Variety (April 1953)

s# PfinBEft April 15, 1953 tMttHtlttt »f . tt4 ♦♦♦ 4 444444 444 44 444444 444 44444 4 4 M 44 4 4 4 4 4 +444*4 Citations: ’52 -’511 Showmanagement Review (Continued from page 34) around a personality who previ- ously had fallen on his TV face be- cause of pvergimmicking and over-production. In its “Through the Enchanted Gate” series, pre- sented with the Museum of Mod- em Art, WNBT presented children as people, as a rich, living creative experience. It was imaginative, trail-blazing, and as such, public service contributions. Also in the public service realm Is the AM-TV operation’s Music Foundation, inspired by Jackie Robinson (yes, the sanieV who was added to the WNBC-WNBT work- ing staff as Director of Community Services,. in - itself a • significant move in the further development of inter-racial relations by the NBC key stations. Music Founda- tion collects funds from listeners to buy record libraries and play- ers‘for-hospitals, orphanges, old- age homes, etc. Take, too, WNBC’s now widely Publicized “Music Through the Night” longhair marathon, another offbeat venture, made all the more remarkable by its ability to make money for the station. End result of this programming, public service, promotion, and overall showmanship: WNBC’s billings for ’52 increased by 24%, with local sales in radio up 78%. WNBT billings in '52 up 22%; lo- cal TV sales hiked by 67%, 444t4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 . 4 » 4 4 +4 4 44 f Radio Sfation completely successful is still too early to determine. Apparently, it is. Increased sales in last quarter of *52 is among first payoffs. $ 4 44 4 44444444 444 4444 4♦ ♦ ♦ TV Station + Showmanship 4 44 4 4444 4 444»+444444444 WX«9, Chicago For proof that good educational programs can also be entertain- ment and commercial success, one need go no further than NBC's owned-and-operated Chicago TV station, WNBQ. The televisioft world is well aware that WNBQ pioneered .‘what has Come to be known as the /’Chicago school of TV,” which only means low- budgeted production given that in- tangible know-how which results in high level artistic attainments designed to bring full appreciation from viewers and critics. This is television as practiced by Harry C. Kopf, NBC vice-president And WNBQ general manager; 1 Jules Herbuveaux,’ asst.. general mana- sorship auspices since 1950); "How Does Your Garden <?ro\v?’* <the highest rated program, of Its type in Chicagol; and "Mr. Wizard” (which demonstrates and explains the scientific wonders that are * part of everyday living and which, justifiably, has been widely ku- dosed and plaqued in the past). These, and other WNBQ attrac- tions, typify the art of showman- ship when perfected and practiced with artistic and commercial suc- cess. ♦ ♦ 444 4+4 4444 4444444 44 . 4 > t Small Station . Enterprise f 44 4 444444 4 4 4 44444 4 4444 ♦ ' t RUX, Twin Falls, Idaho HI XI., Dallas KLIX is one of those rare sta- tions—a postwar baby that really clicked. Coming on, the air six years ago against a 2-year-old NBC affiliate and a new MBS sta-* .tion which had a year’s head start on KLIX, this No. 3 Twin Falls station in a town of 17,500 has fought its way to top position. KLIX started its climb by build- engineers ... writers who'also an- nounce. Program Director with a voice . , McIntyre reports. Hooting, itself deep in Its com- munity, KLIX patterns itself after a country newspaper as much as possible, Uses lots of little stories, homey stories, and plenty of local names. For example, woman’s editor never airs any canned copy frorp news teletypes, hut all local women’s material—new r s of babies bom in area, club meetings, items about new neighbors. Result: KLIX Mary Lee women's show op- posite Godfrey has double rating of CBS star. More real hometown stations like KLIX will keep radio healthy a long time. coming in say their wives told them about the store's bargains. Hooper figures testify to the sta- tion’s impact. 4444444444444 4 4* 4 M M 44 4 4 Education By to a KIXL. DALLAS I Down Dallas way they say that the city has ‘‘Radio, TV and KIXL.” Which, read backwards or forward, is a tribute to the skill and show- manship brought to the 1,000-watt indie operation by its president and manager, Lee Segall. Yes, the same Lee SegalL who parlayed the "Doctor, I have a lady in the bal- cony” catch-phrase into a long- running “Dr. I. Q.” radio career (which, incidentally, is now mak- ing the transition into TV). It was six. years ago that* Segall Gen. Sartfoff i -444 4 4 0 44440 ♦♦♦44 0 444444 WLW, Cincinnati WLW, the Crosley station that served as a model for so many sta< tions during the early years of radio broadcasting, this year con- ducted a challenging experiment in programming that may again set new pattern for the industry. Can a major network affiliate success- fully program its evening time in a mood sequence of block-pro- grammed net shows? To this im- portant question, WLW tried to find the answer for itself, sponsors, agencies, NBC and other stations. After, nearly a year of research into audience habits and attitudes, by WLW’s research department and Nielsen, WLW set itself up as a program laboratory by complete- ly reshuffling broadcast times of all 18 major NBG evening shows it regularly carries. Shows were slotted via delayed taping in night- ly mood pattern, with each eve- ning of week devoted