Variety (April 1953)

44 nA»IO-TEUEVISION „ PfinlETr Wednesday, April 29, 1953 M ♦♦♦♦♦♦ M M ♦ HH f ♦ H ♦ ♦ M f ♦ ♦ ♦ ;; From the Production Centres <► • + IJV NEW YORK CITY . . . Mutual newscaster Lyle Van got a public service plaque from N. Y. Veterans of Foreign Wars . . . WNEW doubling ex-bandleader Lucky Millinder’s air time, with an extra hour added Saturday night , . . Roney Plaza Hotel, Miami Beach, concluded negotiations with ABC for Don McNeil to originate his “Breakfast Club’* there for one month next winter . . . Helen Kruger, former associate editor of TV Show mag, joined Friend, Reiss, McGlone agency as a copywriter . . .WOR s John B. Gambling in Florida taping interview testimonials for Plan- tation Estates, one of his sponsors . . . Ted Gruenwald, ex-William Esty, joined Doyle Dane Bembach as radio-TV director , . .Doug Beck named Chicago assistant to Terry Turner in General Teleradio’s promotion setup . . . Teleradio v.p. J. Glen Taylor presenting a cup to Itha Doorhammer, winner of Mutual’s 4th annual “Girl of the Golden West” contest, on May 5 . George Cueto, Italian rep of WOV, N. Y., off to Europe Friday (24) on the Mauretania. Harry Ollson, formerly with Warner Bros., N. Y., legal department, has joined the NBC legal department, to specialize in copyright prob- lems. He takes over duties of Theodore Kupferman, who resigned to become attorney for Cinerama . . . Selvin Donneson, WWRL sales manager, to Europe this week for a three-week vacation . . . Hal Korman, WWRL announcer, back from a honeymoon at Daytona Beach. He wed Dolores Conlon, of Grey Advertising . . . Myron Oppen- heimer has been appointed vice-president of Barry, Enright & Friendly Productions. Frank Stanton, CBS prexy, vacationing in Europe . . . Dorothy W. Donnelly, formerly with N. W. Ayer & Son and BRD&O, now copy- writer in radio-tele department of McCann-Erickson, Inc. . . , John Derr, CBS Radio sports chief, to Louisville this week for the web’s coverage of the Derby . . . Clifton Utley of Chicago, Pauline Fred- ericks of New York and Joseph C. Harsch of Washington added to NBC radio network news commentators. , . . Patti Pickens (Mrs. Bob Simmons) out of retirement this week to sub for sister Jane, now telethoning for the United Cerebral Palsy Fund, on NBC’s Jane Pickens Show ... John Thomas currently heard as Earnest on CBS’ “Young Dr. Malone” . . . Charles E. (Ted) Maxwell, ABC account exec for four years, joins Broadcast Advertising Bureau sales division May 15 . . . The John Reed Kings parents of a son, their third child . . . John Lair of CBS Radio’s “Renfro Valley”* to speak at the AWRT convention in Atlanta, Sunday (3) , . . William Danforih, Ralston- Purina Co. board chairman, on Ed Murrow’s “This I Believe” Saturday (2) . . . Alan Sands and Stan Dreiben have taken over writing assign- ment of comedy quiz “Fun For All,” featuring Arlene Francis and Bill Cullen. Milton H. Meyers, president and general manager of WWCO, Water- bury. Conn., aboard the Constitution enroute to Naples for a vacation . . . Joe Rosenfield, Jr. (Big Joe) will Jbe feted with a testimonial dinner tomorrow (Thurs.) at^the Hotel Brevoort, celebrating beginning of his fifth year on N. Y. radio. Among guests will be W. C. Handy (Rosenfield is 1st v. p, of the W. C. Handy Foundation for the Blind), Rube Goldberg, Pat Rooney and Sigmund Spaeth, while Harry Hersh- field will be toastmaster . . . Station Representatives Assn, reports that the number of stations subscribing to its “Crusade for Spot Radio” now totals over 200 ... Ed Casarella, ABC artist, currently has an exhibition, of his paintings at the Brooklyn Museum . . . Oscar Brand, WNYC folk singer, off to Europe last Monday (27) for a five-week tour . . . Yale 'U. station WYBC has Invited Ben Grauer as feature speaker at annual banquet tonight (29). IN HOLLYWOOD . . . Johnny Grant back from Korea with taped interviews at Freedom Village with exchanged prisoners of war. He will play the tapes on his KMPC deejay