Variety (December 1954)

Wednesday, December 8, 1934 RADIO-TFI.F YISIOX 27 TV’S ‘SCHIZOPHRENIC’ SHOWS Sequential Color Goes to ‘War CBS “private” sequential color tv system was used last Saturday (4) at an Army proving ground at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., as a mili- tary weapon. Involving a CBS camera, which preceded the com- patible color setup now used commercially, it was used for observ- ing a mock enemy force in action and how it was cut down by some of the Army’s most advanced weapons. At Huachuca, headquarters for the new Army electronic proving ground, the sequential camera got its first important tryout. Advancing troops in the simulated raid on the fort, artillery ex- plosions plus other battle details going on as much as 15 miles away were visible to observers before 10-inch tint monitors. Incidentally, there was a four-by-six-foot color set used along- side the smaller receivers. However, it’s still an Army hush-hush development. The military side-by-sided black-and-white and tint sets for the sake of comparison. Subsequently, during warfare scenes, Army officers Indicated the effectiveness of multichrome in relation to black-white. In color, observers, it was said, could see in great detail—even on 10-inch sets—a flowing stream 15 miles off and an enemy signal man in a tree, who, recognized by the color of his uniform, was “gunned down.” There was a secret demonstration on the Thursday before the Saturday showing, but it was for military brass. Several electronic devices were withdrawn from a repeat Saturday performance for security reasons. The CBS sequential color camera is only one of the Army’s new communications and reconnaissance machines. Last summer, the military threw a demonstration for the press and others at Fort Meade, Md., at which RCA’s portable vidicon camera was used. /'x Code Board Wants Sayso Over Old Pix; Warns Trade on TV Kidshow Cleanup Washington, Dec. 7. ♦ Television stations were advised last week to watch their step more closely on the type of filmed fare offered during the viewing hours of children, with particular empha- sis on the western, mystery and ad- venture categories. Some of these pictures are violating the Televi- sion Code even though approved by review boards for theatrical showings, said the Televison Code Review Board of the National As- sociation of Radio & Television Broadcasters. The Code Board said it will rec- ommend to the NARTB Television Board, which meets in January, that affiliation under the TV Code be extended “to others allied with the television industry whose prod- uct comprises now a large share of the programming viewed in the American home.” Idea of this would be to bring under the Code those who supply old motion pic- tures for video. The Code Board indirectly ad- mitted the age of much of the film shown on television by announcing that it "has notified all Code sub- scribers that special attention should be given to clearance be- fore acceptance of all film produc- tions manufactured before the first television station went on the air.” The Code Review Board met in Washington last Wednesday (1) and Thursday and, at the request of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, reviewed five films which had been shown on the four Washington video sta- (Continued on page 34) Vif Chi AM-TV Scripttr Alan M. Fishburn waxes whimsical More Stars in Heaven — Let's Do a 6 Spec 9 * * * a bright byline piece in the upcoming 49th Anniversary Number of Variety DUE SOOIS Post-Haste Staff On 'Space Return Rockhill Productions had to col- lect a staff from the “four corners” of the industry when the revival otTom Corbett. Space Cadet” (NBC-TV, Saturdays) was assured. Ralph Ward is leaving ABC-TV to oirect the show. Dr. Willy Ley, }vho recently contracted with Walt Disney, will plane east at least once every three weeks to handle the casing’s science angles. Muriel ? aron ankles the Imogene Coca low- to rejoin Rockhill as assistant Producer. And Albert Aley has * J-J 1 “P video scripting assign- , s to replace as producer the bin ^ an who didn’t return. Al- Docovny (now with D’Arcy agency). TW th * actin * side . Frankie GHm. ’ ,„ A i Markim and Jack thiini WiU ** back * with the only lin exce P tl °n being Jan Mer- Lor^H, 0 S v now doIn * the vidfilmed Coac! U ?° un * stanza from the ftBC^affii C ^ et ” Wl11 t0 67 affils, 42 being live. Hot Pace On TV Set Production But Color Lags Washington, Dec. 7. Television set production is mov- ing at a very high rate, with UHF tuners in approximately 20% of the output. However, the manufacture of color sets remains picayune. During the first 10 months of 1954, tv set production hit 5.654.