Variety (September 1952)

\X^ctliie8day» September 17, 1952 nABlO-TELEVISlON STRIKE TWO ON TV BAllCASTS Morrow Tiews the Gnus Edward K. Murrow, CBS-TV’s “See It Now” annotator, goes to Philadelphia next week for huddles with Charles Vanda, WCAU-TV veepee production topper, and the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens board of directors, with Murrow slated to do a Saturday noontime show for CBS-TV emanating from the Philly Zoo. Program, scheduled for a fall premiere, will be bracketed back-to-back with the WCAU-TV-created “Big Top” that comes out of Camden for Sealtest. Murrow will go to Philly every Saturday for the origination. The CBS commentator-analyst has long had a desire to do a zoo program for kids, and reportedly his own version is based on what his own child would like to see and which present zoo presentations fail to fulfill. Show wiU add another to the long string of Vanda network productions emanating from Philly. ‘Evening at ?’ Hassle Strips NBC-TV . Of Pepsi, Coke, Vitamin BOIings The question of how to resolved the 7 to 7:30 p.m. cross-the-board | slot has become NBC-TV’s most' vexing problem. Several million dollars in annual billings are go- ing by the boards because of the network’s inability to clear sta- tions. Since 7 to 7:30 is station option time (with the exception of the owned-&-operated stations, which are committed to web pro- gramming), the affiliates sell it locally and refuse to relinquish the time. Coca-Cola wanted the Tuesday and Thursday 7 to 7:15 segments for its own show. Vitamin Corp. had a signed commitment for the Monday and Wednesday 7 to 7:15 strips for sponsorship of “The Goldbergs.” Because the Coke out- fit couldn’t get sufficient stations, it bowed out of the proposition. Vitamin Corn, still wants “The Goldbergs” but not with the small station lineup available. NBC is still trying to^ persuade the com- pany to come in. Ex-Yale grid coach Herman Hickman has been signed by Gen- eral Cigar Co. to go into the Fri- day 7 to 7:15 period. Despite the fact that the n^work could only clear nine stations (including the five o-&-o’s in the major markets), the client is going along with it. It’s Official The Eddie Albert situation comedy, which goes into the Saturday night at 9 slot on CBS-TV this fall, will not be called “Leave It To Dad,” as originally planned. It’s now called “Leave It To Lester.” In view of the upcoming “Life With Father” series on the same network, CBS-TV program veepee Hubbell Rob- inson, Jr., feared a conflict in title would exist.* Before settling on the new title, how- ever, he asked for clearance ■^from his radio program vee- pee colleague, Lester Gottlieb. Gottlieb said “okay, you cap use my name.” Bob Hope Missing From Radio first Time in 15 Years For the first time in nearly 15 Similar hassles attend the 7:15 years, Bob Hope will be missing to 7:30 stretch, Pepsi-Cola has f^-om the NBC radio program signed a conditional order sponsor- ^^is fall. The network has ship of the Tuesday and ’Thursday completed its ’52-’53 lineup, but segments for a filmed di^matic Hope’s name is conspicuously ab- series. Thus far, however, the sta- gent. Unless a sponsor shows up tion clearances are unsatisfactory satisfactory to the comedian, NBC to the drink outfit. Unless NBC g^yg jj. j^^g intention of slotting can pump some enthusiasm into Meanwhile, he’s set for Sev- ille affiliates, the deal looks oft. epav shots on the Sunday night eral shots on the Sunday night Colgate “Comedy Hour” on TV. 1 T\ Of NBC is committed to a guar- I linWfl / lA I ill antee for Hope’s radio services on LA I.V VIv NBC, but rather than sustain the show, the network prefers to ride A Iff 1 “it out and pay him oh the basis of Un Wftb ISindBinS the guarantee. Vll !li;U lailUVlllO General Foods, on behalf of its ^ for Hope’s daytime services beth NB(^ and CBS on sponsdiship radio, but the comedian nixed the proposal. GF hasn’t given up pfi a ^ow^ver, and is now trying to get ^ weekend with Bromo together on terms for a nighttime hnv half-hour Hope show, which would ^ network s three-show j involve some TV exposure for Tjmdem” parlay. These include tpUh Judy Canova, Ld Skelton and the comic on behalf of Jel o. “Barrie Craig,” Young and Rubicam is the agen- Prcviously • CBS had signed cy on the deal. American Chicle Co. for a “Tan- ' ;£ rSLd"Z;“ ‘SNOOKS’ IN ABEYANCE; To break even on the shows, the lVIFAnfiW.S DEAl. OFF n Cl works say it’s necessary to wrap up tliree sponsors. Thus far each web still needs a brace of clients. Sterling Buys Anthony; MEADOWS DEAL OFF NBC has put in abeyance the I proposed radio-TV version of “Baby Snooks,” wihch the network acquired from the estate of ^ the O ^ ^ MKJ y I late Fannie Brice. Casting difficul- T • m 11 n * ties have arisen, necessitating the 1 oni Mulls MGM Senes postponement, initially the web SioHinrt Tk, « u