Variety (December 1951)

CBS Radio reportedly has elimi- nated the possibility of any imme- diate rate cut with adoption of its new commercial policy for adver- tisers. Termed the “Selective Facilities Plan,” the policy retains for the web the right to sell pro- grams in all markets not purchased by the original sponsor. By opening up new avenues of revenue to both the network and affiliates, the policy will provide CBS, iVs hoped* with the added coin it ftiight have obtained via^a pitch to more advertisers, made through a «ut in time charges. And, with the previously announced op-; position of CBS Radio pre& Howard Meighan to a rate cut, it’s believed the plan will be given at least a lengthy tryout tql determine if it can serve in lieu of a trimming in rates.: New concept,. mailed to agencies and sponsors .Monday <1Q), offers the usual facilities of all CBS’ 206 stations to advertisers with quar- ter-hour or longer shows buying in on the usual 13-week cycle, but with two provisos: the advertiser must make his show available to the entire web and, in areas where he doesn’t want to sponsor the pro- gram, he is to allow it to be sold to other non-competitive advertis- ers but with ho payment to him. Plan is applicable to virtually all Shows on the net, whether pack- aged by agencies, indie outfits or talent offices, such as William Mor- ris and Music Corp. of America. Chief value of the plan to both the web and sponsors, it’s believed, is the fact that it will retain the basic program structure. For - ample, if the bankroller of orie show decided to eliminate a cer- tain number of markets, the local stations so eliminated would be forced- to fill the time with local programming. That means that sponsored shows playing on either (Continued on page 40) Lester Gottlieb’s •P«n lotror to ‘Dear Irving toils why programmingfor radio has Its good points, tod • humorotis bylino pioco tn tho forthcoming 46th Anniversary Number ... 'of DUE SOON Celanese, Agency In ice SOS: Sanoff on Soind Bob Trout, one of CBS’ top news reporters and analysts during the war, is exiting NBC and returns to the CBS net Jan. 1 on an exclusive basis for both radio and television. While he’ll have his own news pro- grams on both the AM and TV webs, it’s expected that he’ll prove most valuable to CBS in re-team- ing with Edward R. Murrow for coverage of next summer’s politi- cal conventions, since he first made, his mark oh the web prewar in convention coverage:,. ,j». Trout’s first assignment on CBS iRadio will be to take over a new ! five-minute news spot being opened \ up at 10 p.m. on Sundays, Fridays and Saturdays. New series preems Jan. 6, and it’s expected that Tues- days and Thursdays will be added to the scheduler* by mid-January. While he hasn’t been handed a defi- nite assignment for TV, it’s expect- ed that Trout will do one regular news show a week, either a single 15-minute program or a strip, and alsq serve as moderator on a forum or panel show. . Since leaving CBS, Trout has , done considerable work with NBC and last served as moderator on that web’s ’’Who Said That?” That show, incidentally, was produced ; for NBC by Fred Friendly, who preceded Trout to CBS and is now. co^rbducer with Murrow of the Vifeo web’s new "See It Now” pro- gram. In joining CBS agai .con- sequently, Trout will also team up again with Friendly. Pallas, Dec: 11. ABC network Will spend $2,500,- 000 in 1952 to expand and improve its radio production facilities, largely in the ABC outlets of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Ernest Lee Jahncke, radio veepee for. ABC, announced the planned expenditure "shows our faith in the continued vitality of radio.” Jahncke, here for the opening of new $250,000 transmitter and an- tennae equipment installed by WFAA-570, 5,000-watt AM outlet of the Dallas Morning News and WBAP-570, the Fort Worth Starr Telegram; on a time-sharing sked, stated that "JUst as the local sta- tions have invested $250,000 to bet- ter serve this area, we at ABC will spend 10 times this amount.” Radio executive’s 1952 plans were related to- 101 ad agency heads’at a WFAA-AM, WFAA-TV luncheon given by the stations’ general manager, Martin B. Camp- bell, in the Baker Hotel. Web veep also declared that radio in Texas has increased its coverage 50% faster than any other section of the U. S. since 1946, citing a current 2,000,000 homes with radio to only 1,500,000 five years ago. National increase Was from 34,000,000 to 42,- 000,000 homes, Jahncke revealed. Totally in television in 1940-49, Jahhclce is flow completely a radio man Who believes that the industry still has not figured, how good ra- dio is. Measurement difficulty, he stated, is duesto the fact that radio is so big and is everywhere, with 96% of U. S, homes with at least one AM set and a total of 99,000,- 000 radios in the nation. Authors League. of America, in its first statement, playwright Elmer Rice’s recent charge that the producers of ABC-TV’s "Cela- nese Theatre” were guilty of black- listing actors, backed Rice fully this week and, in so doing, unleashed its own blast,* declaring that: "in. this case, the blackiisters have ex- celled themselves:” ALA is the first craft or talent union to take a stand on