Variety (December 1953)

Wednesday, December 2, 1953 RADIO-TKLKVISION S3 RADIO JUST A MORNING DEAL ? HSrs 'Love That Radio-TV’ Former President Harry S. Truman apparently can’t say no when it comes to doing radio-TV a good turn, even if it’s on a cuffo basis. On behalf of the Radio-Television Executives Club of New York, Bob Blake (WNBT) and Sam Slate (WCBS> called on the ex- prexy to deliver the address at the January meeting of the club. As it turned out, Truman didn’t need any coaxing, expressing the opinion that, perhaps more than any other President, he’s been closer to the radio-TV fraternity and would like to continue the association. Truman, in fact, went one better. He’s promised that his talk will make “hot copy.’* For the occasion the RTEC is taking over the grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria, anticipating an alltime banner turnout. Date is Jan. 11. WNBT plans to televise the event. WOR-TV Bans Pitchmen, Despite TO AFT, VIDEO Weekly Rap; Set Station Code Cuttin’ Up Kate Razzle-Dazzle ‘Disegpla Plan' Adds New Life & Sponsor Blood to NBC-TV Daytimer There may be more to sponsorial razzle-dazzle than meets the eye. Kate Smith’s cross-board daytime hour started the season with glar- ing gaps in the plug sweepstakes and although some of the unoccu- pied periods were filled here and there, the gait was still too slow for comfort. Then came “Disegpla” some weeks back; that Divided Segment Plan (dubbed Disegpla by Variety for jest plus convenience* looked like just another phrase with the blind staggers at the time. With some quarters going beg- ging, the aim back of this new deal was to “cut up Kate”’down the middle—seven and a half min- utes—and then watch the score- hoard. There were some nice nib- bles, enough to justify inauguration of the dissectional scalpel used for a sales gimmick. And last week came another windfall -that will give the show its best representa- tion to date in the 1953-54 dollar derby and a pre-Yule present that may well add new life to the .Kate Smith-Ted Collins 3 to 4 stanza. Parker Bros., the top-rated parlor game outfit (which has itself raz- zle-dazzlcd the nation with its prod- uct over a long period of years), came into the swing with six par- ticipations in the Wednesday 3:15- 30 period starting Dec. 23. Also a buyer of that segment’s half (same day), on alternating basis begin- ning Jan. 13, is American Hair Sc Felt Co. of Chicago. It’s down for nine shares of the Disegpla stock. Dann Into NBC-TV Key Program Job Michael Dann, assistant to Syl- vester L. (Pat) Weaver, program chieftain and vice chairman of the NBC board, is being upped to sta- tus of the network’s program manager. In addition to super- vision of producers and directors, Dann will work close with his new boss, Tom McAvity, director of TV programming, on new program Ideas as well as act as liaison with the sales department on program problems. Dann, as manager of planning, was associated with Weaver for the past couple of years on such proj- ects as “Todav.” the upcoming “Home” and “Wide. Wide World” Shows and the NBC color opera- tion. Dann, who joined the web in 1948, had been supervisor of spe- cial telecasts, coordinator of pro^ gram package sales and a member of the NBC press department. Clean, Hard Facts Minneapolis. Dec. 1. * TV sets in Twin Cities’ area now number 405.000. This compares to 370.000 home telephones and 280,000 bathtubs, according to figures dug up by Admiral and the telephone company. NBC’s Oct. Biz Sets New High On Video Billings October billings for NBC-TV. to tailing $10,394,200, set a new high for a television network's single month biz. It represents a 28.7'"b increase over the web’s previous October business. Figures, based on Publishers Information Bureau compilations, are further revealing in that it represents a reversal of CBS-TV forging ahead of its chief competitor during the past few months. * For the month of October NBC- TV recaptured the lead to the tune of a $972,998 advantage over CBS. In contrast to NBC-TV’« October billings of $10,394,200, CBS TV racked up $9,421,202. Only the month before CBS-TV took a com- manding lead with $8,503,020 in September biz, while NBC-TV had $7,748,619. General Motors’ heavy Saturday afternoon coin spread on the NCAA football schedule, the Woj ld Series ^and the sale of Monday night at 9 (opposite “Lucy") are (Continued on page 52> By GEORGE ROSEN Daytime radio audiences have j been inching up to a point where numerically they are almost on a ; parity with nighttime listeners, i The newest Nielsen returns (for the Oct. 18-24 period) show that the average nightime audience for i all major network programs is 1 1.835.000. The average for davtime ! is 1.790.000. Arthur Godfrey’s Tues- i day and Thursday morning seg- ments for Nabisco, with 3.401.000 listeners on each day. outpull his Monday night radio audience for l "Talent Scouts,” which reaches 3,088,000 homes. I V • • ' j Thus just at the time when day- time network radio has achieved ! its maximum audience impact. ! there have been disturbing ruin- tilings of a major cutback by na- tional advertisers in afternoon ra- dio on tap lor ttie 1954 season. When, three