Variety (May 1953)

26 Wednesday, Ma& 6, 1953 mm RADIO-TELEVISION pumsrr Power of Femmes Shown Anew at Ga. F Meet; Giveaways Vie With Awards By FLORENCE LOWE Atlanta, May 5. Women broadcasters, many of whom spend a major portion of their radio-TV time giving away gifts to grateful fans, found them- selves on the receiving end of a mass giveaway at their annual con- vention of American Women in Radio & Television last week. If any portion of the country's citi- zenry still “underestimates the power of a woman," big-time radio-TV sponsors most certainly do not. They demonstrated this in • an orgy of giveaways that ranged from miniature samples of per- fume and toothpaste to* $60 name hats, portable typewriters, a room airconditioning unit, and even a live Alaskan husky puppy. Tossed in with the deluge of gifts and door prizes was a series of parties which tpok care of the delegates’ daily eating problems from breakfast, through lunch and dinner, and into the supper and late snack Jiour. As frosting on the cake of red-carpet treatment were Such highlights as fashion shows, champagne candlelight dance, light dance, rainboots and rain- coats, and even male dancing partners. A* series of professional work sessions and workshops, election of a new board of directors, and formal presentation of the 1952 McCall’ “Mike" awards to femme broadcasters, marked the second annual convention here of AWRT. Over 300 femmecasters from al- most eVery state in the union at- tended the four-day sessions of the fledging organization, a two- year-old outgrowth of the old Assn, of Women Broadcasters, onetime affiliate of NAB. , Dinner Highlight Delegates,. representing a na- tional membership of 830 women in or directly allied with the radio- TV industry, powwowed under leadership of president Doris Cor- with, of NBC's. Public Affairs divi- sion, and named the following new board members to serve for two years: Gertrude Trobe, direc- tor of women’s activities, WBVP, Beaver Palls, Pa.; Betty Ross, WMAQ & WNBQ-NBC, Chicago; Nina Badenoch, National Society (Continued on page 36) . Allegheny Names Wiig To Exec Veepee Post Pittsburgh, May 5. Allegheny Broadcasting' Corp., owner of radio station KQV and applicant for television channel 4, has named Gunnar O. Wiig execu- tive vice-president. Earl F. Reed, head of Allegheny, says the ap- pointment becomes effective July 1, two weeks after KQV becomes an affiliate of CBS. It is switching from Mutual. Wiig, managing director of the Gannett group of five- stations, has been an exec of WHEC, CBS af- filiate in Rochester, N t Y„ for 26 years, having first joined the sta- tion in 1927 in continuity and pub- licity. He became program director in 1928 and was named general manager in 1930, a year before the Gannett newspapers acquired ownership. He was tipped to head of the Gannett stations in 1951. DuMont Toting Ball on TV Pro Pk^skin Games Deal is virtually set whereby Westinghouse will pick up the tab on 19 telecasts of games of the *Na- ional Football League this fall on ;he DuMont network. Some last- minute details were still to be ironed out, but the League had ap- proved the plan this week and Westinghouse had put in its order with DuMont. Plan calls for 10 weeks of tele- vision, with two games per**week, one Saturday nights and one Sun- day afternoon. Under the system devised by League Commissioner Bert Bell, one-half of the country would be blacked out for each game, i.e., those cities which had a Saturday night game would be blacked out on the Saturday tele- casts, but would receive Sunday games, and vice versa. . Fellows Calls Femmes To Rescue of Good Taste In Ads, Programming Atlanta, May 5. Harold E. Fellows, president of the -National Assn, .of Radio & Television Broadcasters, . called, upon the distaff side of the indus- try to safeguard good taste in pro- gramming and moderation in ad- vertising, and to set up standards for ‘an “industry-wide sense of propriety." Feliows, who planed' from the NARTB confab in Los Angeles to address the McCall’s Awards dinner of the American Women in Radio & Television here Saturday (2) night, stated that “the task of interpreting the nature of that propriety rests upon the women in this industry, for I sus- pect they may be more sensitive than the men to the rules of