Variety (July 1953)

IlAmO-TEI.K VISION 'ARIETY Wednesday, July 29, ,1953 For NBC's 1-Hr, Daytimer Hollywood, July 28. ♦ Alan Hunce of N. Y;. Was unani1 Tnously reelected to a second term , as . national proxy of AFTRA as f the union ended Its national eon | vention Sunday and selected Detroit as the convention site in : 1954. Frank Nelson; of L.A, was; reelected. first V;p. Other officers . elected. : were Don Hirseh; J>ifts^burl'll. Second Veepee, John CaiTmm, Chicago,, Third VP.; . Vinton Janet Da um hover, Portland, Ore;, . Fifth V.P.; Ernie. Winstanley., t)eti:oit , Sixth Veepee; Boh Bruce,, L. A ., Seventh' VP. ; Bruce Grant, Kansas City, Recording Secretary; Conrad Na gel . N; : Y. , Treasure r . Qfficers servo through ihe 1954 national conclave.. Convention tabled proposal that union hold. biennial conventions inr stead of . annual meetings. ^^For.ihe'Tirst.timei'^avdeatb^ben'e.”-'1 fit plan was ? authorized/ . which : would involve use of $100,000: A^tltA has accumulated, as a first •'■"-■step "in establishment^ of expanded health, welfare benefits for. nvemr v, bers. Maximum deat-R benefit as tentati v.ely proposed would be $500 for member who has paid full dues ; for five consecutive yeai-s. In .ad: dition, national hoard Will study plans, for full health, welfare benefits/ for all members, and was directed' to recommend a system Which can be negotiated with erri-. ployers, put into effect o n n on Ppntributory ; basis. . Conclave also authorized • the board to work out plan* procedure for coni rol of telethon benefits, with national exec secretary ; Gedf go Heller averring ; inasmuch as AFTRA and other union members' contribute thei r talent t o • telethons, some ■teh'UHms shotild be held for show .biz .charities.; . ■■ ''Convention. also instructed. j board to set up wages and working .eOnditions c'TnTTrnhtcM.'S in varipus sections, so members may .make . reepmmeridatipns on changes in photograph recording code; authorized Heller to call regional con-: fabs of AFTRA local execs and: Officers; endorsed intensive organizational drive in TV; authorized board to continue policy of cooperation with IBEW; directed , the board to appoint a committee io study and report plan of action concerning making of transcriptions, recorded spots and policing of same; authorized board to make study of violations where per-, formers travel from originating point to originating point ar(Uind country, with respect to t heir proper payment under various net and’ local codes, and their active paid up membership in AFTRA. For the . first time, the convention Was recorded entirely on tape. Los Angeles, July 28v N BC-TV’s. pitch to AFTRA’s national board for a special rate for a contemplated hour-long daytimer was nixed by the group, here for the Union’s national convention. Network told union it planned a cross-the-board show, with 10-min, segments : to come from various wuaii cnaixea vy a [ parts of the country, and that the: cal sales . volume ddrfng the first » f0ririat wbuld be a mixture of various types of programming. .. Viu/o . Cleveland, July 28. WGAR chalked up a greater lo six months of this year than during the same period of 1952 vyhi.ch had been a banner stretch, . Billings,. according to .Sales Manager John Garfield, werg 18%. over, a year, ago arid 33% over the same period in 1951. Garfield also reported that. nearly 100 local advertisers Used WGAR this year “a hew high, for th e station , and indicating a substantial increase in future use of radio by all types of advertisers.’' • / ' Too Many Complain, So BBC Yanks Panel Came; ‘Down You Go’ . . London;; July 21! !. A British panel game which was put into the BBC-TV’s peak Sunday night slot while ‘"What’s My Line?” was . being rested . during the sum-; mei;, has been pulled after three performances and was replaced last Sunday (26) by “Down You Go. ” The hew British show, “Why?” was based oh awkward questions children ask their parents arid: the learri included weli'known. stage arid screen personalities,. Each of 1 he three Sunday night airings was foil owed by. mass tele phone , complaints. More than 300 wore received after the first .performance. “Down You Go,” which has been b.ui Id ing i ri .popularity since., it s first telecast on . New Year’s; Day, is being switched from a midweek date to fill the gap. TRANSMITTER BIZ V To Tam O’Shanter Ace , Toledo, July 28; !