Variety (April 1953)

68 JUBIO-TKtBTlSlftN PS&ifflrr Wednesday, April 1, 1953 Erwin, Wasey Formula Continued from page 58 a kitchen scene showing several Admiral appliances* the camera was dollied in from a view of the entire room to a point where,, with the lense just 1/10 Inch from the photo the entire screen was filled with a turkey roasting in the oven, all with remarkable three-diihensional effect. “From this shot, Levin then switched to a live shot of a turkey turning on a spit in the oven—without the viewer being aware of any change. The intricacies of split second timing required in this, operation have posed no problems to date. In another commercial, the cam- era dollied in from a full living room picture to a clos-eup of a window airconditioner. Then the switch was made to a live set, with camera showing exact pic of the still, and the camera dollied back far enough for a girl to demon- strate the unit. In this case, only a live window set was used, match- ing completely the photographed set as to drapes, etc, at a cost of from $50 to $75, as compared with the $1,000 the whole set,would have cost to produce the entire demonstration live. Other examples of the lens crowding the transparencies gave depth effects to views of refrigera- tor shelves, freezers, etc. Shadows & Lighting Another important advantage of this operation - as against live or film, Levin points out, is the old bugaboo of "shadows and lighting when moving the cameras. With the'use of transparencies, the light and shadow-is constant, and ap- pears as it would to a hausfrau walking towards the appliances in her home. And by subtle backlight- ing of the transparencies^ with pin- point control, the appliance to be shown can 'he brought into great- er * prominence by delicately in- creasing the amount of lighting on 4 Reasons Wily Ihe foremost notional and local odvortiair* use WEVD yoor .after year to roach tho vast Jewish Market of Metropolitan ( New York • 1. Top adult programming 2. Strong audionco Impact 3. Inhoront listener loyalty 4. Potontial buying powor Sand for a copy of ‘WHO’S WHO ON WEVD’ Honry Groonfiold, Man. Dir. WEVD. 1*17-119 Wost 46th St. Now York 96 the desired object while dimming the rest of the scene. * However, in addition to facili- ties available and the final appear- ance of the commercial, a big fac- tor is cost. In this respect, Levin reports his system is far superior. It'S his belief that a single com- mercial, whether* live or film, can be used a maximum of only five times in a year on a network basis. By use of the many and varied' color transparencies, the agency needs to photograph the entire Admiral line only once, then adapt the pix to any given commercial. Admiral’s product line changes only once annually, and at a cost of about $120 per transparency, the initial sum in- volved is between $25 and $30,000. This amount is amortized on a per- use basis during the year. Before any shooting is done, the agency uses a scale model of each studio and each appliance for planning purposes, and when the agency men are ready for the photographer, they know exactly where every piece of furniture will go, and every camera angle is plan- ned in advance. Costs of each network commer- cial are estimated, by the agency three days in advance of produc- tion, and totaled three days after telecasting when the client is bill- ed. In every case, Levin claims, the initial estimate on the work sheet is never off more than 1%. Still No Bunny Continued from page 61- have been pounding home the story that the 1953 Parade will he dig- nified and in keeping with the re- ligious tone of the day. Dignity, dignity, dignity the tele people keep saying. Privately, however, they're scared too. One untoward reprise will touch off a bale of criticism. 'And to prevent anything like that, they’re taking extraordinary pre- cautions to control coverage of the event. ABC Prefers Going To D.C. ABC, for instance, in its “Easter 1953” from 1 to 2, Will carry only a quarter of an hour from New York and then will switch to Wash- ington, where a brunch is being held under the joint ^ auspices of ABC and the International Rescue Committee (of enslaved peoples). In New York, extreme care will be exercised by having a con- trolled ABC interview area blocked off in the . Plaza across the street from the Sherry-Netherland Hotel. Maggi McNellis and Reginald Gar- diner will speak to society folk there. At the Washington brunch, ABC expects Vice-President Rich- ard M. Nixon, Mrs, John Eisen- hower, the President’s daughter-in- law, and other distinguished guests. ( Besides their outdoor coverage,' both NBC and CBS have controlled areas—-NBC at the Roof Gardens of Radio City’s Italian building, where there’ll be a kiddie-clothes and international fashion show, and