Variety (October 1952)

October 29 ? 1952 Inside Stuff—Radio Toni’s new whodunit on ABC radio, “Crime Letter from Dan Dodge,” will use some plots taken from old “Sam Spade,” “Charlie Wild,” “Clock” 3 i "Fat Man” shows. According to Weiss & Geller, agency on the flirer about 25% of the scripts will be taken from those sources and 75 % will be originals. Reason is said to be the dearth of good new detective material. Manny Rosenberg and Larry White, packagers on “Dan Dodge,” also'packaged “Spade,” “Wild” and other shows. Format of “Dodge” differs from the other airers and the older scripts, which are bought from the original writers, are given a rewrite. National Assn, of Educational Broadcasters convention at the U. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Nov. 6-8, will include talks by G. H. Griffiths, of the Fund for Adult Education, FCC Chairman Paul A. Walker and c en H H. Humphrey. Other speakers will be Morris Novik, AM-TV Consultant; Dr. Sydney Roslow, of The Pulse, Inc.; I. Keith Tyler, di- rector of the; Institute for Education by Radio & TV. Tele will be discussed on Friday and radio on Saturday. ttADKO-TKUGVlSVON 43 ■ ,i, .'L.i'iai*^ - • --■■--in i ■mm in i i m hhh ini ir-iin ■ ii nnT'UTjnrn, CIRCLING THE KILOCYCLES BALTO’S with-fm in ‘GOOD MUSIC NET Washington, Oct. 28. Affiliation of WITH-FM in Bal- timore with WGMS in Baltimore, extending the “Good Music” net- work from Portland, Me., down al- most to Richmond, Va., was an- nounced jointly here yesterday (Mon.) by Tom Tinsley, prexy of WITH, and M, Robert Rogers, head of WGMS. Formal dedication of the FM hookup takes place Wednesday night (29) with broadcast of a com- plete symphony concert from Con- stitution Hall in Washington. Pro- gram will be forwarded to AVITH- FM by direct relay. The good music programs will be sponsored in Baltimore by local firms and commercials heard on WGMS blocked out for local insertions in Baltimore. ABC Dickers Protestant Reiigioso Radio Series With Bishop Sheen haying inked Admiral as a sponsor on DuMont tele network, ABC radio is dicker- ing with Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, prominent Protestant lead- er, for an AM religious series. The web has strong interest from a big advertiser who wishes to back the program. Client Trims Budget On 'Zoo Parade’ Sponsorship “Zoo Parade,” one of the few re- maining Chicago-originated shows on the NBC-TV roster, will soon be scouting an alternate week sponsor. Quaker Oats, which has been bank- rolling on a weekly basis, has noti- fied the web that it’s cutting back to a skip-a-week schedule starting Nov. 30. “Parade,” which is done via re- mote pickups from the Chi zoo, Is aired Sunday afternoons from 5 to 5:30. Deejay’s Nabe House Show Pittsburgh, Oct. 28. Looking to cash i^ on deejay’s popularity with teen-agers, Liberty Theatre, Harris circuit nabe house in East Liberty, has booked WCAE platter-spinner Jay Michael fo do his record show and chatter from its stage for one hour every Friday afternoon 'from 5 to 6. Michael’s one of the top disk jockeys in town, and is on WCAE for nearly four hours every day in addition to another hour Sun- day afternoons. Charlotte, N. €.—William H. Struble has been appointed promo- tion supervisor for WBT and WBTV. He’s former* promotion topper of WLW-TV, Cincinnati. P^rieUt FCC Opens Up 540 KC Band to Com! Radio, But Canada Still Has Priority Washington, Oct. 28. First addition to the standard (AM) radio band in nearly 10 years was made last week when the FCC finalized proceedings providing for the use of the 54C0rc frequency. It’s expected that a flood of appli- cations will result from the action in view of the desirability of the channel which provides a strong signal. Because of priority accorded Canada no use of 540kc under the North American Regional Broad- casting Agreement (NARBA), it is likely that the channel will be use^d in the U. S. mostly for daytime stations. Use of the channel within 650 miles of a Canadian station operating on 540kc would cause interference at night, thus limiting the possibilities of fulltime stations in this country. How many stations will be li- censed to use 540kc will depend on the locality of applications, power permitted, and showing made for need of nightime use. The 740kc channel, on which Can- ada has priority, is used by 20 sta- tions in the U. S., two of which are 50kw fulltime and 14 of which are daytime. Although the dials on existing radio receivers begins at 550kc, set owners will be able to tune in 540kc stations on most sets by turn- ing to the extreme low end of the band. Even with 250 watts