■! Because there are approximately 2.000 V I ! F and UHF stations authorized by t lie FCC which need I el eyisron ’ tra nsmi tie r f a c i 1 i tie s t o serve smaller communities, Will ys Motors,; makers of jeeps and autos, plans to enter the television t ransmitter manufacturing business;, announced Raymond: R. Rausch,. Wiilys executive . v,p. arid general manager. . ■ . Rausch said that tire decision to enter, this field was based pn a survey which indicated it would be five years or more before some localities . could equipment duet ion able! Wiilys already; has an elect trollies division, with a separate plan l a few m 11 es <1 1st an t f ro m t he s p ra W1 i ng a u to mo t i v c p i ant, w hr r e the firm plans to manufacture a ''complete . TV package, including a 1 ,000-watt transmitter, operating i from 4.50 to 900 megacycles, a, cam[ era, projector, console panel, etc. Hollywood, July 28. ■ AFTRA’s national conventioneers voted overwhelmingly to affirm the action of th e L.A. local which suspended three members, after hearing.a; dramatic appeal from the trio, bn. the floor. Vote; upholding the local’s action was 151 for, 16 against, two. abstained. Libby Burke, Shiman Ruskin and M ur ry Wagner were suspended for a year for violating tile locals’ antiCommunist 'resolution, by defying the House CJn-American Activities Committee. In addition;' the trio faces, expli lsion ) f they haven’t an* swered t he $64 question in that period, L,A: local counsel . David Ziskind presented the union’s, case, : Robert. '' Sh.utan,. cou nsei for the. brio; spoke for them.; ; The three contended . the. Filth Amendment made the local rule invalid and argued their constitutional rights were being impaired. AFTRA counsel countered that the union had the right -to aid and pro-, mote;. -inquiries regarding .commie pa r t y m c m be r s hi p ; i Ira t: the . ru 1 e was meant (o uncover i*cd activity within the union, and that it was duty of . all members to answer quest ions regarding such activity. Coyle’s Bible Stories WCAU’s U. of P.Sked c Philadelphia, July 28. WCAU Radio announced it will once again broadcast ail. football games of the!;U; of Pennsylvaniathis. fall. This, marks the ;18th consecutive year that WCAU has carried the Penh games. . Phi lco Distributors will share the sponsorship with the Yellow Cab. of Philadelphia! ■ _ By rum Saam. long identified with WCAU and the Penn . games, Will again handle the play-by-play! WCAtr Sports Director, Bill Campbell, will give the pre-game color and conduct half-time interviews. NBC’s Tele Newsreel To Review Postwar On 8th Anni News Show . NBC’s television newsreel, celebrating eight years of the net’s independerif news coverage on telefilm, will be aired bp the TV web Sunday; Aug. 23,. from 7 to 8 p. m. On that date, “Qperation Neptune,” which is sustaining, and the co-op. ‘‘Super Ghost,’’ will be preempted. by . 1 he special news show. The hour-long, show will present the top news stories from 1945 to 1953, including the founding of the United Nations! the; ato.ih-bomb story, the elections of 1948 and .1 952, the Kef'au ver ^ crime.: hearings, the. Korean War arid the death of S t a 1 i n , N e w . a n g 1 e w i 1 1 : b e a 1 1 e m pted by Jim Fleming, who’s editing and narrating the anni news show. He’s seeking principals who figured in the news-— Harry S. Trunian and Trygve Lie are prominently, mentioned-r— to comment now on their. feel.ings and . thoughts then as the events of yesteryear are unreeled before them. : Arthur Holch is scripting the program ,and ; Charies Christensen will be the director. . Los Angeles, July 28. Jack Coyle, who’ll be producerdirector, is pi*er tiring a . telefilm story, quiz shovy. starring Virginia Wareb a ti d :’.M: groiip Of : Sunday School children; Series, to be called. Virginia Ware's Story Time, w i 1 1 be. bast'd on Miss .Ware’s, telling of Bible .stories and the youngsters, three girls and three' boys ■ V . *»• 1 could obtain -trarismiss^ from all-cliurch mt, unless additional pro rbp^eseiitalion, answering simple facilities were niade avail questions on the. readings. Show, ♦ With the . all-industry National Television System Committee hav' ing made^ its formal pitch, by applying last week to the FCC Tor adoption of new improved sta rid a ids, everyone is getting into the compatible color television act. Eager to make’ up for lost time spent on its incompatible color system,. which won FCC approval .be-"-, fore it was dropped in the face of the problem of adapting the 24 * 500,000 black-and-white sets now in : use, ' CBS