Variety (May 1952)

ToUowlng i s ’the text of a ‘memorandum passed around at tJie nutjor television networks; * You vMttcall tlut'we’ve hetn fiwhW up ihijf problem for some iiMAA tkM jM 4M 4>HA M#1 rtl Ml A# V114-JV W Im _ # 1 . « 4 WAI1 ^ In a move to _ answer the rising costs of television, ABC-TV i& prep-, - ping a video edition of its Pyramid I Hollywood, May 20. JJ y GARDEN HOOPLA Plan whiph will be ko oriced as to CBS inked a new contract with 11,1 ‘ wuiyM ’ iiyviun Plan which will be so priced as to ^ PuWicistfi Guild ca iii„g f 0 r a ABCs .and -NBC-TV’s "Ordinal permit a small nankroller to be in jg% salary, hike retroactive -to Amateur' Hour”, ’will stage its an- network TV on a weekly basis for Jan. 1, with new starting rate of nual finals In Madison Square. Gar- * full year for about $100,000. $80.75 for 40. hours. ' den June* 12, for .the third straight Although itM «tffl in the blue- Pact runs to April 30, ’53, covers year. ' Ted Mack show on ABC Although its »OU m the blue- CBg affmatis . will Qri gtnate from the Garden CBSj’ublieists’ Pact ‘AMATEUR HOUR’SETS N.Y. GARDEN HOOPLA ABC?« .and NBC-TV’s ‘‘Original » full year for about $100,000. $86.75 for 40.hou Although it's ..still in the blue- , o P 5tfci r print, stage and the programs to 13 CPb • . be tapped for the plan haven’t been ^v| | 1%^ 9 WT selected, ABC ejcecs figure that on KlAPlr 111*110 C I V 4a cost-per-thousand basis it will be *** 7^** ® •* -comparable to the AM web's Pyra- cm* 1 " 2 kw* 1 ‘ mid and NBC radio’s Tandem. How- IcIittJ lclflA ever, it will differ from the radio 01111(1 J# {flits l\Hlts original in that it will be limited to m major markets, some nine stations Block Drugs t tha: will cover over 60% of total tw*» that night. Program will comprise amateurs who are three.-tlme winners -on the stanza. Tickets will be sold, as in the. past, with Old Gold paying all expenses and all proceeds going to N. Y. Foundling. Hospital. •VAiai., * uuyuiu J.CAUJI11K UJ, lilt} WnOlG situation to see if it is being Spitballed correctly so that we can eventually wham it through for approval or disapproval as the p»co might be; lit other words we’ve got to live, .with this for a lone time, and there are certain rock bottom slants which we will have to try on for size. Since this situation hits ns where we live and since it has to be geared in before we. hit the stretch it is’onlv logical that we throw in a few cross-bucks before we take it off tackle. I can’t help feeling that we’re all soft as’ a grape at this stage of the game, arid unless we want, to get'caught with our meta- phors down, we’d better get the egg off our faces and the cabip, stitch sweaters off our teeth. In other words, we*might get caught off first base, and the whole thing might go over like a lead balloon. So let me urge that we all kick this around and "put on our creative thinking caps, so that all of us will profit in the final wrap-up. P.S. Just so we set this thing, straight, I .think it advisable that we all crowd in for the firm-up, at which time there will be a full spell-out. Block Drugs this week' bought "Blind Date” for a Saturday night Hit ABC AMTV set circulation. Cost-per-thousand s1immtr r i<je on NBC-TV, with the k 3 — 3 hfelow 1 .itsundersto o d. s ^ ow serving partial replace- Sitt , the outlets will be in metro- ment (01 . the | id caesar-Imogene pol .an centres' with concentrated coca -'Show of Shows.” With Jerry populations. Lester currently involved in a Three or four programs will be breach of .contract suit with the utilized, skedded on different web, however, he will not emcee, nights and. in different time slots, as previously planned. ’ Instead, to gain a large unduplicated audi- indie packager Bernard L. Schu- ence. Bankrolled will be able to Bert has repotted Arlene Francis, End-of-seasen cancellations are buy as. little as one spot a week-or who f emceed the show when if hitting ABC and ABC-TV. as many as available. Idea is to wa s aired on the ABC .video web. “Pulitzer Prize Playhouse” is bow- make .the show as "wide open” as “Date” will hold down the 9 to ing out at the end of its cycle,' June possible, giving sponsors the oppor- 9:30 Saturday