Variety (December 1952)

wr-Wsday, PecembelF 24, 1952 t^&ZTETY RAMO-TELEVISIOIV 21 STARS PLAY ‘HOSPITAL TIE’ GM (Gratis Hons) f How network television has parlayed its special events program- ming into the billings bonanza of the year will go down as perhaps the major success stony of the 52- 53 season. The interesting facet is that the programs Involved, for the most part, represent events that the webs, strictly as a matter of public duty and service to viewers, couldn’t bypass and would be forced to carry, regardless of sponsorship. Around NBC, for "example, GM has taken on the meaning of ' “Gratis Millions." In reality, the reference is to General Motors’ approximate $6,000,000 outlay within the span of a single season, for such special events as the upcoming coronation.of Queen Eliza- beth in June; the Dwight D. Eisenhower inauguration ceremonies • next month, and the NCCA-supported football schedule. While the last isn’t necessarily special events and is bracketed under sports, nonetheless the network would have considered it a feather in its cap to have sustained such an -exclusive. The GM $6,000,000 three-way programming parlay put it among the top video spenders of the year and entrenches the automotive industry in the TV sweepstakes as it has never been in radio even dating back to the lush AM era. * Admen Ponder ‘Buckshot’ Commls That Irritate But Don’t Penetrate Hollywood, Dec. 23. Some admen, who know some- thing about lost weekends, are steaming up a hassle over “the lost six-minutes" on radio and TV. Those are the three minutes before and three minutes after the hour. They are claimed to be “dead waste” and the commission men want the networks to do a little research and come up with some kind of solution. Those six min- utes, they say, are so loaded with sundry kinds of comeon that the lookers and dialers are getting wised up and think up excuses to leave the room. ' This, say the admen, removes any sales impact from spot an- nouncements, chain breaks, hitch hikes, cowcatchers, piggy backs or those other little intruders that; come trooping in end-on-end. What to do about it, the agency men know not, but they do think it is important enough to drop into the lap of the 4A’s to put the pres- sure on the networks for an ex- haustive study. It’s the networks’ baby, they reason, “for letting the pattern develop/’ Even in radio it was long con- tended that piled-on commercials 6t station identification time lose their impact because the message " (Continued on page 31) Buttons Vice ‘Luigi’ On GFs Agenda? Red Buttons, who’s scheduled to move into the Saturday night at 9 alot on CBS-TV on a sustaining basis this week (27), instead may wind up with a sponsor in the Mon- day night 9:30 period. General Foods, which now bankrolls “Life With Luigi" In that period, is re- portedly dissatisfied with the show and has been huddling with CBS about ditching it in favor of But- tons. Any decision to cancel “Luigi ..would come as a surprise to th trade, since the show has mor tnan paid off rating-wise (it follow U 1 .®. toP-runged “I- Love Lucy" !L a trac k record well up in th< nuddle 40s. It’s known, however that both CBS and GF have re , com Plaints from viewers th n u ot all of them Italians, tha ®, 8 “°w is objectionable on thi th 0 U T? S i^ a ^ tends to perpetuate tw* lan stei 'eotype. Some o *r v ?® have contended the tRo i Luigi ” is much worse thai mV! ng ' runnin S radio Version oi Tv ai, a V se of tlle greater impac i n g y?® the title character. Bent™ * ^ an d its agency be Jowles, are also said t j n « s ^ ed w i th bdth the wril Prod, n l P S duction on the show over U thp r n Ma T j Benoff * who tool age fniVoo 5 oward *created pad call f L CBS ' T V. Put in a hurriee Weeks new ^ scripting severs eeeded ^ i° n , the Coast an <* SU( from thi n T lur ng Sharp ove at NBC t v° an o? avis siting stabl to Hollywood. Sh ° W originates Hv Harry Hershfield humorously traces history through tho ages to prosont-day radio-TV manifestations under tho common appraisal of Audience , Participation * * * an amusing byline piece in the upcoming 47th Anniversary Number of PfiniETY MG Stays With Nighttine AM Via CBS Tower Plan’ Procter 8c Gamble, which had tossed a scare into the radio net- works when it cancelled its early evening strip sjiows recently on CBS Radio, returned to the night- time fold yesterday (Tues.) by pact- ing with the same network as a participating bankroller in the CBS Power Plan. Deal is for a firm 26 weeks, with the usual options for 26 more, starting Jan. 7. P&G for a number of years had bulwarked the CBS net’s nighttime program lineup by sponsoring a trio of quarter-hour shows in the 6:45 to 7:30 p.m. strips. These in- cluded Lowell Thomas, “Beulah" and the Jack Smith-Dinah Shore entries. Latter two were cancelled and there have been reports that P&G will also., bow off the Thomas show at the end of this season. P&G