Variety (May 1953)

22 HABIO-TEIEVISIOX Pfi&iffff "Wednesday, May <$, 1953 Radio Still Topdog, With $473,100,000 In ’52 Take; TV Coin $336,300,000 Washington, May 5.* 4 Although television is overtaking it rapidly, radio is still topdog in the broadcasting industry both from the standpoint of gross busi- ness and profits, according ,to the preliminary report last week by the FCC on station and network AM* * FM operations in 1952. AM-FM revenues for 1952 to- taled $473,100,000, up 5% from the previous year, compared to TV rev- enues of $336,300,000, a jump of 43% from 1951. Radio profits (before Federal in- come tax) totaled' $62,600,000, a gain of 9%, compared with a net of $.54,500,000, an increase of 31%, by the TV broadcasters. Although- radio network business fell off 3% lsyst year, profits of the webs rose 11% to $11,200,000 (com- pared to TV profits Of $9,000,000). . The increase in network margin in radio operations was due to a 4,4% reduction in expenses. The FCC data showed that three Will Rogers, Jr., Show Hollywood, May 5. CBS is cutting a tape next week of “Country Editor,” starring Will Rogers, Jr, Dramatic format will have Rogers cast as a more serious prototype of his father, Walter Brown Newman wrote the audition script, which Norman MacDonnell directs., 14 New TV’ers For April; 70 In Post-Freeze At A lipfe Washington, May 5. Fourteen new TV stations went - ... .. . _ xr , on the air in April or are on the out of five AM stations in TV mar- ve -g e 0 f commencing operations, •» _ JIJ Inf* voar .... ' . » • , . 1 kets did more business last year, accor( jing to a report last week by while four out of five AMers thfe FCC. This brings to 70 the upped their revenues in the non- num k er 0 f post-freeze stations TV markets. which have received the necessary About one out of six AM stations “special temporary authority” to lost money last year. This was the start commercial telecasting, smallest proportion of losers since Recipients of STA’s last month 1946, when 11% of the much fewer were WCOV-TV in Montgomery, stations then operating reported Ala . KTYL-TV, Mesa, Arlz.; losses. KVEC-TV, San Luis Obispo, Cal.; In 63 TV markets, radio stations KFXD-TV, Nampa, Idaho; WTVO, reported an average increase of Rockford, 111,; WLBC-TV, Muncie, 2.1% in,business. In non-TV mar- ind.; WHYN-TV,Springfield,Mass.; kets, 1,629 radio stations reported WPAG-TV, Ann Arbor, Mich.; an average increase of 10.6% in WFTV, Duluth, Minn.; KROC-TV, volume. However, the 108 TV sta- Rochester, • Minn.; WLEV-TV, tions in the 63 markets reported Bethlehem, Pa.;. WCOS-TV, Colum- JIMMY NELSON BMNY O’DAY AND HUMPHREY HIGSBYE Featured—Texaco Star Theatre NBC-TV with Milton Berle PERSONAL MANAGEMENT LOUia W. COHAN 1776 Broadway, N. Y. Ford’s 50th Anni (Continued on page 38) bia, S. C<; KELO-TV, Sioux Falls, S. D., and KCBD-TV, Lubbock, Tex. Agency issued 26 authorizations for new stations last month, includ- ing one educational permit to Ohio State U. in Columbus. These brought to 350 the number of sta- tions authorized since the lifting of the freeze a year ago and to 458 the total of all stations, including Washington, May 5. pre-freeze, which are on the air or Underscoring the enormous which have received permits, strides taken by video in the last few years, the FCC report last Hlltt ATI TV Rlffe fMil week on A^-FM operations shows I1U1IUI1 1 f DIUo vUUl that TV got more than three out Hot bidding on Betty Hutton's of every five dollars spent for television services has cooled. For broadcast advertising in LOs weeks, both NBC and ABC have Angeles, Cleveland and Cplumbus competed for Miss Hutton. Now in 1952. NBC has dropped out of the pic- In L. Athe report showed, TV ture entirely.' got 63.5%. of the broadcast busi- Trade talk automatically put ness. In Cleveland, the proportion the pix star on the ABC roster, was 60.1%. In Columbus, it was but Robert M. Weltman, web’s 63.1%, talent-program veepee, says the In five other major markets, the deal is "cold.” proportion of the broadcast gross The Ford 50th anniversary show is now set for Monday, June 15, on the* joint television networks of NBC and CBS. A radio hookup, contemplated by the company, has been dropped. As revealed by Variety, the summer continuance of Lux Radio Theatre, on CBS Radio, and the soap firm’s refusal to relinquish time, squelched a simulcast. The mamftioth Ford show—9 to 11 p. m.