night slot starting 4* “Celanese Theatre,” which- al- tunity of criming in for’short cam- j une 7, pairing with "Saturday ternates with "Pulitzer” in the 10 paignsT seasonal pitches, etc. Back* Night Dance -Party,” which goes p.m. Wednesday slot, has not yet ers Will also be able to select sta- into the 9:30 to 10130 period vice made its decisiori but may return tions, which will include ABC-TV’s the remainder of "Show of Shows.” after a hiatus. Sponsor is likely to five o-and-o outlets. Stations not Web has set bands for the first shift to another time slot, although bought for a particular spot may four weeks 6f the show, with Ray due to the heavy coin involved it be able to insfert a one-minute an- Anthony preeming and followed has not yet given a definite word nouncement for a local spender. by Stan Kenton, Billy May and^ to the Ellington agency. Concept is to combine the ad- Buddy MoTrow. • Other bands to' . Two commercial religiosos are vantages of network advertising in be spotlighted but for which defi- exiting, "Word of Life Songtime,” ease of purchase, wfth the flexibil- nite dates have not been set in- in the Saturday at 11-11:30 p.m. Ity of spot television. At the same elude Ralph Flanagan, Woody Her r slot, had its last show Saturday time, the cost will be geared to fit man and-Jiipmy Dorsey. (17), because Jack Wyrtsen, which the ppeketbooks of a variety of To date’, only.SOS and Belarus, it features, is having'an operation, spenders, but especially those with which, have participations in the "Youth on the March,” aired Sun- limited budgets. As another con- second half-hour of "Show of days at 10:30 p.m., leaves after venience, there will be a short can- Shows,” have-, signed on for the Sunday’s (25) show, cellation clause. ’ summer dahee show. A third par- On the positive side, Cloretts This project aims at being the ticlpation in the first half-hour (via Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample) is -video counterpart of "the single of the summer series is open, to- showing some sponsorship interest column ad in Life magazine.” It’s gather wjth the entire second half- In "Date with Judy,” once spon- argued that there are "over a hun- hour. Name emcee 4s yet to be sored , by McKesson-Robbins. Ral- dred advertisers who are using sin- signed for the. series. It’s to be ston Purina, via Gardner agency, gle column ads In Life who should produced by George McGarrett, has expanded its bankrolling, of be in television.” Drive will be who’s production supervisor on^the "Space Patrol” from alternate triade for advertisers in this bracket Caesar-Coca display, with Hal weeks to a weekly basis, effective with the pitch that participating in Janis -as associate. Sept. Ik On June 14 "Patrol” New Cancellations Facts of TV Life Kicked Around As BMI Preems’ Its Video Clinics the TV Pyramid will be more effec- tive, since it’s concentrated in the major markets, than a national magazine, which has "waste circula- tion” in the less lucrative areas. ■ One of the shows to be chosen — will include a name personality "Paula Stone Show,” which who will be able to deliver potent WMGM, N. Y., had been feeding live commercials. Thls^ will take the Liberty network is slated tn care of those smaller firms which “T * 2 * , J 1 * don’t have film and those products move river to Mutual. It s figured which are sold better by live pres- likely that Amana refrigerators and entation. Pequot sheets will also be re- berthed at MBS, continuing the chain’s upward trend in gross bill- ings. Sept, fii On June 14 "Patrol” moves Into the 11 a.m. Saturday slot from its present Sunday 0 p.m: berth. On the AM ledger Seaman Bros. PAULA STONE SHOW IN >%‘\ he A „ r cwrrru TH HIITTTTAI has dropped "Monday Morning uVrlllfl lU mu 1 UAL Headlines,” Sundays at 6:15 p.m. "Paula Stone Show,” which “Victor H. Lindlahr,” bankrolled WMGM, N. Y., had been feeding ( Continued on page 3 1) IcfZej Hennock Blasts Hub Stall likely that Amana refrigerators and A n TV fliomtAlt' Pequot sheets will also be re- VW £tUU ^ 1 1 » UliaillieiS, berthed at MBS, continuing the CommflllifV 'Rlarlf Fv#^ chain’s upward trend in gross bill- ^UHlIHUUUy DiaCK IVyC ing