Variety (May 1952)

02 ■AMO-TELKVISIOM MmiPFr W*Jn«Ml»y, May 2 ft. 1952 ' Keynote of ABC's coverage • of the Republican and Democratic conventions.next July will be the “humanized” touch, Thomas ‘Velot- ta, ABC v.p. supervising the web’s convention-election operation,* told VjUWKry this week, “Overall coverage from the con- vention floor is only a facet of the 1 job,” Velotta feels, , Important questions, which are in the public's mind are: What happens in those •‘smoke-filled rooms”? What's go- ing on in the candidates', headquarr ters? What 'does "a bellhop think pf the office-seekers in his hotel?. How are tKo nominees reacting to last-minut,e developments? “These •re some of the human aspects radio and tele correspondents will have to deal with,” -Velotta said. In line with human-interest an- gles, the web has inked. Roger Price to look for the humorous side, and its Walter Kiernan will •Iso specialize in the lighter facets of the big show, - * A sparkplug of the ABC “hu- manized” approach is expected to be, Paul W. White, who will serve •s “managing editor” of the chain's reporting of the parleys and polls. The webs have to live up to the deep-rooted American tradition of presenting the facts honestly, with- out bias and as soon as they hap- pen, Velotta feels. For this reason, ABC commentators and analysts •re being supplemented by maga- zine and newspaper writers and syndicated columnists. These in- clude writers such as Raymond Moley, Ernest K. Lindley, Kenneth G. Crawford, Samuel Shaffer and Very Clay, of the Newsweek staff; Jack Steele, Richard Tobin and Frank Kelley of the New York Herald Tribune staff, and David Sentner, bureau manager for Hearst newspapers in Washington, May Craig, Washington correspond- ent for Gannett papers; Doris Flee- son of the Bell Syndicate, and Ray Tucker, columnist for the McClure Syndicate, etc., who will, enlarge the scope of ABC's “gavel-to-gavel” coverage and special programs. On the technical side, ABC will have its AM and TV newsroom at the International Amphitheatre, where the conventions will be held, interconnected by telephone, radio and TV with other news-originating spots in Chicago, as will the other Webs, Shortwave channels will al- low the chain’s gabbers to move freely on the floor and keep in touch with the nerve centre by walkie-talkie. At the Conrad Hilton Hotel the HOT KDYL-TV DEAL VIA GROCERS' QUIZ SHOW Salt take City, May 27. KDYL-TV kicked off the juiciest deal ever closed With grocers in this area with the preem of “Movie Quick Quiz” yesterday (Mon.). IGA food stores .are picking up the tab for the across-the-board' series aired at 11 a.m M with Featherstone Advertising ihkfhg the pact for the grocers and E. M, Drucker.for the station. Setup ties in some 45 retail out- lets, largest number ever wrapped up in one package, and calls for award of three $25 bonds daily to those coming up with’the right an- swer via . $hone. To hypo store traffic, each retail outlet will post the answers to questions the day before they’re asked. In addition to the' number of stores being tops, the geographical spread is wider than anything yet attempted, and includes IGA food sellers in the complete video coverage area in three counties. AM-TV’ers Born Hearing Staffs Chicago, May 27. Decision of the City Council to ban radio and television coverage of the public hearings of its anti- crime committee has the electronic news men doing a fast burn. Wil- liam Ray, Chi NBC news director, promptly blasted the ban as a move to forestall a full probing of the liaison between crime and politics hereabouts. The council’s anti-crime group kicked off its hearings yesterday (Mon.) complete with subpoenaed witnesses and a special counsel, a la the Kefauver Senate crime in- vestigation. The aldermen last week voted to keep out the radio- TV crews, after the police asso- ciations protested the possible lensing of the cops slated to ap pear under subpoena. The coun- cil stated it was basing the nix on the recent resolution passed by Xll tilC WAUAU 11AAVV1I AAUVti UiC. J.L. pi j *D A t ^ web will have two AM studios and , ar As ® n -» which opposed one tele studio, which will be able ”l e .televising of such hearings as to cover the candidates’ headquar- i, in , ?f emen * * be witnesses* ters and the lobby, or switch to any Clv11 other