Variety (December 1950)

rT’‘ Paley Back to Wartime Status? ^hlle thereof nothing official; a report^ afloat that CBS board chairman William S. Paley may vacate the spot at the network and return to a wartime status as a key aide to Gen. Dwight D. pisenhower, when the latter moves into the western European theatre as Supreme Commander. During the last war Paley, as a colonel, headed up the radio Opel ations of the Psychological Warfare Division, with headquar* ters in London. Paley, it’s understood, has been in frequent communication With the White House and top military aides. This, coupled with the fact that he’s been solidifying the web’s structure, with such ckccu- tive appointments as Daniel T. O’Shea, is regarded by some as a prelude to his leaving .the network command to prexy Frank Stan- ton and his 20tli floor aides. The Paley-Eisenhower tie stemming from World War II has been pronounced through the subsequent peacetime era, with Paley also serving on Eisenhower’s board of trustees at Columbia U. ningmg on Excess rronK l ax Angle Some hush-hush negotiations have been going on during the past week, which may result in a five- year sponsorship deal for the ra- dio-television rights to. the World Series. This Is predicated on the assumption that the bankrolling coin involved could be written off in one fell swoop, in the event that the 75% excess profits tax is slapped on big business. Although Gillette has a first re- fusal on the ’51 pickup of the Se- ries, the identity of the sponsor in- volved is being kept under wraps. The razor company paid $800,000 for the video rights alone for the past series, and in view of Baseball Commissioner A. B. (Happy) Chan- dler’s previous declaration that the *51 series should fetch $1,000,000, a five-year radio-TV deal W'ould en- tail a multi-mlllion-dollar layout. The prospective client. It’s under- stood, has been doing some fast huddling w'ith attorfieys over the past week in a bid to determine the legality of writing off that kind Of coin on a single tax return. If an affirmative decision Is forthcoming, it’s generally antici- pated that similar deals will even- tuate, involving major radio and television property rights, not to mention film deals, etc. Should the 75% nick go through, the agencies and advertisers are alerted to move in on sponsorship deals. Radio, particularly, is eyeing a resurgence which could pour mil- lions in network coffers. For ‘Maugham’ There’s likelihood of the “Somer- set Maugham Theatre” TV dra- matic showcase on CBS also get- ting an AM ride for. the same spon- sor, Tintair, sparking a new tele- •^^.'^’^dio program trend. Tintair prexy Martin Strauss last week purchased the Saturday morning 11 ;3o 10 noon time on Co- mmbia, within two days after Lever Rros, had decided to cancel out on the time and its “Junior Miss” shoW; In addition to spofisOrship of the Maughain Series on TV, Straitss Wants to spot a radio version in the Saturday time. If difficulties are encountered, he mav buy “Ro- mance” or another CBS dramatic package. New acquisitionwyi give Tintair an ambitious spread, client also sponsoring a 15-minute segment of the Sunday afternoon Frank Si- matia radio show on CBS. In ad- oition Tintair w'ill participate in ®P®«soi*ship of “Cavalcade of Stars” ^^^^^^^avalcade of Bands,” both on Peter Lind Hayes diipMMi with tomt f09« odvkt, qrofif. Stay in the Parlor ond: out of tho studio * * * OR omuliRg byllRO fuoturo Ir tht forthcomlflg 45ih Anniversary Number of Stations Switch ABC’s Whodunit Shifts ♦1 Camel having picked up 10 Dick Powell starrer, “Richard J^iamond,” currently on NBC, for J Friday slot on ABC 5, the web is shifting ^ts.^hodunit lineup, I'at Man” moves to 8:30 ptn. 'M'dnosdays bn Jan. 3. The Dick IV • I'l Anything” stanza II / a brief hiatus, shifting to 1 .'^ .p.m. Tuesday spbt on ..'Jan. 23, , ...... . . L _ Minneapolis, Dec. 19. The Midwest was a hot battle- ground last week in the struggle for communications supremacy as Gardner (Mike) and John Cowles muscled two of their stations, KRNT and WNAX, out of the ABC fold and into the CBS lineup. The Cowles brothers and pub- lisher Luther Hill of the Cowles- owned Des Moines newspaper dynasty moyed In on Columbia’s headquarters at 485 Madison ave- nue, New York City, took a quick look (no pun intended on names of their two publications) at the office of station relations veepee Herb Akerberg and then invaded the Bill PalCy precincts. At the same time a 24-pouhd dressed turkey (Continued on page 82) WMR’s 16C Take li Akron, Dec. 19, Over $16,000 was taken in by WAKR via its annual “Shara- Christmas” Show. Program, joint- ly sponsored by the radio station