Variety (February 1951)

TELEVISION Wednesday, February ^ 1952 A number of public service + shows have been wrapped up by j WNBT, N. Y., as a local counterpart of “Operation Frontal Lobe” which NBC-TV v.p. Sylvester L. (Pat) ‘Weaver is skedding for the net- work. First of the new shows to be pro- grammed by WNBT g,m. Ted Cott is a stanza featuring John Kieran. Latter and a mobile tele crew will each do 12 COLLEGES IN EDUC’L VIDEO SERIES Baltimore, Feb. 13. Ip line with the current empha- sis on education by television, WBAL-TV, local video outlet, has a remote from another ' set plans with 12 colleges and New York City museum to give universities' in Maryland for a televiewers a guided tour of its art _ of educational programs and scientific treasm-es »»«*.«;, the college level. Shows, what the exhibits mean personally P ^ th^ school ™Museiims to be covered include Wanting its program to the partic- Natural Histor/, Brooklyn, Mod- ular field in which it specializes, ern. Art, Hayden Planetarium, New ! Station has assigned a producer- York Historical Society, Brooklyn writer to the schools to work with Children’s and the Museum of the them, in preparing the scripts and City of N. Y, Show is to kick off 1 material for the programs, which Saturday, March 17, in the 12:30- are scheduled to start about March 1 p. m. slot. . 1. Reps of the various schools, Leon Barzin, director of the Na- agreeing with station execs that tional Orchestral Assn., has been the series should be as showmanly inked to do a weekly music appre- as possible to sustain audience in* ciation series for children. . Barzin terest, plan to use dramatizations, I will have juves in the studio, have . film-clips, visual displays, etc. That Naughty Word Following the recent edict of ABC, orders have come down from on high at CBS to all radio producers and directors to refrain absolutely from any mention of the word “televi- sion” on a radio show. Seems that a number of the . web’s AM affiliates, particularly those with no video interests, have objected Strenuously to what they believe is unnecessary plugging of a rival medium. In the memo distributed this week to the radio staffers, the CBS brass admitted that may- be their affiliates have a point, It was pointed'. out that the burden of eliminating any mention of TV rested especial- ly with those producers of sus- taining radio shows, over which CBS has full control. Washington, Feb. 13 . The possibility that some new television stations might get under way in 1951 appeared last week when the National Production Au- thority specifically exempted broad- ! 1 .* _ _ 'A. _ A’ ■ , rr, • casting structures from its overall Three Philadelphia dailies went : construction ban. The action was all out for TV over the weekend,! designed, said NPA, “to assure the listing for the first time video greatest possible, freedom of opera- schedules for the entire week Sec-, tion to the nation’s facilities fori tions easly detachable for TV ad-. the communication of news and diets give not only listing of shows, : educational material.” but also tips as to the kind of pro- j mda • / eram well as names of artists - he NPA also exempted plants Sd «Sst Saif 0£ a,tlsts for newspaper publishing and ana gue^t s • printing establishments for publi- Both the Sunday Inquirer and cations of books and periodicals. Bulletin featured TV sections. The However, the ban on construction tabloid Daily News did the same 0 f amusements, which includes thing in its Saturday paper. The_ ; theatres, is continued. News, which was the first to have a ; • daily TV column, conducted by! i Mitchell Swartz, was also the first tv .riJlmUw, 1 *" 1 ?. 8 s ! to list a whole daily schedule. In- ! - h *2 : 'IA "addiUon ° Cweeklv ! m addltl0n t0 e y .... sufficient equipment available to scneauies. ! enable some stations to get started. ! Merrill Panitt, who formerly; ap- ; There are reported to be about two peared only on Sndays, is now writ- j dozen transmitters now in stock Lt-itrviaikji. aimutmc ing a daily column 'lor the Inquirer, j w hi c hwere produced or in process fail DTeem of its “Ooeratioi^Frbntal | Bulletin added Harry Harris as TV j of production before the video . .. - - - ■ la v r ^ 1 ?' columnist Sunday (11). Harris, - freeze was invoked in September them try to make music trom the • Twelve schools participating in- Lobes, has begun sifting through.; form g r member of the drama de- , 1040 ? ’ instruments, with Barzin and house c iude Univ. of Maryland, Johns proposals for the .types of sho . ws ! pa rtme n t, will alternate a daily <■ ':*u ♦ .