Tele vision last ; week a nnounced plans to feed color programs, using NTSC standards. Vo its network on Or about Sept. 15. Web had decided not to be caught flat-footed ^qn compatible color, Which how seeriis assured of FCC approval. In a letter tp the affiliates, J. L. Van Volkenburg; ; CBS-TV prexy, quoted CBS prez Frank Stanton’s testimony before the House Committee on Interstate arid Foreign Commerce last March 25: “CBS does not propose to abandon this leadership , . in. the struggle for color television. VVc . still believe in color and : wg s.f i 1 1 believe that the public should have it at the. earliest possible moment. : We shall maintain our leaderslii p in. color irrespective of whe th e r the system, is ours or rpmebody else’s.” As outlined to the affiliates,. CBS-. . TV’s plans include feeding of . NTSC color, using selected slis . taining programs^ under;: experimental . authorization; immediate regular ;schedulirig ! of netvvoi k color broadcasts when NTSC co 1 or -standards are adopted by the. FCC; : . a color . clinic in New York eai;Jy ' . this fall for affiliate execs-, and . a detailed, report to each . affiiiatc’s chief: engineer, outlining the be^s ; full color storyri Meanwhile General Electric Co. announced that its TV transmitti ng . equipment will satisfactorily ; i;c. broadcast, network color TV programs under the1 NTSC. : system.; without additional equipment,, provided the network signals arriving . at the local station are of reasonable quality; . : : : Present transmitters and an ton ; nas, the company said, need no change for black and white -f.ec.ep ;r. tion of NTSC color signals. For color,; minor changes had to made on existing equipment. . . • • : Where network signals are of less than reasonable quality, GE (Continued on page 32) : Pat The. first annual George S. klay professional hole-in-one golf tourney will be aired on NBC-TV’s “Today” show Aug.. 3; This. is a .tele Special; with the top pros trying to score, aces, beginning al 6 a.ni.. • in ;j signedfrom that, program ptut-nso; until a ,a.in._ < sliovy w.™ | m-ason hasn’t been two hours each m New ^ ork and . iCIugago Event 1 5-minuter, will be Shot in color. Audience aimed at. is the. 230 religious bodies with, estimated . 325,056 c h niches . having an i riclusive mrnibersbip of 81,355,494. This includes Protestant, Jewish and Catholic faiths. ' . Pearson’s Wendell B. .Campbell, CBS Radio general sales manager of spot sales since August 1951,, has been ; upped to veepee in charge of sta-: tion administration. lie succeeds Carl J. Burkland, Who resigned as the net's director of station administration to become executive, veep and general manager . for the Portsmouth (Va. ) Radio Corp. . Portsmouth owns and operates' radio station WSAP in the Tidevvatev area and is applying for a TV permit on Channel 10. -■■■ Chateau Martin W ines, via Ben j B. Bliss ad ageney^ has pacted a 52; w e e k t*o n t r ac t to s p.o n so r Drew ] Pearson’s “Washington Report” i every Sunday afternoon on N.Y.’s j indie 50;000-watter; WINS, "iven, but ■ WINS general manager Harry -C, i Cs" uriiterstood shc’ST^ 4 l!1 e stanza 'Will be heard I . ^ i 1 M ■ A i A I , • . Ia A L A >• A Pat Carioll, femme comedy lead on the Red Buttons show, lias rC Iricago; with ; one hour overlap >. ! h(;r 6vvn. sbow. With Dick'Sirawii ■ ris .[at , 1:45 . p.iri., • i: vent is .being held .it the J",v!;b ! a. partner: Both are eur.reritly in. the j baseball prograr Shanter club. ! . 1 ; siock company, at Camp Tamiinent. i! . ■ •■■■ ! .. ■. . For top prize, any. golfer scoring 'ramiment. Pa; !' j ABC-TV> hole in. one. Will, receive from-lhe . • :! ; , ; ■ . ! : : ! immediately before a mm ing.. •' : ■ hole in one. will, receive from the Today”; .program the sinn of .$25.1 . , 000. Slip\V;; 'is-v.gettiji^Llpyd's-' • pf^ ' London tb;1iusure' it to that ahibiuit, ; but if two or more gotfevs. get aces : the progranv is out of pocket. Odds ion making a hole in one are 9,354 7 ; to I; May is putting u p an addi* . tional $5,0.00 in, prizes for the; 36 entries, iricluding six ' internat ional . stars,. Six AVomen and 24 of the lop . national pros. .Some of the players ali-onrlu til n.'iiMir'iiliVto iiro *135 Affil* Caddigan’s 3 Year Pact Janies L. Caddiga n , direel or of program m i ng nnd ! production for DuMont since 1 947, .has -’just inked Four more; stations, have, a t ed w it h A BCyTV ; bringirig to 135 !; t he ..tot al pf’Tft affiliates, the; web’s j station, relations