- 791, compared with 6,204,803 for the same period of 1953. But in the four-week October reporting pe- riod, the output was 921,476, which was almost 250,000 better than October, 1953, and was an alltime high for a four-week reporting month. Highest set production was reported in September, 1953. It was 947,796, but this was a five- week, reporting month. For the first 10 months of 1954, sets with UHF tuners reached a peak of 1,085,742. In the same 10 months, according to the Radio- Electronics-Television Manufactur- ers Assn., only 17,445 color receiv- ers were produced and there is no acceleration of the rate of pro- duction. Omaha’s 2d All-Niter Omaha, Dec. 7. Radio outlet WOW here Sunday (5) began all-night operations, fol- lowing the pattern set by «KFAB two years ago. KFAB this fall switched from cowboy tunes to hour tape-recorded sessions by four d.j.’s and found plenty of sponsors. WOW broadcasts from midnight to 5:30 a.m. Sunday through Fri- day will originate from new stu- dios at the transmitter site, man- ager Frank Fogarty announced. ‘DOUBLE UPE'OF Television’s major hour and hcqur- and-a-half nighttime shows are leading a double life as far as their ratings are concerned. But the dual personality kick is often in the best interests of "free choice’Nvideo. A breakdown in 30-minute seg- ! ments for the period Nov. 7-12, for instance (via reports of the Ameri- can Research Bureau), shows sub- stantial viewer gaps between the first and second halves (more in the case of some 90-minute pro- grams. notably the ABC and Du- Mont boxing bouts». But of the 18 full-hour showcases of widely vari- egated formats, 11 of them go into a rise on the rating scoreboard after the midway point, with seven declining in varying degrees and for tradition reasons. Of the four 90-minule stanzas during the meas- ured span (two of them the out- size fisticuff operas), a pair of them dipped in the second cluster of 30 (IHnutes and all went down the scale in the third half, with the prize fights at the peak in the mid- dle of the fray. In general, the half-hour live and vidpix programs are faring well against the "extended play” opera- tions, but it isn’t necessarily the qualitative level that produces the nod in favor of the “quickies” as set against the respective budgets. What happens fairly regularly is that, in the case of the hours and the halfers that start off in the same slot, viewcs apparently go reasonably well for the 30-minute shows and then switch to the last half of the full-hour berthings to get a 50% deal out of it, anyway. (Of course, multitudes black out on the half-hour programs before the finish, not to mention those who vice-versa the deal by scramming the full-lengthers shortly after they’ve tuned in, so that there’s a “continuous performance" as far as turnouts are concerned.) Fixed Habits Fixed habits seem to be the gauge in several respects. The 90- minute “Omnibus” cuts across “Meet the Press” at 6 o’clock, and when there’s a "big name” politico billed on the latter, the Lawrence Spivak property gets a respectable rating with very little help from the preceding show on the web General Electric’s “new format” Sunday series has been giving “TV Playhouse” quite a tussle, with presumed inheritance from “Toast of the Town.” of course, but with GE followed by "Honestly Celeste” (now dropped after failing to get off the ground since its premiere a few weeks ago), “Playhouse” ap- pears to be going better during its final fling to the 10 o’clock mark. (The quality of competition now de- pends on what replaces “Celeste.”) Probably the biggest irritant fac- tor for tv’s “drama lovers" is the half-hour overlap of “Robert Mont- gomery Presents” with "Studio One.” The latter climbs a bit at Sudden FCC Stay on Tex„ Fla. Permits Seen Stirring Up Political Rumpus Hollywood Scriptor Sol Saks details why You Got to Have Warmth * * * another bright byline piece in the 49th Anniversary Number ef DVE SOON See Free-For-All On TV ‘Satellites’ Without a Home \ Washington, Dec. 7. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to an- nounce a decision soon that will throw open all unclaimed video channels for use as satellite sta- tions. Object, informed sources say, is solely to open all markets to television as quickly as possible. Move would create a “grab bag”, status for several hundred unused tv channels, regardless of whether they are UHF or VHF, commercial or educational. Assumption also is that large existing stations will be in position to own several satellites over a w ide area—simply in order to facilitate broad video saturation and as quickly as possible. Already some observers feel that by allow- ing existing tv operators to “gobble up” unused channels a monopo- listic situation will be created whereby (he “little guy” with aspirations to be an owner is locked out. Any such FCC action, they say, will encourage several small “networks” fed by a key station. Precedent for this satellite move was set in part two weeks ago when WTRE-TV, a VHF’er in Lufkin. Tex., and 124 miles from Houston, was given FCC permis- sion to become a satellite for established KPRC-TV in the latter market. The action was a surprise to many since the only previous indication by the Commission was that UHF channels only might be permitted to act as satellites for existing V’s, yet the first step was to give a V to a V. At the time of this decision, Comr. Frieda Hennock made a strong dissent. 