and four years ago, it was already apparent that night- time net wot ’, radio would tie forced to yield to ttie swiftly ad- vancing encroachments of TV. thus necessitating a reappraisal of AM values, it was generally conceded that, whatever the nightime story, there was little likelihood of video making any serious inroads on day- time radio. Until now, in fact. Hie morning- afternoon network radio note has been a cheerful one. with daytime TV making little if any inroads. But the picture is changing rapidly. The afternoon TV slots on ttie ma- jor webs are slowly hut surely at- : tabling SHO status. Ttie big ad- vertisers are moving more and more into the afternoon video pic- ture and the word has gone out ( that the siphoning-off from after- noon radio is about to begin in ; earnest, restricting the Big Grab I for network radio to morning slots. It’s reported that such bigleague national bankrollers as American Home Products, Sterling Drugs and ' Continental Baking (wtio through 1 ttie years have had a major stake j irf the daytime radio picture) have I alerted the webs to upcoming cut- backs in afternoon AM program- ming. These are kind of clients that have kept network radio tn the big daytime swim. I Procter Sc Gamble, General Foods and Colgate are other promi- nent eoast-to-coast clients who are I anxious to establish expanded fran- i chises in the afternoon TV sweep- stakes. PAG only last week put in an order for early afternoon CBS- TV time for a radio edition of its longtime radio soaper, “The Bright- (Continued on page 52) You Can’t Do That! Manchester, Eng., Dec 1 British viewers - and the British Broadcasting Corp — got a shock when a school headmaster appeared on ttie screen and said ''Television exercises a disturbing influ- ence on children and keeps their minds olT their work ” Surprise of armchair view- ers was nothing to the embar- rassment caused in the studio. Statement was made by Dr. Eric James, a Manchester edu- cationist. And ttie academic maestro putted no punches Not only did he think TV a cheap sub- stitute for reading, lint ac- tively tried to dissuade Ins pu- pils’ parents from buying sets Symph Concerts, _ 'Dr. Christian’ In CBS Client Axing Two major axes were wielded in radio this week with both of them falling on CBS Willys Overland Motor Co of tin* Kaiser auto outfit cancelled out on the New York Philharmonic Symphony as of the first Sunday in January, falling within the first cycle on the 90 min- ute afternoon airer. Sponsor ap- parently thought its expenditures were getting topheavy. what with the parent Kaiser’s indebtedness to Uncle Sam (having recently.turned over all but a few thousand dollars of the $36,000,000 received from General Motors for sale of the Wit low Run plant ) and Kaiser’s "stay in radio” outlay via its recent re- newal of commentator Lowell Thomas that extends to next Octo- ber. There would be about 17 broadcasts in Hu* wake of ot+uJ.. one, including the nymph's annual barnstorming treks. Parenthetical- ly, ttie sponsor’s cxil comes only .a few days before the symph’s tilth birthday, which occurs on Pearl Harbor Day <7». Second exit involves the long- running'Jean Hersholt starrer, “Dr. Christian.” the Wednesday nightcr underwritten by Chescbroiigh Mfg. Co. Program has been on since 1937, with the sponsor and Hie star having a 17-year identity with it ‘Christian’ sponsorship ends. Jan 6. As pail of Its general upgrading under v.p. Jim Gaines, WOR-TV, NY., has quietly but effectively barred all pitchmen from the sta- tion. Games, who leaves the station for a new post in San Antonio the first of the year, has laid down a series of rules barring all hut leg- itimate retail matt order fit iiu from Hie station, lie estimates the ban is currently costing Hie sta- tion some $10,000 a week, hut lie insists it's tin* only way to estab- lish a firm foundation for Hie Gotham outlet. Under the new rules, sponsors must: (I) tie regular retail .-.Mer- chants - no fly-by-night, back- room-office concern?? are allowed; i2> must conform to NARTB Code in Hie length of their codiivierclaU and <3> refrain from pressure pilches warning the audience that "it’s your Iasi chance” to get such- and-such a product or pitches of tlie “limited offering" variety. Gaines, who’ll lie .succeeded by Gordon Gray, believes that Hie pitchmen drive away audience, lit* says that some $10,000 worth t'Si business which wanted to return tn the station at tin* conclusion of Hie strike of engineers in mitl- Ot-tnher was turned away and has filtered olT into other Gotham out- lets The WOK-TV standards on pitchmen, lit* feels, are the tough- est m Hie city, even exceeding those of Hie conservative WCBS- IV. Station has been proceeding in a general upgrading of pro- gramming, bringing In top film properties and topping them will! live presentations. Gaines believes reputable sponsors are just as im- portant to the station's well-being as good programs. Consequently, in spite of the short term loss in- volved in turning away the pitch- men, he feels as a longterm policy. Hie ban will payoff. NBC Gets 'Dream’ Sponsor (or Toscy How Equal Is i Equal Time Schnoz-Merman Swap Ethel Merman's telebut “pre- view” as guestar of Jimmy Du- rante on Colgate’s “Comedy Hour” next Sunday <6> will have a tit-for- tat postscript. The Schnoz has been booked to return the compliment on Jan. 24. "hen Miss Merman will make the first of t\vo top-billed appearances on the NBC-TV stanza. Her sec- ond will be in February. The broadcasting industry has been made the patsy in the award by the networks of a half hour to Sen. Joseph R McCarthy 1 R., Wist last week to “answer” Harry S. Truman for his verbiage on "Me Carthyism.” Although the former President had specifically stated that by “McCarthyism” he did not mean “the senator from Wiscon- sin," the legislator had construed it as an attack upon him. In taking to TV and radio. Sen McCarthy—in the opinion of most of the press, including several friendly to his interests—turned the stanza into a personal forum, failed to “answer" Truman direct- ly, introduced a new script in one loyalty case that had no connection with the former President’s text, and devoted a good deal of the pe- riod to an attack upon the Risen bower Administration. For this razzle-dazzle and extra-curricular ! stumping, he expended commercial I time that has been quoted as high as $300,000. ! When Sen. McCarthy demanded ! his pound of flesh from the net- works. there were some demurrers with CBS. for instance, delaying a decision. When a quarter hour wa> finally offered, the senator stood on the “equal time" principle ol which the Federal Communications Commission is the steward. Some of the broadcasting industry’s best ; friends used such words as “cow- ard" and “abdication of rights” to characterize the networks. But there was no reason—except the corny and unworkable "equal time” provision—for broadcasters to be put in the nasty position of risking their license renewals on a McCar- thy nix. For this they can thank the complicated and capricious "equality” code on controversial subjects tagged “public service." Not even a brave broadcaster is willing to pit his fairness and ethics against the expostulations of any U. S. senator who has a national forum in D. C. where he can. if he wishes, vent his spleen, to the detriment of anyone who would cross him in tfie name of •public interest.” Such a risk, now and in the past residing exclusive- ly with the broadcasters, would look better if thrust upon the shoulders of the FCC, and the NARTB.*"’ and public members formed into an integrated and rec- ognized subcommittee to decide whether "equal time” is necessary in anv given controversy, actual or fabricated, that holds wide public interest. - Under such a structure, the re sponsibility would it belongs, where a put the individual tion in ttie middle which it could not In* fixed where "iio" would not network or sta- in a trap from extricate itself except if it were willing to have its refusal examined bv the F(’f’ when Hie matter of license renewal came up How many “demands” for "equal time” would be made if a speech- maker were forced by law to post a deposit to rover his broadcast, and a determination made after.ttie airing—by the suggested subcoiii mitteo—whether the time had been used properly ’ Tins would tie pot- ting the time claimant or his sup porters in the portion ol endanger ing their money, ho* the deposit would be returned if he performed according tq the script. He would think twice before deviating. Why should all the burden be placed on broadcasters who are composed of all sorts of minds, strong and weak.' Theirs is an un- derstandable interest in the means by which they earn their liveli- hood. A senatorial pitch of the McCarthy sort should have been examined for size in the first place —and by the very people who sit in final judgment on licenses, the FCC. NBC has fallen heir to the clos- est thing to a “dream client” Ui.ft has come radio’s way in years. It spells out Socony-Vacuum, which is picking up the tail for the 22- wcek winter series of the NBC Symphony Orchestra broadcasts from Carnegie Hall. NY, majority of which are being batoned by maestro Arturo Toscanini. Considering Hie fact Hint So- cony-Vacuum is plunking down a reported $300,001) (time arid pro- gram» for the Sunday evening longhair series, Hie gestures to- ward trimming the commercial 1 !! end giving them a strictly institu- tional slant is, in these days, one for tin* books. Although allowed six minutes for plugs, S V has lu- nate limited its message to a two- re i n u I e midway institutional Uiiih. Anri on top of this, the proxy of the oil company lias passed along the word that, when and if the commercial interferes with Hu* program length, NBC has permission to cut it out entirely if t.e< essa) V. HARLIB, WHITING ALSO DEPARTING CBS-TV CBS-TV is trimming its directo- rial staff. In Hie wake of the exit- ing last week of John Peyser, who uid the Tuesday night "Danger” show 'tie’s being replaced by Mel Farber), two more axings have been revealed. Newest casualties are Matt Har- lib and Judd Whiting Latter did summer duty on the West I'bghousii drama series and the Vaughn Mon- roe show. As previously announced, Leo Solomon’s contract as writer ha» been washed up and he returns to the Coast. Solomon did ttie Larry Storch show.