—will be a cavalcade of events over the past half century, with film and live presentation de- picting apd recreating many his- toric occasions. Film clips of early pix and news films will be shown, giving a history of the time in which automobiles, planes, films, radio, television and atomic energy have completely changed, the world. Among the many entertainment stars already signed for the pro- gram are Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Oscar Ham- merstein 2d, Lowell Thomas, Ed- ward R. Murrow and Kukla, Fran and Olliel Leland Haywatd is producing the tele spectacle for Ford (via Ken- yon & Eckhardt), and Clark Jones will be the director. Music is un- der the direction of Bernard Green. Dirty Window-Dressing Breach in taste committed by some of the major radio and TV comics, particularly on an occasion which provided a ready- made “showcase” for championing the cause of the nation’s broadcasters before the FCC membership, brought^ sour note to the NARTB convention in Los Angeles. It was downright offen- sive and inexcusable, * Particularly coming on the very day that the broadcasters had spent several hours pledging a reaffirmation to the TV Code and kicking around the promulgation of improved standards in taste, the fall from grace by major personalities who were signed for the climactic annual banquet as “window dressing”' for the broadcasting Industry, could not have come at a more unfortu- nate time. Everything had gone smoothly until the big event at the Pal- ladium in Hollywood on the eve of the convention blowoff. The networks, collaborating in providing the talent, offered some of their prize possessions, More than l,500*broadcasters and their wives, along with five FCC members, were anticipating an eve- ning of fun in the broadcast tradition.. ABC-TV contributed its Danny Thomas to emcee. Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, along with Gene Autry, were on hand from CBS. NBC pitched in with Abbott & Costello, Dennis Day and Celeste Holm. This was burlesque programming, for which the NARTB plunked down a lot of coin. But this was the last place in the world for a Danny Thomas, on the verge of his TV “comeback” via his ABC-TV series, to strut out the bhier aspects of his Copa-Chez Pares material, as he did last Thursday night (30). Assembled were a-cross-section of Broadcast Americana and their wives. And the watchdogs of the industry: Edgar Bergen played it a little safer—letting Charlie McCarthy mouth the indiscretions. But the depths in breaching bad taste came with Abbott & Costello, stars of the “Colgate Comedy Hour,” which caused no little squirming and embarrassment. The others fortunately were conscious of the auspices under whi£h they were performing. If ever an occasion demanded a proper respect for taste, re- gardless of whether it was on the air or not; this was it. For an industry alerted to an ever-increasing threat of officially im- posed censorship, it was bad public relations. • ; ; Fair-Priced Pkges, Not Soper Shows, To Key ABC-TV Program: Weitman Eva Gabor Hiatus Eva Gabor, of the sisters, bows off her WABC, N. Y., Belmont- Plaza Hotel originated late night show for the summer on June 7, with an arrangement to return in the fall. At least one of the spon- sors is certain to return also. It’s Mama Gabor, who runs a Gotham jewelry shop. Program will probably be re- placed by a disk jockey show, with actual recordings. accounted for by video ranged frOm 50/6% to 57.9%. In four other large cities, the proportion ranged from 45.8% to 47.1%; Washington was the only .city in this group with four stations, the others having three. The report shows that in the 12 . leading TV markets, each with at least three stations, video ac- counted for an average of 54.2% of the total broadcast business in these cities. In 1951, TV’s pro- portion. was 49.3% and in 1950 it was 32.7%. In 51 other TV markets, none having more than two stations, video accounted for 45.4% of the total broadcast business. In 1950, TV’s proportion was only 18.6%. The data indicates that TV will get an increasing share of the broadcast advertising dollar as new stations get On the air, par- ticularly in such large single sta- tions as Pittsburgh, St. Louis, New Orleans, Kansas City and Seattle, as well as two-station cities like Boston and Minneapolis-St. Paul. I Margo Jones Now Eyeing Dallas-Originated TV’er • Margo Jones, producer-director of Dallas *53, theatre-in-the-round setup in that Texas city, is inter- ested in doing a half-hour televi- sion dramatic show out of Dallas. She has had New York offers, but doesn’t want to leave her theatre. But a N. Y. summer series, leaving her free to return home for the theatrical season, is a possibility. Series by Miss Jones could bring work of such dramatists as Ten- nessee Williams into tele regularly. She has been identified with sev- eral Williams plays. TV Lays a 3-D Bomb . Los Angeles, May 5. “Who needs it?” approximated most of the comment among broadcasters and press viewing the “world premiere” demonstra- tion of 3-D TV under ABC-TV auspices here last week under special dispensation from the FCC. The trial telecast, held at the Biltmore Hotel before a jampacked audience that competed for attention .with RCA board chairman David Sarnoff’s keynote address to the National Assn, of Radio-Television Broadcasters, wound up as something of a fiasco, which left^the final impression that, whatever the shortcomings of TV, the answeF—at least for the present—doesn’t lie in 3-D. The fault didn’t lie so much in the fact that this was a make- shift experimental test, following by only two days the FCC nod to ABC to transmit