remote point. Additionally, The formation of the specia the chain will use four mobile council crime investigation unit units, and its owned stations, was the outgrowth of city-wide in- WENR and WENR-TV, which will dignation over the current status originate some convention airers. of Windy City law enforcement. “The challenge radio and TV Because of the red hot public in- face in this election year,” Velotta terest in the situation, Ray and declared, , “is to make its way Chuck Wiley, Chi CBS special through the mass of news and ma- events chief, have been taking the chines,' transcend the gags and lead in seeking permission to cover gadgetry, and come out with a the affair with mikes and cam- clear, concise report and interpre- eras. Also they feel there is an important principle involved namely, that if the press Is al- lowed to cover the testimony, radio and TV have the same right. It was only last December that radio and TV were given access to regular council sessions, climax- mg a two-year battle spearheaded by the NBC news qxec. This lat- est turndown on what shapes up as one of the hottest local news Hollywood, May 27. year * has *fft Ray Schlitz is dropping “Halls of broadest ,? Iiar £ ed that the Ivy” unless NBC shaves the price that miS J° nflni l S suspicion from the current $10,000. Brew- ™f mbe rs do not cry is unhappy with show’s rating UD betwiw^H 1 airin ? of * be tie_ but would renew it around $7,000. caiman ” Gn crlme an< Politics in Understood that Nat Wolf, who g0 * has interest in show with NBC, and scripter Don Quinn, won’t hold PW* still for any drastic cut. Colmans Sponsor Drops tation of American principles in action.” democratic Ivy’ Too Costly, Schlitz Plans Exit are also against working for less. Schlitz will keep time, but buy : cheaper show if “Ivy” doesn’t cling. DuPont’s Ad Post ‘Nancy Dixon Show’ Cleveland, May 27 ■ The .J2? ailcy Di xon” show, star- ring Gillian Maas, is being tem- porarily dropped by Cluett, Pea- body & Co. Inc. in what Is being described as “a review of the broadcasting market in Cleveland.” The cross-the-board 15-minute Dallas, May 27. Lawrence E. DuPont has been named radio - television direc- , . — tor for Rogers & Smith Advertising ® bow bas bee n aired over WTAM Agency here. He replaces Edward by Miss Maas since 1946 with an- il. Kash who is being transferred nouncer Tom Field assisting in a to the agency’s Chicago office. Du- rundown of shopping hints in sev- £r n WFAA-TThere ° giam director stores™^ 01 * downtown de Partment CBS Radio Sets Cti$ Radio, continuing ttj mys- tery programming lineup on Thurs- day nights, will'air & new half-hour meller, titled “The Judge,” in the Thursday at 9:30 lot, starting June 5. ■ Show will replace “Mr. Keen; Tracer of Lost Persons,” which moves back to the Thursday at 8 period, with, the first 15 minutes being sponsored this summer by American Chicle. “FBI in Peace and War” follows at 8:30, under American Tobacco sponsorship for the summer, and “Mr. Chameleon” continues at 9. “Judge,” which will be aired sus- taining from the Coast, deals with a retired jurist who is called in by the police to help him solve crimes on the basis of his long experience with the law and with criminals. Strike Fear Alerts RWG Exec Board National executive committee of the Radio Writers Guild, Which meets very infrequently, will hold a meeting In Hollywood next week- end (May 30-June 1). .High on the agenda will be the potential strike situation at CBS, NBC and ABC re- garding staff scripters. TV juris- diction and the upcoming reorgani- zation conference of the RWG’s parent body, Authors League of America, are also expected to get an airing. National exec committee consists of the three regional veepees and the national prexy. Taking, part in the Coast confab will be prez Mil- ton Merlin, midwest v.p. Tom Koch, eastern v.p. Ira Marion and Coast v.p, Larry Marks. Since the Screen Writers Guild is • headquartered on the Coast, it’s likely that the RWG will utilize this meeting to engage in informal talks with SWG. Although there has been some bad blood between the two unions, lately they have been showing signs of working together. There Is a joint RWG-SWG com- mittee in L. A. working on the tele situation. The radio strike threat stems from the fight over "RWG’s demand for commercial fees for staff news writers. 