Variety (December 1954)

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24 RADIO-TELEVISION V7lkiETy O&O’s Riding Along on Web 'Gifts’; ‘Better You Sell ’Em-We Can’t’ As WCBS (F’rinstance) Goes ‘Service’ CBS Radio’s dropping of a house 4 package and Carter Products’ can- cellation of a show on the web are figured to bear some future rela- tionship to a “creeping paralysis” trend that ultimately will find numerous network slots being re- captured by local stations, with accent on the owned-and-operated. Web shelves the Peter Lind Hayes-Mary Healy Saturday show after this week (11). although cur- rent thinking looks toward pro- gram’s return in late February as a Saturday night airer. The Hayes- Healy stanza is in the 1:35 to 2 p.m. berth, with a rebroadcast on WCBS, N. Y., at 9:30 during the football season. Hayes himself continues as a CBS pactee under which he’s committed to fill in for Arthur Godfrey on the latter’s morning show when occasion de- mands. Carter has axed “City Hospital,” but the web will sustain the 1 to 1:25 show. Interesting point is that the sponsor had a six-month con- trol -of “Hospital’' after cancella- tion, but waived its rights. CBS then made a deal with Julian Flint to supply the scripts, with John Dietz producing and directing. Of immediate importance on the web-to-local front is a realignment of the WCBS schedule. This, with and without inheritance of network time, is based on the oft-expounded theory that local stations, of what- ever stature, must put most of their eggs in the “service programs” basket if they hope to live beside and survive the “television era.” Thus music, news and weather be- come the strategic threesome in aural operations, with recapturing of “offish” slots that the web can- not peddle except at the risk of giving away its transmitter—and even then there's no certainty. Leonard-llaymes Reshuffle At the moment, the reshuffle re- volves around Bill Leonard and Bob Haymes. Leonard’s “This Is New York” takes a new time period of 11:30 to midnight Monday through Saturday, kicking off next week il3). Singer Haymes’ morn- ing variety show, currently 45 min- utes, expands to 75, and hence sneaks into a 9:30 anchor in his six-a-weeker. Since Haymes con- tinues with his “Melody in the Night” cross-the-board half-hour to 11 o’clock, his own contribution to the local pot will be 10 hours a week. Leonard currently holds the 9-9:30 a.m. berth (and kept that going for nine years), with the night slotting giving him opportu- nity to report on N. Y. happenings, theatre openings, etc., the same evening. Haymes will pick up Leonard’s evaluations on the fol- lowing morning, for a two-way •’package.” (Couple of late-night changes at WRCA, too. Tex & Jinx McCrary, ex-11:30 to midnight, extended 30 minutes to 12:30, originating from Waldorf’s Peacock Alley. Getting started correspondingly later is Fleetwood's “Music Through the Night,” with Riggio Tobacco latch- ing on for Regent Cigs.) Outside of co-ops and partici- J pations, there’s very little sold by any of the four networks on a pro- gram basis after 10 p.m. If things keep up as they have, the web an- chor may be 9 o’clock generally before the next season blossoms. Real Hot Kidkinnie California’s moppet set has been taken into the reckoning by NBC-TV in itl slotting starting this Saturday til) of Kraft’s “Space Cadet” at 11:30 a. m., as part of the w-eb’s two- hour skein of kid shows (Hap- py Felton, Paul Winchell and “Funny Boners” are the oth- ers.) “Space” will be raced to the Coast via hot kine for five outlets. Berle Side Claims ‘Act Of God’ Gilbert Backed Out on Return Issue The Milton Berle-Ruth Gilbert hassle almost came to a quiet end last week when lawyers for both sides were to decide on the comedi- enne’s return to work for the re- mainder of the ’54-’55 season as soon as she felt physically able after having her child. However, the issue flared up again at a pre- viously agreed-upon American Ar- bitration Assn, session on Friday (3), with neither side now being any closer to an agreement than when the “Act of God” poser first cropped up weeks ago. At the pre-AAA session between Berle’s and Miss Gilbert’s lawyers, it was decided, Berle’s camp main- tains, that an agreement was reached and that all that remained was to put signatures to paper. Miss Gilbert’s reps say, however, that they