Variety (August 15, 1951)

26 RAMO-TELEYISMN Wedacidaf, AagiH IS* 19S1 Webster Urges Community Councils To Combat Shows Harmful to Kids Mtamt, Aug. 14. Affirmative action through for- mation of Community Councils to cooperate with radio and TV sta- tions In protecting children agalpst harmful programs was urged here today by FCC Commissioner Ed- ward M. Webster. Speaking before the Lions Club. Webster said that some progress has been made by sponsors in keeping from children, through change in hours, programs “which * would curdle the blood of adults.” But much more could be accom- plished in this direction, he said. “You should make certain.” said Webster, “that the impressionable minds of the youth of your com- munity are not beset by television pictures and stories relating to crime and horror. "The newspapers are filled with stories of crimes committed by children who perform lawless acts seen and heard on TV and radio. You owe it to yourselves not to permit television to adopt the harmful practices of aural broad- casting.” Webster said that community ^organizations have both the “right and duty" to confer with broad- casters responsible for programs ot “questionable taste and con- tent.” Pointing out that the public is the owner of the airwaves, he said “the programming must be in your interest.” In addition to guarding against bad programs. Webster suggested that polls be conducted by the local citizenry to ascertain what programs are in the interest of the community. Occasionally, he suggested, it might be well for community organizations to ar- range to sponsor civic programs. Tarzian Absorbs WTOM Indianapolis. Aug. 14. WTOM, 250-w at ter at Blooming- ton, Ind., went off the air perma- nently last week after purchase of its facilities by Sarkes Tarzian, Inc., which operates WTTS, 5.000- watt station there. Tarzian. who also operates tele- vision station WTTV and manufac- tures parts for TV sets, absorbed another Bloomington station. 1,000- , watt WSUA, last year. CBS Still Fiddling On Symph Decision Decision as to whether the New Y’ork Philharmonic Symphony Sun- day afternoon broadcasts will be axed this fall or return for the traditional 3 p.rn. live pickup from Carnegie Hall. N. Y., remains up in the air. One thing appears cer- tain—that last season's practice of taping the Carnegie concerts for a week-later playback in the i:90 p.m. Sunday period, will be abol- ished, with local 802, American Federation of Musicians, remain- ing adamant on that point. CBS is not so much concerned over the coyi investiture entailed by sustaining the live pickup, but rather reserving the mid-afternoon 3 to 4:30 Sabbath slot for what it considers more sponsor-inviting entries. On the other hand, CBS fears that a “total blackout” after many years of identification with the Philharmonic, will invite a wholesale gangup of sentiment against the web, particularly from the “culture belt” dialers. 12,525,000 Price Tag on WOW Sale Des Moines. Aug. 14. E. T. Meredith, veepee and gen- eral manager of Meredith Publish- ing Co., has announced that the Meredith Engineering Co. has con- tracted to buy station WOW and WOW-TV. Meredith, as president of the engineering company, a sub- sidiary of the publishing 'firm, said the purchase price was $2,525,000 and is subject to approval of the FCC. Francis P. Matthews, until re- cently secretary of the Navy and now ambassador to Ireland, is one of the principal stockholders in WOW and represented the station's stockholders in negotiating the sale. Meredith Publishing Co. of Des Moines has been interested in de- velopment of television for some time. The firm built TV station WHEN. Syracuse. N. Y„ about three years ago and now has appli- cations for TV licenses pending In two other cities. WOW stockholders in addition to Matthews are Guy Myers, the estate of the late John J. Gillen. Jr.. Cecelia Broderick, M. M. Meyers, J. J. Isaacson and Robert P. Samardick- TVing of Public Hearings Seen Heading for Showdown in Courts Pope as Larson’s Aide Leavitt T. Pope was named this week as assistant