-a ©rchmen explaining how the Hopkins, U. S. Naval Academy,! to bestaged on the .series which ; c0 ] um n -with the John Crosby syn-' So far FCC has completed sounds are made. To bfe skedded St Johns College, Goucher Col-, have been submitted by various dicated column, on Sunday mornings* airer will in- lege, Hood College, Western Mary- ■ web program execs. Under the pro- j ■ / - elude brief orchestral passages and land, Peabody Conservatory of i jected operation, NBC wbuld pre- concentrate on the fundametals of Music, Morgan State College, ! sent one hour of cultural or edu- music. : Loyola, Univ. of Baltimore and the 1 cation programming each, week for Young Men’s Christian Assn, and Maryland State Teachers College, j 44 weeks, with each stanza to be the American Jewish Commit- Maryland . State Dept, of Education; bankrolled by one of the regular tee are cooperating in another show is to serve as liaison between the i NBC-TV sponsors, which will present films on human schools and. WBAL-TV in the ; Plan is currently getting as much relations topics, such as brother-' project. I attention as possible from all top hood, international affairs, etc. This starts Sunday (18) in an afternoon period. Tieup has been made with the NBC television, shooting for a New York Police Athletic League for a PAL talent show, on which playground directors will introduce juves who show promise. It will be aired Saturdays at 11 a. m. On Monday < 12) station launched a cross-the-board show on which Ben Grauer gabs with the j two major phases of its freeze- lifting hearings: ; color television l and reservation of channels for ed- ucational stations. The third and last phase, which concerns the al- 1 location of VHF and UHF channels . to cities in which stations may be ; located, should get started by spring ahd will require about two months. Chairman Wayne Coy. re- | cently predicted the agency will Skiatron Subscriber-Vision, cur-: granting application^ "betore rently in the -second phase o£ its the third anniversary of the fi eeze iii. nrrvti rpTT xt tt 1 is uDfin us -—unless the mobiliza- programming execs. Davidson Tay- I lor, former CBS program veepee wh° joined NBC recently, has been assigned to supervise the operation I tests with WOR-TV N* Y exDects 1 is upon us under exec veepee Sylvester L. ! to^Tkter^the^third phased u^^nd tion program interferes. (Pat) Weaver. Others working on 0 f the month when members of the In the event there are only lim- I minfl T17 C * ; “Frontal Lobes” include Fred Wile, iFCC will be invited up from Wash- ited supplies of TV equipment ft Q |ilK| „ I V VPI-IPC Ernest Walling, Robert Sarnoff, ; ington to view the system. i available when the freeze is lifted, ilO IiUv I I t/vl Samuel Chotzinoff, Carl Stanton, I First phase’consisted entirely of the Commission may be disposed engineering tests over WOR-TV J to issue permits (if hearings are with only WOR and Skiatron tech- ! unnecessary) for areas not now Samuel Chotzinoff, Carl Stanton, Frank McCall and several of the NBC television is tentatively , video department’s unit and pro- planning to present an eight-week j duction heads. NBC also may bring local price control administrator, j history of the theatre during the = in one or two outside consultants These airers are in addition to two i summer hiatus period this year, to work on the series, either from public service entries already on, | idea w r as conceived by Fred Coe, j the ranks of show business Who “Uncle Sam’s Story,” which pre- who envisages an hour-long show ; are interested in education via TV, sents films of various government | once a \veek that would tee off j or educators. agencies, and “UN Stamp Club,” 1 Station recently started beaming vidpic spots on “America’s Heri- tage,” dealing with the documents on the Freedom Train. with a short resume of the Greek