Variety (April 1953)

ffnIneiJ»T) April I, 1953 PSmisff »iivi«-mevisi«!N st WOW’s 30th Anni Omaha, March 31. WOW here will celebrate its 30th broadcasting, birthday tomorrow (2). Station is owned by Meredith Publishing Co., Frank P. Fogarty is manager. First known as WOAM, outlet ob- tained its 590-kllocycle frequency in 1926 and the following year joined NBC. ‘C Day’ for Samoff RCA board chairman David Samoff’s move-in on the NBC sub- sidiary operation on an active basis, now that he’s also become network board chairman, has been translated' into something more tiizm idle rumor. On the same day last week which found CBS throwing in the , non-compatible sponge on color TV and paving the way for the all-industry system based on the RCA-NBC all-electronic concept, Ten Samoff celebrated C’(for color) Day by his first full-day occupancy of the NBC executive suite formerly occupied by ex- board chairmani Niles Trammell, and engaging in network-level Jj utic s th rough practically the entire day. No Panic on Compatible Color TV; Time Unripe’ Says FCC’s Walker Washington, March_31. + The FCC won’t be pressured into hasty action on color TV, Commis- sion chairman Paul A. Walker told the House Interstate Commerce Committee today. Not until the Commission has redetermined that a satisfactory compatible’system has been developed and thoroughly tested, Walker testified, no such system will be. authorized; The agency, he said, has .been disap- pointed “many times”, with repre- sentations that a .satisfactory com- patible system has. been developed. In forceful testimony before the committee, Walker declared “with All the force at our command” that the agency has found from experi- ence that “short cuts to a com- mendable objective frequently are blind alleys or dead-end streets.” “And we say,” he added, “that any system or color television which is to be with the public for years merits the most serious gov- ernmental deliberations. These de* liberations should not and need not be interminable* but they should assure. the public that all persons having a worthwhile contribution to make to a correct answer should have the opportunity to be-heard.” Under questioning, by committee chairman Chari e* Wolverson (R-N.J.), Walker said that “whenever anyone presents a satisfactory com- patible system, the FCC • will do everything it can to make it avail- able to the public.” He added that the Commission has “nothing before it” to warrant calling a hear- ing to consider compatible systems. Questioned further, he said “It would not be advisable to hold hearings at this time... I think it would be futile to conduct a hear- ing on what the NTSC is trying to do” “Then the time is not ripe for an Immediate formal hearing to adopt standards?” Wolverton asked. “That's my opinion,” Walker replied. Gotham Tele, AM. Good (or Taxi Biz New York’s radio-TV industry, once highly centralized in the mid- town area, is mushrooming all around the town. Latest to move is ABC, which over the weekend completed its shift to the West 66- Breathing Space ABC’s shift from the RCA »ldg., N.Y., over the weekend finally gave NBC some much needed quarters. Web started to shift some of its offices into those vacated by ABC toppers. plum went to the ^BC-Wnbt executive staff •Ted Cott, Dick Pack & Co.) *h e owned-and-operated rass (Charles R. Denny and execs) who move into the Robert Kintner-Edward Noble ABC executive suite.. enn.ifr) St \ And strangely * s now the only net- izo A Wl0se operations are central- nr one spot. felW C n m ? ss of which is in Rocke- ecs hnVftS« r « has studlos a «d offi- "* on St. CBS, on Madison (Continued on page 6!t> N.Y.’s TV Stations Face Srni Rap On Mail Order Curbs Those mail order houses concen- trating on television advertising are up in arms over a bill which has passed the New York State Legislature and is awaiting signa- ture of Gov. Thomas E. Dewey whieh would outlaw taking, of phone orders for retail goods on Sundays. Bill would seriously curtail busi- ness of the mail order houses, and would also hurt the Sunday sales picture at the N. Y. tele stations themselves. N. Y. stations estimate that roughly 20% of their Sunday programming is sponsored by the mail order firms. These would can- cel all Sunday telecasts, so great a role does the Sabbath play in their sales figures. One firm, a retail watch outfit which uses spots seven days a week, estimates that 30 to 40% of its business is done on Sunday. Another mail order house, which presently is inactive in N. Y. but at,one time was one of the largest of the TV houses, estimated that Sunday business accounted for 50- 60% of its week’s gross. Television has changed the sell- ing picture for these houses, in that now only 5-20% of their busi- ness is done by mail, as opposed to 80-95% by phone. Amount of damage bill could do to their busi- ness is obvious. Passage of the bill came as a surprise to retailers, but pressure is now building up for Dewey to veto it. N. Y. State Council of Re- tail Merchants, which includes most of the Gotham department stores, has filed a brief opposing the bill. Stores have been Instituting