exclusively to one type Of program. Under this new system of verti- cal scheduling, Sunday became g er . George Heinemann, program drama night, Monday music. Tues- manager, And their staff, day comedy, Wednesday mystery, Refusing to accept the theory Thursday comedy, Friday quiz, and tUat an eduCational-type show is Saturday folk music. only served up to a few intellect- WLW’s vast listening area was a ls as a burnt offering on the altar ideal testing ground for this idea, of public service, Kopf-Herbu- because it has 98% radio satura- veaux & Co. proved their conten- tion,, combination of rural and ip- tion that good TV can combine dustrial regions, and one-tenth of educational values (1) wiCh*popu- nation’s radio homes. Other sta- larity; (2) with selling a client’s David Samoff— ‘Gen. Video 5 If. at the moment, there's a new excitement hovering over the TV spec- trum because of the limitless possibilities Of television in the realm of elec- tronic wizardry and gadgetry. and in the .new assurances of an all-electronic era of compatibility in color TV—chalk it up to America's No. 1 Space Cadet ' and “General Video" himself. David Samoff. The sago of the RCA board chairman spans the life story , of world communications itself, but if the past year has wit- nessed new and even more challenging portents of an elec- tronics future, if an electrifying tenseness permeates a TV industry alerted to still new worlds to conquer, it's been evi- dent that somewhere, around the comer these past few months the General has been lurking. In a year which saw the RCA Victor Division pull its .45V'out of a threatened "23 skidoo" status (under the shrewd merchandising aegis of RCA prexy Frank M. Fol- som) into a bright era'of acceptability and prosperity, it begins to look, too, like the spoils of the color television victory will go to the General. But no less intriguing are the portents of (1) Samoff s return to the broadcasting wars in reestablishing himself as NBC board chairman; (2) his devotion to ierretting out the as yet untapped horizons of video as the world's scientific eighth wonder, for the advancement of commerce (even to easing the burden of the bank teller), business, medicine, education, social uses— and everyday fun. • For bringing this kind of excitement into a medium. VARIETY bestows a '52-'53 plaque .award, on General David Samoff. I4444404 44 44 M 000 OMM 4 WDAL-TV, Haiti more On the final day of 1952, Balti- more prepared itself for a forth- coming strike of the city’s manual laborers who threatened to curtail, among other services, the firing of furnaces in the public schools. The strike meant closing the city’s schools to thousands of Baltimore children* ■ What happened is now history— blazoned across the nation’s-dailies and magazines^ and crystallizing into one of the most heralded pub- lic Service projects in TV annals. With 123 heatless schools shut- tered, WBALrTV’s enterprising general manager, D. I,. (Tony) Provost got an idea. With the help of the superintendent of schools, he and his staff mapped a *set of morning programs via TV for the 80,000 “home stranded” pupils. The other Baltimore stations joined in. WBAL-TV took care of the elemen- tary grades, with .classes in science, art and spelling, WAAM-TV taught the junior and senior high school courses in French, aviation and the “Cultures of the Past.” In the afternoon WMAR-TV added a course in history. Before the week was out and the janitor's returned to work, Baltimore was convinced that it had made one of . the major advances, in the realm of education by television; The “format” was simple enough: pupils reported ttT"“ their schools each morning, but only long enough to pick up their assignments and return home for the “video classes.” Extra credits were belch out for reports turned in. Pupils were advised beforehand * what stations to dial for* particular subjects. The teachers held classes in radio-TV studios, generally with a live audience of a dozen or more students and a blackboard to give a realistic classroom setting. It was a golden chance for serv- ice and to explore the potentialities of cooperation between education and commercial broadcasting. Balti- more—thanks .to “Tony” Provost’s idea—came • through witli flying colors. 444 4 44 0 0444 4 0 0 0 444444 4 4 tions have made minor excursions into block programming of net fea- tures on delayed tape basis, never before on this- scale, and with con- tinuing research. WLW research staff and its Peo pie’s Advisory Council of 2,600 homes, are making regular checks jdf listeners to evaluate impact of vertical block programming among audiences who for decades had been accustomed to getting their net radio shows on'old smorgas- bord system which set up off the fable ail types of programs in same evening schedule. To back up its bold departure in night programming, WLW de- vised impressive promotion cam- paign around “Sounds of The Cen- tury” Contest, Gimmick was par- ticularly effective because it used AM’s own medium—sound—as peg for contest, Listeners were asked to identify broadcast of various interesting and odd sounds, in competition for big prizes. To pro mote the promotion, WLW sent attractive femme ambassador on • awing of WLW area to plug new WLW program idea and “Sounds of the Century.” product. This has been demonstrated in the latest of WNBQ's educational