good behavior which we must observe." He ddded that “no program which offends in the slightest degree the dignity and sanctity of the Ameri- can .home has any place in a me- dium which appeals simultane- ously to men, women and children." Fellows also made a strong pitch to the 300 assembled'femmes rep- resenting nationwide radio and TV stations, advertising agencies, government bureaus, and city and state governments, to maintain a constant awareness of the duty they owe to commercial sponsors. “In the sense that an advertiser contributes to the continuance of the free system of broadcasting," he said, “he is an essential element of the industry. In his absence, you.would have a system of radio and television in which the indi- vidual would be required to pay license fees for listening and look- ing and in which it is likely Gov- ernment J would control program- ming." He reminded them that . they were “constantly in debt" to I the advertisers, and urged the “ini- (Continued on page 34) ■* * > -J .U i. . J . H Deal, puts DuMont solidly in the football picture for next fall. It's already grabbed off rights to the annual East-West Shrine game in San Francisco at the end of the year, and is actively in the bidding for the NCAA college games. Deal with Westinghouse is the second big one between the manufacturer and the network. Last summer, Westinghouse. sponsored DuMont’s pickup of the political conventions via a CBS-TV feed. NAME BENNETT EXEC V.P. OF HOUSTON’S KTHT Houston, May 5. Bill Bennett, for the past five years general and commercial manager of KTHT here, last week was named exec veepee of the sta- tion as well. Promotion came about through finalization of sale of all but 25% of the ownership of the station to a group of Houston busi- nessmen by Roy Hofheinz. Latter, now mayor of Houston, will con- tinue with the station," as board chairman. Bennett joined KTHT in 1948, following a 10-year term of KXYZ. Bennett said he planned no imme- diate personnel or policy changes for the station. 500G Building Program “For New Reading Airer Reading, Pa., Ma; More than $500,000 is spent by the Hawley Broadc Co. here for its UHF si WEEU-TV, for new equipmen construction and renovating, tion hit the air April 15. A 40 by 75-foot studio wit! foot ceiling is being const] to replace a 38 by 22 studio r use.- The new two-story, bloc addition will be air-condit and will include a mezzanin tfol room, modefn dressing * prop shop and projection ro * u ' ' 4 * • < i i r \ c «* » r i'4 J Canada Lee Salute A salute to Canada Lee, com- memorating the first anniversary of the actor’s death,. will be aired Sunday (10) by WLIB, N. Y. indie, from 8 to 8:45 p.m. Program will air recordings from the thesp’s last picture, “Cry, the Beloved Coun- try," and from numerous of- his stage plays. William Marshall, another top Negro thesp, will be on the broad- cast to pay tribute to the late actor. Okayed in Ohio Columbus, May 5. A bjll to protect radio and tele- vision stations in the state against slander , damages resulting.. from unscheduled or impromptu re- marks by politicians or persons not “agents" of the station, was passed by the Ohio Senate last week by a 27-5 vote. Legislation was, authored by Sen. Carl D. Sheppard (R., Akron) at the behest of the Ohio Assn, of Broadcasters. The measure also provides for essentially the same recourse by individuals for alleged slander of them as is now provided for newspaper libel. In addition, it provides, among other things, for retractions of equal length and prominence at the same hour of the day. Two of four amendments offered by Sen. Fred L. Hoffman were ac- cepted. One of them, which was voted down, would have forcedjsta- tions to use a complete schedule of canned programs readied in ad- vance. This required them to use “all necessary precautions” to pre- vent slander. As adopted the meas- ure requires station operators to “exercise reasonable care," which wording is identical to the news- paper libel law. r 200 Stations Pledge Allegiance to SRA’s - ‘Spot Radio Crusade’ Over 200 AM stations through- out the U. S. have, already sub- scribed to the Station Representa- tives . Assn.’s “Spot Radio Cru- sade," and it’s expected that 300 others will jump on the band- wagon. Reginald H. Rollinson, director of