to G. Bennett Lar- son. veepee and general manager of the N. Y. Daily News* WPIX. . Besides aiding Larson. Pope will also absorb some of the duties handled previously by John Me- Clay, who resigned recently to join WCAU-TV, Philadelphia. FR1GIDA1RE TALENT SHOW NOW COLD With CBS-TV still unable to clear enough stations for its Sun- day night 6 to 6:30 period. Frigi- dalre has cancelled plans to air a new program in'that slot this sea- son. Until it can line up a sufficient number of affiliates to make the time attractive to sponsors. CBS plans to use the period as a show- ease segment, either to spMlight new programs or new talent. Frigidaire, through FootC, Cone & Belding, had planned to stage a “talent scouts" show, in which the guests would be recruited from colleges and universities through- out the country. Hallmark to Bankroll Sarah Churchill TVer Sarah Churchill, actress-daugh- ter of Winston Churchill, will have her own video show this year on CBS. Web this week’ inked Hall- mark to bankroll a 15-minute week- ly series starring Miss Churchill, which is to be aired Sundays at 5:45 p. m.. starting Oct. 7. She’s expected to do an informal, Interview-type show , with the em- phasis on show business. Agency Is Foote, Cone & Belding. nil. George Allen Signed For CBS Video ‘Man of Week’ Format CBS vided this week pacted with George Allen. ex-White House aide and a hoard member of a number of top industrial firms, to co-produce and appear in a new half-hour weekly show titled “Man of the Week.” Program is slated to preem Aug. 26 in the 5:30 to 6 p.m. period, hut will be moved into a different Sunday slot in October when the new Sarah Churchill program starts. Allen and CBS each week will select a person from any phase of life who merits the “Man of the Week" title. Allen and three other top personalities, whom he will personally select weekly from among his wide list of friends and acquaintances, will then interview the person in a panel-type format. Man selected can be a Govern- ment bigwig, a business man. sports personality, etc., but the emphasis will be on the serious side. DuMont web this week revealed plans for a new show titled “Kids and Company,” in which a “kid of the week” will be spotlighted. Guest can be any moppet from four to 15 whp has achieved na- tional recogvition through some heroic or other type of endeavor. With Johnny Olsen as emcee, the program is to be aired Saturdavs from 11 to 11:30 a m. starting Sept. 1. Red Goose shoes will sponsor. Murine’s News Strip Murine is buying a five-minute weekly newscast with Cedric Fos- ter on Mutual, Sundays at 6:55 p.m., starting Sept. 9. Biz was placed through BBDfcO’g Chi office. Web has been garnering plenty of five-minute news bankrollers, with Frank Singiser doing six a day for B. T. Babbitt, LeS lligbey doing a strip for Lucky Strike and Bill Henry doing a strip for Johns- i Manville. * 1 T?J • i; n i‘if re.) HERB SHELDON “The Herb Sheldon Show” Mon- day thru Friday l-: 30-1 p.m. on W.IZ. "Video Veiuin” Saturday night 11-12 p in.. WJZ-TV, And every morning on WJZ 6:30 to 8:15 a m. I'ereonnl Management TED LLOYD. INC. Sullivan’s Toast’ To Get CBS-TV Color Repeat As Web Preps Fall Sked With plans for Its nine-week j series of football colorcasts set for the fall, CBS-TV is pushing ahead to its projected schedule of 20 hours per week of color video within the next few months. De- spite the absence of any sponsors yet for its color programming, the web is lining up a string of new programs, which will fill the open times in its black-and-white sched- ule. Topping the lineup is a projected “color repeat" of Ed Sullivan’s ‘Toast of the Town." Show, run- ning an hour on black-and-white, is to be condensed to half-an-hour for color and may go Sunday nights at 11:15. If so. the cast will remain in the theatre after the show usu- ally winds at 9 p. m. in order to do the colorcast. Also on the agenda is a full hour show Sundays at 3 p. m., which will rotate a feature film one week, then a live dramatic show, then another feature /Hm and then a full-scale