Variety (December 1951)

■AMO-TELEYISiai'T faftmiagr, Otwdw 12, *1951 Underscoring the new trends among television advertisers to lick mounting costs by trimming the length of their shows or going alternate weeks only, both Ronson’s ‘‘Star of the Family” and General Electric’s "Fred Waring Show” took such moves this week. Their decision follows by a week Ford s resolve to cut . its James Melton show in half and Old Gold’s to, trim the final 15 minutes off its •‘Origii-al Amateur Hour.” Waring show, previously aired Sunday nights from 9 to 10 on CBS-TV, Will be trimnied to a half- hour by GE. Starting Jan, 13, the program will be aired from 9 to 9:30 qrilyy (CBS has not found a replacement for. the half-hour .be- ing vacated.) “Star of the Family, the Peter Lind Hayes-Mary Healy show, has been aired, each Sunday on CBS from 6:30 to 7 pm. Startr ing Jan 10, the show will move into the Thursday night 8 to 8:30 period on alternate weeks, rotating with Carnation’s “Burns and Allen Show,” While the switch will give Kohson a chance to pick up addk tional stations, it also means a con*: giderable saving via the change- over from the weekly 'to 1 alternate Week setup. Need for the further devetop- nient of such programming meth- ods Was pointed up at NBC ? s Boca Raton, Fla., convention last week by sales and operations veepee Ed** ward P. Madden. Outlining the tremendous costs .that Will be con- fronting Video advertisers by 1955, he cited the need both for more multiple sponsorship shows, such as NBC’s “Your Show of Shows,” and for the alternate week display, in which sponsors would give their alternates full identification, so that each bankroller would have weekly representation, even though he picked up the tab for a program only once every two or three weeks. While the alternate week deal was confined to only three or four bankroller s last season, their number has increased' greatly; dur* ing the last few months. Philco, for example, dropped off every other week .from its. Sun day night “Playhouse” schedule, on NBC, with Goodyear picking this up. Frigidaire p r e e m s • the rieW "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse” series of hour-long dramas on ABC this month;* alternating each WednesT day night with the Celanese Corp/s "Celanese Theatre.”, ABC also has Bristol-Myers alternating its "Mr. District Attorney” with Sieberling’s "Amazing Mr. Malone,” while CBS has such shows as "Live Like a Millionaire,” on which Grove Laboratories and* General Mills rotate as sponsors each week, With both time and production 'tosts expected to continue mount-, Ing in the future, it's expected that* the new trend Will become, more widespread, with only- the top- spending and. so-called blue-chips advertisers able to afford an hour show each week. CBS Radio Brass Busy On CAAB Meeting , Contingent of top CBS Radio brass, headed by prexy Howard Meighan, trekked to New Orleans Monday (10) to participate in an- other i the series of Columbia Affiliates Advisory Board meets fined up for the. rest of this year. They'll meet with other CAAB reps in Kansas City tomorrow (Thurs.) before Returning to the homeoffice. Accompanying Meighah were John Karol, Loti Hausman, Lester Gottlieb and Bill Schudt, Hollywood* Pec, 11, First network show to be re- motedfrom a star’s home Will be that of Dinah Shore Christmas day in her regular Tuesday night air- ing in the Chevrolet series. Alan Handley will take a crew of- 20 and four cameras to. the singer’s San Fernando Valley hoine* fO miles outside Hollywood. Show will be done from her ltv- ing room and on the grounds Colgate has set the staff for the I around the swimming pool and Will have the natural backdrop of the mountain range. and Mrs. spon- tele version of "Mr, North,” which, the soap sors on CBS. "North” will be produced by John Loveton, With Nancy Cole- man set as the Mrs. and Jeffrey Lynn being dickered for the Mr. role. Francis de Sales, of the AM edition, Will also be in the tele series. Walter Hart Will direct, With Charles Paul handling music and Sam Leve sets. Writers who have already done scripts are Mary Orr, Joe Liss : and Bob Sloan. : Colgate is also mulling "The Big Payoff,” Walt Framer, show pro- duced iii conjunction with Colgate and William Esty agency. ‘Skid Row’ Mission Chicago, l)ec. 11. preliminary plans for a $1,650,- Q00 television centre. to be used as the home base for a Chicago educa- Chicago, Dec, 11. Radio has been called tUpon to [ sell a great many things but per- haps one of the most unique as- signments is the use of the medium by Chicago Pacific: Garden Mis- sion to "mdbchandise” Skid Row salvations, After a successful trial run on WGN, the welfare organi- zationdedicated to the succoring of the down and outer, is readying a national syndication of its weekly half-hour semi documentary, "Un- shackled.” The Mission and Eugenia Price, the show’s writer; producer arid director, plan to buy time at six major 50,000-watters around the country, in addition to ' WGN, as the backbone of a na- ^tional "platter” network Which wilt also comprise gratis airings on* mittee which is seeking final FCC church-owned stations. Union approval. On. the set aside of Chan- nel 11 for noncommercial use. Speaking at the School