power, stations on 540kc will give clear reception to listeners within a good distance of the transmitter. Schwimmer, Brodax Into WM’s Film-Syndication Alden Schwimmer and A1 Bro- dax have been moved into the syn- dicated film department of the Wil- liam Morris Agency. They’ll work under Jerry Stagg, who is doubling between video programming and syndication. Schwimmer was formerly kine- scope .librarian at the agency, while Brodax serviced various shows at the office. Kansas City—Helm of the Rus- sell C. Comer Co., ad agency here, is being taken over by Mrs. Eloise Comer, following the death of her husband last week. Mrs. Comer has been an active partner in the firm since 1945. Comer was the originator of the “Air Adven- tures of Jimmie Allen” e.t. series. Columbus — Jim Chapman, WTAM farm chief, will take over as farm service director of WRFD, Worthington, effective Nov. 1, when Bob Miller, the rural radio station’s agricultural director, leaves to take a similar position with WLW, Cincinnati. Dallas — Lee Segall, prez of KIXL, has announced the appoint- ment of Thomas W. Massey as manager. .Charles F. Payne has been assistant station manager. Payne has been commercial man- ager and program director. Mas- sey has been assistant ' manager and national sales manager. Kansas City—Anne Hayes, di- rector- of women’s activities for KCMO, was honored by the Amer- ican Women’s Business Assn, at its national convention in Omaha last week. She was named the first national honorair member of the association and gifted with a plaque. Greensboro, N. C.—B. George Barber, Jr., commercial manager of WCOG for the past two years, has been made station manager, succeeding Hfenry Sullivan. Sulli- van, manager since July, 1949, re- signed to become manager of. WGTM in Wilson, his hometown. Minneapolis—When all the TV stations now authorized will have been built there’ll be 16 within a 60-mile radius from Minneapolis, one dealer in sets is pointing out in his advertising . . . University of Minnesota radio station KUOM broadcast a special program of re- corded music representing nine dif- ferent countries to commemorate United Nations Day . . . Stopping over en route back east after a concert at Grand Forks, N. D., James Melton appeared on a Uni- versity of Minnesota panel discuss- ing liberal education values . . . KSTP-TV’s newly acquired ace radio personality George Grim, who left^WCCO to.join the Stan Hubbard station, takes over the five-minute cut-ins on Dave Garro- day’s “To-day” here starting Nov. 3. Dallas—“Dollar Derby,” with Bob and Agnes. Stanford, formerly telecast on WFAA-TV, here, and WBAP-TV, Fort Worth, during the afternoon, moves into nighttime, to be telecast on WFAA on Tuesdays and WBAP-TV on Saturdays for an hour. Series is sponsored by the 7-Eleven Food Stores. West Memphis, Ark. — Carlton Garner, W.K. staffer of KWEM, has resigned his post as conductor of the pop “Jack the Bell Boy” program, to return to Arkansas College, Batesville. Tom Roane, Memphis announcer, is now han- dling “the Bell Boy” stint and other Garner shows. Grand Rapids—John E. Fetzer, prez of Fetzer Broadcasting Co., announces promotion of several execs: Donald W. DeSmit, Jr., be- comes WKZO-TV (Kalamazoo) sales director and Martin Giaimo is upped to WJEF (Grand Rapids) station manager. John W. O’Har- row adds special assignments ‘in the national sales field and Otis T. Gaston, account exec, will also cover administrative duties in the national sales department. Toni Joins Carter On DuMont 'Down You Go’ Chicago, Oct. 28. Deal was set here last week for Toni to join Carter Products as alternate week bankroller on Du- Mont’s “Down You Go.” Toni, for its Prom waveset, climbs aboard the Louis G. Cowan Chi-originated show this Friday night (31). Carter, which has been backing half the panel show on a weekly basis, takes over the full half-hour every other week. Weiss & Geller handle the Prom billings for Toni. '> r * i 0-CEDAR 3*- BOBBI - WHITE RAIN Coast to Coast —- Mooday thru Friday 8 to 9 A M. CS.T. — ABC Radio + / /- si JC9| s'* -TT r > 1 %■ ,-K- if- ..a,’" #7% ■rf. ■ V-,.’ &"* . *0 When the makers Permanents and White Rain Shampoo f icked up the first quarter hour for uesdays and Thursdays, starting Oct. 21, the familiar "SRO" was posted on Pen McNeill's Breakfast Club. Swift A Co. and the Philco Corpora- tion continue to sponsor the Breakfast Club across the board. Swift has the second and third segments, while Philco has the fourth quarter»hour, Q-Cedar Corp’n sponsors the first segment on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays ever the ABC radio net" woA, n