CBS in the Terrace Room of the Plaza> Hotel, where fashions will be modeled and UN children inter- viewed by Yul Brynner on native celebrations. If there is some dis- turbance in the street, the nets can switch away, and this time they’re sensitive to the situation. In spite of all the care, everyone concerned is -still jumpy and jittery —so much^so that the sponsors have not been persuaded that an outlay is more than an investment in worry. It’s wait and see for Easter, 1953. Pearson Continued from page 61 director, it’s been casting about for a nationally known commentator with which to launch co-ops in a big way (currently only Saturday night wrestling and Monday night boxing are carried co-op). DuMont consequently went after Pearson with the local sponsorship pitch and at the same time queried its affiliates, leading to current dis- cussions. Tapes Own Show' Washington, March 31. Drew Pearson, whose network radio show on ABC wound up Sun- day, is ready to replace it with n typed news show commencing next Sunday. Columnist and gabber is selling the taped version himself and claims he will have upwards of 200 stations buying the tapes, which will be for Sunday release at about the same time as his outgoing radio show. Stations pay Pearson for the tape and then sell sponsorship locally. Commentator says about 100 stations have already sold the time and that some of the others are holding back * temporarily be- cause the tab is too high for them to handle on a sustaining basfs. K-F’s Radio-TV Continued from page 61 May. W. H. Weintraub is the agency. tTnusukl angle of deal is that it’s pitched right at the baseball pic- ture. For the first two weeks of April, K-F will have three “Today” segments a week, Monday, Wed- nesday and Friday, on baseball films from the major-league train- ing camps. After baseball’s open- ing day in mid-April, there will be a segment a day featuring a baser ball scoreboard. The time reverts to three participations a week for the last two weeks in May. Jack Lescoulie will spiel the baseball scores. If the car company likes its two- month Tide, it has tirhat amounts to an option to continue on “Today” —probably at three a week—for the rest of the'baseball season, an investment of about $250,000 for K-F. The program had eight big auto company sponsor^ in the last year, but only for a saturation push. This is a new attack,"hitting the baseball season with a car pitch. K-F will start off the sponsorship with a big dealer-display of ban- ners, and later initiate scoreboard contests. Curtain Time Continued from page 61 WGAL AM TV FM A Slelnman Station Clair McCollough President 1 MR. CHANNEL 8 . . . symbol of WGAL-TV's increased power, r now gives larger coverage, bigger audience, greater sales poten- ; tial to W’GAL-TV advertisers. *Market includes Harrisburg, York*, Lancaster, Reading, Lebanon Represented by ROBERT MEfKER Associates New York Chicago Los Angeles San Francisco in the same area limits competition, reduces diversification of control of programs, and puts competitive TV stations a( a disadvantage. Similar questions were raised by Miss Hennock in dissenting to au- thorizations issued to the Utah Broadcasting & TV Corp. In Salt Lake City and to Television Serv- ices of Knoxville, Tenn. Other TV permits issued last week went to Valley Telecasting Co. in Yuma, Ariz.; KFXJ in Grand Junction, Colo.; Marion Radio Corp. in Indianapolis; Empire Coil Co. in Indianapolis; Rib Mountain Radio Co. in Des Moines; Minne- sota-Iowa TV Op. in Austin, Minn.; Alamo TV Co. in San Antonio, and KNAL in Victoria, Tex. These authorizations brought to 325 the number issued since the lifting of the freeze and to 433 the total number of stations au- thorized. 1 New Orleans—Betty Underwood, for 12 years a top femme mike personality here, has been upped to director of women’s programs at WNOE. She airs two daily Mon- day-through**Friday a.Tn. stanzas, ‘The Betty'Underwood Show” and VWotnan'fr * *» ;t -i-* Inside Stuff—Television Courses in radio and television production, direction and writing will be offered by Barnard College and NBC in the third annuli Summer Institute of Radio and Television from June 29 to Aue 7 Six courses, • including two new ones, will be given by NBC execs New courses are “Directing, Writing and Producing for Educational Television,” to be conducted by Robert Wald, associate producer of “American Inventory,” «nd “Films for Television ” to be taught bv William C. Hodapp, producer of same ghow and exec director of Teleprograms. Other courses will be taught by Michael Dann, plan- ning manager for NBC; Ross Donaldson, net’s supervisor of literary and story rights; Patrick J. Kelly, supervisor of announcers and Robert L. Garthwaite, senior production, coordinator. Of WCBS-TV, N. Y., last