Variety (January 1953)

102 RADIO-TELEVISION Forty-seventh PfijRIETY Anniversary Wednesday, January 7 , I953 ‘Never Had It So Good- Chi TV Station Managers By FARRELL DAVISSON Chicago. In their more candid “moments, the entrepreneurs in charge of the management of this town’s four television stations admit they never had it so good. When the 1952 figures are all in they gleefully expect to close the books on the most profit-lush calendar in their still young ca- reers as developers, exploiters and merchants of the sight & sound medium. It is also conceded that the past year which has seen the full- blown financial blossoming of Windy City video has been marked by only rare instances of fresh program concepts. With a few standout exceptions, the current bonanza has brought with it a pro- nounced slowdown in format ex- perimentation. It is also noteworthy that again this frame, with TV perking along at peak levels, Chi radio, in the main, has more than held its own. The initial impact of video upon the AM fraternity, which engen- dered either complacency or alarm, has long since passed and TV’s challenge is being met with a no- ticeably hypoed aggressiveness. All four Chi tele stations set new highwater marks for both gross billings and profits. Front- runners are WNBQ, the NBC- owned station, and indie WBKB, both expected to edge close to the $2,000,000 before-taxes profit figure. WBKB, under John Mitch- ell’s helming with costs kept to the nub, lias consistently led the pack with the best gross-net ra- tio. Under veepee Harry Kopf’s stewardship, WNBQ is believed to have emerged as the leader in gross billings with its stable of topdrawer clients. WNBQ’s billings skyrocketed 40% during the year. Likewise, . WENR-TV, the Chi ABC plant, and indie WGN-TV have broken all previous records with a sprightly upsurge. WENR- TV, veeped by John H. Norton, Jr., registered a 30% biz increase on the basis of a booming last half when the station went in heavily for feature pix program- ming. No comparative figures are available from WGN-TV but it’s known that Frank P. Schreiber- managed station scored a record fiscal with its exclusive wrapup of the Chi baseball telecasts which fetched in over $500,000 during the ordinarily slow summer months. The 1952 earnings for the Windy City quartet are all the more re- markable when it’s remembered' that only four years ago the sta- tions were just beginning to break out of the red. There is another gratifying point about the record earnings, follow- ing as they do a slow first quarter jumpoff. For the. first time in Chi TV’s five-year history, the sales graph took a sharp tumble last winter and spring. That eu- hemistic phrase for buyers’ resis- tence—“a soft market 1 ’—kept crop-, ping up as the time salesmen ran smack up against the fact that much of video's early day glamor was wearing off. In retrospect, the first-of-the- year slackoff is viewed as a healthy shakeout which saw the exiting of a lot of fringe accounts which were riding the channels on an in-and-out basis or for purely rea- sons of prestige. Now with biz spurting to top plateaus, with gen- erally higher calibre clients buy- ing in, local TV execs figure the medium has grown out of the “glamor baby’’ class and has proved its worth as a powerful selling tool for the hometown advertisers. It must be pointed out, how- ever, that despite the solidified acceptance by the local blue rib- bon advertisers, the hard sell boys with their hit and run pitch tech- niques are still hanging around the edges. It is something of a paradox that when an availability pops up in a fringe time which the more stabile bankrollers fig- ure undesirable, there usually seems to be some mail or phone order operation ready to grab it off and rack up terrific flash profits. It should be added in fairness R that such accounts are taken only W as a last resort and there has been ^ « decline in the pitcheroos the past 12 months. It’s recognized', such operatives with their over- long blurbs add nothing to TV’s prestige and frequently pose tough public relatiqns problems when their various deals generate cus- tomer beefs. Programwise, the trend toward celluloid continues apace. Experi- ence has shown that even the most jaded feature films usually out- rate a live production that costs considerably more. So the tend- ency increases to stick to film rather than gamble with live of- fering. Result has been a leveling off of development of new program ideas despite the fact the coin is rolling in. Only a handful