hadn’t actually committed themselves, particularly since their client wasn’t in on the close of the meet at which it was decided that she’d settle for returning to the NBC-TV show, “when ready.” Irving Gray, Berle’s manager, declared that after the "agreement was reached” both sides decided to go through the “formality” of appearing before the previously scheduled meeting of the arbitra- tion group, and the actual signing would take place there. It was agreed to, Gray said, because "Miss Gilbert felt it would add weight to the agreement. Gray charged that Miss Gilbert “backed out” before the arbitra- tors, catching the Berle lawyers by surprise and forcing them to ask for a postponement in nego- tiations. Her reps said that she didn’t feel that simply being al- lowed to return to the show for the rest of the season was enough; that she wants now—and this is the item holding up the settlement —to be paid for the time she is incapacitated. Names for Madonna Four quarter-hour Xmtfs disks featuring Lloyd Nolan, Elaine Stritch, Eddie Foy Jr., James Mee- han and Sammy Kaye were pro- duced by the Madonna Guild Ra- dio Rosary and etched by Master- piece Recording for current distri- bution. Stanzas deal with the “meaning of Xmas” and were overseered by Leona MUen of Madonna Guild. Radio Scripters Rap D. of Mich, s ‘Contest' Angle Detroit, Dec. 7. Radio writers in this area are doing a burn over a new method of accepting scripts set into opera- tion recently by WUOM, the U. of Michigan’s educational station. Price for the scripts is acceptable, but what’s griping the writers is the rigid method of submission, which amounts to an actual com- petition rather than the ordinary routine of assignment and confer- ences on improvement. Situation came about through a new series titled “Heroes ’Round the World.” The way the “con- test,” as one writer puts it, oper- ates is that the WUOM office will inform scripters of a specific hero, the setting and the statement of heroic qualities to be emphasized in the script. Material is to be submitted without any identifica- tion of the writer on the actual script itself—they will identify themselves on a separate sheet of paper which will be keyed to the script number. Unidentified scripts will then be submitted to an “edi- torial review board,” which will select one work from all the en- tries. Criteria will be “contest and accuracy,” “conformity to general requirements,” “dramatic impact ! of the story” and “technical perfec- tion.” Professional writers who have done work for the station before were “shocked” that such a routine should come from an educational station, where the absence of re- strictions on the writer should be recognized as vital. Furthermore, from the viewpoint of professional methods, they didn’t like the idea of competing among themselves. As a snapper, they pointed out that they’d be working on “spec” instead of assignment, and while the flat rate of $200 for the half- hour script was okay, only one of the many pros would be paid for each subject submitted. 40 Clauses in ‘Today* Pact NBC-TV has latched on to 40 Santa Clauses to appear on its “Today” show today (Wed). The-men in red rep Volunteers of America. Scots Prep Comm’l TV Glasgow, Nov. 30. Scotland’s first commercial tv station may be run by a group con- sisting of a Conservative party newspaper proprietor and business- men with Labor sympathies. Roy Thomson, Canadian owner of The Scotsman, Edinburgh, and 1 of tv stations in Canada, has ap- I plied for a commercial tv license. ; He declined to name the Labor j Party supporters with whom he has i been discussing his plans. Wednesday, December 8, 1954 Move Over Bulova—It’s ‘Turnstone’ A $200,000-per-annum deal brings the Lewis-Howe Co. into the “time by tv” picture, but first as a longterm “test” in the coun- try’s foremost market. For starting next Monday (13), the St. Louis family-held outfit will pitch its “Tumstime” 10-second identifications on a 26-a-weck basis over WCBS-TV, N.Y., in a “creative programming” exposure bearing unusual facets. The all- over-the-clock schedule stemmed from a three-way foundation em- bracing the St. Loo office of Ruthrauff & Ryan, the Chi office of CBS Spot Sales, and the CBS flagship in N.Y. Aside from the anticipated results (the way the station figures it, Turns will latch on to $9,000,000 impressions