Variety (July 1953)

Mutual Plan Continued from page 26 t u r v . ’ ’ Basil Rathbone for the lead in “Bulldog Drummond,” Peter .Lorre in a new show called '•Nightinarc,” Madeleine Carroll in '.an-x)liuM\' pew one called “FburrStar Theatre/' and Is setting “Counter* spy” for the fifth half -hoiir* /Chief reaction of other radio networks Was the fear that Mutual would be able to underseil thein nationally. .Webs feared that the hew' structure \ya$ merely an extension of the Multi-Message plan; under which Mutual doesn't pay stations and therefore is able to sell national spots at $1,500 per, with four spots going into each half-hour. Low' cost of the plan ljas enabled Mutual to pact top advertisers like Lever Bros., R. J. Reynolds and General ^lills. Other .webs feel that those five hours daily, with no station payment involved, can be sold at a far cheaper rate, than theirs, So far, Mutual has indicated no change in selling policy. Despite the fact that clearance on all stations wou Id be assured if the plan: is accepted. Mutual indicated it would sell on a rate card basis anyway. . ‘Realistic Solution Secondary reaction was one of grudging, admission that as far as the network viewpoint is concerned, Mutu a 1 h ns com e up w it h a' realistic solution to the. pressing problem of radio sales in this TV era. They expressed doubt, however, over the Value of the plan to stations, pointing nut that it’s difficult enough as. it is for' the out: lets to sell time. Another factor stressed was qiiestion of whefher national / spot' advertisers would | sell to local stations When, stations are providing what amounts to. “free” time to network sponsors. O-Neil pointed out to the sta-* tions, however,: that it would take sales on bn ly two half-hours, of the 14-hour programming for the average .station to equal /• the amount it's’ now getting from the n e t work th rough . current station payment, ; Sale of three shows • would put the station aboye the network payment figure. Plan applies to pay stations only* with a new plan forthcoming for; the web^s* bonus stations. Idea . originated at the .affiliates meet last October : at V irginia Beach, was set. into act ioii at the recent aiT iliates mee t in g a t Cape Cod. New network option times haven’t been set yet; but it's figured that the 1 0:30-12 a.m/. period, . which is mostly sold via Wondelv fiil City/V “Queen for :a Day” and "Ladies Fair" will be included. Likewise. 7:30-8:30 p.m. is considered virtually certain, since it includes Gabriel ireatter’s strip, t lie upcoming Perry Como, show ami the. web’s half of. Muiti-Message. Another possi hi I ity is 10:3011, since Eddie Fisher’s Coke show airs twice a week from 10:30-10:45 p.m. ” O'Neil . ■ proin isecl stations that the funds .withheld ’ from stations' under the new plan will go into a network programming pool to be. maintained for I he purpose of . upgrading the wall’s programming. Members of the advisory committee got on the closed -circuit with O’Neil and slalion relntions-enginccring v.p. Pete Johnson to / ■;// . Other .facets of the. plan include stations’ right to sell the 30-second station breaks In the five hours of network option time and llmita* tion of / special events tb five events yearly. Plan is slated to go into effect in October* Continued from page 25 from Zion’s Securities Corp,, where he was assistant mgr. Trimming of broadcast time .and bringing back radio operations to town from the transmitter/ resulted, ih the firing,. : Eslabl ishi ng a .sign/ on time of noon weekdays and 4p.m, weekends eliminated much lo/ cal TV programming and film editing and that accounted for four staff talent and several cutters and editors* Also fallen by the way were several writers, stenos and •Staffers,. ■ General idea, 'of ../bringing'... radio back, to -downtown offices according to Larson, is. closer coordination of promotion oh both outlets, . Also a consideration seems to be the fact that a writer in. town can handle radio and TV, \ybefeas separated bperatipns would require two dragging down paychecks, . Same applies to other departments, a Ultimate goal/ towards which Larson is heading is bringing all operations under one roof, Gurrently racll 6 o per a tes out of t he Tribune Building, while video is a .fevv blocks aWay: in its own guar/ ters, /.V :•■_■;■ \\ -v Next few months, says Larson* will be spent rescheduling for fall and winter, with plans /calling for greater use of net live shows on T V. ; Th i s w'.ili probably result in earlier sign-on later in the year. Radio will get the jull treatment of reshuffling after study of the present programming', is completed. '.Vhile. nothing . definite, is set, .im dications are it Will go in the direction of building up personalities, something which KDYL has avoided in the /past. . /Larson also hopes to be able to go in for a heavier sked of simulcasts. / Industrial Fix Continued Iroinpage 24 It eves there is an increasing tende ncy f or / organ iza tion financed editorial films to be entertaining enough to warrant sponsorship by an outside advertiser,* : For. exam