of new enter- prises broke through last year. WNBQ scored a smash hit with its unique “Ding- Dong School’’ beamed at pre-school moppets which has been grabbed off for NBC-TV display. WENR-TV, in cooperatiop with the Daily News, launched “Impact,” weekly half- hour current eventei that has earned considerable attention. WBKB’s Saturday night “Farm- town, USA” has drawn a following with its agricultural format. WGN- TV’s most ambitious venture has been the daily Ernie Simon-hosted variety stanza, plus its overall ag- gressiveness in the sports field. As was discernible as long ago as mid-1951,. radio here has pretty much learned to 'get along With its younger electronic kin. The keen .added competition has set the AMers to cutting the fat from their operations so as to strengthen their cost-per-thousand pitches. Emphasis has been on economy up and down the line with more and more time given over to deejay programs that can be sold via the participation route. Staging a strong comeback in the daytime hours, to offset the nighttime losses to video, Chi ra- dio has again demonstrated the pa_t year that it will continue to play a bTg role in the electronic scheme of things Kletter’s Own Agency Edward Kletter; former head of Product Advertising Corp., has resigned as sales promotion-mer- chandising chief with DuMont net- work to set up his own ad agency. Leading account at present is Serutan, which backs “Life Begins at 80” and “Wisdom of the Ages’ on tele. Veepee of the new firm is Nor- man Livingston, former sales chief of WOR, N. Y., and more recently with Roy S. Durstine agency, who is leaving his post as AM-TV chief of Serutan to join Kletter. CHARLES STARRETT * Motion Pictures and TV Management—SAM JAFFE Ohio Educl TV Network Plans 5-CoDege Link Columbus. A statewide educational tele- vision network linking the ’ five state-owned universities was pro- posed here last week in a report adopted by the Ohio Program Com- mission. The network would connect these five schools: Kent, Bowling Green, Ohio State, Miami and Ohio. These schools are geographically located to reach every home and school in Ohio. In addition hookups could be made with educational TV sta- tions in Cleveland, Cincinnati and other cities. Private schools would also be asked to participate in the program. Other members of the committee are: Sen. Anthony J. Celebreeze, Cleveland; Rep. Newton B. Chap- man, Chardon; Rep. Samuel L. Devine, Columbus; Rep. Bishop Kilpatrick, Warren; Dr. ^C. W. Kreger, vice president of Miami University, Oxford; Sen. Charles A. Mosher, Oberlin; Dr. Frank J. Prout, chairman of the Program Commission’s School committee, Cedar Point; Ronald J. Rockwell, vice president of the Crosley Broadcasting Corp.; Dr. William L. Steffens, trustee, Mount Union Col- lege; and Jacob B. Taylor, vice president of Ohio State U. Real Story of BBC-TV: Documentary Marches On By CECIL MADDEN (Assistant to BBC-TV Programs Controller) a Life” spotlit hospital at night “Family Doctor” raised the new problems of the health scheme as it affects us all. On we went with “Triumph Over Adversity” to cover stammering, backward chil- dren, amputees, war disabled, fos- ter child, adoption. Then came “Case-book” with unmarried moth- er, an alcoholic, centenarian, in- sanity. “Matters of Life and Death” discussed polio, TB, ulcers, evolved into “Matters of Medicine” nicotine, hypnotism, dentistry, in- dustrial disease. Police? “Pilgrim Street” showed daily work of London police sta- tion. “Barrister-at-law” illustrated legal procedure. “Course of Jus- tice” dramatized delinquents from juvenile courts to Assizes, “I Made News” gave real life cases of de- tection, some British, some FBI, some Continental, always present- ing, as well as players, some per- sonality (in one case a French flic) who was actually present and could vouch for its truth by being able to say “I was there.” This gave these true thrillers their genuine stamp as pieces of live document- ary evidence. Travel: “About Britain” docu- mentaries covered entire regional system during year, alternating with curiosities of “London Town.” Five transmitters now cover 75% of country and with holidays in U.K. largely spent at home there is no TV off season. Teenage problems are discussed Junior Wranglers” and drama- London. I make no apology for quoting from Variety last July: "TV showmanship is no longer con- fined to actors. We’re all players and participants in the one big show of life. Video is the 20th century miracle which brings it right into