per week, based on the program adjacencies), the $4.000-a-week pact represents a foray by the R&R agency into tv outlays earmarked by Lewis- Howe for Turns. R&R reps the client in radio, with Dancer-Fitz- gerald-Sample the tv parallel (via the Imogene Coca Show on NBC-TV). Should Turns go for eight or 10 other key markets dur- ing or after the Gotham “wet run,” the spot billings could well go over the $1,000,000 market, to give “Tumstime” a near-network aura. It’s the first use of spot announcements by the “for your tummy” product (as distinct from participations, syndicated telepix, etc.). There’ll be a change of copy to fit the spottings, and the buy itself is unique in that it finds a non-timepiece sponsor going heavy on time service plugs, with one of the tablets, incidentally, so de- signed as to give the appearance of a clock as it races to the viewer. WTRI Protests Thomas’ WROW Buy; Claims CBS ‘Tiein’ Was Withheld Teenage Texas Jock Baytown, Tex., Dec. 7. Jimmie Lee Durgen, 17-year-old highschool student in Houston, has made his bow here in a disk jockey show each Saturday afternoon starting at 5 p. m. It’s an all-re- quest show on KCRT. Durgen also is featured on KCRT with his band, known as the Drifters. He was with the “Grand Ole Opry” unit on its recent tour through East Texas. CBS Makes U. S. Fightin’ Picture Complete With $-Tagged ‘Air Conquest’ CBS-TV has the “for sale” sign on a documentary that looks like the U. S. Air Force’s answer to NBC's “Victory At Sea.” The film skein, comprising 26 half-hours, is slated to take off next Septem- ber on a Sunday afternoon. Labeled “Conquest of the Air,” show bears official sanction of Air Secretary Harold E. Talbott. Stanzas will be chosen from about 150,000,000 feet of celluloid from USAF achives and elsewhere and will be produced by CBS public affairs helmed by Sig Mickelson. Going beyond coverage of air warfare alone, some 50,000,000 feet of the film stockpile will come from Government agencies (includ- ing the Library of Congress), pri- vate producers, airline lirms and aircraft makers as well as from other nations. Even the Navy and the Army will be tapped for ma- terial. CBS is to send scribblers to dig out preliminary reports on USAF both in the U. S. and abroad. This CBS program move takes USAF out of its “up in the air” video status and rounds out the military picture, there already be- ing, in addition to “Victory At Sea,” the Army’s Big Picture” and plans by General Teleradio for a documentary re the Marines. SURPRISE FETE MARKS MORENCY’S 25TH ANNI Hartford, Dec. 7. A lot of nostalgia drifted over the head table at Paul W. Morency's surprise 25th annivers- ary dinner party at the Hartford Club last Thursday night (2). Vice-president and general man- ager of WTIC, NBC’s 50.000-watt Hartford affiliate, wasn't aware of any anniversary arrangements un- til he was led into the main lobby of the downtown club. Posted prominently was a Hartford Times window bulletin, dated Dec. 2. 1929, announcing appointment of Morency to the top spot at the Travelers Insurance Co.’s, radio station. Some 150 guests were on hand. Recorded messages from indus- try friends everywhere were played over the p.a. system, Edgar Bergen’s Format For a Diplomat 9 + Albany, Dec. 7. WTRI-TV filed a protest Friday (3) with the Federal Conftnunica- tions Commission' against the transfer of majority control of the Hudson Valley Broadcasting Co. (operating WROW and W ROW- TV) from a group of local stock- holders to a unit headed by Lowell Thomas and his business manager, Frank M. Smith. It did so on the ground that “Thomas has received a commitment from the Columbia Broadcasting System to affiliate WROW-TV with CBS before the purchase of the station w as made.” WTRI, In which Stanley Warner Theatre Corp. holds a 50% interest, alleged that as a result of the transfer application, WROW-TV “would be controlled by an import- ant and valued member of the CBS organization; the transferees failed to reveal this fact, together with certain secret understandings with CBg concerning network affil- iation for WROW-TV. Furthermore, the petition charged, “The Commission’s ac- tion granting the application will result In the elimination of com- petition for the network affiliation to the same degree as if CBS were itself the licensee and a loss to WTRI of such CBS programs