5-STATION RELAY TIE FOR IKE’S ABILENE TALK Kansas City, May 27. Technical plans to pick up the June 4 address of Gen. Dwight Eiserthower from Abilene, Kans., have been changed to set up a five- station microwave relay circuit to Kansas City. American Telephone & Telegraph earlier .announced that it*-circuit would cohnect di- rectly with Omaha, the western end of the coaxial cable. Kansas City, however, is only 135 miles from Abilene, and is on a co- axial from Omaha. Cable facilities to Kansas ^City from Omaha, 212 miles, *up to now have beeh only one way, but the cable is being adapted to use for both sending and receiving. This setup will make WDAF-TV here the feeder to the nets, which are tentatively listing the telecast for 5 p. m. CST. Radio nets are expected to carry the address by delayed transcription at night. The Abilene hookup will set a remote record for this area. The longest previous remote is a pickup of a basketball game by WDAF-TV from the U. of Kansas Hoch Audi torium at Lawrence, Kans., a dis tance spanned by microwave relay for about 40 miles. , A? Has a Change Of Heart, Abandons Plan On TV Newsreel Setup Decision of the Associated* Press to abandon its recently-created tel- evision newsreel service indicates the AP’s johnny-come-lately entry into TV was too late. Most of the 109 video stations around the coun- try had previously pacted with other .newsreel services for their film footage. As a result, the AP found it impossible to crack the market and, with new stations to be authorized by the FCC not ex- pected to take the air in any quan- tity for at least two years, the AP suspended its operations. AP service was being financed by some $200,000 of Wall Street coin. How much of this must be written off as a loss has not been revealed. Production outfit set up to produce the reel, known as Spot News Productions, however, will continue in business. Jack Tobin, who left Telenews Production to head up Spot News, said this week that the outfit will have its future plans ready to announce within the next few weeks. Number of Tele- news staffers who ankled that firm to go to* Spot News with Tobin will reportedly be dropped. AP was the third of the major wire services to enter the TV news- reel business. International News Service was first in, and is now servicing a number of stations with either a daily or weekly reel, as well as its International News Photos. United Press joined forces with Fox Movietone earlier this year for a TV reel service, In ad- ditmn to Telencws, which services web an£ l a number of individual stations, NBC-TV has its own newsreel service and some in- f“ e . stations also do business on their own, such as the N. Y. Dailv News’ WPiX. y Rebroadcast Edict Seen Cue for Web Program Control Washington, May 27. FCC was told yesterday (Mon.) its recent relaxation of rebroadcast rules will result In a campaign by networks “to monopolize and con- trol program rights, even after the programs are sold to sponsors, in an effort to further block the eco- nomic freedom of network affiliates as a result of rebroadcsting.” In a letter to *Commission Chair- man Paul Walker, Gordon Brown, prexy of WSAY in Rochester, N. Y., said the agency’s new ^policy of re- quiring explanations by stations for refusing to allow rebroadcasts of sponsored programs confronts the- nets with a major problem. “For the first time,” said Brown, “the network affiliates will have a bargaining position at contract re- newal time, or at network rate cut- ting time. “The affiliates can now demand a fair return of their rate card for the best time on their stations, which is optioned by the networks. If the networks refuse and deprive them of .their affiliation, these sta- tions still can sell a large quantity of their radio time to sponsors at a high percentage return of their rate card. If the affiliate decides to again accept a renewal of his affiliation, the rebroadcast rule will still let fiim sell rebroadcasts on a spot basis through his st^ion repre- sentative. This will not injure the network or the affiliate revenue in any way, since the sponsor must use the networks for the first broadcast of his programs. In fact, it will encourage further use of network broadcasting.” Brown has been waging a long battle for rights to rebroadcast spoi^ored programs. ,, Ne w Poiicy, if administered in :.