the two-tube job (projected before the “preem” audience on a four-by-five-foot screen) over the regular facilities of ABC’s KECA-TV Channel Seven in L. A. (which meant that while home viewers could witness what was going on, they got nothing more than a scrambled, distorted picture of the ex- periment.) The system requires the use of polarized light glasses and a specially designed TV receiver requiring two tubes. Unfortunately for ail concerned, halfway through the program, While heads were shaking in bewilderment, it was discovered that the polarization had been reversed. That was the signal for everybody to turn their glasses upside down. From then on (12 minutes) there was some suggestion that, perhaps under more propitious circumstances, 3-D television could conceivably make some sense. But it made little if any at last week’s initial demonstration. Program was divided into two segments—one a live show fea- turing the cast of ABC’s “Space Patrol,” with some wise choice of space and dimension as a rocket ship goes forth in quest of the fourth dimension. But the moments of blurring (due to the faulty polarization) were too frequent to permit for any accurate appraisal. Second half was on film, a reprise of the “Bwana Devil” “3-D intro”.commentary by Lloyd Nolan and “Miss United States,” with some filmed inserts on “Time for Beany.” Again the sug- gestion was conveyed that the FCC acted too hastily; that film- house 3-D exhibition need have nothing to fear from home TV encroachments. Even under the best of 3-D circumstances, the feeling seemed inescapable that TV’s faults, granted even that they’re many, lie less In technical realm Of the medium than in the creative pro- gramming facets. Whether flat or 3-D, give ’em a qualitative show, and Nielsen will take care of the rest* Rose. CBS Radio Sales Hit $15,mot For ’53 Quarter Publishers Information Bureau figures for the first quarter of 1953 reveals glad news for CBS Radio. Gross billings for the net are $15,400,000, or $3,000,000 more than NBC, its nearest competitor, and reflects a 1.6% increase' over a year ago. A year ago, says John Karol, CBS Radio veepee in charge of sales, no one could have predicted the present upbeat picture. It’s reported the net is also about ready to wrap up Toni and Manhat- tan soap for two quarter-hours across the board, 3:45 and 7:45 p. m. Shows haven’t been decided yet. Former time is opened by a Quaker concellation; latter is sus- taining. Other PIB first-quarter gross billings: NBC, $12,400,000 (down 1%); ABC, $8,010,000 (down 18.6%), and Mutual, $5,398,000 (up 5.3%). 4 Despite ABC-TV’s inking of top show biz*~names like Ray Bolger, Danny Thomas and George^ Jessel, super television productions will play a negligible part in the net- work’s programming future. With an eye toward offering sponsors realistically-priced programs, and avoiding the question of “what do we use to follow this super- duper?” the network will rely on the talents and versatility of their stars instead, of lavish production trimmings and overloading of name talent. That’s the word from Robert M. Weitman, installed as the web’s programming-talent veepee follow- ing the merger with United Para- mount Theatres. Weitman, the man behind the acquisition of ABC’s new talent and who will be chiOfly responsible for fashioning the fu- ture programming pattern of the network, feels the day of the lavish, blgname, high-cost tele production is over, except for special occa- sions. Reasons are manifold, but hey narrow down to reactions of the sponsor and viewer. On the ponsor front, Weitman. feels com- plaints about the high cost of pro- gramming are justified, and that if ABC is to come up with a satis- fied sponsor lineup, it’s got to give the bankrollers realistically-priced packages. More important is the question (Continued on page 37) ‘Glamour’ in Cincy Cincinnati, May 5. WKRC-TV latched onto Em iWestmore’s “Hollywood Glamour Show” for 13 weeks after a four- week feeler. U. A. (Jake) Latham, station chief, said the extended contract was merited by a backlog of re- quests for studio viewing of the makeup expert’s programs. Westmore is planning a series of glamour schools in neighbor hood theatres to accommodate re- quests beyond seating capacity of the WCPO-TV studio. Murine Ties Into 5 Mutual Shows Murine kicks off Mutual's “Pin- point Plan” May 25 with a 13- week cycle that will see it co-spon- soring five of the network’s shows. Drug firm will participate on bank- rolling p£ “Titus Moody,” "Van- Deventer and the News,” “Gabriel Heatter,” “Twenty Questions” and “Queen for-a Day.” Plan enables advertisers to spread their sponsorship through- out the network on shows that are not entirely sold. In the case of a full-year advertiser, overall dis- count of 65% applies on a $1,000,- 000 gross account, giving the ad- vertiser the five-show package at a time-and-talent net cost of $300,- 000. Murine, because of its 13- week pact* doesn’t fall into this category. . .♦ Murine deal was . set through | BBD&O.