pie, his company produced three films,. "Shooting Straight/’ starring Tiin Holt, financed by the Natiorial Rifle ASsri. / The1 latter organization. is now seeking another bankrolier to finance making 10 others in the vi.dfilm series, since the in stitutional . pitch is largely devoted to showing youngsters how tohandle a rifle. However, he doubts whether a TV station would bo permitted to show another of his firm’s industrial films, "The Story Of Old Crow,’’ about whiskey-making, turned, out for National Distillers. / Ken Baldwin, producer for Marathon TV Newsreel, Inc., feels there’s . still an . untapped market lor scientific* editorial films. One of his railroad films; ‘‘Clear Iron,” made for the B u dd Co; of Phi ladel -pb ia r h as already been . shown in 123 TV stations in 88 cities, This August, it will begin releasing to both TV and theatres a 12-minute picture about helicopters in atomic warfare, “Air Head,” produced by the. Sikorsky Aircraft Co. in cooperation with the Dept, of Defense and the D. S. Marine Corps. *■;; Kaufman 5 Continued from, page 24 tribution basket, he’ll continue to act as a distributor for outside productions, and Will continue to function primarily in ! the syndication field.' • / Ohe reason, for; his confidence ip syndicated sales Is his sales force. Despite, his. administrative .expansion , his sales staff has increased from five to oniy seven. “I’d rather have seven top mien ..than ; 17 mediocre salesmeri/’ he says. Staffers include ex-statiori execs— Hahn i. Tyler, formerly with KH Jr TV. L. A, and Vic Peck ex-WDAFT V iri Kansas City, for example* . With "Life With ; Elizabeth” -already under production and “Joe Palooka’.' set to start next month, plus anticipated .new sales renewals on . Liberace, Kaufman expects tp treble his gross by next January/ Firm expects to end this year With a billings of $2,230,000, via sales of the n.e.W -properties, “Liberace,” yihvitatioh-''Playh6use”-'/(pnO’.--oL;the Series it started with V, “Lash . .of the West” (another initialler, sold to ABC-TV for two years maximum use for $300,000) and his sports library,, wh ich has. been shaped into separate shows. PROBE CRASH OF WLIB Engineers and contractofs were back at work this week reconstruct-, ing . the new transmitting tower for WLIB, N. Y., following its sudden collapse and crash last week (1 5) in Queens, near the East. River, Station execs figure the crash of. the tower, still unexplained, will delay until early September the scheduled ..switch of trahsmittihg facilities from Brooklyn to Queens. ToWer, under construction by Gunnar Qlsen, worked loose from its moorings and crashed into a street, injuring. fiye, damaging four autos and .narrowly missing 60 children in a nearby playground.. Office of the Queens County District Attorney is investigating the '’mishap, reason for which is still unexplained, Since it. had been moored in Concrete. The . 212-foot edifice1 missed' the station’s new transmitting building. Station and contractors are all covered by insurance in base pf .damage suits. Station decided to move its transmitting site a few months ago, when it was found that: the Brooklyn transmitter did not. adequately cover Harlem, large source of the station’s .audience. New site is opposite Harlem, across the East Biver. : " From the Production Centres s Continued from page 30 Dix Chorus will sit in for Eddie Roecker on Thursdays at 10:30 p. m on Channel 6. Roecker is. off on a concert tour which includes an appearance; in “Carmen” at the St. Louis Civic Opera Co. . . . Localrites Bix Reichner and Elliot Lawrence have written a new song called " "Take Them Out To The Country” at the. request of the publisher bf-:' the New York Herald Trib. The tune will be used to promote th.*^ newspaper’s Fresh Air Fund / . . LynnJDqllar; WPTZ’s weather gal* and Joe McCauley, pilot of the Dawn Patrol over WIP, an all night record show; filled in as columnists for the Daily News TV scribe : Mitch Schwartz . . deraid Savory, director of the Playhouse ip the Park, is taking .a twoweeks leave of • absence to work on a Robei’t Montgomeiy Summer Theatre offering . . , WFLN, whose FM broadcasts are usually limited to music and hews, is carrying play-by-play descriptions of key matches in the Pennsylvania State Tennis Clianipionships at the Merion Cricket Club; /V PITTSBURGH , . . * Theresa Paul is manager Harold LundV new secretary at WDTV. • She replaces, Vera Oldenburg* who resigned to head, sales sendee department of WENS . . . Robert C. Connelly has left the Cabot & Coffman agency to join WGAE sales staff/ He had previously been with WPIT here and before that Vvitli WLIO in East Liverpool:,’ O . .. Caryie: Freeborn, of Cleveland, named assistant mahager in charge of programming .for WKJF-TV ... Jane Gibson, of KQV celebrating lier 24th year in radio this month. She originally went with the station in July, 1929 . / . Keps Electric Co. has renewed sponsorship of johnny Boyer’s nightly sportscasts / over KDKA -at 11:15 . , . Hank Stohl returning to WDTV announcing staff next month. He left early this spring to become