T, T u was negotiating for Audrey Mead- J Anthonv^hn® ows of the current Broadway legit- dav, at qL ^ ““tual. Sun- „j,op Banana," to inherit the V ®' "Snooks” role for the two-way AM- llmar-^ar’l,rSed for ills Sept^M, \S°Dance'^Fitzge?ald- I*'® virtually certain that Hanley Sample. > cancer riczgeraia g^^fford will be back in the role L)ni is reported close to signing el the father. • m a three-times-weekly participa- Program is slated as part of the in the MGM Radio Attractions Dee Engelbach production unit at ^ an/.as on the web. Last week the network, with Carolyn Buike Loncrai Mills bought cross-the- set as producer. It will probably spots in the MGMRA shows, have a New York origination. FOR in PITCH The baseball moguls, growing in- creasingly alarmed over the TV dent in home attendance receipts, have already initiated a series of huddles to determine the future of baseball telecasting. When the sea- son comes to a close and the World Series is behind them, the club owners will sit down in earnest and decide once and for all wheth- er to permanently ban televising of home games and restrict them to outof-towm contests. Most of them, it’s reported, are already in favor of the TV ban. It’s no secret that the baseball chieftains look upon TV as the villain in dwindling home game receipts. The N. Y. Yankee Sta- dium, it’s reported, has suffered a 400,000 admission decline this sea- son, despite the excitement attend- ing the Yankees vs. Cleveland leadership race. While some are of the opinion that the absence from the lineup of “a guy by the name of DiMaggio” has a lot to do with it, officials of the ball club take a different slant and blame TV as the real culprit. Similarly, receipts at the N. Y. Polo Grounds are understood to be 20^0 under that of last year. Declining coin intake is reported from other ball clubs around the country, including the National League-leading Brooklyn Dodgers. Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, of late has been throwing in “added at- tractions,” to lure the customers away from the TV sets and into the ball park, as, for example, a cuffo show by Phil Foster between games at last Wednesday night’s double-header and its designation of “Coney Island Night,” Day-By-Day Checks The ball clubs, it’s known, are making day-by-day studies of at- tendance figures, measuring them with receipts of a year ago, to de- termine wherever possible the seriousness of the TV infiltration. Some close to the picture see but one alternative if the club owners refuse to ban TV cameras from the parks—^that is, to make the sponsorship tab so high as to offset any possible losses from lack of attendance. A TV nix on future ballcasts would have. serious consequences both in terms of local station pro- gramming, and as regards spon- sors. Major bankrolling burden falls on the beer companies around the country. Their principal pitch is for the summer consumer. Base- ball telecasting is a natural, so far as they’re concerned, and their total expenditures each season run into the millions. Stations fear that, if stripped' of home game ballcasts, the brewery sponsors will retaliate by spending their coin in other mediums. Majority of the stations carrying the ball games can’t afford to take that kind of a rap. Libby Buys ‘Nick Garter’ Libby. McNeill & Libby is pick- ing up the tab for “Nick Carter” on Mutual, starting Oct. 19. Whodunit Js being moved from the 6:30-6:55 p.m. slot Sundays to 6-6:25 p.m. period. It will be bought on some 300 stations, via |J, Walter Thompson. Louis Ruppel to ABC-TV as Editor Of 4“Hour Rotating News Program As Web Bids for No. I Gab Status Wholesale Shift Pacting of Frank Fontaine for the upcoming “Scou Mu- sic Hall” NBC-TV show for Scott Tissue Co., which will have a New York-origination, entails something of a major moving production for the comedian. Fontaine got notification of his selection to co-star with Patti Page on practically the same day that he bought a new home in Hollywood. Now he’s got to sell it, since “Music Hall” necessitates his moving east. Also, it will divest Hol- lywood of a solid chunk of its population, for it means bring- ing Fontaine’s eight kids east, along with his wife. • Looks Like WGAR, WJR Will Secede As Deadline Nears With the Sept. 30 .deadline for CBS and the Good Will Stations (WJR, Detroit, and WGAR, Cleve- land) to get together on signatur- ing a new radio affiliation con- tract, less than two weeks off, as yet neither side is yielding an inch. At the moment, there’s every indication that the two major le^igue operations will se- cede from the network and go in- dependent rather than embrace the new rate structure promul- gated at the recent Chi convention. CBS, equally as adamant, says, in effect: “Go ahead, we’ll do all- right.” Should the Detroit and Cleve- land stations decide to go their own way, CBS feels it will get equal satisfaction from other af- filiation ties. For example, in place of WJR in Detroit, it plans making a deal with the 50,000-watt Wind- sor, Ont., station across the river. (On the TV front in Detroit there’s' no concern, since CBS has a deal with George Storer's WJBK.) As for Cleveland, CBS stands ready to negotiate a deal with WJW, owned by Bill O’Neil,, brother of Tom O’Neil, of the Mutual-Gen- eral Tire familjL WJW is present- ly an ABC affiliate. Wismer Doubles as MBS Exec Into Sports Show Harry Wismer, who was brought into the Thomas F. O’Neil General Tele-Radio setup as a general ex- ecutive, will launch a cross-the- board sports show in the 11:15- ll.