advertiser relations for the SRA, explained that each station is con- tributing half of its daytime min- ute announcement rate per month. In return, SRA is supplying clinics to .advertisers and agencies, ex- plaining the dollars-and-cents value of spot radio buys. Already, SRA has pitched spot AM presentations to one advertiser arid two agencies. < Climc for Nes- cafe was attended by, among oth- ers, the company’s ad managers Donald Cady and Richard F. Goe- bel. Fourteen members of YOung & Rubicam agericy, N. Y., attended a luncheon clinic-held at the Bilt- more Hotel, with another skedded for other members of the agency. N. W. Ayer agency, N. Y., found thd spot radio pitch so valuable, said Rollinson, it asked for another one for its agency in Philadelphia. “One adman phoned me this week to say the clinic data had induced an advertiser to increase his spot radio appropriation^ by ' 100!," Rollinson reported. He said plan is to stage at least one clinic each month. WEWS, Cleve., Runs Rival’s Sheen Show in B.B. Snarl Cleveland, May 5. Unusual situation here^has sta- tion WXEL plugging a program on opposition station WEWS tonight (5). Show is the Bishop Sheen stanza, ordinarily carried here on WXEL. But station also carries night games of the Indians. Dropping the Bishop created much protest ,so Don Perris and Jack Hartley, WEWS manager and director re- spectively, stepped in with an offer to carry the prelate on WEJWS. Tonight it’s the Indians vs. the Yankees on WXEL, with station plugs advising viewers also to look at Bishop Sheen on WEWS. Pfeif- fer Brewing sponsors the ball- games. WEWS, a Peabody winner, gets the Admiral coin from the Sheen sponsorship. . •* i i - . ri i j . ..... British Plan Full Swing Away From U.S. Methods When Com ! TV Arrives Gimbel’s to Bankroll ‘Originals’ Art on WPIX Some department store business, a desirable commodity to most N. Y, stations, has been grabbed off by WPIX, which has gotten Gimbel’s to bankroll its “You Can Paint Originals." Gimbel’s took over sponsorship of the 15-minute program, featuring Conni Gordon, this Sunday (3). » Agency for the* store was William Warren, Jackson & Delaney. Com- mercials will pitch the store's art supplies department. Webs’ Freelance Scribes Get OK To Join Unions Washington, May 5. Freelance writers employed by the NBC, CBS and ABC-TV- net- works for shows originating in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York may join unions for collective bar- l gaining purposes, the National Labor Relations Board ruled last j week. In an order directing elections to determine whether the writers wish to affiliate with the Authors League of America or Television Writers of America, the board found the freelancers eligible, but excluded “such writers employed by advertising agencies, by inde- pendent TV film producers and by sponsors.” Board adopted a one-year eligi- bility period to insure participa- tion in xhe election by a represent- ative number of writers sufficient- ly interested in joining bargaining units. This means that writers who were employed by the webs during the last year will be permitted to vote. In another dispute, between the unions to organize writers at the McCadden, Corp. in L. A., which produces the “Burns and Allen Show," t^he board ruled that all writers employed by the company are eligible to join a unit except William Burns, a brother of George Burns. Board excluded him on the grounds that “he receives separate treatment front the other writers.” In a decision yesterday (4), the board ordered elections to deter- mine whether writers at Joan Davis Enterprises in L. A. and at Filmcraft Productions in L. A. wish to be affiliated with TWA or Screen Writers Guild. Joan Davis has three writers who prepare scripts for the serial show “I Mar- ried Joan.” Filmcraft' has two writers but is hiring two more, all of whom will work on pilot scripts for planned serials. CLOUTIER QUITS CLEVE. FOR NBC MUSIC POST Cleveland, May 5. Norman Cloutier has resigned as WTAM-WNBK program director to become NBC supervisor of music for owned-and-operated stations, ef- fective July 1. Cloutier, who left New York about a year ago for the 0 .