the mat- ter, which saw Rice- resign from the; Playwrights TV Theatre on charges that the producers of “Celanese” had banned actors from the production, of his “Coun- sellor-At-Law” on the grounds that the actors were included in Red Channels. Other unions have de- clined comment on the situation. Writers’ union; in a formal , state- ment, declared it had withheld comment until now to await re- plies by the producers, the sponsor and the agency. But, ALA said, Vthe only replies they have made have ‘either been evasive or have begged the question.” Statement cited the original prospectus, of Stellar Enterprises, a William Morris office subsid which produces “CelaneSe,” as promising as much supervisioif in Script, casting and production on each show as the playwright might desire. That provision, ALA said, was in effect, therefore, contrac- tual. Yet the Ellington agency, which handles Celanese, along with, the sponsor and Stellar; has claim- ed the right to nullify that "by refusing to employ actors chosen by Rice as well qiialifield for the parts.” Statement noted that the agency had "excused” its action as having been dictated by "the usual stand- ards of -good taste ahd freedom from notoriety and association with scandal.*’ But, ALA said, “these terms are the weasel words of the self-appointed blackiisters. They were and are meaningless in com nection with, the actors chosen by Rice, who are well-known and highly-respected artists. One of them has recently stated under oath that he is not, and never has been, a Communist.” Statement continued: “Thus, ih this case the black- continued on page .38) B’caster a U.S. Senator Washington, pec. 11. Appointment yesterday (Mon.) bf Fred A. Seaton as Senator from Nebraska puts a broadcaster in the U, S. Senate. Seaton owns radio Stations KHAS. in Hastings, Neb.; KGGF in Coffey Ville, * Kans., and KMAN in Manhattan, Kans. Seaton was appointed to serve Until the general election in 1952 When Nebraska voters will pick a Senator to fill put the term fpr which the late Kenneth Wherry Was elected, which expires in 1954. , Viewers Beef Coml’s Philadelphia, Dec. 11. Sponsored telecast of the Thanks- giving , Day Santa Claus Parade drew a salvo of squawks here from viewers, who protested that the number of commercials was out of li and interfered with home en- joyment of the Toylahd spectacle. Gimbels department store,which stages the annual parade, was dis- turbed over the flood of complaints and is understood to have put in private beef to WPTZ which han- dled telecast: Actually, Gimbels had nothing to do with sponsorship sold by station to Abbott's Dairies, asf store would have preferred to keep Santa Claus parade strictly in institutional promotion class. Chick Kelly, WPTZ press , agent, answered every written, complaint to the station;, Kelly told viewers that' station was disappointed also that parade "was not more enjoy- able.” Commercial regulations on WPTZ, he explained, permit seven minutes out of each sponsored hour before 6 p.m. Abbotts Dairies picked up tab fdr parade for one hour and 45 minutes and Was per- (Continued on page 38) CANADA KNOCKS OFF Toronto, Dec* 11. No commercially sponsored pro- grams will be aired on the trans- Canada or ; French-language net- work groupings on Xmas Day or Good* Friday, according to an- nouncement of Donald Manson; newly-appointed general manager of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. . In addition, the Dominion network, twin to the trans-Canada web. Will not broadcast commer- cial programs on Good Friday. Policy , will also apply not only to CBC-owned networks but to indie-owned affiliates taking CBC programs. Only exceptions, ac- cording to Manson, may' be. in- stances. where sponsored programs are actualities of suitable public functions but these will be conr sidered only on ¥ CBC institutional broadcast basis and no direct sales pitches are to be included in such broadcasts. When RCA board Chairman Brig; Gen. David Sarnoff addresses the N. Y. Radio Executives Club next Thursday (20),.marking the 50th anni of tran**Atlantic wireless, he’ll send forth the lamethree- dot "S” signal that Marconi tapped out on Dec. 12, 1901. Sarnoff, speaking at the club's luncheon at the Waldorf, will tap out the Morse code signal which will be heard by the widow of the' radio Inventor in Rome. In 1901. the big question was whether a radio signal could span the 2,000 miles of the Atlantic and thus make Inter-continental communication cheaper than the submerged cable which cost tip . to $2,500 a mile. Marconi built his transmitter at Poldhu* Cornwall, on the western tip of England. Receiving apparatus was at . St. John’s Newfoundland. On the fateful day, Marconi sat waiting for the signal with .telephone receiver glued to his ear, meanwhile hunting to find the correct wavelength. Suddenly, at 12:30 p.m,*, after about an hour of trying, he picked up the clicking from Ppldhu^ Iron- ically, Marconi, who had spent some $200,000 for the experiment, had less money than that when he <died. .