and the Akron Beacon Journal, be- gan at 8 p.m. Saturday (16) and ran for six hours. Production, copyrighted by WAKR, featured almost 100 different acts, local civic leaders, public officials. Industrial- ists and business men. Coin de- rived from the airer is distributed between various local charities. Participants included ABC prexy Robert E. Kinter, Paul Whiteman, Ted Malone, Ted Mack and George V. Denny, Jr. All expenses are carried by WAKR, while talent is donated. Treynor’s. NAB Post Washington, Dec. 19. NAB hAs appointed as assistant director of .station relations Wil- liam K. Treyhor, until recently with i WTOP-TV in Washington, D. C. 1 Treynor was formerly with WOL 1 in Washington.’ Detroit, Dec. 19. G. A. Richards* efforts to sapolio his name, refute charges of “news- slanting” and hold on to his li- censes for WJR here. KMPC, Los Angeles^ and 'WGAR, Cleveland, have cost him $1,000,00(1, it was re- vealed in the FCC hearings last week. Sessions were an almost monot- onous parade of character witness- es attesting to the “patriotic” and ‘‘unbiased” operation of WJR, in- | terrupted only by frequent angry exchanges by the attorneys.. During Friday’s violent verbal bombastics, Hugh Fulton, counsel for Richards, accused FCC coun- sel of a “contemptible attempt to injure relations” between Richards and musicians who play for pro- grams for rebroadcast in L. A. The wrangling grew from cross- examination of Jack Ferentz, pres- ident of the AFL musician’s union in Detroit, by FCC Attorney Frederick W. Ford, Ferentz testified he had had no trouble with WJR bosses. Ford asked: “Would you continue to vouch for the high character of Mr. Richards and WJR if you knew that the station was caught red- handed cheating your musicians in 1941?” Ford then read a letter written In 1941 by Leo J. Fitzpatrick, former WJR general manager, to Richards. The letter referred to the sending of transcriptions to KMPC of a WJR-originated pro- gram for rebroadcast in L. A. The letter said in part: “While we are not supposed to do this, we will keep it up till the musicians’ union makes a squawk.” At this point, Fulton called read- ing of the letter “a contemptible at- tempt to injure relations between the musicians’ union and this sta- tion.” Ford replied by shouting that Richards ‘Tried to cheat” the union. When Ferentz was permitted to answer Ford’s original question he said that royalties were paid in full to WJR musicians when the mat- ter of rebroadcasting the transcrip- tions was brought to WJR’s atten- tion. “It was all a mistake, I guess,** Ferentz mumbled. He added that it was more than two years before the union found out about the practice. By that time royalty fees had reached more than $40,000 which Was promptly paid, he said. Claims Evidence Withheld Earlier in the week, Richards’ at- torney, Joseph W. Burns, again ac- cused the FCC of withholding evi- dence favorable to Richards. He referred to a letter dated Oct, 21, 1941, which Richards addressed to Fitzpatrick. The letter, which Burns said was “a complete defense of Richards” said that his three stations “Must and should immediately adopt a policy which simply oozes America for Americans from every stand- point;'* The letter also instructed Fitzpatrick to “look into the legal (Continued on page 32) TWA BUYS mANDINGS’ , FOR SUN. SHOWCASING Trans World Airlines (TWA), in its first network sponsorship deal, has bought the Gary Grant radio show, “Mr. Blandings,” based on the “Blandings Dream House” pix- mag series, for a Sunday afternoon showcasing. Show, packed by Don Sharpe, will go into the 5:30 to 6 p.m. NBC slot, preceding the web’s “Big Show,” and will origi- nate from the Coast. “Blandings” is packaged at $8,- 500 a week. Grant’s initial radio show, it represents one of the ma- jor program sales involving that kind of coin in recent months, and | is generally regarded as merely the forerunner fo an AM resurg- ence, which now finds agencies and clients eyeing properties with a re- I'nevved interest. ‘ ' On NBC Rate Cnt; Affiliates to Meet Robert E. Kmlner Pr«iId«Rt of Oho ABC Notwork loot Rodlo-TV at. Main Entrance To New American Economy .