Variety (November 1954)

22 BAPIO-T«l;EVISION Washington, Noy. 23. Department of Justice antitrust action last week against RCA and allege'd co-conspirators may put, the FCC in a tough spot when ap- plications ate filed by any of the companies named in the suit to purchase tv .stations. RCA has i - dicated it intends to acquire two UHF outlets under the Commis- sion’s “five plus two” rule. West- lnghouse, named as a co-conspira- tor, has reportedly negotiated a deal to purchase the DuMont sta- tion in Pittsburgh. It’s recalled that the Commission, Under a previous Administration, held up licenses of motion picture antitrust violators- By sitting on a transfer application, the agency virtually forced Warner Bros, to drop adeal it once made to pur- chase KLAC-TV (now KCOP) in Los Angeles. More recently, it held extensive hearings before renew- ing the license of the Paramount Pictures KTLA (TV) station in.L.A. and permitting United Paramount Theatres to merge with ABC, In the past, the Justice Depart- ment has kept an eye on FCC ac- tions involving antitrust violators. The present administration, as evi- denced, by the sweeping nature of the RCA complaint, indicates it is more intent on the monopoly front. Stanley N; Barnes, assistant attor- ney general in charge of antitrust, his associates say, “means busi- ness.’! * The Commission not only has the Justice Department to worry about but also the Senate Judiciary Committee which, come Jan. 5, will be chair maned by Sen. Harley Kil- gore (D-W.Va.), a strong antimono- poiist who is almost certain to in- stitute a few inquiries. Kilgore, Variety learned, wrote the Justice Department about six months ago regarding the patent situation in the tv manufacturing industry.. ‘Timing’ Factor The filing of the Justice suit so goon after the election has given rise to some speculation here that It was timed to "jump the gun” on Sen. Kilgore, whose Committee has Jurisdiction over antitrust laws. But those who know Barnes dis- count this possibility. If there was any “timing,” they say, it would have been of the delayed variety to avoid art impression of “monopoly hunting” for political purposes. The Department’s action came as a complete surprise although it was known that the Government had (Continued on page 30) Chicago, Nov. 23. William B. Ryan, .former presi- dent of Broadcast Advertising Bureau, Was named exec v.p. arid managing director of the Quality Radio Group at a meeting of tire board here yesterday (Mon.).. At the sanre time, board announced its first sponsor for the 25-statirh taped network. Crosley Division of Avco Mfg. will sponsor “Mid-. western Hayride,” longtime WLW, Cincinnati, airer. First task for Ryan is the estab-. lishment of a New York office and a sales staff to whip up presenta- tions for prospective clients. KRAFT TV’S 1-2 PUNCH (DEC.) ON NBC AND ABC Kraft is upping its tv drama budget .for a brace of “big ones” which will be literally slotted back-to-back on Dec. 1 iWed.rNBC) arid, Dec. 2 (Thurs.-ABC). On the former evening the Kraft hour will do an adaptation of “Camille” starring Signe Hasso. The ABC edition will be a tclever- sion of “Kitty Foyle.” Since the latter is a film property, it was necessary to give it the ABC slot- tipg (which is .an all-live, non? kinnie presentation. Because many NBC stations, used delayed kinnes. pix properties are ruled out of the Wednesday showcase. Baby Spectacular The lengths to which some tv producers will go to satis- fy their audiences, or even their panelists and guests, was pointed up in the case of Goodson &. Todman and “Name’s the Same” last week, when guest Arlene Francis named her “secret desire,” which the panelists had to guess, and which . the pro- ducers attempt to fulfill. ' “Secret desire” in this case was that Miss Francis wanted “Name's” panelist Joan Alex- ander to be the first actress, to have news of her impending . parenthood flashed iri lights via one of the Broadway ad- vertising spectaculars. Good- son & Todman went and did it. In the still of the night-be? foreo (14), a camera crew pho- tographed the Admiral Tele- vision electric sign on Times Sq. spelling out the phrase, “The Name’s the Same” and ABC-TV are happy to an- nounce that Joan Alexander will be a mother in February.” Film clip was shown on the show, and the Admiral sign flashed the phrase again, while the show was on the air and once more at 8:45 p; m. that night so Miss Alexander could see it for real. Deal was worked out iri advance with Artkraft, which owns and op- erates the sign. Murrow’s Yen When Bing Crosby goes on CBS- TV’s “Person to Pers Dec. 3, tying in with this week’s preem of his cross-the-board CBS Radio se-. riesi it will probably be the first of an extended series of “P to P” pickups, of top pix personalities on the Coast. Murrow. personally has expressed a desire to do a Holly- wood pickup about every third week. Negotiations are ..now going on which may spot Tyrone Power, Barbara Stanwyck and Harry James-Betty Grable, among others, from their Coast-berthed homes at intervals. Incidentally, it’s under-, stood that Metro has nixed any such participation of its contract performers on the tv