week installed a clock with correct time on station breaks in the early morning. The, clock breaks will be seen from 7:30 a.m., new key opening, to 9 a.m. Right time is a regular "Today” feature on opposing WNBT frnm j 7 to 9. ! m One of those inadvertent camera slips occurred on NBC-TV’s Friday night 'bouts ffrom Madison Sq. Garden, N. Y., last week, in which the NBC camera picked up and held for a moment an ABC radio unit at ringside.. Viewers got a good look at the ABC letters when the camera followed the ring announcer through the ropes as he picked up the judges’ votes on the outcome of the Paddy Young-Erme Durando bout. ** Events are sponsored by Gillette on NBC-TV and ABC radio. Novel promotional test. is being tried by WABC-TV, N. Y Tele station is advertising in the BMT subways, testing pull of subWay ads Station has installed large-sized posters in the cars reading “Discover the New Channel 7.” * / Unique phase of the operation, according to Mitchell DeGroot sta- tion’s advertising chief, is that it can be tested. Most riders of the BMT live in Brooklyn. Station is conducting surveys of listening habits in Brooklyn as opposed to the other boroughs. After a suitable period, it will be able to measure effect of the ads. * If they prove successful, station will expand advertising campaign to the other two N. Y. subway systems, plus suburban trains and stations, NBC television,'facing a sustaining desert from 10:30 a.m. to 3 30 p.m. with “The Big Payoff” shift to CBS-TV, is attacking advertiser resistance with an audience-measurement broadside. • The NBC facts and figures claim that in daytime (a) women viewers average 1.1 per set, same as evening, (b) program costs are much less than half I evening talent charges, (cX commercial time allowances ape higher, and (d) station lineups are more complete. Storer’s Miaihi Beach Exec Setup; Jr. Now V.P. Miami, March 31. Storer Broadcasting Co., with television stations in four cities and radio outlets in seveii, will con- solidate in Miami Beach all execu- tive operations now divided among Birmingham, Ala., Toledo, O., and Miami Beach. 0 The new. home office will be located in a modem, air-condi- tioned building, expected ready for occupancy by „ mid-September, to be erected on recently bought Storer property. New York and, Chicago offices will remain, with Gotham branch'S’oon expanding in- to new five-story Storer House on East 57th St. In an another development, the board of directors last Wednesday (25) elected George B. Storer, Jr., eldest son of the president, to the position of veepee. He has been managing director of television sta- tion KEYL, San Antonio, and v.p. of* the San Antonio Television Co. Carter to Co-Sponsor DuM Tlainclothesman’ Carter Products last week bought half-sponsorship of DuMont’s “Plainclothesman,” Sunday night mystery series, for total of 16 weeks during spring and summer. Carter “will co-star with Larus Bros, from April 15 to May 24 and then from June 21 to August 9. Carter is also co-sponsor on “Down You Go,” web’s Friday night quizzer, with Toni. It con- tinues through the summer as co- bankroller. "Early Birds' 23d Anni Dallas, March 31. WFAA “Early Birds,” rated as the oldest breakfast shbw on the air, is rounding out its 23d anni on the outlet with 9,700 performances already chalked up. During the anni week oldtime members of the cast, some in per- son and' some by. transcription, will be featured. Dick Gilbert’s Pact * Phoenix, March-31. Dick Gilbert, KTYL disk jockey, has pacted new deal with the sta- tion until September, 1957. Cur- rently broadcasting over KTYL AM and FM, he’s slated to add an hour-long daily TV show to his schedule when station enters that medium. v Tele operating is expected to start April 12. Now starring on NBC'i ALL STAR REVUE Saturdays, t-9 p.m., EST M&t.» William Morris Agency Attention TV Producers AVAILABLE SOON Major Studio Space IN HOLLYWOOO FOR YOUR TV PRODUCTIONS Complete facilities, equipment, and vaults. For details write Sox 321, Dally Variety, 6311 Yucca Street, L. A. REHEARSAL SPACE AVAILABLE Ideal etafs for television and. radle rehearsals and broadtastini. Completely equipped end lighted. AIR CONDITIONED. Five minutes from Times Square.'Call Stanley Kostner— WAtklns 4-6230 er WA 4-0762. THEATER DE LYS ' 121 Christopher St. NEWSMAN Ex-account axcc, 31, single, person- able, college grad, experience with metropolitan daily, . heavy feature work. SEEKS RADIO-TV FILM Connec- tion, any capacity. ' Highest references. Will Start at Any level Write Bex VV 330, Variety, 154 W. 4Gth St. or PHONE Perth Amhey 4-0677 LO. 8-3100 ALTON ALEXANDER Writer-Director 580 PUTS AND SKETCHES ON Hollywood Screen Test, ABC-TV r.; (Starting Sixth Consecutiv* Y#ar!): ; : .V v Thanks to LESTER, JULIET and MORri^S k e*\ » •