„? ub £ c bl t eres ii Brown advised, wili afford more benefits to the radio industry as a whole, as well as to the general public, than any decision which your Commission has had to make- for soipe time.” Action, he added, should bring in millions °f dollars of revenue to rSj? d 4 and independent radio and TV stations “by affording spon- sors a lower cost per listener for their advertising.” Columbus—Charles R. Kinney formerly with WVKO and WTVN WT r £v na -j?® d ff neral manager of jSK* Ene > .fa., 5000-watt ABC ward T e nmh enlly pur <r hased by Ed- waid Lamb, owner of WTVN here. toe ™w as ( ormerly a member of S!th? <w d re ^ e i rch department Cint innati Enquirer and of the&taff of WLW, Cincinnati. Toronto, May 27 Canada will definitely have mestic television early n il three 4 weSnlToZ wtth Toronto *nd Montreal “be first teeoffs .in- a projected tranc Canada state-operated web. This was the announcement of Davidson Dunton, chairman, board of go" t! ; e Canadian Broadcast ing Corp. to the Canadian Assn °/. Advertisers’ convention here* attended by top radio sponsors’ whose annual budget is around $50,000,000. ' ound CBC rate cards in the. TV Hacci ficatioii will not be officially re- leased foor a fortnight, but Dun- ton after pressuring, told the ad- vertising men and sponsors that the basic rate lor the Toronto sta- tion will be *1,600 an hour; $960 for a half-hour; $640 for 15 min- utes. The irate for the Montreal area.will be $500 an hour; $300 for 30 minute* 5 (this because there are fewer TV sets in the Montreal area). Rates apply to either live or kinescope. The CBC commercial setup will be different than that in the Unit- ed States, said Dunton. Quality and not quantity will be the Canadian aim; and TV service in this coun- try will be basically all-Canadian, though a number of “good” pro- grams will be brought in from American sources. .CBC will- also accept spots. The network connection between Toronto and Montreal will also link with Buffalo. CBS-TV staff will be all-Ganadian, with no im- ported experts, though staffers for the past year have been studying TV aspects with the U. S. networks and the BBC in London. The chief Canadian problems wili be a 14,- 000,000 population whose concen- trations are divided by great geo- graphical distances, said Dunton, plus the two-language (French and English) complication. This also involves the high cost of produc- tion and distribution per head. (CBC recommendation is that TV setowners in Canada be taxed an annual $15.) “Despite commercial revenue, we cannot get away from the fact that the cost of television in Can- ada will be high per home,” said Dunton. “Those basic problems are (Continued on page 40) CBS Summer AM Roster Goes Coml CBS Radio added another link to its Sunday night sponsor lineup for the summer, when Rexall picked up the web’s Doris Day show, now aired Friday nights, as the replace- ment for “Amos ’n’ Andy.” With Philip Morris already pacted to hold down its Sunday night spot all summer and American Tobacco buying, a Thursday night half-hour in place of the Sunday night Jack Benny “show, several of the web’s Sunday night sponsors will be on during the dog days. Miss Day’s show, originating from the Coast, had been aired Fri- day nights at 9, as part of the music programming block on that night. Show elicited little sponsor inter- est, however, and the web report- edly had been almost ready to jetti- son it until Rexall stepped in for its summer buy. CBS reportedly is making concessions to Rexall. To wrap up its Sunday night lineup for the summer, the web will have “December Bride,” a sit- uation comedy featuring' Spring Byington, in at 7 o’clock, replac- ing Jack Benny. With Luckies hay- ing decided to bankroll “FBI in Peace and War” Thursday nights, though, this one will be sustain- ing. Doris Day, for Rexall, goes at 7:30, and the new Frank Fontaine show will go in at 8 on a sustain* lng basis, replacing the Coca-Cou half-hour. PM continues at 8: but Its replacement for “Playhouse on Broadway” has not been deter- mined. . To replace Miss Day’s show -Fri- day nights, CBS will expand “Musicland, U. S. A.now in the » to 8:30 spot, to a full hour. George Price’s “Big Time,” ndw in at B’.du. will move back to the 9 o do spot, replacing Miss Day.