■■* **■ OR Inferotflng odiferial footuro In tht forthcoming 45th Anniversary Number P^SRIETY ‘Incentives’ Voted f NBC’s plan to effect a rate cut in its AM structure bn Jan. 1 encouh* tered a setback last week, when squawks started piling in from tho affiliates. In fact, the whole in- dustry was quick to respond to NBC’s gesture of acquiescence with some loud lamentations that a rate cut at this time was premature and unwise. Not only station men, but, surprisingly enough, some top ■ agency execs deplored the contem- plated NBC action as weakening the medium’s structure at a time when an AM resurgence seems in order, and asking the network to reconsider. The other networks were partic- ularly disturbed oyer the NBC rev- elation, recognizing that if one net- work succumbed to rate cut de- mands, it would leave them with no other alternative but id fall in line. As result of the reaction, NBG has called a meeting of the affiliate membership involved (those in markets where TV has. a marked penetration). The session will be held in New York Jan. 10. RCA board apparently is taking no chances on losing prexy Frank M. Folsom, Only last June it ex- tjended by a year the original 1948 contract which assured his staying with the company until Dec. 31, 1952. Board recently voted still another year’s extension to RCA $20,000,000 Loan . RCA has obtained a $20,- 000,000 loan from the New York Life Insurance Co. It runs until May 1, 1974, and pays 3% interest. Agreement also gives RCA the right to borrow another $20,000,000 on the same basis. No indication was given in the loan contract, which was negotiated some months ago, of its purpose. It is under- stood, however, to be for video expansion. the pact, thus nailing Folsom down until Dec. 31, 1954. New deal doesn’t alter the RCA topper’s $165,000 yearly, salary. That represents a raise of $25,000 granted him when his contract (Continued on page 32) WJR, DETROIT, SIOIS 1ST AFRA ANNOUNCER PAa Detroit, Dec. 19. Successful conclusion of nine weeks of negotiations between WJR and the Detroit local of the American Federation of Radio Art- ists was jointly announced by Boaz Siegel, AFRA secretary, and Wouth Kramei*, veepee and general man- ager of \irjR. It was the first contract WJR had signed with AFRA. Siegel said the contract provides a minimum starting, salary for announcers of $70. It provides for step increases after three months, six months and so on, until the maximum of $115 is reached in five years. Previbusly there were no established mihi- mums or maximums. In addition, the station promised to continue in effect its “very lib- eral” retirernent and health insur- ance .programs. Siegel said his union represents nine WJR an- nouncers. ’Nona’ Bowout Giving CBS 1st Afternoon Open Time Babbitt’s cancellation of the “Nona From Nowhere” serial gives CBS its first, afternoon open time in some months. The 3 to 3:15 p.m. segment will be 'taken over by “Hilltop House,” sponsored by Alka Seltzer* which is now heard 3:15 to 3:30. Web is shopping around for a client for the lattbr time. - • » ’ , ' ‘ NBC is asking some stations Where the TV penetration is deep- est to take as high as a 25% rate cut, with the overall average re- portedly based at 12%. It’s under- stood that some sizable deals are on the AM fire for NBC, if it can maneuver the rate change. Although some of the other webs were inclined to see NBC as will- ing to absorb the rate cut if the affiliates stand firm, web execs assert that’s not the case; that it will respect'all contracts and abide by the wishes of the affiliate sta- tions. NBC Cottons Up To Dallas Game Something new in network bally- hoo is on the immediate NBC agend^ Specifically, the network will take the initiative to glamorize the Cotton Bowl football game in Dallas on New Year’s Day in the hopes of giving it the same pres- tige values as the Rose Bowl clas- sic from Pasadena. The Rose Bowl event is com- mitted to CBS. Since NBC can’t have it, the network, in essence, wants to fit the Cotton Bowl grid- fest into the NBG scheme of things. As result, the web is originating a number of shows, in addition to the game itself, out of Dallas. Orig- inations out of the Texas city, in- cluding the Dallas Symphony Or- chestra, are now being lined up. Ace announcers and staffers will be sent down to take charge. Peary Vs. ‘GiWersleeve’ Popularity Question In Mexican Standoff The reourring question of the season—Was it Hal Peary, or the basic formula of the “Great Gilder- sloeve” property that made it a perennial Kraft corhmercial fav* Qrite?-^has resolved itself into a Mexican standoff on the basis of th. new Nielsen ratings. Ever since Peary checked out of “Gildersleeve’.’ a few months back, following a hassle with the Need- ham,. Louis & Broi’by agency, Which has title to the show; ahd moved bom NBC to CBS, "there’s been. Considerable speculation as to whether Peary’s new Columbia show would out-rate “Gilder- sleeve.” . The nevy Nielsens show: Peary (in his CBS sustainer) 10.9. “Gildersleeve” 10.7. , Heartening to Columbia is the fact that Peary is outdistanced by less than two points by his NBC competition in the Wednesday 9; 39 /Ci'olidhVMarx.