our homes, in sharp focus, and let the values fall where they may,” If TV elected your President, it is TV “of the people” as true in the United Kingdom too, as theme of 1952, We look back on a purposeful year of events and documentary. TV program- ming has played down lighter side in favor of subjects of social im- pact. Royal occasions are still the thing, but next is documentary. This in BBC may be handled by Documentary Department proper, Talks, Drama, by Outside cameras (whether in factories or Cathe- drals) even by Music and Variety. The link is the expositional ap- proach, whether dramatized, de- bated, visited on the spot, or by daily newsreel. Documentary TV, since 1936, in Britain owes much to certain mile- stones—“Stands Scotland,” “I Want to Be a Doctor,” “Promise of Tomorrow” (about young actors), and “Shout Aloud Salvation,” based on the Salvation Army. Having myself set out the ad- vantages (and disadvantages) of monopoly broadcasting in July last for Variety’s TV issue, what is there left to say except that such a vast series of serious subjects that affect our daily lives would be unlikely to find sponsors, and we have no Ford Foundation or N.A.E.B., or University education- alists. So the burden of responsi- bility falls on the BBC. And the BBC grasps this firmly, with varied techniques so as to appeal to the merest Scottish crofter without playing down, without concession. Programs Pull No Punches We have plenty of national prob- lems right now. We look at them in a “Special Enquiry” with a Na- tional reporter in London and a re- gional reporter on the spot. Opened in Glasgow where slums still a dis- grace. Moved to Wales with high- est unemployment. This harsh probe pulls no punches. In “Press Conference” for first time in Eng- lish history a Chancellor of the Ex- chequer answered questions im- promptu. “International Commen- tary” now spotlights race relations in Africa. Social medicine next: Program “Dangerous Drugs” suddenly hit all the 1,700,000 homes and opened people’s eyes to a danger. “To Save BOB CUNNINGHAM “Welcomt Traveler*” NBC-TV in tized in “Rising Twenties.” “De- clining Years” similarly dealt with old age. Comedy documentaries features antique furniture trade in “Make me an Offer” and Loch Ness Monster in “Fact or Fiction?” Amazing photographs and eye wit- nesses came forward but the ver- dict was “Not proven.” So to Science. Extremes of pres- sure were-tested in “Limits of Hu- man Endurance” in high altitude flying, deep sea diving, tropical heat, Arctic cold. Experimental were “The Moon,” “Mount Ever- est,” “Science Newsreel.” Welcome visitors were Seymour Seigel, Margaret Mead and Dr. Gallup. Even Sam Wanamaker turned to documentary material descriptive of Brooklyn, in his ad- mirable “Solo Performance,” Chris- topher Morley contrasted the Brit- ish way of life. Variety highspot, “Passing Show,” dramatized life of old time showman George Edwardes, with extensive use of BP screens. Docu- mentary techniques worked into game of cricket used by playw’right Rattigan in “Final Test”—now be- ing cast for major movie. ^ Novel production problem arises in documentary work since authen- ticity is essential. An actor is re- quired not only to submerge his personality into the character, but often to assimilate a craft. Jn “Salesgirl” young actresses were required to train behind counters of leading chain store. In “Factory Girl” entire cast transported to potteries for instruction in making of cups and plates. Young actors in the “Call Up” were expected, to, learn modern drill from Army Regimental instructors and in “First Job” use of machine tools for assembling teleprinters. Art- ists in plays expect billing, in TV documentary advance anonymity is insisted on, so that publicity of a starlet does not detract from her credibility as, say, a police- woman. The scope is there. Here is the future. What, after all, is docu- mentary but you and me? Now for the Coronation TV. WFAK Is Now WCBR Memphis. In tune with its final sale trans- fer from the FCC, WFAK, Mem- phis daytime indie, changed its call letters to WCBR and moved its entire operation into the down- town Exchange Building. WCBR,. which operates on lkw, also went through a complete shuffling of personnel in the full switch with the coming of the new year. Charlie De Vois, w.k. Memphis radio exec and former commercial manager of WMPS, Memphis ABC affiliate, was named general manager and veepee. Bill Smith and D^ck Potter, two other WMPS salesmen, also went along with skipper De Vois.