Variety (September 1952)

« .• I t* * $€pteiii!>«ir S, 1952 % « 4 H ‘ HAMO-ITELEVISIOIf me . , Philidelphia, Sept. 2: !^*a‘Vtorable reaction fi'-om the pub- lic .and[ enthusiastic acceptance by a hig^L percentage. of doctors were reported in surveys made to deter-! mine reception of medical educa- tional, programs. Su^eys .were based on two net- work telecasts made from the an- nuid meeting of the American Medical Assn., in Chicago, in June, when for the first time lay viewers as well as medical men were shown scientific , exhibits at the AMA meeting. First night's program also included part of a surgical opera- tion direct from the operating .room of Chicago’s Wesley Memo- rial Hospital. Program was sponsored by Smith, Kline k French Pharmaceu- tical Laboratories, of this city, which also conducted its own suj> vey to learn whether such shows were acceptable to both doctors and public. SKF in a telephone poll called 142 medics the next morn- ing* Thirty-one had seen segment, with only one adverse comment. SKF reps asked doctors in per- son about program and of 121 who viewed shows, 116 (or 96%) con- sidered prograpas worthwhile. In a third survey SKF and the AMA sent out 8,574 questionnaires, with 1,373 replies. Of this number ‘ 53% had seen one or both the pro- grams; 94% found the programs interesting; 74% thought the pro^ grams useful to the doctor; 62% said theh’ patients had commented on the programs, and 93% favored the same kind of telecasts next year. The first program, which was carried over 39 stations,* showed new methods of artificial respira- tion, an exhibit of the new anti- TB drug, exhibits on cerebral palsy and poliomyelitis, and views of a stomach operation as a “sur- prise highlight.” WOV’s Merchaadisiiir Techniqiies Expanded To N. Y. Negto Market WOV, N. Y. indie which has spe- cialized in foreign language pro- gramming, is taldng a leaf from Its merchandising book in the Italo- American field and applying it to the Negro-danted block it added last year. First English-language program on WOV to get the merchandising assist is'*" Max Cole’s “Wake Up New York” cross-the-board morn- ing show, which recently added Cecilia Violenes, indie’s* nighttime femme deejay. She’s tagged “The Lucky Lady,” and photographs of her are posted in drug stores in Harlem and other predominantly Negro communities.. About three weeks after the posters go up. Miss Violenes makes a surprise visit to tire store, and th*e first customer in each store to identify her collects a prize package. Al^ut 524 indie grocers are cooperating in the pro- motion, including the 133 Associ- ated Grocers- of Harlem. WOV general manager Ralph N. ^eil said, "In foreign language broadcasting your audience auto- matically consists of people with a knowledge of the particular lan- guage. Among English-speaking groups, however, specialization means reaching people with speci- fic tastes in music,, and commen- tary. WOV is not trying to sub- stitute one group of listeners for another, but to supplement present audiences. The aim of this mer- chandizing plan is to strengthen' dealer cooperation and to win new listeners for the ‘Wake Up' program.” Station Reps Set Meet National Assn, of Radio & TV Station Representatives will hold its quarterly meeting in N. Y. on Sept. 10. One of the items on the agenda will be a change of name, with a switch to Station Representatives' Assn, likely. It’s felt that NARTSR Is too complex a tag and also that it tends to he confused with • National Assn, of Radio 8c Television Broadcasters. ABC HIRES SPECIAUST ON LABOR RELATIONS ABC, for the first time in its his- tory, has hh*ed a labor relations specialist. He is .Ur. Benjamin Werne, who teaches at the Wall St division of New York University and is prominent in the labor law field, Werne will handle the network’s i*elations with all unions. Web, in- cidentally, has dealings with 74 different labor groups. The new legal eagle will also cover- labor relations for all the web’s owned- and-operated outlets and its offices across the country. Up to now the bargaining with unions has been handled by the chain’s legal department, with Jo- seph McDonald (who went’ over to NBC earlier this year) and Omar Elder, Jr., concentrating on the negotiations. NBC Expands Merebandisng Hoopla ^ To Emlirace TV; Flock of Services Vote TV Channel Detroit, Sept. 2. The Detroit Board of Education has -appi-oved organization plans for a television channel devoted exclusively to educational pro- grams. Fifteen educational institutions are to be combined in a non-profit corporation to be known as the Detroit ' Educational Television Foundation. The corporation, con- trolled by a 15-member board of trustees, will own and operate the station which will be