ballet. Among other programs on the planning board are a travel series, a man-in-the-street Interview and a Sunday morning visit to a museum or zoo in and around the metropoli- tan N. Y. area. Well Is also work- ing on a daily half-hour variety program, which may fill the 4:30 to 5 p. m. strip. WGN Into NARTB Fold After 10 Yrs. Chicago, Aug. 14. WGN, Inc., parent company of WGN <AM>. WGNB (FM> and WGN- TV. has rejoined the National Assn, of Radio-Television Broadcasters. Broadcasting adjunct />f the Chi- j cago Tribune dropped its member- ship in the old NAB in 1941 when the industry was embroiled in the music licensing tiff with the Ameri- can Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers. William Ryan’s Broadcast Adver- tising Bureau, NARTB’s promotion arm, was given most of the credit for bringing the WGN operation back in the fold. In announcing the reaffiliation, WGN general manager Frank P. Schreiber said: “The industry needs our support now, especially in the outstanding and important job being done by BAB.” CBS SPONSORS DROP ‘CHAMELEON,’ REGAN CBS, despite all the excitment about a revival of interest in radio among advertisers, lost two spon- sors this week. Pepsl-Cola will check off the Phil Regan show, aired Sundays from 5:30 to 5:55 p.m., after the Aug. 26 broadcast, while Sterling Drugs is dropping “Mr. Chameleon," currently aired Wednesdays from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Pepsi supposedly bought the Regan show only for its summer season. CBS will not keep the program on a sustaining basis. It has decided, however, to continue airing “Chameleon” in the hopes of picking up another sponsor. Sterling is now on its summer hiatus and has decided not to re- new its option. ABC Sells‘Girl Marries’ , Soaper to Gen. Foods General Foods is buying “When a Girl Marries” on ABC. starting Oct. 1. Show, now heard at 11:30 a.m., moves to 11:15 a.m. when “Break the Bank” takes over the 11:30-12 noon period for Bristol- Myers. GF had backed “Girl” on NBC until last June, when Jhe bank- roller cancelled out the show. ABC started beaming the soaper last month as part of its new daytime serial policy. It will be used to plug Instant Maxwell House coffee. Agency is Benton Sc Bowles. Food sponsor recently expanded its layout pq Don'McNeiH's “Break- fast Club” from three to five quar- ter hours a week. With the acquisition of the morn- ing business. ABC will have to drop spine of the soapers it launched. I r : T • i»“ * i ,i > a 11 «i \ . Telephone Hoar’ Bows New Microwave Relay Bat For ‘Sound Only’ Test Hollywood. Aug. 14. New microwave relay, which will unite the nation from coast to coast for television starting Sept. 30, is to be used commercially for the first time Monday «20>. when NBC radio’! “Telephone Hour” spans the country on the audio cir- cuit only. Half-hour musical show', guest- stantmr Nelson Eddy, will origi- nate from N.Y., with a cut-in from announcer Tom Shirley oi> the Coits Tower In San Francisco. The 107 relay points between Omaha and the western terminus of the coaxial cable and Oakland have been tested for sound for the last two weeks, but “Telephone” will mark the inaugural transconti- nental broadcasting on the relay. NBC MAY NIX DAGMAR OPTION IN WEN’ EXIT Now that Anchor-IIocking has cancelled out ot the “Broadway Open House” late night show on NBC-TV, the oetwork is wrestling with the problem of what to do about Dagmar’s contract. This week is option time on re- newal of her contract, and there is likelihood that NBC will permit the option to lapse. Dagniar has been under contract to the web at $1,250 a week. Meanwhile, ABC Is propping to tee off Dagmar’s own half-hour show, which she sold to the net- work as a package for $6,000 a week. ‘Duffy’ Recast Cued To TV Emergence Ed Gardner, with an eye to eventually putting his “Duffy’n Tavern” show on television as well as radio, is recasting virtually the entire program during his current stay in N. Y. Comedian is seeking actors who look the parts of the radio voices, even though the actual transition to video