Broad- cast conference, James Armsey of the Illinois Institute of Technolo- gy disclosed his school will donate the land for the TV studio. Accord- ing to tentative blueprints the clearances, based on retroactive pay, are being arranged for the 26- week series which will be based on the WGN originals. A Rather than a fund-raising proj- ect, the Mission regards the show as "institutional” advertising to re- building will cost $1,000,000 with min , d , th « P“ bl ‘ c ®/ the nature of its an estimated $650,000 for the nee- work - At best it was hoped "Un- Campana this week pacted With CBS for the 5:55 to 8 p. m. Slot Sundays, in which it will bankroll a neWs show with Bill Shade! as commentator. Program WiU. be in * addition to the Shade! show for Campana npw occupying the Saturday morning to 11:05 period. Kansas City—Jim Monroe, chief of the hews bureau; is bringing in Larry Finley as newsman at KCMQ. Finley is a Kansas Citian, but has been at WEEK, Peoria. He Comes to KCMO this week. He fills M spot left vacant by Leon Decker, now PR area director for the OPS. essary equipment. It’s also esti- mated another $750,000 will be needed for annual Operating ex- penses. . As one of the 12 Chicago-area educational and cultural institu- tions making up the committee, Illinois Tech fiied the formal ap- plication for the channel last May. Also included in the group are such top Wihdy City institutions as the University of Chicago, Univer- sity of Illinois, Roosevelt College, 'DePaul and Loyola universities, and the Chicago Public Schools: It’s expected the cooperating agencies Will nuc their joint ; activity when and if the station hits the air, with each institution having definite programming areas to fill, In the meantime, however, raising the necessary kitty will be the first order of business, With such broad backing, the committee feels reasonably certain the FCC Will greenlight Channel 11 for the educators. CBS, as a hedge against the possibility that its purchase of WBKB may get fouled up, has filed in opposition to the educational set aside of the channel, The committee has sub- sequently filed a brief in reply to the CBS opposition. Murrow’s ’Believe’ Going Full Network on Jan. 5 "This I. Believe,** five-minute show in which CBS commentator Edward R. Murrow presents the personal philosophy of some of the nation’s leading personalities, Will be. expanded from a local N. Y. airing only to the full network, starting Jan; 5. Show .will take over .the Saturday 7 to 7:05 p.m. period, thereby trimming five minutes off "Under- ground,” the sustaining house pack- age now occupying the 7 to 7:30 p, m. period, Sunkist Mulls Alternate With CBS-TV having sold its al- ternate Thursday night at 8 period to Ronson, the decision on whether Sunkist, which wanted that time, wiU take another open time slot on the web, is. expected within the next two Weeks. Deal had been in the works for Sunkist to take over the alternate Thursday night period to bankroll "Meet Corliss Archer;” shackled” would be self-supporting and' the Only , direct "plugs” used are discreet reminders that radio time and production cost money, Since its advent on WGN in Sep- tember, 1950, the Mission shelled out $29,803 for the venture which to date has returned about $18,000 in contributions. But since the .WGN show moved into Saturday night Class A time from its previous late evening spot, it’s been showing a "profit” arid the entire enterprise may hit the black by the first of the year. Unlike many religious airers, "tJnshaOkled” had demonstrated a strong rating pull with, its drama- tized versions of actual case his- tories of Skid Row conversions. Major credit for this goes to Miss Price who describes herself cand- idly as a "salvaged” up and outer. She’s been active in radio since 1940 arid has a long list of net- work scripting credits, ranging from the soaper "Joyce Jordan, M.D.” to "Curtairi Time” and "Grand Marquee.” HoweVCr, things took a bad turn with some unsuccessful business ventures and Miss Price admits to ‘ ‘some. horribly bad times” until her own conversion in 1949., That’s why with her own case in blind she can, lend a real note of authenticity to the "Unshackled” scripts. And ^when she feels the need to slightly 'embellish the case histories into Well-rounded radio yarns; she doesn’t call it ’’dramatic license” but, rather, "sanctified imagina- tion.” * Show pulls between 200 and 300 letters Weekly and WGN bills it as one of its three topairers. WHOM P"xy FortunePope In dtscMitlNf foreign imfiuage breadcoiHitf, edvitts Yourself a Format eat tf flit moay la the ttta dat 46th Anniversary Number •f PEC# (12-22) Following U the linkup of hour-long dramatic shows on the four major networks during the next to days i Pec. 12 Kraft TV Theatre (NBC—9 to 10 p.m:). 4, Tbe Golden State,” by Samuel Spewack. With Dorothy Malone, jane Rose, Pat O’Malley, Edgar Stehli. Celanese Theatre (ABC—10 to 11. p.m.), "No Time for Comedy,” by S, N; Behrman,, With Jean Pierre Auriiont, Sarah Churchill. Pee.-14 Schlltz Playhouse of Stars (CBS—9 to 10 p.m.), "Exit,” by David Shaw. With John Payne, Colleen Gray. Dec. 16 Philco TV Playhouse (NBC—9 to lOvp.m.)* "Perspective,” by H. R. Hays. With Everett Sloane, Augusta Dabney, Whit Bissell. 