10:30, when Montgomery leaves the arena. (There’s a canard in the trade that the customers always come in in the middle of the “Studio pic- ture). In another overlap of more recent launching, “Dismeyland” has been showing its heels to Arthur (Continued on page 36) Pennsy’t 1,000,000-Wat ter WBRE-TV, Wilkes-Barre. Pa., on Friday (JO) dedicates the nation’s first 1.000,000-watt tv transmitter, with RCA’s Gen. David $arfioff skedded to do the honors. A UHF station, WBRE-TV is owned and operated by Louis G. Baltimore. Washington, Dec. 7. In a surprise action which has Washington trying to figure the po- litical implications, the Federal Communications Commission last week ordered a stay and new oral arguments on two television con- struction permits previously granted. The order halted the Aug. 6 grant of Channel 6, in Beaumont, Tex., to the Beaumont Broadcast- ing Co., and the Sept. 3 grant of Channel 13 in Tampa, Fla., to Tampa Television Co. There is considerable belief here that, no matter what decisions re- sult from the new hearings, the cases will be appealed through the Federal courts, and that the Senate Intestate Commerce Committee may look into the situation. The vote for stay and rehearing is understood to have been forced by Gfcorge C. McConnaughey, new FCC chairman, whose confirmation was held at the recent special ses- sion of the Senate. When the Sen- ate Commerce Committee takes up his appointment once more, early in the new 84th Congress, it is expected that he will be quizzed on these cases. The stay order handed down last Friday followed a heated executive session of the FCC and a 4-3 spla on the decision, with Commission- ers Edward M. Webster, Frieda Hennock and Robert T, Bartley strongly dissenting. Principal points which the two cases have in common is that the FCC overrode the recommenda- tions of the hearing examiners in both, and refused grants which would have had the strongest con- centration of informational power. In Beaumont, the three appli- cants were The Enterprise Co., publisher of the Beaumont News- papers; Beaumont Broadcasting Corp., which also operates radio-tv stations at Wichita Falls, 365 miles (Continued on page 34) NBC-TV Brings ‘Home’ MG Tuna NBC - TV’s “Today” - “Home” - "Tonight” threesome of oversized participation skeins has made its biggest money coup to date, with Star-Kist Tuna plunking down a gross of $900,000 for a longternjer to be ushered in during the first week in January. Not only is it the No. 1 sale «o far for the "T-H-T” festoon, but it’s interesting to note that tha California fishery outfit formerly pitched on Arthur Godfrey’s CBS- TV show opposite “Home.” "Home” is currently 78% sold, with fourth quarter headed for $1,900,000 in time and program billings. Total 1954 billings for the show (it started in March) will go over the $3,200,000 mark, with like amount incepting the new year. Fingers in the Pie More than one eyebrow—including the hirsute adornment of many a commercially-minded Madison Ave., N.V., practitioner with, however, a sense of the fitness of things—was raised last week when the name of Mrs. Earl Warren was linked to a spon- sored radio-tv program. The wife of the Chief Justice of the United States (along with Arthur Godfrey) was drawn into the act via her participation in presenting the top prizes to winners of Pillsbury’s Grand National Baking Contest. Bake-off Awards luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria, N.Y., is skedded for “Art Link- letter’s House Party” next Tuesday (14) on CBS-TV at 2:30 to 3 p.m. (CBS Radio, 3:15 to 3:45). On an even less “sensitive” front last week, N.Y. Timesman Jack Gould. In a review of Goodsoif & Todman’s latest quiz, “What's Going On?” on ABC-TV, said that “authorities at West Point could profitably exercise closer supervision over the stunt in which cadets are permitted to participate. The kissing sequence was a tasteless affair and hardly one to come from the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy.” ‘Merry Widow’ Tinier, Stars for Xmas ‘Omni’ “Omnibus” will tint up Franz Ldhar’s “The Merry Widow” as a 90-minute holiday-week offering on the CBS-TV Dec. 26 segment. Colorcast will have Patrice Munsel in the title role, with Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra maestro, conducting the perform- ance. Operetta will be staged by actor C> ril Ritchard, who directed “Barber of Seville” for Metopera last season and who appeared on “Omnibus" a couple of weeks ago in “Virtuous Island.” In support as Prince Danilo will be Theodor Uppman, and a cast bf 30 perform- ers including separate dancing and singing choruses will be used. As an offbeat color experiment, each of the three sets used will be painted in one of the three primary colors. Alistair Cooke, of course, . will be on hand as narrator.