St # Boston, May 20. Turt , _ , . , . . • Frieda B. Hennock, FCC mem- s expe J :t . ed ber attending a conference of edu- cators, representatives of cultural groups and public officials at the AIT ,, n fl a chain’s upward trending bm- DiaCK ^ Web Dethroned ^ ^& iu 22 £?iI&zl. 1/1 If, . | IVZ cators^representatlve^o^ciUturai In Came Switch —-—c,„., SSSSrSaH sponsored by Camel cigarets, gets through Jackson Ac Co. Hub? cnannei allotte< * t0 the dispossessed from the Thursday Declaring she knew of'no section night at 9 slot on CBS-TV to make t h e gSss for tee founds o?tee Hubter^ducaflon^; >vay for a new Lucky Strike half- same period of ’51. Current pe* TV^^Mfss^ HinnSd?blS^H hour sho W , Camel in turn falls taotl« of ,oca! educators In heir to an even more enviable time th^ve^r* were*10% ahwd^f the ?,? glectIng to get on the ball and 71 ne?day night at same y month of ’51, hitting an^bla^ 9:30. This In turn Will mean the 677,747. ^ na Dlaclc eye t0 community to exiting of Embassy cigarets and Its "Web” mysterioso show, which IT J f* !• 1 currently holds down the Wednes- VUlI Upp€Q jMS LOC AlQ6 day .period. - L ? pi *fi. 9:30. This in turn Will mean the 677 747 " ’ “ a ?i ack ft eye to the ; community to ^...141^- _i, -r._ t. . . ' * ' let the educational channel lie f Xlt ,!w Emha f y cl Sarets and idle.” Continuing, she said, "at this its Web mysterioso show, which rr If j (* a # j date, not ta file an immediate currently holds down the Wednes- VUlI UpjMNl jMS tOC AH16 application shows a great deal of day .period. - w 1 mi l 7 ClAfi. ne 8ligence on the part of the com- Whereas in the Thursday niche « TV PttyhOUSe Shifts that if -Man Against Crime" commanded In a realignment of the produc- SpKon reSld be in X°Ve^ SfreaSv^fTla V t f ?Hi UP a C T el ttai setup on NBC’s "TV Play- day. C °“ W the nex * aireauy a 28-station hookuo . .. ^ ^ . , "Vmi h.... l -_.ij. committed for the Wednesday slot house,” Gordon Duff has been . xou W0 |J 1 h ave to start with Actually, the switchover of Camei upped from director status to serve ment^ou cancrocram Wiie\Steri day W t e , dnesday w . as * s associate producer to chief pro- an hour or two hours dai^to get ^ ■ but was kS S,“? s ducer Fred Coe. Vincent J. Done- started." she emphasised Areord- wraos wlth S o^Tv t r^ C 'rv Under hue » noW * director on the same ing to her estimates, the station Jack Van Volk^hiii^n^TTh^T^'f^ we ^’ s Bobert Montgomery dra- could hit the air for a cost of $150,- me-nov and ^ he Esty niatic series, moves over to "Play- 000, with another $100,000 for ad- .agency aware of the'maneuver. house .. to replace Duff . dit i 0 nal equipment later/ Camel takes over the new time Under the new setup, Donehue At conclusion of the conference segment m July, installing a sum- will ’alternate as director each Gov. Dever disclosed the fact that mer replacement starring Barry week with Delbert Mann, who has he will soon ask the Legislature to Nelson, while ”Man Against been operating under the rotating set up a special commission to crime lays off for eight weeks, policy heretofore with Duff. Show make a thorough study of educa- iii Pv a mystery show, being is bankrolled alternate Sunday tional TV, insisting "that the sta- liimed Jy tho agency in New York, nights on NBC by Philco and tion be guarded from any kind of called The Hunter.” Goodyear. rmUHoni h nminonoo •* political dQminance.” Toast’ Subs Set ► Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy have been signed to lead off the string of performers who .will substitute for conferencier Ed Sul- livan on the CBS "Toast of the Town.” This duo will go in June 22, with Dolores Gray, slated for' the topslot the following week. Walt Disney has been pqcted for the July 6 showing. Sullivan will make his last ap- pearance before his summer hiatus ,June 15 with his anniversary show in which Jane Froman will appear. S Newell to Lennen In Agency Revamp New ad agency being established by Philip W. Lennen and H. W. Newell • is expected to be bigger than either, of their former agen- cies, based on the probability that Newell will bring some of his pres- ent ^ accounts over with him when he joins Lennen. New agency will