may be several years in the future. "Duffy's,” which will originate again this season from Puerto Rico, is to air Saturday nights on NBC starting Oct. 6, in the 8:30 to 9 period. NBC is pitching the pro- gram as part of its “Operation Tandem” sales plan, . j • * i ;> 7 1*7 j ' f it n:i »{ k Washington, Aug. 14. Senate action last week in cer- tifying contempt citations against two witnesses who refused to testi- fy before the Crime Committee last March is expected to result in a court test to determine whether Constitutional rights are violated when TV, radio or newsreels are used in public proceedings. Although the Senate agreed that the TV issue was used as a “smoke- screen” for refusal to testify. Sen. Estes 'Kefauver iD-Tenn.>, former chairman of the Committee, said he was hopeful “that in this case or in some other case the court will determine whether television can be used in public hearings and will decide under what circumstances television can be used.” Kefauver explained that in vot- ing to cite the *. v itnr»»cA f iMoi f'iS Kleinman and Louis Rothkopf) for contempt, the question was not whether they refused to testify be- fore TV because the Committee ordered the televising stopped when the objection was raised. “The question.” he said, “is wheth- er they refused to testify with radio microphones and newsreel cameras In use.” Status of TV as an instrument for covering Congressional proceed- ings was the occasion for lengthy debate preceding the Senate vote Friday-! 10) on the contempt cases. Sen. Alexander Wiley <R-Wis.>, a member of the Crime Committee, could see little difference between use of TV, radio or press report- ing. “Why should there be a dis- crimination against radio or tele- vision?” he asked. Sen. Kefauver agreed that it w'ould be hard to keep out radio or TV and still allow press cover* age of hearings. Sen. Lester Hunt iD-Wyo.) didn’t see how “you can cut out TV without cutting out newsreels.” But Sen. Herman Walker « R- Ida.) pointed out that rights of the press are written into the Consti- tution. while those of radio or TV are not. He feared that the Senate action might open the way to radio. TV or newsreel coverage of court proceedings of “confidential di- vorce cases, gruesome murder cases or bad sex trials.” Impact 6f TV on the crime hear- ings was attested to by Sen. Wiley, who described the medium as “the greatest single educational arm available to the Committee for stir- ring the public conscience.” He said that thousands of letters which poured into the Committee s office resulted from TV. Wiley added that he was satis- fied that TV will play “a vital role” in many future committee hearings “but with appropriate safeguards.” “I trust, of course,” he said, “that before any session is ever tele- vised, the committee will in execu- tive session go very carefully over the subjects to be covered and the witnesses to be examined. In that N ay nothing would be presented . . . which would be libelous, defa- matory, pornographic or which would otherwise violate the stand- ards of propriety.” WOV’S RAY ROBINSON PITCH FOR NEGROES WOV, N. Y. multi-lingual outlet, is expanding its concentration to the Negro market. Starting Friday <17> through Sept. 12 the indie will beam a series of Interviews with Sugar Ray Robinson, visitors, sports writers, etc., recorded at the boxer’s training camp at Fompton Lakes. Sponsored by Schaefer beer, ex- clusive series will be heard from 12:15-12:30 p.m. on the Ralph Cooper show. WOV program chief Arnold Hartley is also going after some new Negro talent. Recently WOV installed Phil Gordon, formerly with WWRL, on its “1286 Club” Gordon has been replaced on WWRL by Tommy Smalls, former editor of the Savannah Herald and disk jock on three Savannah sta- tions. - Fifth Army Account Shifts Chicago, Aug. 14. Fifth Army recruiting account moves this week from the Schocj feld, Huber & Green Agency to the Fuller, Smith Sc Ross shop here. Guy Mercer will handle the ac- count for FS&R which is mapping a new radio-TV campaign. . , . * % J * r 111 j TT u t* <«i 1,1