commercial triumps—“Ding Dong School,” a program which quietly took the air On Oct. 3,1952, almost immediately gained national criti- cal acclaim, became a network fea- ture Nov. 24, ’52, and immediately scored ARB ratings higher than Arthur Godfrey, the opposition program. Scott Paper Co.' a*nd General Mills were on hand to un- loose their sponsor belts. "Ding Dong School” is the morning show which presents Mrs. Frances Hor- wlch, nationally-known educator, in a nursery school of the air built to attract the five-year-old view- ers. A one-camera, no-puff but solid production, it proves h$w successful an idea can be. WNBQ’s tele savvy in this rae^ telr goes back to Feb. 3, 1949, when “Walt’s Workshop” preemed on the station. r In between “Walt's Workshop’’ and “Ding Dong School” WNBQ came up with such other offbeat ventures as “Zoo Parade” (the weekly camera tours of the Lincoln Park Zoo in. Chicago which has —X*' , ... jrain. in. vmtago wmen nas Whethe*, Crqsley experiment is •♦given Quaker Oats a happy spon- ing Sunday daytime dominance. It used a simple idea: instead of sell- ing religious time as other stations were doing (although it certainly could have used that easy revenue In. station's early days), KLIX gave two hours each Sunday sustaining to any minister who asked for cuffo time. Then, it scheduled pop music and news remainder of day. To build audiences on weekdays, station manager Frank C. Mc- Intyre added not only plenty of music, but lots of news with home- town, homefolk flavor. Station equipped itself .with two shortwave transmitters in station wagons, plus four tape recorders. Fulltime leg man and stringers were hired to cover hews in every town in KLIX area. But even with so many pro news scouts, station found itself missing some good local yarns. So a “Be a KLIX Correspondent” system was set up, with listeners constant- ly advised “When something im- portant happens, if you pass or witness an accident oh the high- way, if you see an important per- sonality get off a plane—call KLIX.” For good news tips, sta- tion pays $5* .. Instead of usual small-town ra- dio policy .of having one man on duty for six hours or so, KLIX adopted a “change of voice” poli- cy—different voice on every show, no one announcer ever assigned to two consecutive programs. How to do that with a small staff? KLIX did it with Versatile employees, plus tape. “We searched the coun- try for high quality announcer- interested 20 Dallas businessmen to put up $200,000 to start opera- tion of KIXL. From show biz, such friends as Robert Taylor, Tony Martin, Tyrone Power, Robert Sterling, pitched in several thou- sand dollars—and the idea got roll- ing. Segaii-’s idea was a simple one. —to run 3 radio station solely for femme listeners. If men wanted to listen, that was okay, but the ar- rows were pointed at the women in Dallas and outlying districts— and it’s paid off handsomely. Only men announce. There are no disk jockeys. There is no hillbilly music played (this, remember, in Texas!). There are no sporting events; no dramatic shows; the news is de- livered every hour but only through headlines, • What, then, has been the for-, mula? Simply a round-the-clock musical feast. Segall starts the morning with a musical theme of the day—it may be Chopin or the score of "South Pacific.” The mood is keyed to the woman of the house and the kind of work she may be doing around the house at certain times of the day. Commercials are given with musical background behind them, suitable to the prod- uct being sold. Doctors and dentists keep their office radio tuned in all day on KIXL. Restaurants keep it on and don’t even mind the com- mercials.* There isn’t a major de- partment store in Dallas that doesn’t use KIXL (station says ex- clusively) and men’s stores sponsor programs and find that women do the buying for their men, or metf Special Events In Television 4444444444444444 4 44444 4 4 KTLA, Los Ajngeles The wonderful power television has of being able** to bring living history right into the home was dramatically demonstrated this year by telecasting of the National Conventions, and by first coast-to- coast telecast of the atomic bomb blast direct from the Nevada test- ing grounds. Unlike the Chicago pickups where the vast resources of the networks were poured into the coverage, the historical Yucca Flat program was basically the achievement of one station—Para* mount’s KTLA. Technical organization and pro- duction of such an epic special event would, have been an achieve- ment for any network; it assiimes even greater stature in view of the fact that this one West Coast indie Was responsible virtually alone for this TV feat. But then resourcefulness and technical know-how have always been asso- ciated with KTLA and its scrappy manager, Klaus Landsberg. In fact, success of that pioneer- ing atomic .telecast In 1952 repre- sents a great personal achievement for Landsberg, working against great obstacles, and against great time pressure. When the Atomic Energy Commission gave Los An- geles video an okay to. televise the April 22 blast last year, Landsberg offered to supervise and engineer the project, with KTLA originating and feeding all nets. He probably didn’t realize how immense a task he was tackling. Story of how KTLA crew man- aged to overcome all obstacles of < -(Continued* ob. page 39). m i.;. =. jV -il. *.#-4 %'V.