Variety (April 1953)

Wednesday, April 22 , 1953 25 ZIPPY $25,000,000 BIZ Walker on Necklines &. Comics Columbus, April 21. In what was his final appearance as FCC chairman. Paul A. Walker reviewed his 19 years on the FCC and again admonished the men from academic halls to grab off the TV channels reserved for their use. Walker, who is slated to retire from the FCC on June 20. spoke at the banquefc of the Institute for Education by Hadio-TV here Saturday night. Walker, in reviewing his Career with the FCC. observed that be had been “on the receiving end of a barrage from those who view with alarm* and those who wring their hands in despair.’* But he feels that the FCC has not done its job badly. “One side thinks we haven't gone nearly far enough in con- trolling programming. The other side is just as firmly convinced that we are determined to establish federal censorship. I like to think that this conflict of opinion shows that we have been steering a fairly straight course down the middle of the regulatory road.’* He held the idea of censorship as ridiculous and said, “I am firmly convinced that the way to get good radio programming and a broadcasting system which is responsive to the democratic needs of our society u not by having seven commissioners sit around and make measurements of the feminine neckline or edit the jokes of famous comedians.” All the FCC is interested in Is seeing that stations live up to a public trust, and conduct their operations in the public interest. To do this, it does not demand a specific program, but does insist that a licensee serve' all the needs of the community, which means the FCC may express concern over the tack of religious or educational programming. This is not indulging in' censorship. He cited the famous “Blue Book” as an accurate picture of broadcasting at the time (1946) and said the resulting publicity “induced many licensees to genuine efforts to imprqye their over- all programming.” He objected to the'"creeping censorship” ac- cusation that had been laid at FCC*s door when it demanded a year or so* ago that a group of TV stations which scheduled no educational or religious programs, do so or endanger their license. The stations responded to polite letters from the FCC and the trouble has been corrected. The retiring chairman pointed to the record of fairness and impartiality radio enjoys today, a great part of which was due to federal regulation; cited, the wholesome benefits of competition both in the field of economics and, especially, in the field of thought; and lauded the efforts of the FCC in achieving diversifi- cation of licensees and competition in communities. Almost 2D. of his remarks on television were confined to a few paragraphs at the end of his address. He warned the educators to take advantage of the reserved channels and then reminded them that "you, too, have an obligation to operate your stations in the public interest” Tair Play Code’ by Congress Seen Way Out on Televising of Hearings H BILLING: Columbus. April 21. 4- Three members of the panel on the telecasting of legislative hear-; tags at the opening session of Ohio State TVs Institute for Education by Radio-TV last Thursday (16) NBC-TV’s Pinza Audition NBC-TY this week is holding a public audition at the Center The- atre, N. Y., for a new half-hour {ries has a 550-station spread: gross- n • . _* A J *J 3 • * # Without any particular fanfare, except to publicize the fact that three of its TV film productions have attained the 80-station distri- bution status, the Fred Ziv radio- TV operation, which rates as one of the major broadcasting phe- nomena of the decade, has passed the $25,000,000 mark in gross an- nual billings. This is exclusive of the $2,009,000 annually derived from the subsid World transcrip- tion library. Perhaps equally as revealing is the fact that the Ziv TV Programs facet of the overall operation has now pushed ahead of the Ail reve- nue, with the updated scorecard now reading: TV, $13,000,000 an- nual gross; Badio, $12,000,000 an- nual gross. Yet at a time when the tendency is to cut radio loose to drift downstream, the Fred - Ziv- John Sinn "bigger stars-bigger pro- duction budgets” operational pat- tern has . projected the company into a new sphere of importance in the U. S. radio scheme. If it's become apparent in recent months that the major TV networks envision film syndication as one of the major revenues of tomorrow, the word’s gone out to "do like Ziv.” For the two-man operation 1 which has bypassed such admin- istrative complications as boards of directors but instead has installed a backfield of operational person- nel that’s the envy of the industry*, has a distribution-production-sales pattern (supplemented by advertis- ing, promotion, publicity, exploita- tion hoopla* that's unrivalled to- day. The Ziv “Cisco Kid” TV film property alone fetches $44,000 a week in billings. Along with “Fa- vorite Story” and “Boston Blackie” (which are in the $30,000 weekly gross areal), "Cisco Kid” has hit the 80-market jackpot, selling for varying sums up to $3,000 a w eek. But