-BO* p.m. slot on Mutual. It will be a co-op, with affiliates peddling the show to local and spot spend- ers. Show will start after the World Series ballcasts are wrapped up, early in October. CBS to Exec Staff: ‘Gezuntheit’ CBS isn’t taking any chances these days. What with the increa.s- ingly heavy work load in coping with exacting TV demands and wrestling with the “what to do about radio” problems, CBS prexy Frank Stanton last week inaugurated something new in the way of company relations. With CBS picking up the tab, Stanton sent a personal invitation to each and every executive at the network to visit New York Hospital for a thorough checkup and examination. Stanton pointed out that, while the four-hour visit with* the medicos wasn’t compulsory, execs owed it to themselves to undergo the examination and, at the same time, they’d be fulfilling an obli- gation to the company. There was practically a 100% acceptance, with an almost contin- uous shuttling of the CBS brass from Madison Ave. to the hospital throughout the week. Stanton himself set the example by making the first visit. ABC-TV is carving out a niche for itself as the No. 1 web for news, both from the viewpoint of quan- tity and frequency, prepping a pro- gram that will be on four hours Weekly in prime evening' time, starting Oct. 9. Concept was originated by the web’s national program director, Charles Underhill, based on the skein’s experience with the Chica- go political conventions. Coming in to serve as editor of the new stanza is Louis Ruppel, former edi- tor of Collier’s mag and Chi’s Herald-American, and ex-manag- ing editor of the Chi Times. Underhill is skedding the news series, still untitled, in the 8-9 p.m. hour on Sunday, 9-10 p.m. on Monday, 8-9 p.m. on Wednesday, 8-8:30 p.m. on Thursday and 8:30-9 p.ms on Friday, and expects to add more editions as the organization gets rolling. The staggered time is designed to fit in around the net’s commercial commitments and to get maximum audiences. While the ABC-TV news project doesn’t bulk as large from the quantity standpoint as NBC-TV’s “Today,” which is beamed in the breakfast period, it will have moi’e of a hard core of news, according to Underhill. It will not have any repetition of news summaries, which “Today” uses to take care of in^nd-out dialers. It will include feature yarns, but no music or other “fillers.” An hour show, Underhill said, will include about 18 separate elements with perhaps 25-30 personalities participating. Big Stable of Gabbers New airer will probably rotate the on-camera managing editor among a stable of newscasters. Staffers who’ll take part will in- clude Martin Agronsky, Pauline Frederick,. Taylor Grant, Elmer (Contio'.ed on page 44} Ted Mills Newest NBC-TV Casually Ted Mills is the late.st casualty in NBC's television personnel cut- back. With the lopoff of Mills from the production staff also came the death knell, at least for this year, of any attempt to translate daytime television into an ambitious pro- gram enterprise. Mills had been handling produc- tion reins on the ambitious full- hour “Hometown USA” series, which NBC-TV had hoped to sell in quarter-hour segments as a morning cross-the-board vehicle. Despite-some frantic peddling ef- forts, the network failed to get a nibble. NBC decided to scrap the whole thing for the balance of ’52. Mills had been with NBC since 1946, except for two months last fall, when he tpok a leave to work on a TV audition of an Andre Ko- stelanetz show, which never mate- rialized. As head of NBC program- ming in Chicago he was projected Into the national TV limelight with his production techniques on the “Garroway at Large” show. SHOLIS ON LEAVE TO AID ADLAI CAMPAIGN Louisville, Sept. 16. Victor A. Sholis, veepee and di- rector of WHAS and WHAS-TV, has taken a leave of absence to become administrative assistant to Wilson Wyatt, personal campaign manager for Gov. Adlai Stevenson. Part of his duties will include su- pervision of the presidential can- didate’s radio and TV appearances. Sales director Neil Cline will be in charge of WHAS and WHAS- TV during Sholis’ absence. Cline has been sales director since No- vember, 1949.