operate under the name, of Len- nen & Newell, superseding Lennen Sz Mitchell, while Geyer, Newell & Ganger will continue in busi- ness under its present tag. While Newell won’t join Lennen until June 2, an indication of the new biz he might bring with him is the Embassy cigaret account. L&M has had the entire Old Gold billings for a number of years, and both OG and Embassy are products of the same manufacturer, P. Lor- illard. Thus, it’s possible that Lor- illard would Want to merge its bill- ings into the single agency. Under the new setup, Newell will become prez and chief exeq officer, while Lennen, a co-foundef of L&M, will be board chairman and also supervise the agency’s creative work. Ray Vir Den, who has been prexy of L&M since 1947, tendered his resignation some time ago and it now becomes effective. Newell stated that the present L&M personnel will-become the nucleus for an expanded agency, with all departmental facilities and staffers augmented and increased. L&M, incidentally, began its ex- pansion last month, when it took over all Schlitz AM and TV bill- ings from Young & Rubicam. WRATPkS BUY TV STATION FOR $2,000,000 Hollywood, May 20. Telepix producer Jack Wrather and his mother, Mrs. Mazie Wrather, have acquired control of KOTV in Tulsa for sum in excess of $2,000,000. Deal is subject to okay from FCC. Wrathers bought 85% of channel from George E. Cameron, Jr., board chairman of Cameron Tele- vision, Inc*, and John Hill, an exec of the station. Channel manager Helen Alvarez retains 15% of the stock, Wrather heads Wrather Televi- sion Productions, now shooting "Boss Lady” vidpix series at Cali- fornia studios. Loyyr-cost local programming was a key concept sparking the Broad- cast Music, Inc. TV Clinic in N.Y. Monday and Tuesday (19-20)* Other clinics will be held in Chi May 22-23 and Hollywood May 26-27.. Importance of strip programs in cutting local talent and production costs by slashing rehearsal time and costs of settings, etc., was stressed by A. Dopovan Faust, as- sistant g.m. of WDTV, Pittsburgh. He added .that .homemaking and children’s participation shows are valuable in helping talent avoid "burning itself out” WDTV, Faust said, relies on a "hard core of ver- satile staff perfprmers, using free- lance or parttime artists as win« dovv dressing or change of face.” . Ralph L. Burgin, program man- ager, WNBW, Washington, said that there is plenty of time for low-cost hlgh-profit programs in the telecast day; His formula: programs should be short, special- ized in character but broad in ap- peal, simple in presentation, use a minimum of performers with maximum-of personality. He also (Continued on pag* 30) Berles 22 %-Hour Telethon June 7 NBC-TV execs are currently blueprinting the most ambitious telethon toftate—a nearly twice* around - the - clock performance which will start at noon on June 7 and wind ’ up 10:30 the following morning. It’ll be the annual Mil- ton Berle video pitch on behalf of the. Damon Runyon Cancer Fund, which last year brought in an ap- proximate $2,000,000. . Telethon will be a full-network proposition, with Berle being in- tegrated into the various .(Saturday night commercial segments to give the charity-marathon a full 22V£- hour continuity. As usual, all the available show bis talent in New York will be recruited for cuffo stints. (Around NBC last week they were laying odds that Dean Martin At Jerry Lewis won’t be among the "invited” participating guests, either on a live basis or micro-re- layed from the Coast, in view of the kidding-on-the-level treatment accorded Berle when the M & I* duo .pitched in with their own YYiNBT telethon a few months back.) NBC POSTS NOTICE ON DAGMAR TV ‘CANTEEN’ The Saturday post-midnight Dag- mar television show is slated for axing. A June 14 "final perform- ance” notice has been posted. Tabbed "Dagmar’a Canteen," pro- gram has been slanted toward its GI studio audiences, carrying a weekly budget of about $o,00 u * Efforts of the web to sell the 12:13 to 12:45 a.m. show, however, proved fruitless*. "Canteen” has been Dagmar s initial starring vehicle since tn "Broadway Open House" last season. Dagmar has a contra iwi+v, wnn for $2,0UO *