as an indication of how the AM facet of the operation keep abreast of the TV division, the Dana Andrews FBI radio series grosses $3&,QOO a week, spread over 718 stations. Similarly. Tyrone Power’s ^’Freedom, USA” radio se- Don’t Miss TV Boat’ Keynotes Ohio State’s 23d Educ’l Confab Moll Ai Capp Vignette For Hoagy NBC-TV Show i; \ ft Al Capp and NBC are discussing a three-minute Capp vignette to be | inserted on the Saturday Night \ Revue, summer replacement for 'Show of Shows.” Depending on Capp’s summer plans, the spot may be Coast-orig- inated, as the rest of the Hoagy Carmichael show, or from New jj York. ?reTpart’tae to CoSr^orlte | * " situa - j . S^*5M r «fSE552. *35! -JESS? I ss-* 5 er thTwto of ^eemenl tiey J ««*** !t • *n*jor attraction (under v.p. Alvin E. Unger, and £ •tiler uiat poult OI agrecuieui, u, .j fgg ^ nvmsArcIhin mmMin mth S "nr nlorman .. n -SI r T>; dMered on the approach and meth- j - ^ fSSSS'oraSBnJSJS ods for handling such hearings on j^ television. The industry position was stated by Edward Stanley, NBC director | of public affairs and education. Other speakers were Dorothy Ken- yon. attorney and board member of the American Civil Liberties Union, and Morris Norik, radio-TV consultant. “Since television is. in my view, a full-fledged member of ’the press’,” Stanley said, “it follows inevitably that it is entitled to the full prerogatives and protections of this American Institution. In TV salesmen (under v.p. M. J. Bif- Jrin> in the field peddling its wmp video properties and nine AM se- ries. It's axiomatic in the syndica- tion biz that Sinn, equally adept as a producer and salesman, “won’t produce anything that won’t sell and he can sell anything he pro- duces.” Every salesman in the Ziv I fold is geared for a $20,000-$25,000 annual income. Ziv and Sinn, in turn, insist on tossing a nod in the direction of jj Herb Gordon, v.p. in charge of ra- jt'dio production; Maurice Unger, in Mutual this week racked up one ' «*arge of Ziv s West Coast opera- Miner, Despairing Of Idleness, Sells Show to Chrysler Worthington L. (TonyTMiner has sold a half-hour dramatic show, which he himself will produce, to Chrysler for TV showcasing in the fall. Miner, under contract to NBC, has been on the sidelines without assignment all this season. Apparently despairing of nothing to do. Miner took the initiative on his own and peddled the pro- gram to the motor company via BBD&O agency. • Oddly enough, Chrysler has been a McCann-Erickson account, but on the strength of delivering the Min- er package BBD&O succeeded in wooing the account over. BBD&O also handles the DeSoto-Plymouth account (also part of the Chrysler family). > ... . Since there’s no assurance as yet that th e show will wind up on NBC-TV (a decision trill prob- ably be forthcoming this week on selection of a network) the whole question of Miner's NBC contrac- tual exclusivity may be projected info the forefront. It's understood that, while NBC Is committed to respect the Miner contract, the producer has an out. It’s also known that CBS has initiated some overtures to restore him to “Stu- dio One,” now that Fletcher Markle is vacating the production reins of the Westinghouse-sponsored Mon- day night show. By DEAN MYERS Columbus, April 21. Besides the general feeling that the educators gathered here this weekend at Ohio State U.'s 23d Institute for Education hv Radio- Television were anxious for infor- mation in the ways to operate % and program television, there was an additional feeling of urgency, that time is fast running out in which institutions have non-commercial channels set aside for them. The deadline is June 2 and the talk everywhere here was to the effect that some kind of extension must be gained so that educators, who are forced to work mostly with public funds and wait upon slow- moving state legislatures, can take advantage of the reserved TV channels. This feeling was given substance In an address Friday night (17) by Ralph Sfeetle, executive di- rector of the Joint Committee on Educational Television. Steetle ob- served that no one expected 242 educational TV stations to be built within the year’s time allotted by the FCC but "surely everyone has been surprised that so much has been accomplished in so little time.” Twenty-five educational institutions have filed for chan- nels and by the June 2 deadline. It is expected the number will be close to 50. He cited nation-wide press support for educational TV and said public understanding and support is increasing daily. He said “there will be time for completion of good plans” and that “I firmly believe that the FCC and Congress wilt see that there is sufficient time to develop this service across the nation.” He quoted testimony from last week's Senate Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee hearing where Sen. Tobey and Sen. Brick- er both strongly urged sufficient (Continued on page 33) CBS’ ‘Me, Too,’ Nighttime Radio nt anri in the H tfoos, the Unger-Rifkin sales head of its most important, and to the d K one of its most critical sales in recent months, as Lever