Variety (January 1952)

36 RA1IO-TBLBVISION Coast Paradox mSm Continued from page 87 sss head up operations. Others of a like calibre are being interviewed for other berths. To Poole, KBIG Will not be a rich man's plaything. He’s got a lot more where the 300G came from, but he’s in radio to make money and confidently expects to write off his early losses in six months: He believes that daytime radio (his is a dawn-to-dusk station) offers better prospects , of gainful enterprise than nighttime television. Which is Why he’s using TV-earned coin to finance his AM operation. Shot-in-the-Arm. How did he make the killing in. television? “The family had money ” he says, " I Went out and bought television stocks right, after the war. Shares were d'e? pressed at that time, but I had faith in their comeback, and sure enough, within a couple of years I trebled my money. I think, radio has a lot of good years left, and that’s why I’m in it.’* '* It’s the ghot-in-the-arm that Coast radio has needed, and the others are beginning to share his enthusiast. In the early days of radio one of the small indies erected a transmitter on. Catalina island, 20 miles off the mainland. NO one else went there, so* it was -moved back to L. A. KBIG’s antenna is, now rising out in mid-ocean, and Poole has his reasons that seem technically sound. He never forgets his engineering avocation, and puts it to work like his other hobbies. Electronically, he’s on a track that’s clear and fast.. What he wants to do is make 10,000 watts do the work of 50,000. It can be done, engineers agree. Knowing enough about engi ing to recognize that salt water is a perfect conductor Of radio waves, he chose Catalina as the site of his transmitter. Transmission from the Hollywood studio reaches Catalina by relay from a radiation center atop Mt. Wilson. To make the signal all the stronger, it is beamed directionally to the mainland. Poole allows that Santai Barbara, nearly 100 miles to the north of L. A., will get as stftmg signal as issues from any stajtidff In Xr, :A. Poole is a young man to be. watched, and even) /if* lfe Isn’t A huge success againstv all odds,’ his presence will be feltbytheother station operators. Ha’ll step Up^thc slowing pace, and that’s what home radio bas needed .since television Cast its frightful shadow over this placid landscape. TV Freeze Lift Continued from page 27 equipment, was issued without Wilson’s “knowledge or consent.” Quoting Variety’s story of the j Oct. 25 meeting in Washington between Wilson and the TV industry, Johnson said it was; Apparent that Chromatic Television Labs (Par. 50% subsidiary) or anyone else “could go ahead and manufacture color equipment so long as additional materials, other than those duly allocated, were not required.” The Senator) added he was In complete agreement with that position. "However,” Johnson continued, “I hope you appreciate my consternation and surprise, when, after this understanding, the NPA issued an order prohibiting the production of color or attachments designed to ■receive, permit or facilitate the reception of color television. This order is just another unwarranted crippling blow aimed directly and specifically at color television. It is an attempt t6 regulate the end product. What difference, is there to the defense effort, once you have made the allocation of the materials, as to whether or not the materials are used for black and white" or color?” Cleveland — WG AH renewals included three 52-week stints with Shell Oil signing again for the 15minute Charles Day 6 p.m. Monday-thru-Friday newscast; Metropolitan Life taking Jim Martin on Monday-thru-Friday 8 a.m. newscast, and.Mennen renewing on the Bill Mayer morning disk show. Wedm hutumey 30^, 1952 Navy Vet May Only Get inside Stnf-Television Houston, Jan. 29. Hency Menefee, a Navy vet, who -helped build and operate an illegal TV outlet at Madisonville, ?iay get only : areprimand from -;the FCC. i’ .... . ' The1 TV; outlet was .built to: pick up and rebroadcast programs of KPRC-TV. Persons connected with the outlet pointed out to the FCC examiners here that they thought they ‘were rendering a commdnity service; They , were boosting the KPBC-TV signal so that viewers at Madisonville could eqjoy T.V programs. i George E. Sterling, FCC . commissioner Who was here for ;the investigation, pointed out thatMenefee had a good record in the Navy and an outstanding reputation in his home town. The FCC first proposed to suspend Menefee’s amateur radio license. Radio Set Boom ; Continued from page 23 ^ NBC-TVphoned exec* of the rival DuMont web Monday night (28) to seek permission to use a clip from DuMont’s "Pentagon-Washing! ton” show for its **Tdday” program yesterday morning. DuMont