which by diligent efforts it has been able to secure.” The FCC was asked to “imme- diately” stay the effectiveness of its recent action approving the transfer and to designate the trans- fer application for hearing. WTRI stated that the majority control of WROW and WROW-TV exercised by Thomas et al. is 52%. WTRI has a contract with CBS for limited alternative telecasting —WRGB, Schenectady, VHF out- let, is the main area choice—run- ning to Feb. 1. WROW-TV and WROW are ABC affiliates. That UHF station has been on the air since October, 1953; WTRI, since last February. Troy Broadcasting Co., which owns the other half interest in WTRI, operates WTRY, CBS radio affiliate. There have been uncon- firmed reports that WROW ipigM eventually land the Columiba asso- ciation. Edgar Bergen has come face to face with the international protocol fraternity after a series of frus- trations on the home front. It could be that his disappointments stemmed from a matter of poor timing that he could not anticipate and over which he had no control as a “mere” performer. It’s a story with a Washington (that’s D. C.) background. When Bergen launched his hourlong Kraft-sponsored series on CBS Ra- dio a couple of months ago, it was after a study of a format that would originate in the capital to provide top Government officials as guests. Going by precedent, he was led to believe that Congress- men, Senators, et al., would leap at the opportunity to get the fresh air of the Bergen show after countless hours spent in the sometimes be- draggled atmosphere of the legisla- tive halls, cloakrooms, bureau cor- ridors and the like. You know, “play like a human being” via Ber- gen & Co. But Bergen’s seasonal kickoff was during a period when both houses of Congress were wrestling with a multitude of global and do- mestic hot potatoes, including the elections and the internecine “l’af- faire Joe McCarthy,” so the polit- icos and appointees based in D. C. did not exactly beat a path to Ber- gen’s “comedian - turned - deejay- I commentator” door. Maybe they lost their sense of humor, or had visions of being turned into dum- mies. Procedure Reversed Whatever the reason, Bergen forthwith altered the pattern by the simple expedient of reversing the procedure: if the bigwigs wouldn’t come to him, he’d go to them—and why not include per- formers? He shifted one stanza to the Coast, where Dick Powell, Jack Benny and Amos ’n’ Andy guested on his 9 to 10 p.m. Sunday airer. Last week he originated the show- in New York, inviting and getting acceptances from Governor-elect Averell Harriman, Chief Magistrate John Murtagh, Eartha Kitt (latter preeming in the “Mrs. Patterson” legiter) and Columbia waxworks exec Mitch Miller. Upcoming (19) is an emanation from Williamsburg, Va., the colonial convertee. Thus the “new” Bergen show with its Kraft auspices is able to grab exploitation along the route not possible with a stationary for- mat. And as a result, the quondam ventriloquist is taking still another step via pickups from the various embassies in Washington. The first of these—a preem of its kind—was an origination from the Spanish Embassy, with Ambassador Count de Motrico as featured guest. Last Sunday (5), Bergen was at the Swedish Embassy with headman Eric Boheman the guestar and next Sunday (12) his live airer will come from the Japanese "residence.” In other words, Bergen has gone from parttime disk jockey to near- ! ly fulltime protocol pusher. ZENITH PUSHING FCC FOR TOLL-TV DECISH Washington, Dec. 7. Federal Communications Com- mission may act on the new peti- tion of Zenith Radio Corp. that it expedite consideration of subscrip- tions. While some FCC commis- sioners prefer to let the matter mark time, others are pressing for immediate action on the issue. Zenith petition of a week ago contends that the FCC may. midcr its present rules, approve subsmfte tioii television for existing tv sta- tions, without any hearings. Ze- nith urges that such permission be given forthwith, so that the sub- scription systems can be set up with a minimum of delay. What the Commission is likely to decide this week or next is wheth- er it should give immediate con- sideration to subscription televi- sion or whether to set down argu- ments for the future. Belief here is that the majority of the Com- mission'will favor delay, probably * by a 4-3 vote.