ft 5U hsid — —- — —.. , , i combo, and Bob Friedheim of the its capacity as a reporter the tele- J “S? 4 ?!' , of lts most ~ < Continued on page 39) RCA Reevaluates Radio-TV Shows Sponsorship Reprieve Procter & Gamble, which has be- Bros. pacted for a 26-week ride on I the web’s Multi-Message Plan -j nnp; i\ .» y cross-the-board mystery-adventure j fab S H&uflQB l€Q block. Lever Bros, will take twos /*• « *» spots per.night, whh* j^e (jjyes barry Moore package is practically sold out. i with Camels and General Mills {holding the other'tabs. Sale is considered critical be- cause (1 * it’s for nighttime radio, ii come increasingly bullish on day- Status of the RCA-sponsored ’ s J* cil has been taking an acknowl-jUme lelerisou while relinquishing Phil Harris Sunday eventag radio 3 “ ,el ££ 0D fc ° £ ‘K Properties, show on NBCJs hanging in the!“ d . (2 ’ the soap outfit wdl use*has changed its mind about can- balance for next season, with re- * 1 to advertise Kave Shampoo, j celling out on the Garry Moore ports that the h4snt had , a “ lionaI ^S S ^° W 0n CBS-TV. may wash ™ on their rentrarf paign for a couple of years. Mu-" P & G bad sent in an order can- RCA meanwhile is reapprahing ite tual’s ■ and radio's, for that matter* j ceiling out on Moore as of last Fri- radio-TV ^to te^nri^NeUing power in this rideo age day iKl but at the.last minute season's sponsorship, with some in- * 111 he under test, and the results rescinded the order, picking up its — 11-* caTTil -a 1 L — 'i&re likely to influence agency and; segment of the program at least GILLETTE BUYS DERBY; RED CROSS BENOITS After much mulling over the whopping fee originally asked for the radio-television coverage of the Kentucky Derby—with CBS unwilling to televise without a sponsor—Churchill Downs officials and the Gillette Safety Razor Co. have finally got together. Price was scaled down consider- ably. with track officials then an- nouncing the turning over of the radio-tele fee to the American Red Cross. As a result, the Kentucky Derby will be heard and seen over CBS Radio and CBS Television Saturday, May 2. Agreement was for the Derby only, with the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, rest of racing’s triple crown, still to face the spon- sorship hurdle. Wrigley may buy the other duo. c.caljons that it may check out on ■* — ... ; i - , , - bath the Dennis Day Friday night" sponsor thinking to an extreme de- j through June to plug Duz and show and the Sunday after- is*®?*, .. , . . 3 Ivory Flakes. “Kukla. Fran and Ollie ” I Under th^ plan, sponsor gets a jl Meanwhile, P & G bows with its RCA is said to be “spectacular”' one-minute spot on a rotating basis a new 15-minute cross-tbe-board carious in terms of major lea<me 3 with the other sponsors each night !}NBC-TV afternoon show On June cr.e-shot programming as withits 8 al $1,500 per nigfct, or $7,500 cross-:{g. Benton & Bowles is currently i * i £ sat sponsorship of the Academy : 1 the-board. Lever Bros., which ,, ‘"auditioning” a flock of properties. Awards pickup, which lends itself 31* 011 ** 11 ! the package direct, without jj but has not yet decided on the ve- ^ grandiose exploitation. l (Continued on page 39) J hicle. Camel Would Alternate 'Shows’ Balance of Season R. J. Reynolds (Camel cigarets) jj is not only vacating its sponsor- ship of the first half-hour “Show of Shows” for next season, but I also wouldn't mind running out ji the remainder of this season on an alternate-week sponsorship basis. I As result, jNBC-TV is currently trying to peddle the availability to ^agencies and clients. However, if •1 nobody picks it up. Camel is committed to stay with it until ‘the I end of the season. CBS. which, like NBC, hasn’t been too successful in peddling its Sunday afternoon time availabili- ties on television, is expected to follow NBC'S lead and revise down- ward its Sunday afternoon 1 to 5 advertising rate to remain in the competitive swim. At present the Sunday time on both TV webs is in the Class A rate category, same as nighttime, but effective May I NBC will cut to 75^ of the night costs. CBS has now indicated that it will follow suit. In terms of CBS-TV. it poses a problem on next season’s 4:30 to 6 p. m. “Omnibus'* sponsorship i since it’s now virtually certain that the program will return in the fall.) Client or clients sharing the 4:30 to 5 segment wiU get the ben- efit of the Class B rate, while the 5 to 6 sponsors (unless a rotating policy is evolved) will be obliged to pay the higher rate. Bishop Sheen’s Banner Spread; 75 TV Outlets, 530 Mutnal Stations When Bishop Fulton J, Sheen’s “Life Is Worth Living" goes off the air for its summer hiatus on May 12, it will have achieved the status of being one of the most widely circulated regularly sponsored pro- grams In the radio-TV books. Admiral-sponsored program is currently on 75 tele stations via DuMont network (both live 2nd kine), and on radio, latest Mutual count show's clearances from 530 of the network’s 580 stations. Radio version went on the air a couple of months ago, consists of an edited tape of the DuMont show*