, replacing N. Ray Kelly, who went over to the Weintraub agency. Osgood for- merly was director of TV produc- tion at CBS. Hollywood KLAC-TV has leased 13 pix from WPIX, N. Y., for third run showing locally , . . KTTV has inked contracts with Hollywood Park and Del Mar tracks to pre- sent, exclusively, a 30-minute film of the horse races each night. Hol- lywood Park races will be beamed for four weeks, starting Tuesday (27). Del Mar will be televised for six weeks, beginning July 26 . . . Two pilot films for “Hey, Taxi!”, teevee series being produced at Hal Roach Studio by Abraham Haimson under Magnafilm banner, will star Sid Melton. Marjorie Lord is also set for the half-hour layouts. Eugenio de Liguoro di- rects . . . Tim Timmins is joining the A1 Jarvis staff as production liaison exec. Timmins is a former Navy lieutenant having just re- tired . , . Tom Sarnoff has been named assistant production man- ager of KECA-TV under Carlton Winckler. Chicago Ransom Sherman planed in Thursday (15) to begin work on his cross-the-board video strip which takes over the “Kukla,” Fran & Ollie” spot on NBC July 3 for summer . , , Jack Page’s new package featuring magico-comic Johnny Paul preems on WBKB ihursday, 9:30 p.m. for Drewey’s ?i e Wu- CP mm encement concert of ;££xV£L Co Bservatory telecast from WENR-TV’s Civic theatre studio *; Jim. Shelby, radio-TV director of McCann-Erickson Chi office, in , Louis over the weekend check- ing up on agency’s “Mrs. America” wT* 011 KSD-TV for Griesedieck- vvestern Breweries. Show, a World video package using a. married jy,?n 1£ !i n „i )eau ty contest switch, pulled 6,700 votes first five days * • Ton * Gilman of WENR-TV’s Our Gal Toni” show squeezing in a trip to the Coast this week be- v n ee J, Friday night shows . . . Hal-. icr a fter s Co., tele set manufac- turer, reports sales up 102% dur- la st three months . . . Jack Pit- man will produce B. I. Miller & p ac kage> “Tavern Treasure , wh > ch will kickoff on WGN- iX Jul y 12 for Merchandisers, Inc. sS? Pew p war will script the inn 1 ? * v Satton & Powers, sing- Tv» du i featured guests on WENR- tL J afad Cr Monda y (26) • • • Milwaukee area serv- iced by WTMJ-TV now total H4,664 ... John Ravenel of McCann Erick- son video staff back at his desk after a three-month layoff due to illness. KLZ’s ‘Let’s Talk It Over’ Denver, June 20. Public relations has been given an added stimulus by KLZ, Denver, with the inauguration of a new dis- cussion series, “Let’s Talk It Over.” To bring to listeners be- hind-the-scenes news of AM, FM and TV, KLZ general manager Hugh B. Terry and KLZ depart- ment heads are heard in a weekly series explaining the whys and wherefores of the station’s opera- tion, in addition to answering mail from listeners. Program is heard Saturdays, 12:15 to 12:30 p.m., following KLZ’s “Voice of the News” broad- cast and preceding Dodger home baseball games on a good many Saturdays where it can attract a good audience. Swinging to York Mills Toronto, June 20. With York Knitting Mills drop- ping the sponsorship of “Singing Stars of Tomorrow” after seven years, tab will be picked up next season by Canadian Industries, commencing Oct. 22, with series again carried by some 30 key sta- tions of the trans-Canada network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Sunday wetekly series (9 p. nr. EST) will retain same for- mat and originate' from CJBC, Toronto. Three scholarships to- talling $3,250 go to the successful vocalists chosen at the finish of the season by auditioning panels, with all others receiving standard per- formance rates. John Adaskin will continue as producer, with Rex Battle as musi- cal director, according to Cockfield- Brown ad agency here. Columbus—Darrell B. McDougle, staff photographer, has been named motion picture director of WBNS- TV, succeeding Kenneth Goodman, who joined the station in the pre- dedication days of last year. (3 Shows at Same Time) in N.Y. Washington, June 20. Reflecting desire to give FM a helping hand wherever possible, FCC last week authorized a 90-day experiment to use an FM station to transmit three or more programs simultaneously. Such multiplex operation is already an accom- plished fact in transmitting fac- simile during AM broadcast hours. The experiment will be carried on by Multiplex Development Corp. of New York which will utilize the abandoned commercial channel of FM station WGYN which ceased operations nearly/two months ago. The authorization calls upon the company to field test its newly de- veloped multiplex system “looking to the simultaneous transmission of one or more multiplexed aural FM programs concurrently with the emission of the main aural pro- gram without impairing the quality of the main program.” The corporation plans to deter- mine the potentialities of using the second signal for transitcasting, the tlhird for storecasting, and possibly the fourth for functional music. Owners of the firm are William S. Halstead and Alvin Untermeyer of the law* firm of Guggenheim and Untermeyer. KPET Transfer Okayed Lamesa, Tex., June 20. The FCC has approved assign- ment of the license of KPET from R. O. Parker, R. A. Woodson and K. S. Ashby, operating as the Old South Broadcasting Co., to Parker and Woodson. Ashby sells his 24% interest for $20,000. Parker then will have 63% interest in the outlet and Wood- son will have 37%. KPET oper- ates with 250 watts daytime on 690 kilocycles. an emergency . . . a store and a TELEVISION STATION! I N THE EMERGENCY of Atlanta’s crippling transit strike. Rich’s, the South’s largest department store, used television, with WSB-TV as the vehicle,!or offering its patrons a service unique in merchandising. This was the logic: If the cus- tomers cannot come to the store, let 9 s take the store to the customers . On the eighth day the busses had lain idle in their yards, Rich’s television shopping service began. WSB-TV cameras were set up in the store on the fourth floor of Rich’s famous bridge building. Then, in itially, for three hours daily the store’s telephone shopping service was integrated with a video display and demonstration of merchandise. This was the idea in its stark sim plicity: “What would you like to see? ... telephone us .. * ive 9 ll show it to you ... we will deliver it. 99 Rich’s store personnel worked with WSB-TV staffers to make the program one of the most talked-of services ever offered by any depart- ment store in Aifierica. And sales have more than justified the effort. Rich’s daily telecasts are being continued over WSB-TV for the strike’s duration. Already the suc- cess of the venture is attested to. It is a significant first for Rich’s and for WSB-TV. Important to advertisers inter eeted in the great Atlanta market should be this factor: When the chips were down . . . when an en tirely new approach to customer service was needed . • * one of America’s really great retail estab- lishments ($58,000,000 last year) turned exclusively to WSB-TV — the,Eyes of the South! ik-t Wfp-tv ON PEACHTRII STRUT C ATLANTA Represented by Edw. Potry & Co., In*.