prac- tice of accepting phone orders on items advertised in the Sunday newspapers, and business has run into the millions annually. Even if Dewey does sign the bill, one mail ordeF exec, Harold Kaye, said he doubts if it will stand up in court. Kaye pointed to a similar bill in Baltimore which went into effect, but was ruled unconstitu- tional by a Baltimore court. NBC Radio Mulling Strip for ‘Aldrich’ NBC radio will experiment, in a few weeks, with a 15-minute strip cross the board for “The Aldrich Family,” now in the Sunday 7:30 p. m. spot. “My Son, Jeep,” starring Donald ’Cook, will shift half an hour later Sundays into the “Aldrich”, time. , No announcement yet on the fill- 1 in for the Sunday 7 o’clock time. TOO’ QUEEN LIZ BID When Will Compatible Color TV Be Ready? Depends on Who’s Testifying The network . newshawks of broadcasting,’ most of whom are radio-accented (TV-only newsmen are still a handful, the joint radio- TV journalists a .hatful, while there is a barrelful of strictly-sound newsmen), are watching the mount- ting hoopla about television’s cov- erage of Queen Elizabeth’s Corona- tion June 2 with parallel mounting amazement. Television, agog at its first Coro- nation, is talking feverishly of jet planes, rockets, and sympathetic ocean waves that" might possibly carry - a picture back to America almost as fast as sound—and all this with'a straight face. The lat- est along this line is NBC-TV’s hiring of stunt flyer Paul Mantz and a “mystery plane.” The radio newsmen, Coronation veterans, are astonished at all the TV fuss. They are also more than a bit put out at being Ignored. They are not saying this out loud. Af ter all, their checks. are- being paid by the same companies that carry television. But the blinding fact of the Coronation coverage, they say, is that it’s a- radio show. Radio, they say, can do the job better. Westminster Abbey, where the royal ceremony is held, is some 3,000 miles away across an unco- operative (for television signals) ocean. Radio spans the distance in a breeze. It’s ironical, the radio newsmen say privately, that what they admit is essentially a picture story proves once more the importance- of radio. Especially in international cover- age, the ear is quicker than the e£e. For the Coronation, only radio will have immediacy, that precious quality television throws in the face of movies at home here in the U. S. A. 5:30 a.m. Radio Bow That the television boys are com- ing around to a slow realization of this fact is evidenced by the CBS- TV decision to carry CBS Radio sound when it begins-its “televi- sion” coverage at the early time of 5:30 a.m. June 2. ABC begins at 6 a.m. with similar-type coverage, while NBC is mulling same idea. On coverage, CBS, NBC and ABC all have fuller schedules on radio— hours more—than TV. The three webs are opening their radio net- works 2* 2 hours earlier than usual, at. 5:30 a.m., a decision made first by radio. ’ But televisionwise, coverage will be essentially radio with still pic- tures—no matter what time the TV (Continued on page 70) BOB HOPE PARTNERS AM-TV PACKAGE FIRM Bob Hope has joined in partner- ship in a radio-TV production and packaging business with J. Hugh E. Davis, former exec veepee of Foote, Cone & Belding agency, Chicago. Firm is to be called J. Hugh E. Davis Co., with office in L. A. and another office to open later in N. Y. Davis, w.k. Chi radio-TV super- visor, has handled in his eight years with FC&B, Hope’s AM and TV stanzas, plus “Man Called X,” “Corliss Archer,” “Hallmark Play- house,” “Arthur Godfrey Show,” “Pulitzer Prize Playhouse” and others. Reynolds Tobacco Buys Joe E/s Fore-Aft Gab R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Coi will bankroll Joe E. Brown's pre- and post-game .color commentary of the N. Y, Yankee games on WPJX. Brown will do a 15-minute show before and 10 minutes following the games.. Wm. Esty Co. agented. Since the entire setup is a Yankee package, Brown will also do some , of the sportscasting on the games themselves, vhich are sponsored on video and. on radio on WINS by Ballantine and White Owl. He’ll assist Mel'Allen and Jim Woods. Tallu’s Situation Series Tallulah Bankhead will appear in a situation comedy series for. NBC-TV next fall, under Dee Engelbach’s production-direction, with Hugh Wedlock and Howard Snyder scripting, Latter team is also polishing Miss Bankhead's nitery routine for her nitery debut Into The Sands, Las Vegas, on May 23. Time, Inc. Into Salt Lake AM-TV In Empire Bid Time, Inc., which has previously shown Its interest in television via- its March of Time>-TV unit, and co- ownership of the Albuquerqu? Broadcasting Co. (stations KQB* and KOB^TV) with ex-FCC chair- man Wayne Coy, stepped into a larger tele picture with announce- ment yesterday (Tues.) of com- pleted negotiations for purchase of the Intermountain Broadcasting and Television Corp, in Salt Lake City. The Intermountain stations, all NBC affiliates, include KDYL-TV, KDYL-AM and KDYL-FM. The transfer must be approved, by the FCC. Time has been shopping around the country for available tele, sta- tions at an acceptable price, as a hedge