'Dec. 17. '. Lucky Strike Theatre fNBC—9:30 to 10:30 p in.). "The Christ- mas Gift,” by Albert 1 J. Guerard, adapted by Irving Gaynor Nie- . man. With Jean'Pierre Aumont, Donald Briggs, Margaret Draper. Studio One (CSS—10 to 11 p.m;), “Innocence of Pastor Muller,” by Carlo Beuf, adapted by Wdrihihgtori Miner. With Maria Riva, Walter Slezak. , pec. 18 ' Cosmopolitan Theatre (DuMont^9 to 10 p.m*). "Sighing Sound,” by Jerome Weidman, adapted by Ken Petters. With Bethel Leslie, Gordon Mills, Howard Weirum. pec. 19 Kraft TV Theatre (NBC—9 to JO p.m.). "Incident on Fifth Ave- nue,” by Gerry Morrison, With Joseph Sweeney, Gene Lee, Hildy Parks." tPulitzer Prize Playhouse (ABC—10 to li p.m.). "Skin of Our Teeth,” by Thornton Wilder, adapted by Joseph Schrarik. With Thomas Mitchell, Peggy Wood, Mildred Natwick, Nina Foch. . Dec. ..21 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (CBS—9 to 10 p.m;). "Dark Fleece,” by Joseph Hergeshelmer, adapted by David Davidson and Jerome Rose. With Helen Hayes, Apthony * Premiere. . CBS Radio this week signed Peggy Lee and the Russ; Case orch for the Tuesday arid Thursday 7:30 to 7:45 p.m. , period. Time is being dropped by Campbell Soups, Which, now has "Club 15” in on a cross- the-board basis, but will retain the Monday, Wednesday and Friday night spots only. Miss Lee and Case will do an informal musical show, similar in format to "15,” in order to con- tinue the theme of the strip. Duo will also have guest stars {from time to time. . Washington, Dec. 11. Defense Dept; cancellation of radio and TV programs to a^id re- cruiting, because of Congressional restrictions on Use of advertising funds, may soon be rescinded as a result of protests by the National Assn, of Radio and TV Broadcast- ers., Mrs, Anna Rosenberg, Asst. Sec- retary of Defense, advised NARTB board members Friday (7) that there will be no discrimination against broadcasting in the Use of Unexpended 1951' appropriations for; recruitment advertising. These funds, she said, "may be used for advertising 'through any proper media;; irieludirig radio arid televi- sion, which are designed to recruit specialists and Womeri;” Department had summarily cari-r celled contracts totaling. $800,060 for/three, network /Shows last Oc- tober, When Congress attached a rider to 1952 appropriations for the military prohibiting Government advertising in all media for recruit- merit. Since several Senators had singled put ArmyrSponsored radio shows in their attack on Govern merit Advertising, the Deferise Dept, cancelled the shows, even though they were to be paid out of .unex pen ded appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, ’51 One of the shows cancelled w,as scheduled to begin yesterday (Mon.), It is a 39-week series on NBC with sportscaster Bill Stern The others, which were already on the air. when terminated, were a 26^week series on CBS starring (Continued on page 41) Washington, Dec. 11. President .Truman yesterday (Mon.) delegated' authority to the FCC to. shut down, radio and TV stations in event of attack or threat of attack by enemy aircraft. His action was authorized in legislation passed last session by Congress to control operation of electro-mag- rietic devices which can be used by hostile aircraft or guided mis- siles for riding on U. -Sy targets, ; An executivejbrder issued by the President ^specmcally * restricts the Commission from exercising any authority respecting the conterit of station programs. It also prevents the agency from liking over any station or removing its equipment. The order provides that the Secre- tary of Defense and chairman of the Natiorial Security Resources Board must concur before the FCC can exercise its authority. . Jn the event any/station is re- quired to go off the air, the order requires that ."such station shall be allowed to resume operations or re- turn to normal operations . . . at the earliest possible time consistent With national security;” Order applies to any broadcast station or device using radio fre- quencies . which send out signals farther than five miles. Meanwhile, the Federal Civil De- fense ' Administration begah a six- day conference: at its staff college in nearby Olney, Md., to work out plans for a radio communications system for use in a national emer- gency. Meeting with FGDA are rep- resentatives from such organiza- tions as RCA; Bell Telephone, Western Union; General' Electric and Motorola. ^ Chicago, Dec. 11. WMOR, Chi* FM station,; Whose existence since, it . was launched by a group > of veterans has been riiarked by a series, of management upheavals is back in the news again. It wris disclosed last/ week that Abraham Teitel- baum, Chicago attorney and real estate operator whose testimony charging an attempted income tax shakedown . startled Washington circles, is now the principle stock- holder in the FM station; Teitelbaum, identified as a former Al. Capone attorney, is the major stockholder in the cqihpany that took over WMOR earlier this year from Dario; L. Toffenetti, restaurant operator. Toffenetti an- geled the vet group When they launched the 1 station in 1949 and subsequently took over control when the original managers with- drew after a hassle with -the restaurateur oyer news policy mat- ters.