program: manager of WS AZ-TV: in' Q h a'rlest on; , W. Va; ; . ;V . John W. Hines* "former chief engineer at WB VP in Beaver Falls, has been named director of sales for Magnecord, Inb. . ; . Jane Anderson moving up from production assistant at Channel 2 t6 secre ' tary of produetion chief. She succeeds Estelle Demas, who is following her boss, Don Menard, to WENS. m-'^tEVELi Eleanor Brozko is the new WNBK ‘‘Nancy Dixon,/ Jr/’ with: Phofebe Wecht . NBC newsroom additions include Jim : Yasinow, formerly'; WOSU, and Bernie Nedwich* WBNS-TV/. . . Standard Oil of Ob'’ o' picked up 5:15 p. in. WGAR tab fbr ‘‘Sandlot Reporter” . . . Flo Roth, WJW flack, chairman of entertainmcht committee : for Press Club’s / annual Page One Ball/ George jessel has accepted enicee stint for Ball , . . Former WNBK program directors Carl Freeborn and Joe Jenkins named assistant , station manager, and commercial manager respectively of WKFJ-TV , 1 ... Chris Miller* WSRS disker. has moved -to Smith’s Barbeque . . . Marvin E. Hackstcdde has joined Carr Liggett Advertising . / . Alex Buchan named WEOL station: manager . WDOK’s program director Wayne Mack reported easing, duties to do • more -private business engagements .. / . Dorothy Fuldhcim, WBWS commentator, and James B. ..McGeachy, CBLT analyst, swapped TV stints In. brace of good-will exchange prdgram-days , . .. Maurice Goldman/ Cleveland Institute of Music, sicedded for local WJ\V opera quiz . before ABC net program. — • ABG-TV Steel Biz Continued from page 27 New . radio network in Maine, tagged "The Lobster Network/’ has been set up among six stations to cover both populated and rural areas in the state. Group has set up program packages and a rate structure, and is readying for an early fall start; • Stations involved are WPOR, Portland; WCOU, ; Lewiston; WFAU* Augusta; WRKD, Rockland; WTVL, Wateryille . arid WRUM, Rumford, which hasn’t gone on tlie air yet. Net claims' to cover '75 Vq of the radio! homes in Maine. / p 5 .5 .-.0=0 Hehr/ C.3romt has prestige and audience to be gained by sponsoring aHerhateiy with Steel.: / ■/.-• ; /Much the same thing happened on the web’s Friday night schedule. /With the alternately-sponsored "Ozzie & Harriet,” at 8 p. m., picking up rilpriienturii, Pep si-Cola, through Biow, . bought the 8:30 time for a filmed dramatic series to start in the /fall. FoL lowing the Pepsi sale; web was able to pact Armour and BristolMyers for alternate sponsorship of its Paul Hartman /starrer, "Pride of the Family.” Sunday follows the pattern too, With. Viceroy, looking for a 15minute network show, having moved into the spot following Walter Winehell. With the Winchell show and Viceroy’s "Orchid Room” moving to 9 p.m. Sundays in the fail, BB Pen picked up 15 minutes of the upcoming George Jessel show to follow at 9:30. With Ray Bolger pegged for a Thursday slot, web expects to pick up a couple more accounts with top shows for that’ evening. And with Joel Gray and the Will Mastin Trip and Sammy Davis. Jr,, still; tdr-be:.’set.'. besides; _ the/ filmed properties starring Barry Sullivan and ; Ce.Sar Romero, the snowball may spread into an avalanche. ABC-TV’s Quickie Web ABC-TV pulled a special events beat out of a hat last week With its exclusive telecasts of the Shriner’s parade in N. Y. Idea for the telecast originated: with WABCV TV, the web’s key in N. Y.( on tlie. | morning of the parade (16), •• Station . cleared the program with the Shriners by noon, their went out and sold eight spots . to ; Pepsi-Cola . for that evening. Some y of them ; were live,, since cameras merely focussed on the large Pepsi sign on Times Sq. opposite the pickup point. .. When network news and special events . chief John Madigan heard of the plan, he sent a hurry call through station relations, . and cleared six stations on the rigtwork to pick up the event. Web and W ABC-TV carried the parade exclusively, from 9:30 p.m, to 1 : 23 a.m. Stations tied up local sponsors. for the airing, Louisville — -WTTV, Bloomington, definitely will-boost its power and triple its coverage in south-central . I n di-ari a by . late October or e a r.l y November, owner Sarkes Tarzian announced, last Week, Tarzian. said . W-TT V will up . its wattage from 30^)00 to 100,000 and switch simultaneously from Channel TO to Channel 4, as authorized by tlm , FCC. • , -T Walker, Ex-FCC, in Law, / Lecturer on Educ’l TV Washington, July. 21. , ; Former , FCC Coriimissioner /Paul Walker, who retired three Weeks ago after 20 years With the agency and 40 years With the Cfovernment, plans to practice law in WashingT6ri arid Oklahoma* his iiative state, beginriing. about" Oct. 1. •:• •• Walker who is 75, will take a two months vacation before opening offices here and in. Oklahoma City, where he served for many years as a member of the ; Oklahoma Corp. Commission, before coming to the Capital, The ex-FCC chairman : and commissionerwill' malte'TiihV^If "available for lectures, particularly in the field of educational TV; in which he played a prominent role : as a member of the FCC. Latest Coral Release — “\ AINT GONNA DO m Dlr.t MCA