stanza (al- though previously it has. sanc- tioned a “Toast of the ToWn”-Met- IQ identity). Sir Winston Will Make Milwaukee Famous Yet; Allis-Chalmers ‘Salute’ Sir Winston Churchill, Britain’s Prime Mi ister, Indirectly getting a radio sponsor in the eyebrow-raiser of the waning year,. NBC cards 80th birth- day salute to Sir Winston titled “His Finest Hour’* and slotted 7 to 8 p.m. next Sunday (28), Backing the hio-in-highUght is Allis- Chalmers Mfg. Co. of Mil- waukee, the farm machinery but- fit. Being sought as host is Charles Laughton, and others who may fig- ure in the show are Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Ralph Richardson, Al- fred Lunt,. Lynn Fontanne, and Carl Sandburg (with a special treatise) and publisher-author-pan- elist Bennett Cerf With a miniature anthology Covering the Churchill span. Aim also is to cut in rtibutes from heads of nation. Web's tv’er on the Prime Minister, “Churchill 80,” is slotted. 2-2:30 p.m., Nov. 28. Allis-Chalmers, Incidentally, un- derwrites NBC-TV coverage of Chi’s International Livestock Ex- position on Npy. 30 in the 3 p.m. berth. It’s the sponsor’s seventh year in a row on the cattle con- •gross. New Life for ‘Road’ Procter & Gamble’# CBtS-TV “Seeking Heart”, has found it. Come Dec 13, the sudser’s title will be changed to "Road of Life.” , Format Will follow the .lines of "Road,” longtime radio stanza. Latest excursion of Facts Forum and Hardy Burt, who produces two of its network shows—a plea to the American Civil Liberties Union to investigate attempts to destroy Facts Forum, ♦ coupled with the charge that ABC-TV dropped its “Answers for Americans” because of pressure—-brought riiore amused astonishment at ABC than any other reaction. In a letter to Patrick M. Malin, exec, director of ACLU, Burt listed a series of alleged attempts to de- stroy Facts Forum by “pressure groups,” This “Red-inspired cam- paign appears to be having some success,” he said, and pointed to the case of “Answers for Ameri- cans,” which ABC dropped early this summer after 34 weeks. “The network official i charge,” Burt wrote, “was reliably quoted as hav- ing declared that ‘Answers for Americans’ . . Was proving ‘too much of a bother,’ iri that ne was spending too much of his time re- plying to complaints,” Although the “official in charge” and the network weren’t named in the letter, Burt , apparently re- ferred to John Daly, ABC’s V.p. in charge of news and special events. Daly said on learning of Burt's charge that “any statement that the program was suspended be- cause of volume of complaints con- cerning the program or any im- plication that the program Was sus- pended by public , pressure;' in. any form, is not founded in fact. No responsible official of the ABC net- work has made any such state- ment.” Daly pointed out that the pro- gram -was cancelled “with three other programs with the advent of the summer season.” Other shows dropped at the time were Martin Agronsky’s “At Issue,” Elmer Da- vis’ program and Daly’s own “Open Hearing ” Reason given at the time was the fact that none of the shows had been sold, Davis had become ill, and the news & spec! 1 events department was planning to over- haul its Schedule for a fresh start in the fall. Daly added that “mail and other public response or comment on the program was satisfactory in mail and volume, but Was less than that of some other ABC public af- fairs programs.” But an amused ABC exec privately Commented that “there wasn’t any pressure— we never pulled enough mail on the show for there to be any.” , ACLU said it would study the charges. Judy Holliday will do 10 specs in all this seasori under the Max, Liebman production aegis, negotia- tions having been completed for the balance of the season.;• Her next one is Jan. 2. Dick Shawn, j who has already done -three Satur- ' day-Sunday night specs. Will do five more during the ’54-’55 semes- ter. In addition, Miss Holliday has been pacted for one-shot, dra- matic stint in the Monday night ‘‘Producers Showcase” of tint specs. fx-Rod'o and Televisl ortd now . the Rev, Malcolm Boyd (continuing his ecclesiastical studies at Oxford, England) Religioso TV one of the many byline pieces In the 49th Anniversary Number of PfiniETr Wednesday, November 24, 1954 A. fighter takes a dive; referees are suspected of"myopia; the ln-stadium fans serenade the waltzing pugs with “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” setups, are palpably staged to comply with slogans that this or that fight club is “the house of upsets”—and television is party to it all. Why?. V Any musclehead this side of Stillman’s Gym knows that the fight racket is no sorority* and for television to give it “char- acter” and respectability by telecasting some of these pushover leatherpushers is d gratuitous cuflo commercial which tfie pugs and their “smoky room” backstage manipulators don’t rate. TV is too close to the home and too intimate, to permit itself to collaborate, even unwittingly, in a swindle. Until the fight biz .cleans from within itself—and it doesn't mean N.Y. State Boxing Commissioner Rlobert K. -Christenberry frowning at them or holding up a purse for . few hours-—this