show featured an interview with . Sir Hubert Wilkins, explorer. DuMont wa$;wilUng to let NBC use a clip from the kine but requested that the N^C show credit DuMont. NBC turned down the request And did not use. the-dip. DuMont, incidentally, claims, credit for having been -An the ,air first with the "Today” title, having used it on a news show, prior to thd preem of the NBC early-bird series. In the face of persistent beefs from agencies and sponsors about television’s skyrocketing production costs,. CBS-TV this week is pitching its revived "Mr, I. Magihation” show on the basis that it costs’ no more ihis.year than it . did. when Nestle's dropped it last season. Gross package price; exclusive of time; is $6,000, and the web insists the show has not been trimmed in production or quality.* NesJIe’s reportedly dropped the show last season because it felt the price at that time Was too high for a program grooved mainly for kids. Pressure from* the public and press was a factor in putting it back on the air. * .‘Eugene 5. Thomas, former TV operations manager for WOR-TV, N.Y;, has been elected a veepfee of George P. Hollingberry and will head up sales activities for the. station rep’s tele outlets. Thomas was sales manager of WOR (AM) for 10 years, then became general manager of WOIC, the tele outlet WOR” launched in Washington, D. Ci When WOR sold that station, now WTOP-TV, Thomas returned to WOR-TV. He’ll help Hollingberry clients with the TV applications yand operations plans, it’s possible that, if one member of the family were watching the video receiver in the; living-room,. another member of the family might be listening to a secondary radio set in another; room. Joint research committee pinned its total number of radio homes on the 1950 housing census, which showed that 95.6% of all U. S. homes had at least one radio. This., in turn, was applied to a. Sales Management estimate of 44,737,900 homes, Estimate of 23,500,000 car radios is based , on available surveys, which Show that nearly 64% of the 37, 000, 000-plus cars on the road are now radio-equipped. Committee this year’ also included for the first time a breakdown of the number of sets in institutions, college dormitories and armed forces barracks, Which totaled 900,000.. These sets, too, it was pointed out, represent a bonus for the advertiser, since they are riot, measured by the usual rating services.' The 4,100,000 sets listed as being in "other places” include those in business establishments, offices, restaurants and public places. TelevisionWorkshop of N.. Y. is opening courses in production for women; designed to train distaffers for program assistant posts. Classes begin Feb. 18. CntCUNG THE HLOCYCUS Fort Worth— Zack, Hurt, disk jockey on KFJZ, key outlet of the Texas : State Network, hag started his sixth year on the series of airings Which are broadcast Monday through Saturday for a half-hour on 18 stations of the web. ager at WHAS> and WHAS-TV. Robert W. Thompson has" been named .his assistant. Loader has been with the organization since 1946, first as radio producer then for two years as TV producer. Baltimore— D. L. (Tony) Provost, Vice President and General . Manager of Hearst Radio and TV properties has beeh elected to the board of directors of KING AM and TV in Seattle. Detroit — Pianist Jimmy Clark, staff arranger for the 18-piece WJR orCh, is being featured on a new WJR program titled "Th Jimmy Clark Show,” heard three times Weekly. Minneapolis — As a public service. this week, the WCCO half -hour “Quiz of the Twin Cities” , show was .devoted entirely to the March of Dimes and the local) polio test, "Polio Poster Boy.” Louisville — William F; Loader has. been upped. to promotion man Philadelphia— "K i tche n Kapers,” WIP’s food quizzer, will move out of the studios in February to go on a tour of one-nighters, broadcasting before parent-teacher associations, church and civic groups in and around Philadelphia and in. nearby New Jersey. Tour begins Feb. 12. JACK THE BELLBOY is moving to WXYZ Detroit Yes— on February 4th^ Jack the Bellboy moves to WXYZ. And all his loyal fans will be moving with him. He’s Detroit’s number one disc jockey and the hottest salesman Detroiters have heard in a long time. For example-^one of his rare public appearances drew 65,000 people to a Detroit music store! That’s the kind of response that made local arid national advertisers buy Over 10,000 spot announcements on his program last year. -It will sell your products too^-arid sell them faster, in the rich Detroit market. Call ABC Spot Sales for time and rates. DETROIT WOodward 8-8321 NEW YORK SUsq.uefianm 7-5000 CHICAGO ANdover 3-7800 LOS ANGEliS NOrmandy 3-33 It SAN FRANCISCO EXbrook 2-654$ Amencan