reportedly exited the strips in order to solidify its hold on its daytime soap operas • and on its various TV shows. Under the power plan, the soap (Continued on page 31) Gen. Mills Stays Put On ABC Despite CBS Wooing ABC has gotten renewals on General Mills’ “Lone Ranger” and “Silver Eagle" half-hour strip, despite the wooing by CBS Radio. ABC prexy Robert E. Kintner, ap- prised of the CBS pitch, trekked to Minneapolis to talk with GM execs and sewed up the deal. GM decided to stay on ABC, where it has a big vested interest. In addition to the 7:30 p.m. cross- the-board layout of “Ranger" and “Eagle," the bankroller has four “Betty Crocker" strips, Bill Ring, Cal Tinney and “Whispering Streets" on the web. In 1951, gross billings for GM on ABC Radio totaled $4,600,000, plus a $1,460,- 000 gross on ABC-TV. + By GEORGE ROSEN The toll that’s been exacted in recent weeks among top television performers because of the anx- ieties and physical wear and tear attending TV performances, is creating no little alarm within the trade. All the original prophecies concerning the inevitable repercus- sions resulting from TV’s exacting demands on the performer now ap- pear to have translated themselves into a wholesale migration into hospitals. Where TV is concerned, age is no factor. Young and old alike are taking the rap. • More and more the TV stars are asking—and demanding—mid- winter layoffs, in addition to their customary summer hiatus, due to the mental and physical stress en- tailed. And the stricken list is not only confined to the performer in front of the camera but to the production braintrusters and other creative elements who are finding the wear and tear on their nerve tissues more than they even anti- cipated. The list of those playing the “hospital time" in the past few weeks, or who have been forced to beg off from TV performances on medicos’ orders, reads like a veritable Who’s Who’s In Video. While in some instances there have been other extenuating cir- cumstances, in all cases the de- mands of TV have been either a major or contributing factor in the almost-unprecedented “TV Casualty List." Ed Sullivan, emcee and major domo of “Toast of the Town" (CBS) left Flower Hospital, N. Y:, last weekend, after a week’s layoff from ‘‘Toast," to resume on the show, though still trying to beat an ulcer rap. Lots of Rescheduling' Both Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis and Donald O’Connor, all involved in bicycling from pic studio to TV studio with multiple chores, have been forced to duck their “Col- gate Comedy Hour” video dates on doctors’ advice “or suffer the con- sequences." As a result NBC-TV has been forced to rearrange the Sunday night billing schedule. George Jessel, one of the main- stays this season with the star ro- tating NBC-TV “All Star Revue," has also been forced to reschedule his appearance having just under- gone surgery on the Coast, a gall bladder condition having been ag- gravated by TV demands. Simi- larly, Red Skelton’s Procter & Gamble vidpix schedule has been knocked for a loop, with the comedian recuperating from an operation. He’s been ordered to rest another few weeks. Eddie Cantor’s been off the Colgate TV roster since his first appearance in September. The comedian, who has a reputation of “knocking himself out" at each re- (Continued on page 31) Week-End Score CBS-TV won the weekend race for the ratings, hands down, over NBC-TV last Sat- urday and Sunday (20 and 21), according to a Trendex spot check of 10 multiplostation markets. Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town," originating from the Broadway Roxy and spot- lighting Sonja Henie, copped a fat 37,7, as against the 19.8 drawn by Ray Bolger in his ini- itlal starring stint on NBC’s “Colgate Comedy Hour" on Sunday. .On the preceding evening, CBS-TV’s Jackie Gleason show came up with a solid 24.5, com- pared with the 18.7 drawn by Tallulah. Bankhead as star of NBC’s “All Star Revue." Glea- son-Tallu ratings this time, in- cidentally, represented almost a complete reversal from the first time they were pitted against each other. On that pair-off, Tallu had a 24 and Gleason had the 18. 9 NBC-TVs ‘Pick Your Own Show’ Bid To Sponsors May Cue ‘All Star’ Exit; 0 Colgate Holds Key to Comic Pattern Jackie Gleason details tho saga of a Broken Heart * * * a bright bylint picee In tho forthcoming 47th Anniversary Number of PRriety ‘Omnibus’ (at 65G) Trails 6^G ‘Circus’ In Rating Slugfest A rating war has developed be- tween high-budgeted CBS-TV’s “Omnibus" and ABC-TV’s rela- tively cheap “Super Circus," with the latter emerging as decisive vic- tor in the early rounds. The “Cir- cus" layout is gaining audience and “Omnibus" is losing audience, ac- cording to both Nielsen and Tren- dex. Nielsen’s November rating for the Ford Foundation’s series is 25.8, which represents a sizable figure for a highbrow stanza. That