director Alfred ! Beekiiian anrio.Unced this week, j .Now afi.iliates. afe WROW-TV, a tlireo-year contract with the web..; Albanv. N. Y., operated by Haffy L. Goldman; WKNA-TV, Charleston. W. ; Va.. Joe ,L. Srnith; jo; KMMT. Austin, Minn;, L. L; MeCurnin: W DAK-TV, Columbus, Ga., Allen M. Woodall. ' ; ; ; The skein’s managing . director, Chris d:. Witting; said lie had made the. Hniipuncenieht to. “still any runiors that Caddigan was on. Iris way out. He’s definitely, qri. his wav in.” MGM Radio Settles, Off Hollywood, July 28. Loevv's settled, its long-standing ■with;’ AFTRA, for $40 000 after the union’s national board voted to declare Loew;s and MGM Radio A.ttractioris uritaii'; Board said the cdriipany . oW'cd niernbers1 $66,000. but wouldn’t pay, .arid that it Rejected a . union offer to sbttfe ! for. . $40,066;. : : ■ ./■/■!■ C.onsequeritiy . the . board; voted action. Loew’s . aireaily is; off the unfair list following Set tleriicnt. . already agreed to participate are Lloyd Maiigi’uni. Cf. Cary TVIid<UecolT, Jackig Burke and Ed ( Porky > Oliver,;: '/•/• ’ ; ; There will, be six pickups, two an i ; Despite its buy. intotlie live. Rite ' manager •Vi''' li^J ■’ •' ■ *■*% t • ^ * ■ *v 4.* with k S air Or Ruppert’s Reprise hour, from Tam o’Shanter, with i “Steve Allen Show” on WNBT, each pickup liaving six golfers try* ; N. Y., . Which led to speculation on , ing two shots apiece for the big economics, Ruppeft’s Knicker; yesteulay *7 ue^J payoff. Special TV tourney will be bocker beer has .renewed its back" ^^hCld=bctAVCCTT^tiatc^of^,Iaws=two-=ing-of=Bill^Leonar(l-s^fiverniiirute^ tourneys at the club, the. All-Amer* sports news, on “Six O’clock Reican arid the World’s Champion port” over WCBS-TV-, N. Y. ship. Final holes of latter event are Renewal, for 52 weeks, begins in being ^televised by ABC TV. Aug, 9 August. “Report” is the 6, to 6:15 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. I p.m. strip on the CBS, N. Y., key. Henry White Upped Henry. Whi.le has been named of the radio-tele department . of the Biow agency. . .Appointment was effective as of ! DuMont Is mulling an hour ing of the. Chicago Symphony chest ra- for the . f a ll. •; ' If deal; with the. orch .is worked put, the. program will be seen on Wednesday nights. Hy Davis to WCBR Mernphis, July 28. v ! Hy Davis, vv.k. Southern disk • . — • • *| jockey, has joined WCBR as the ^^=^Jo<hI^t>rifeJsfSeries^^~k~^taHori=s^tbp=dee3ayi^^ Joe Laurie, Jr., has a radio-TV He hits the air daily at .6 Until dramatic series package., ‘“Great 10 a.m., and then does a matinee Love Stories of History,” also ! fforii 4:30 pm, to 5:30 p.m. He Favoring Plaintiff In ‘Double Nothing’ Suit A radiOrTV .writer’s! five-year; . $757,500 suit, charging that " h ideas were pirated for the format of NBC’s radio-TV show, “Double Or Nothing:,’’ has been rejected by N. Y. Supreme Court J ustice James B, M. McNally. Judge McNally took the unusual legal step of refusing to accept the unanimous verdict of the 12-man jury in his court which last month ruled that the writer, Ch arles C a rneval, was right in his claim anil that th,e. Campbell Soup; Co. should pay him $10,000. Carneval, through his ! l4. Y. ‘ attorney; Lawrence Brinn, will challenge the judge’s : iTiling tliat he~ had no ' ‘coTitractu;i 1 protection” for; his ideas in Appellate Division in September. Carneval, origiinally a Holly wood film actor ( he has. performed i n. such Metro pictures during the 1930’s as “Buried Loot ”; “Naughty . M arietta ■ . a rid “A 1 i bi R acket’ ’ ' claims he submitted the detailed format for a radio show, to : .'Recalled “Sweepstakes,” to ^ the William Morris Ageriby. in 1946. The talent agency returned, it to; Ji inr. but he did not ; sign. a. “release” letter. ; . .•'!'• . In 1949, Carneval named as defendants. William Morris, Campbell Soup, Ward .Wheelock advertising agency and NBC in a legal suit alleging the “s weepstake” elemen t s of his show formed the basis. of .... “Double Or Nothing.” . Judge McNally; in setting aside the jury’s verdict, said Carneva 1 could not win a recovery “as a =matter^of“aw--rOn^the^un.so)iGited“ submission of an idea or combinar tion of ideas, disclosed without a . mutually acceptable ^ conflclential AJVV V UVV.liVO . VI ' ■AIOVVKJt HI.JV 1IVMI' 1 * WV W W.U V p.IJ «< *fV I ^ X . 'Great Love StorieSv Which. he is 1 w^s formerly .with WJXN* jack relationship existent at tJite monow ready to product. j.son, Aliss. ' ment of disclosure.”