stripper, perhaps the only recorded on-the-spot interviews to be made for a local station . . . Tom Harmon landed another show on KNX, with sports figures to undergo the Q. & A. routine . . . CBS building up the Jo Stafford musical stanzas with top- rated singing stars. Dick Haymes booked for three guestings . . . Frank Barton, biz manager of Lennen 8c Newell, in town to buzz Ben Potts on domestic problems • . » So. Cal. Broadcasters staged a fashion show for the visiting ladies to the NARTB convention. Eddie Cantor kept them chuckling . . . Earl Hudson, ABC veepee on the Coast, told Hollywood Ad Clubbers that radio will be given its just due in the network’s revitalization , ., John Guedel Productions moves to its own building next week. IN SAN FRANCISCO . . . KSFO exuberant over its 2.3 average rating. In 1950, when this area had 28,000 TV sets, its average was 1.9. Now its radio voice bucks over 500,000 TV sets . . . Glen Hurlburt, blind pianist and local AFTR A'president, joins the strengthened KSFO lineup, May 18, with a two-hour daily matinee platter-chatter-piano strip . . . Bert Solitaire opening his KRE “Open House” to guest jockeys from local schools ... Bruce Sedley named new “Noodnick” of the KROW “Nick and Nood- nick” team . . . Mel Venter’s KFRC “Breakfast Gang” touring again. . . . Wilt Gunzendorfer, aide to Mutual’s prexy, stopped by. enroute from Gotham to Hollywood. Completely recovered from his spinal meningitis seige . . . KRON-FM music librarian/ 'Lucia Edwards, fell and shattered an ankle. Temporarily replaced by Joy Kent . . KCBS personnel changes: engineer Paul Smith to Hollywood network job ... Gerry White to KCBS sales secretary post . , . Wanda Ramey voic- ing her KROW program from the California Spring Garden Show, Oakland. » i IN CHICAGO ... Doctor’s orders have precipitated the resignation of WCFL manager Art Harre . . . Clifton Utley to receive the Southwest Journalism Forum’s award for his NBC radio reporting on May 2 in Dallas . . , Harry Kopf, NBC veep, in Passavant Hospital for recuperation follow- ing a minor infection . . , WLS National Bam Dance performers Homer & Jethro to do a benefit at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station May 7 . . . The ABC “Breakfast Club” is SRO on its eastern tour . . . Radio blurbing has come into its own with the awards given to teevee and radio selling by the Chi Sales Executives Club. WGN’s Earl Nightingale is the recipient of the club's plaudits for an out- standing radio sales performance . . . WLS’ “School Time” will be heard in Korea—-courtesy of a request by the State Dept/s inter- national Information 'Administration ... Maggie Frye, ex-WIND librarian, switching to WCFL . . . Thomas Paxton promoted to general manager of Hallicrafters, radio equipment manufacturers, via a dis- trict sales fopper berth with the company . . . WMAQ’s femme com- mentator Elizabeth Hart and hubby Louis Roen to Naples, Fla., for a two-week hiatus , . . Frank P. DeLay appointed personnel chief for Zenith Radio. IN MINNEAPOLIS . . . Butter-Nut Coffee has renewed the Bob DeHaven WCCO show to April 24, 1954 . . . Frank Buetel moved from WDGY to WTCN to handle sports . . . Barney Gross an addition to the WCCO radio staff, working in merchandising and booking talent for personal appear- ances . . . Freelancing on radio and TV, gabber Frank Butler boasts a total of five TV and radio shows T . . Minneapolis Lakers’ manage- ment has agreed to permit telecasts of the professional basketball champs’ next season’s home games if 20,000 pairs of tickets at $5 each can be sold in advance, assuring $100,000 advance sale. Chamber of Commerce’s sports and attraction committee has agreed to partici- pate in campaign . . . WCCO radio news bureau was on hand at Still- water state prison with a mini-tape recorder at time during prisoners’ rebellion when inmates staged their wildest demonstration, and tape recording, along with taped interviews with prison officials, went on Cedric Adams’ and several other news shows . . . William Sadler named KSTP-TV and radio chief engineer, succeeding John McMahon, who resigned . . . Minnesota state legislature, after reducing state tax on boxing admissions from 10 to 5%, passed measure levying 5% tax on previously untaxed radio-and TV receipts from such events^. . . George L. Helenisak, WCCO-TV St. Paul representative, named direc- tor of Saintpaulites, Inc., one of city’s principal civic groups . . . KUOM, U. of Minnesota non-commercial station, won top award from American Exhibition of Educational Radio and TV programs for its show “Old Tales and New” in its group in the program category. Show (Continued on page 48) -4 TV DRAMA MUSIC SCORE TO GET SYMPH BOW Ralph Norman, who wrote a spe- cial score for the ABC-TV produc- tion of “Justice,” the Paul Douglas- Lee Grant starrer that opened the “ABC Album” series, has expanded the score into a symphonic tone poem to be titled “Justice.” It’ll receive its first performance May 4, by the ABC Syiriphony, on the radio network’s Monday night “American Concert Hall.” Norman also composes and conducts for other ABC shows. See FCG Probe SS Continued from page 26 commercial TV in Milwaukee if the channel would go to the city, which has an educational applica- tion pending before the FCC and has the funds on hand to build. Problem has patronage aspect, too, since McCarthy is a senator from Wisconsin. Single-Station Market Milwaukee is one of a number of single-station * markets, with WTMJ-TV, owned by the liberal Milwaukee Journal (competitor to Hearst’s Milwaukee Sentinel), the only video outlet on the air. Only one other commercial VHF chan- nel (12) Is available and It is likely to be some time before hearings are held on applications contesting for it. However, radio station WCAN recently received a permit to build a UHF station. Hearst efforts to have the chan- nel declared commercial were turned down three weeks ago by FCC in a decision in which Comr. (now Chairman) Rosel Hyde dis- sented on the ground that the Commission should not have so acted without reexaming the whole allocation picture in Milwaukee. However, Hearst has petitioned the Commission for reconsideration of its denial and action on. the peti- tion is expected next week. McCarthy’s^session with Walker and Merrill is believed in some quarters to have been a move’ to stall FCC action on the city of Milwaukee application until Doer- fer came in to take Merrill’s place and Walker was relieved of the chairmanship. Doerfer was en- dorsed for the FCC before the Senate Commerce Committee by Sen. Alexander Wiley (R., Wis.) as a man who will not yield to “pressure.” Doerfer’s stand next week on the Hearst petition and the city of Milwaukee application should tell. WATCH "The Ascent of Alfred Fishkettle” LUX THEATRE, CBS-TV April 30th, 9 PM FOR Scripts , Comedy or Drama that are DIFFERENT CALL FRANCIS BETHENCOURT 645 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N. Y. PLaza 7-2230 1st TV Station in N.H. To Get Rolling in ’54 Keene, N. H., April 28. First tele station in New Hamp- shire is expected to be in opera- tion here the first of next year. WKNE-TV has been authorized by the FCC to established a 24,000- watt outlet with 436-foot antenna to cover areas in western’ N. H. and eastern Vermont. It was also revealed that the Granite State Broadcasting Co. has applied to the FCC for channel 37 in Claremont, where the company operates radio station WTSV and WTSV-FM. At present, New Hampshire’s TV reception is confined to the lower! half of the state, where thousands of rooftop antennas help to pull in programs, principally from Boston stations, for the “fringe” area. I CREATIVE TV and RADIO UNIT I— AVAILABLE WE ARE PRODUCERS, WRITERS AND DIRECTORS OF ONLY SUCCESSFUL SHOWS. PROGRAMMING THOU- SANDS OF EXPOSURES. FRESH IDEAS .. . FRESH THINKING . . . FRESH PROMOTIONS. MERCHANDIS- ING, SELLING, CLIENT CONTACT, CUSTOM PRO- GRAMMING. 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