nicians viewing the system. Cur- rent tests are aired once weekly on Saturday night-Sunday morn- ing, at the completion of the sta- tion’s broadcast day. It comprises ; telecasting of a film, with sections of it scrambled as they would be by Skiatron's coder, followed by screening of it as it would be un- scrambled by decoders in the re- ceivers. For home viewers the tests are “artificial,’’ in that they do not According to Taylor, the series theatre and bring the subject up j is to be set up in such a way as through the ages to the modern era | to present education “in as eritetf- of films and TV. ; taining a way as possible,” in order As Coe plans it, each stage in . to attract the ^largest possible au- the theatre’s development would j dience. He said the shows would be dramatized and, if possible, he , represent more than mere class- would like to get a top name in : room discussions, although the web | actually have decoders, Despite the each particular branch of show ma y try to get one or two “great j late hour of the tests, which are business to be presented to star men” in their particular fields to i beamed around 12:30 a. m , viewer in the production each week, explain their work before the,cam-.! response has been good, Skiatron Series, he said, might include a eras. . reported; An average of 250 let- program on the dance, religious Launching of “Frontal Lobes” , ters—90% of them favorable— ! drama in the medieval era, then will not mean an end to the public ; have been received after each trial i the Elizabethan theatre and per- relations show currently being pro- Chicago, Feb. 13. _ Possibility that Chicago may re- j Haps a play of Ibsen or early grammed as sustainers by NBC. In gai.i via video some of the promi-1 Georce Bernard Shaw to bridge addition to several such shows now since they started last month. Main purpose of the tests has served by television. Prior to the Korean war the agency received strong protests from non-TV cities against the prolongation of the freeze. It can be expected they will ask for priority when permits are handed out. The agency now has on file about 380 TV applications, about half of which will require hearings. Steve Allen, hailed by CBS as its new television comedy, find, may been technical, to get data on how be shifted to an afternoon spot to .. , , . . • i a. i . .LIU nence as an origination centre it 1 that period and the more modern «on the air, the wc Vis also explor -1 well the decoders can recreate the " give more of the viewing public A . - A L «,1J < M A «< lf\ M a^i »TA m A ^ i M W m 1a m u a ^ a m A m'a. I — 1 _ . 1 * 1 - 1 1 J % . M A .. J X A A A . . A Ak.aa — a 1a a ■> A A f A once held in radio was given a hefty boost with the Lever pur- chase of NBC’s “Hawkins Falls” which got its start as a Windy City sustainer. Chicago, which during the thirties was tabbed the AM serial drama. ing further such projects as a se- 1 sync-pulse which unscrambles the i around the country a chance to If the “Philco TV Playhouse,” ries of adult education programs : coded picture. The unscrimbling meet him. Web has been unable which Coe produces decides to to be done in collaboration with . device is a specially punched card to clear time on more than a few take an eight-week vacation as it th e Sloan Foundation. Latter series ; that corresponds to a scrambling stations for Allen’s present pro- did last summer the web might may preem about June 1 and ride j card in. the studio. gram time of 7 to 7:30 p.m, cross- • 4.1 w, i w .■ slot the series in that Sunday night capital, may make a s milar mark; g 10 sfot . T o date, Philco has in teevee, it s expected, if the * through the summer. “Falls” For daytime strip catches on. that reason thfe “Falls” debut for Lever will be watched with more than usual interest by Chi talent and packagers. Preem of the Chi serial will be either April 2 or May 7 depending upon the windup of the “NBC Comics” now occupying the 4 p.m. slot for which “Falls” is slated. Ohe of the reasons the industry here is hopeful of the resurgence in the serial field through teevee is the reservoir of not made up its mind about hiatus. KTSL Goes Fulltime CBS Starting April 1, With KTTV Bowout CBS Pacts