-&- 0 . job here, was one of those instrumental in rearranging the WTAM house band into the currently successful “Bandwagon" format. Reported successor for the Cleveland post is Brooke Taylor, now asistant to Cloutier. IBEW Claims Coast KBLA Breached Taft-Hartley Hollywood, May 5. Charges of violating the Taft- Hartley labor act were filed with the NLRB by Local 45 of the Inter- national Brotherhood of Electrical Workers against station KBLA in Burbank, Union is maintaining a picket line at the studio. It claims all reg- ular employees have been dis- charged following an election in which the engineer-announcers of the station voted, unanimously for UBEW representation. w * l - 1 . ! . 1 • J •’ t •„ 5 i • i J » I..1 London, April .28. A Complete- switch from the American method of operating commercial TV networks is advor cated in a memorandum to the government • by the two trade organizations representing the British advertising interests, the Incorporated Society of British Advertising and the Institute of Incorporated Practitioners in Ad- vertising. They propose that full responsibility for • programming should rest with the station, and that sponsors would contribute to the cost. The length of their commercial would be "dependent on the amount of their contribu- tion. Explaining that sponsored TV. in Britain would have to overcome the formidable opposition of Brit- ish Broadcasting Corp,-TV, the memorandum suggests that few advertisers would be able to af- ford programs of more than 15- minutes duration on a continuing basis. They feej that a series of short, disconnected programs, fi- nanced by fluctuating budgets, might not be sufficiently attractive to compete with the improving BBC programs. Therefore, they suggest their alternative of allow- ing advertisers to insert ads in studio programs, instead of selling time direct to the advertisers. In this way, the two advertising associations opine," they will be able to put on major shows with- out having to find an individual sponsor and the programs would be free from direct influence by the advertiser. The only pressure envisaged from advertisers would be the “general healthy pressure" on the station to improve its pro- grams. $14,000,000 a Year Income? Estimating that by the time commercial TV comes to Britain next year the income of BBC-TV will have reached $14,000,000 an- nually, and recognizing that the state outlet is spending more on its programs, the memorandum reckons that advertisers will Rave to find a minimum of $16,000,000 to keep a commercial system go- ing. Currently, total expenditure by display advertisers in all media amounts to around $250,000,000 annually and it is unlikely that this figure will be upped to finance a new medium until it proves a powerful selling force. The amount of coin needed for spon- sored TV would, therefore, have to come from existing allocations. Appealing for a strict limitation in the number of licenses issued by the government, the advertis- ing organizations emphasize the need for care to insure that total available revenue is not dissipated ov§r too many competitive sta- tions serving the same public. D. C. Little Theatre Groups Into Own Via TV Series; Station Claims A First Washington, May 5. Town’s many little theatre and school drama groups will come into focus Thursday (7) when “Food Fair Theatre Showcase," weekly TV dramatic series, preems on WMAL-ABC. Station claims a first in this 13-week series of locally produced one-acters. Following, trend in local chain store circles, Food Fair is spon- soring the package in the 10:30-11 p. m. slot on Thursday nights. If initial test is successful, outfit plans to continue until every drama group in area has had a video chance. Each of the participating com- munity theatre group, most of which are semi-professional or - completely amateur, will be allot- ted a fixed production budget' by sponsor to stage its one-act pro- duction in coriipeti’tion with rival groups. Cash awards will be given at end of series to winners in such categories as “best female per- formance^" “best male perform- ance," “best author of original play,” etc. Voting blanks will be circulated via Food Fair’s retail outlets. Series tees off May 7 with an original play by Carl Eardley, Dept, of Justice lawyer, to be pro- duced by Falls Church (Va.) Com- munity Theatre. Phil Mdllilo will direct series. . tj /ii j : Lni.Jr i i' >