located at lYayne University, The participating groups are:- The Detroit Board (ff Education, Wayuie University, Cranbrbok Academy of Arts, Cranbrook Insti- tute of Science, Detroit Historical Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Institute of Technology, Detroit‘Public Library, Edison In- stitute, Marygrove College, Mercy College, University of ■ Detroit, parochial schools of the Archdio- cese of Detroit, public non-urban schools of .Wayne County, and pub- lic schools systems in nearby com- munities,- NBC is translating its merchan- dising department, which has been ; in operation. for six months, into the video field as well. The coip- binatioh of video selling with mer- chandising aids Is expected to give other national media, such as mag- azines, stiff competl,tion, accord- ing to merchandising director Fred N. Dodge, “because only a network has the means at hand to permit the building of. a truly effective .merchandising service.” Dodge pointed out last week that “no other medium could foot the bills” for setting up local opera- tions in all the key markets. “A network, and only a network, can possibly provide these facilities be- cause it is represented in these markets by Its affiliates,” Dodge said. He noted that under the NBC merchandising HQ in New York there are 12 field reps co- ordinating the efforts of tlie af- filiates and doing leg *work them- selves. NBC , merchandising staff report- ed that at first the affiliates were wary of the project, feeling that it might cost them extra coin. How- ever, the. department was given a budget of $600,000 by the web for the first year's oi)«rations—a fig- ure likely to be upped next year— and the outlets realize'^ that it’s a service that will pay off in direct benefits to them. The web's merchandising proj- ect includes trade mailings, distri- bution of point-of-sale material, special ' displays for advertisers,* personal contacts with retailers, consultation on the preparation of sales , presentations, experienced speakers for sales meetings, con- ducting special surveys and spot checks, attitude surveys, local mar- ket tests, on the air promotion and other miscellaneous services. A great deal of material is be- ing provided to advertisers using NBC’s merchandising services at cost. These include posters, but- tons, stickers, and other pieces with “Mike, Your' Happy Sales- man,” a cartoon personality de- signed to remind customers where they heard about the product. With the entrance of the tnerchandisinM department into TV, a new charac-* ter has been added, “Mr* C. Teevee.” "Other aids are the Merchandis- ing Memo, a monthly publication which goes to all affiliates, and two Merchandigests—one for the food industry and one for the drug trades—^which give local stations a trade digest at cost. Overwhelming majority of AM and TV affiliates of the chain are now involved lii the merchandising setup. ’ CBS SatnratioD Sales Plan Geb Ride Into Fall as Radio Coine4)n CBS Radio’s summer saturation sales plan, under which a sponsor gets representation on several top evening shows each week, is being extended to the regular fall season for the first time this year. Ameri- can Chicle Co, has already bought in for the three shows which CBS has turned over for saturation booking, and the web is currently scouting two more bankroUers to round out its list. CBS has' selected the 8 to 8:30 p.m. period on Wednesdays, Thurs- days and Fridays to handle iti saturation biz, which will preem Oct. 1, On Wednesdays at 8 , the web will air “FBI in Peace and War” and on Fridays, the show will be "Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons.” Thursday night slot is still open but the web wants a comedy show in there and may go with “Meet Millie,” the Audrey Totter starrer which was evolved out of the CBS summer lineup in 1951. . , American Chicle also partici- pated in the saturation plan thi« summer, along with Wrigley. Agency for the chicle firm is Sul- livan, Stauffer, Colwell 8c Bayles. WALT FRAMER Presents THE LUCKY 13! N Thirteen NEW and LUCKY (for the sponsor) quiz and audience participation shows:for TV. EACH of them the h ap p y result of over 25 years of experience and actual performance. k EACH of them daring enough to be NEW and not a feeble imitation of an existing show. \ EACH of them offered with the same famous four P’s—Packaging, Production,. Publicity and Promotion. , EACH of them created by the same super showman who gave birth to two toppers * ^‘STRIKE IT RICH” and “THE BIG PAYOFF” EACH of them offered as TV'S TOP DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR BUYS ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ WALT FRAMER PRODUCTIONS 123 WEST 44fli STREET. NEW YORK 36, N. Y. PLAZA 7-0800