Eric Harris Experiments have oeen satisfac- 1 the-board. Those viewers who have tory, Skiatron reported, and the seen him twice as Arthur Godfrey’s company will soon ask the FCC for replacement as emcee of “Talent actual tests similar to those Ze- Scouts,” which is fed to almost nith’s Phonevision has conducted | the entire CBS video wpb, are re- with 300 families in Chicago. These portedly wondering what’s become Frip Harric at nnP tim#* tests won’t be incepted until FCC of him, and CBS feels it can get ’ * grants approval and Skiatron puts him into more cities via a daytime sistant to film producer John Ford, [decoders into production has been named chief of the special effects department for CBS televi- sion. He replaces John DeMott. Subscriber-Vision differs from (Continued oh page 30) " Hollvwood Feb 13 who resigned recently to join the KTSL, former Don Lee television . Harris worked with Ford on the production ,, of “Fort Apache,” outlet here which CBS purchased experienced 1 in December, vvill become the sole Chi tesping talent, a carryover j Los Angeles outlet for all CBS [ Three Godfathers and Mighty from the AM soap opera days. Most i network video shows , starting - oe Young. He broke into TV as (Continued on page 34) [April 1>. That date will mark the a cameraman and then director of ■ - i - : ——— — termination of the web’s affiliation i department for KLACr. deal with the L, A. Times’ KTTV, 'I;T y , LOs Angeles, going from there CBS GRABS ANOTHER Pittsburgh, Feb;, 13. j Allen, incidentally^is already be- ing paged as CBS* hew “rep.lace- ! ment expert,” but is turning down the majority of such assignments. ■ Morton Downey, for example* want- ed the comedian to replace him * when he takes a week’s vacation from his Friday night “Star of the Family” show within the next few weeks. But Allen and his producers ' are said to feel that his talents lie w, 1, • V . w V .. AVVi UlQt ilio . Iri-R. - . _ , 0 „. TD , Biggest money-raising public in the completely ad libbed format in which CBS formerly owned a i to th e CBS-TV recording depart-; service ^vent in local history; on of his present show and so plan ‘ 4% interest > ment. Hurttry Rylaiider and Jack ! a ? n «r S !j ot 5 asis ’.w a s put on here : to concentrate on that as much as Valdes will be his assistants in his *mt ; .‘(7) by WDTV, possible. Complete switch to KTSL means CBS cracked the first half-liour [ also that the CBS network shows of its Garry Moore daytime strip . originating from the Coast will show this week, when Corn Prod* , henceforth be moved into the licts pacted for the 1:45 to 2 p. m. , KTSL studios. Both the Alan segment on Thursday, starting ! Young and Burns and Allen stanzas March 1. Sponsor will plug Linit, now originate from here, but a with the C. L. Miller agency^^ han- number of others are slated to tee dling the account. Second half-hour of the Moore " all. new job. Chi Exhib Show Nix Chicago, Feb. 13. DuMont-owned TV station, when it staged a marathon benefit for Robert L, Smith, quadruple am- putee of the Korean war from Middleburg, Pa., and raised around $70,000. Show was divided into Burl Ives Prepping Fairy Tale VidfHnis Burl Ives and G-L Enterprises Due to expected cutback in tele tmlrf’haw 1 J“ r< l u - n J are Popping a vidpie series off this summer and starting next; set production, Chi Electric Assn, time Channel starred as actor- is cancelling plans for the fourth ( of commercial accounts. singer show, which is aired from 1:30 to ) KTSL will add 22 hours of CBS annual National Television & Elec- [ Idea of the program was taken i MaHon. pAHncr will handle oro- 2:30 p. m., has been sold out for programming to its schedule per trical Living Show. to WDTV by Johnny Gallis, local duetinn and- dlreetinn with Jay Several weeks. With the exception i week. Move will permit .the sta-! Previous shows had featured tenor, and his manager, Godfrey Vietnr and Albert Ha tf ue of Linit, the balance of the 1:30 to tion to start a seven-day-per-week such name personalities as Eddie i (Buck) Weaver, and Don Stewart 1 rinina the mnc£ Piinf film will be 8 segment is Still open, | operation April 1. I Cantor and Jack Carson. | (Continued on page 30) i started ^ Mareh T. ‘ ft — •