for the future: It has ex- plored properties at San Diego, Kansas City and Columbus. The publishing outfit would like to buy* tele stations up to the FCC limit of five, .picking them up where available at acceptable prices. $2,100,000 Price Tag The agreed tab of the Salt Lake property was $2,100,000 which, compared to $900,000 tag on the Albuquerque company bought a year ago, indicates the increasing earnestness of Time’s intention. Time’s purchase of Intermoun- tain was made in association with G. Bennett (“Ben”) Larson, Salt Lake City native and veepee and general manager of WPIX N.Y. A stockholder, he will become presi- dent and general manager of the new company Sidney S. Fox, Intermountain’s* proxy and principal stockholder, will stay on as adviser. No plans for immediate personnel changes are contemplated by • Time presi- dent Roy E. Larsen. Other KYDL executives include John M. Bald- win, veepee and technical director; George A. Provol, commercial manager; Dan Rainger, program director; E. J. Drucker, sales di- rector; and Connie Eckhardt, film buyer. KDYL-TV with its transmitter nearly 9,000 feet above sea level atop Mount Vision in the Oquirrh Mountain Range, covers a xadius of almost 200 miles outside Salt Lake City and 87 per cent of the Utah population as well as parts of Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada. Besides the March of Time's 30- minute TV news documentary now shown weekly in major cities, Time Inc., which publishes Time, Life, Fortune Architectural Forum and House & Home, has produced two earlier TV productions, “Cru- sade in Europe” and “Crusade in the Pacific.” Pinkley's ABC Show Virgil Pinkley, editor and pub- lisher, of the Los Angeles Mirror, started a four-times-Weekly 15- minute news commentary on ABC radio this week. Sustainer, on Mon- day through , Thursday at 10:15 p.m., will originate from various spots. Program is part of the net’s cam- paign to secure new talent in all programming fields. Washington, March 31. The House Interstate Commerce Committee hearings last week into the status of color television dem- onstrate one thing for certain; the timetable for a compatible system varies with the witness and the pressure of public demand. For example, RCA, the domi- nant force in the manufacturing industry, said it is* “more optimis- tic” about the “imminence” of a compatible system than Dr. W, G. R'. Baker, chairman of the Nation- al Television System Committee, with whom RCA Is cooperating in developing- color standards. Dr. Baker told the Committee he thought CBS prexy Frank .Stan- ton's -estimate that it would take FCC six to 18 months to make a determination “reasonable,” once, of course, the NTSC system now being developed is successfully •field - tested. Stanton, whose company is also cooperating with NTSC, said that on the basis of “present but in- complete” information, the new compatible system faces “substan- tial problems, particularly in cost and complexity both at the trans- mitting end and at the receiving end.” Whether the NTSC system is “feasible” for the home, he said, “we do not know.” Dr. Allen B: DuMont, also a- member of NTSC, when asked if . a compatible system is ready, said, “we do hot have it” and would not "guarantee” that the industry “can come up with a satisfactory systepi in six months or two years.” Dr. DuMont went even further and suggested he may not be “far off” in an e'stimate he gave, the FCC In 1946 that color is 10 to 20 years away. Philco, another member of NTSC, gave no estimate on readi- ness of a compatible system but said that its- “technical feasibility” has been established and that NTSC has adopted “tentative” standards. The key to the Committee in- quiry resides in its chairman, Charles Wolverton (R., N. J.) who has made it clear, despite pious pronouncements that there’s no “iron curtain” over the hearings, (Continued on page 70) Speidel-Crosley Settle (or ‘Name’ With Paul Winchell grabbing off the Sunday night at 7 “NBC-TV slot in a switch from his current Speidel-Crosley sponsorship to Procter & Gamble (with the pres- ent 7 o’clock tenant, Red Skelton, shifting back to Ills erstwhile 10 p.m. niche), NBC-TV has grabbed off a quick sale of Monday night at 8. That’s the time being vacated by Winchell. Speidel and Crosley remain as the alternate-week sponsors in the Monday time, with “What’s My Name-?” to occupy the segment. Latter show is packaged by Lou Cowan, who, until the switch to P&G, has had the Winchell show. “Name” format has been integrat- ed into the Winchell stanza, but henceforth will be packaged sep- arately for the Monday show, with likelihood of Bert Parke emceeing. CBS Ups Irving Fein Advancement of Irving Fein to director of public relations for CBS radio in Hollywood has been announced by Louis Hausman, ad- ministrative veepee. For the past 18 months he has been Coast di- rector of publicity and exploitation. Fein came to CBS in 1949 with the purchase of Jack Benny’s Amusement Enterprise, of which he was advertising and publicity director. Previously he had served as head of radio and exploitation for Warners, Samuel Goldwyn and Columbia.