rating, however, is a cumulative figure, including homes which viewed for at least six of the 90 minutes it runs. The average au- dience per minute is substantially lower, coming in at 13.5 for the Nov. 9-16 period. Average audi- ence per minute for Nov. 9 was 16.5 and dropped six points to 10.5 on Nov. 16. Trendex, which measures popu-r larity of shows in the 10 cities which have at least three TV chan- nels, shows “Circus” gaining 0.8 (from 19.4 to 19.2) in the month since “Omnibus" entered the lists. “Omnibus" got a 9.8 Trendex on Nov. 9 and dipped to 7.8 on Dec. 7. “Omnibus’ ” biggest average rat- ing on this service was 12.5 on Nov. 23, date on which “Circus" was knocked off ABC-TV due to 9 walkout by National Assn, of Broadcast Engineers & Technicians (CIO). Within each broadcast “Omni- bus" shows a gain, half-hour by half-hour. On Nov. 9, Trendex, the Ford show had a 6.6, 9.5 and 13.4. On Nov. 23, its half-hour au- diences were 10.8, 11.4 and 15.4. Rotation of sponsors’ positions (Continued on page 31) IT’S ABC’S TURN FOR CRACK AT SMILIN’ ED Chicago, Dec. 23. The Brown Shoe, Co. has just about completed the circuit with the Smilin’ Ed McConnell Satur- day morning radio show. The mop- pet-angled program pops up Jan. 17 on ABC after having been pre- viously berthed on NBC and CBS. ABC’s central division sales staff last week also wrapped up another Saturday am. bankroller with the Skinner Manufacturing Co. buying the Big Jon Arthur-emceed “No School Today" kids’ show which goes into the 9:30 to 10 a.m. EST slot Jan. 31. Show Will originate from Cincinnati. The- McConnell Coast-originated program will occupy the 11 to 11:30 a.m. period. Brown’s agency is Leo Burnett. - On the basis of current sales pitches being made by NBC-TV, it looks like the Saturday night “All Star Revue" is headed for oblivion at season's end. Unable to latch on to a third sponsor for the remain- der of the present season, now that the Del Monte canned foods outfit is cancelling out, NBC is making available either the 8 to 8:30 or 8:30 to 9 p.m. segments for the 1953-54 season to any sponsor who will go along for the “All Star" ride for the balance of the current semester. The sponsor, in turn, will have the privilege of installing any show of his own choosing into the half- hour time slot. On that basis NBC is already trotting out its list of program availabilities, including the new Mickey Rooney vidpix se- ries. If desired by the client, the network, too, will whittle down to 30-minute size some of the com- edy program components that pres- ently constitute “All Star Revue." Thus will terminate one of NBC’s major sales innovations in TV pro* gramming—the concept of getting participating sponsors to share the cost of a heavy-budgeted show (a concept which still continues to pour some fancy coin into the NBC- TV coffers from the 90-minute Show of Shows"). “All Star," with its nearly $50,000 weekly talent- production budget, requires three bankrollers to make it a profitable venture. When Kellogg cancelled out recently there was some doubt about the show’s longevity, but NBC was able to corral Johnson & Johnson for the balance of the sea- son. When Del Monte also served notice that it was giving up, NBC found it wasn’t easy to grab off another client for the shared,pro- gramming ride. Two clients made feelers, one actually giving an or- der, neither-was acceptable to the web because they wanted short- term commitments. Relaxed Rules Last year, it’s recalled, NBC-TV refused to sell the show to anyone unless they came In under a 52- week firm deal. This season the network relaxed its rule, permit- ting shorter-term commitments, and that’s when “All Star" began to run into trouble. What happens to the NBC roster of top TV comics under contract to the web who have been channelled mto “All Star" (Jimmy Durante, et al) remains a moot point. Pres- ent plan calls for absorbing them into the Sunday night “Colgate Comedy Hour," with its rotating (Continued on page 31) Young & Murray As B-M Parlay Bristol-Myers has resolved its new sponsorship status for the Sunday night 9:30 to 10 slot on CBS-TV, buying alternate week shows as replacement for “Break the Bank," which is being axed. New shows for the 30-minute period will be a half-hour version of the “Ken Murray Show" and a situation comedy series starring Alan Young. These will be alter- nate-week attractions. It’ll mark Murray’s TV debut within a 30- mlnute framework. He’s been lay- ing off all season, though drawing $2,000 a week from CBS under a contractual commitment. New B-M parlay gets under way Feb. 8. Doherty, Clifford & Shen- field, agency on the Bristol-Myers account, negotiated the deals. Pro- grams will emanate live from the new CBS TV City on the Coast, bringing to six the total of TV City originations. 0 In additioh B-M is joining in as a participating sponsor on the Saturday night CBS-TV Jackie Gleason Show.