soft-touch sideline money, in the. form of. videocasts, should be denied the shady collaborators. Let beer; and razorblades latch on to something else as a, shill for a spell. Then coin and public opi ' may force the leather- pushers into self-regulation. . Abel FCG • Unusual Texas Grant. Brings Stinging Hennock Rebuke HAMS, ALL Even Fourth Estaters Battle for Equal Time Thesping Newspapermen can be just as hammy as perforrhers, though lat- ter are figured more entitled to “have -their pig arid eat it top” by Virtue of a traditional occupational disease. Some wire services are reportedly fighting for “equal time; position and manner of; presentation” in connection with NBC’s Monday spectacular on Dec. 13 when the 90-minuter will be turned into a star talent salute—N, Y„ clubhouse dedication of the Overseas Press Club titled “Dateli ” There’s also a bit of soul-search- ing on one phase of the Robert E. Sherwood vignette on the late Ernie Pyle, particularly concern- ing a candid extract from Pyle’s memoirs. Some auto coin is spilling over into, radio as the Detroit moguls get into high gear on fronting their ’55 models in ’the most, bitterly fought rivalry for postwar posi- tion. Millions are at stake In tv, but the Detroit manufacturers are riot discounting the power of the aural medium. A v good deal of the radio coin is, closely bunched as, for in- stance, Nash Motors plugging its ’55 wheelers via purchase of three segments of “Amos ’n’ Andy Music Hall” over CBS this week (24-26). Last night (Tues.) General Motors latched on to 9-9:15 on the web for a musical pageant airing to kick off the 50,000;000th car coming off its assembly line. Talent included singer Mark Dawson, Crane Calder and Max Meth’s orch, with original tunes by Bernie Wayne and Paul Dudley. Meanwhile CBS Radio program Veep Lester Gottlieb was in Detroit this week pitching pres- entations, . Film Pair Consultants To Young & Rubicam ‘Between Pictures’ Jobs Hollywood, Nov. 23. Mel Shavelson and Jack Rose,' Who recently completed producer- director-writer stints on Bob Hope’s “Seven Little Foys” at paramount, have tdken up consultant duties at Young & Rubicam Advertising Agency under arrangement nego- tiated by agency veepee Nat Wolf. They’ll be “on call” when not in- volved in picture making. Deal brings pair into ad shop as consultants on shows in shop or in- making. Programs pair may create will be filmed as pilots by Young & Rubicam with complete owner-! ship reverting to Shavelson-Rose who will be paid fixed salary with expense account plus insurance and other company benefits; Washington , Nby. 23. In an unprecedented action, the FCC last Week, by m 3-1 vbte, au- thorized the use of a VHF channel as a satellite station to rebroadcast the programs of another VHF sta- tion 124 miles away. The grant was issued to KTRE ’ in Lufkin, Tex., which will carry the sched- ule of KPRC-TV in Houston and Plans no local programs. The Luf- kin station will thus, in effect, serve as a relay for KPRC although the stations have no ownership ties. Although it isn’t likely, in view of the limited number of unused VHF channels, that many grants of this kind can be made, the authori- zation Was surprising because the recently announced policy of ac- cepting applications for satellite stations specified only UHF chan- nels. It was also noted that KTRE had surrendered a permit last June for use of the same channel and that the Commission turned down a request by a UHF station in Tyler, Tex., to move the channel to the latter community. The authorization provoked a stinging dissent from Comr. Frieda Hennock Who 'termed the action “an . almost incredible departure from two of the most firmly estab- lished policies of the Commission which have heretofore always gov- erned the grants of broadcast li- censes in the . public interest.” These policies, she said^igre that station serve the needs o'f the. com- munity and that the licensee main- tain control over the “operation and programming” of his station. Pointing out that the Commis- sion previously denied an applica- (Continued on page'31) 'Home/ ‘Today’ On Miami Beach. Nov. 23. Negotiations were completed be- tween city of Miami Beach public relations director Hank Meyer and NBC producer Mort Werner ‘ for telecasting of the “Today” and “Tonight” shows from a still-to-be- selected oceanfront hotel in mid- January. Deal: calls for cross the board, telecasts through one of " two weeks—Jan. 10 to 14 or Jan. 17 to. 24. Plans Call for bringing en- tire exec, writing and production crews here consisting of more than 50 personnel, marking the. first time the shows will go oh lo- cation, instead of using film or live inserts in New .York.: The city, which has allotted $20,000 toward defraying cable costs , for tv pro- grams which emanate from this setting on a national basis, is also arranging for accommodations; the airings Will coincide with Miami Beach’s 40th anniversary celebra- tion as an incorporated city. Meyer is also dickering with other units to come down through the season; recently “Home” show was telecast from the Casablanca Hotel with the city and the hotel dividing cable and housing costs.