• ; Attending the EEC lunch will be several ‘ of radio’s pioneers* including Louis A. Hazeltine, inventor of the neutrOdyne (which eliminated the squeals and howls in early radio sets) andEdwin H. Armstrong,, who invented the superhetrodyne (which gains addi*> tional receiver sensitivity and signal strength). Mannie ManKeim ditCNUOf a TV’s ‘Puffing 99 anamusliig bylino foaturo lathe forthcoming 46th Anniversary Number pointing up how the radio net- works are scrambling for new busi- ness these days, CBS has made room on its-program log for a total of at least eight different five-min- ute shows. Same web only several years ago tossed the Johns-Man- ville five-minute news strip off the air, which grossed $2,000,000, on the assumption that -its insertion between two other * shows would break the. program continuity. CBS is making room for such pint-sized packages, v for the . most part, by trimming five minutes off the, usual half-hour shows, which in turn are aired ih a liew 25-min- ute length.' (Only, sustainers, of course, are being trimmed.)* Web has taken the step in -an effort to entice the smaller bankrollers, who might not be able to . afford even Whose ^ Negotiations for John and Elliott Roosevelt to buy WINS, Crosley Broadcasting Corp. station in N. Y.* have broken down. It’s understood that the hoped-for funds with which to purchase.the station failed to materialize. Meanwhile, the Dohofrio Bros:., executives of the McKay-Davis Chemical Corp., To- ledo* are negotiating for the Goth- am outlet. John Haigney, N. Y. attorney, is representing. Thomas, T. F. and J. M. Donofrio, who are prexy* veepee and. secretary, respectively, of McKay-Davis. The Donofrios said that if deal 4s inked and ap- proved by FCC, a manager would operate the indie for them, and they would continue to reside in Toledo. Unconfirmed reports are that the Toledoans offered between $500,000 and $600,000 for the Outlet. The Crosley interests have been trying to unload the Gotham sta- tion in order to concentrate on their TV empire in Ohio, with their eventual aim for a five-station link. a 15-minute show but Whose on a five-minute basis can mean plenty of fcoin to CBS with a five- minute program* Show jettisonned by CBS three years ago was ’.‘Bill Henry and the News,” bankrolled in the 8:55 to 9 p. m. strip by Johns-Manville. Fact that it directly preceded the "Lux Radio Theatre” on Monday reportedly -had something to do with its ouster, since. CBS would take no chances of losing that lucra- tive show. J-M, Incidentally, took the Henry show over to Mutual, where it’s still aired in that 8:55 to 9 p.m. strip. CBS this week alone set three new five-minute programs for its schedule, only one of which has (Continued on page 41) 1 Red. Barber, CBS director of sports* will step into the longhair field Saturday (J5)* when he serves as narrator of the Hau- frecht symph version of "The Story of Ferdinand the Bull” with the N. Y. Philharmonic-Symphony at its Young People’s concert at Town Hail, N.‘ Y, Igor Buketoff Will con- duct. This is Barber’s second symph essay. Sporiscaster appeared with the Philharmonic at Lewisohn Sta- dium. N. Y*, in 1941, as narrator for Robert Russell Bennett’s "Sym- phony for the Dodgers;” Hop for U.S. Steel’s TV Half-hour adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic:, “Christmas Carol,” With British star Ralph Richardson possibly flying to the U. S. specifi- cally to play the Scrooge role; will he aired Christmas Night on NBC- TV. U. S. Steel is bankrolling the show on a special one-shot basis, taking over the Tuesday 9 to 9:30 p.m. time usually filled by Procter & Gamble’s "Fireside Theatre.*' Fred Coe, producer of NBC’s "TV Playhouse,” sponsored alter- nate weeks by Philco and Good- year, will handle production reins on the Christmas package: Cast has not been set. If Richardson decides to fly in for the show, he'll be the second British thesp to. come, to the. U. S. for a single videp pro gram. Pamela Brown was floWn in last month to star in "Susan and God” on ABC-TV’s "Ceiahese The-r atre.” NBC has rushed through its "Minute Man” co-op program proj- ect as a service to affiliates which can keep present outlets content and win new stations in the chain’s expansion pitch. When the outlet sells a local or national spot advertiser a partici- pation in one of the new "MM” airers, station, will pay .a fixed per- centage of the applicable pub- lished national rate. Thus, if an affiliate sells a quarter-hour of a stanza, it will pay a percentage of its quarter-hour network rate. Per- centages are 20%, 25% and 40%; depending on thd specific pro- gram’s production nut. Outlets can beam the shows cuffo if they don’t ink bankrollers for them; New "MM” shows include Kate Smith, which started as a co-op Monday (10)» cross-the-board at 12; 15-12:45 p. m. Airer has room for six* spots daily, can be sold in quarter-hour or half-hdur segments, can be rebroadcast on a . delayed basis 6r trimmed tb a quarter-hour * Others are: "Howdy Doody,” ra- dio version of the tele show, which starts Saturday (1*D at 8:30-9:30 a. in.; "Tales of* the Texas Rangers,’ with Joel MCCrea, starting as a co^ op Sunday (16> at 6-6:30 p. hi.; ’’Dangerous Assignment*” with Brian Donlevy* kicking off Mon- day (17) at 10:30 p; m.; H; V. Kal- :tenborn r preeming Saturday (161 at 6:15 p. m.; and a cross-the-board Bill Stern, sports Show which gets ' ( Continued on page 30)