Variety (April 1955)

Wednesday, April 13, 1955 49 RABIO-VIBEO-XV ElWHS * If there’s anything that points up the changes which have occurred over the past couple of months at ABC-TV, it’s the net- work’s feat in selling some $18,500,000 in new business in a two- month period without even a pilot film or kinescope to aid them. What’s more, the web's sales force has accomplished this feat, not with one or two clients, but a total of 10, with one of those plunking down $4,000,000 without a foot of film to look at. Sales, were made on Wait Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Club” and “Warney Bros. Presents,” with Disney accounting for some $10,500,000 from eight separate sponsors and “Warners” represent- ing $8,000,000 from two bankrollers. Contracts were, firmed de- spite the fact that <1) the WB show doesn’t hit the air for five months,' “Mickey Mouse” for six; (2) not a foot of film existed com- prising footage that would be used on the shows; (3) formats were and are still in the idea stage, with scripts not even written on the ^ Warner show;'and (4) station clearance hasn’t been resolved en-. tirely yet, with the clients having signed on the dotted line before a lineup had been set. Web’s achievement in selling - ’on this basis easily rivals NBC’s pre-production sellout of its specolas last year, and represents a complete change in ABC’s status as a “third network.” That it could do this Jdnd of selling on “Mickey Mouse” is understandable in light of “Disneyland's” instantaneous success, but the Warners sales point up not only the draw of a major. Hollywood studio with Hollywood stars, but ABC’s new strength, as a major contender in the video sweepstakes. Addition of the Pabst fights brings the two-month total up $4,300,000 to nearly $23,000,000, as much as the network grossed during all of 1953. NBC Tosses a IT Party From 'Blue Ribbon to Blue Plate 9 Characterizes 'Peter Pan 9 Vs. ‘Reunion 9 Party : — Back in the days when the late Atwater Kent was conspicuous for his West Coast parties on his Bel Air estate, it was common knowl- edge that his guests were “graded” in terms, of . A, B, C and D parties, depending on how Important they were. Apparently NBC is following the game pattern on its “after the Spec” late night parties. Following the “Peter Pan” telecast, the shindig was a blue-ribbon affair, with .21 Club in New York taken over for the occasion. In contrast, the party thet fol- lowed last week’s “Reunion in Vi- enna” tint spec, held at a midtown bistro, was strictly off the “blue plate” shelf. A bare score showed up in what was described as a “dismal affair,” occasioning one of the show’s stars to comment: “We’d have been better off if NBC gave us $5 each and permitted us to go out and eat on our own,” ABC-IYs Backlog On Color Shows Despite its lack of color origi- nating equipment and its refusal to enter the tint sweepstakes until there are enough sets to make it “economically feasible,” ABC-TV is building a formidable backlog of tinted programs. With the deci- sion to film “Warner Bros. Pre- sents” In the studio’s own Warner- Color, the network now has three hour series set for the tintfilm treatment. “Disneyland” has been filmed in color all along, and Walt Disney’s upcoming “Mickey Mouse Club” is also slated for the rain- bow treatment. What gives ABC-TV, although out of the competitive color race at this point, a decided advantage over NBC and CBS in future col- orcasting, is the fact that the ABC “baby specs,” in the form of the three shows, are all on film. On the other hand, NBC’s and CBS’ most notable color ventures have been in the form of live shows, with only the kinescopes preserv- ed. It’s true that many of the half- hour vidfilm segments on CBS and NBC have received the occasional tint treatment in terms of 13-week color cycles, but the three ABC series are deemed to have more durability in terms of acceptance for their repeat in terms of color “premieres.” TPA Ups Bruce Eells In line with the growing ex- pansion of its production and sales setup on the Coast, Television Pro- grams of America last week upped Bruce Eells to v.p. in charge of its western division. Eells, manager of the division since 1953 and before that with Young & Rubicam, Ziv Television Programs, Don Lee net- work and his own transcription outfit, will expand the sales and service ends of the Coast setup for TPA within.the next few months. Deintermix Plea Tenn. Stations Washington, April 12. A proposal to deintermix chan- nels in the Carolinas and Tennes- see, which would provide for all VHF stations in Knoxville and Co- lumbia and only UHF in the Spartanburg area, is to be sub- mitted to the FCC tomorrow (Wed.). The plan, the most far-reaching, yet to be proposed, will also limit VHF competition in Ashville, -N. C.,. Anderson, S. C. and Greenville, S. C. No VHF stations on the air air would be affected under the pro- posal, but WSPA in Spartanburg, which has been stopped by the courts from building a station at Paris Mt., would be given a UHF instead of a VHF license. The pro- posal points out that this would enable WSPA to operate from Spartanburg with CBS programs without overlapping CBS affiliates in Charlotte, N. C., and elsewhere in the area. Proposal is being filed by Bene- dict Cottone, counsel for UHF sta- tions WAIM-TV in Anderson and WGVL in Greenville, which jointly fought the. WSPA plan to locate dn Paris Mt. on the grounds it was a device to circumvent the alloca- tion. plan in order to get a CBS affiliation. By the direction of the 1 courts, the Commission has or- dered hearings on the WSPA move. CBS Flacks' Pay Hike Hollywood, April 12. After two months of "negotia- tions by the Publicists Guild CBS flacks here won a 7% pay boost on a two-year agreement. Affect- ing about 20 publicists at Colum- bia Square and Television City, pact, now being drafted, provides for first year flacks to draw $97.50, which automatically goes to $115 thereafter. Production qf new telefilm se- ries for syndication- has slowed down to a virtual walk at a time when most distribs ordinarily are gearing up their production com- mitments in order to fill their new product portfolios for the fall; Last year at this time, there were nearly 20 new series in the works for Sep- tember sale. This year, there are only about 10 on the “definite list.” Distribs, of course, are talk- ing about other properties, but these are in the nebulous “devel- opment” stage. Slowdown in production comes as a result of the realization by the distribs that there’s just too much | product on the market now. Aside from the vast rerun catalog (aind this cuts sharply into sales of new firstrun properties to " economy- minded station managers and cli- ents), there’s an overload of first- run product from the fall still wait- ing to be sold, Pricecutting war made itself felt too, and many dis- tribs realized they had overextend- ed "themselves in last year’s pro- duction commitments to the point where they’ve got to cut back for a while in order to meet their guarantees or financing notes. Business over the past month has been reported as generally good, which at last gives the key syndicators a chance to recoup after a bad winter. They’re not taking any chances op, flooding the market all over again and going through another price war as well | as individual economic scrapes. The result is expected to be less new product for syndication next season, *witli a higher price scale being maintained because of it. Only Few New Ones On Tap As of the moment—and while the picture may change by sum- mer, when syndicators start to sell for the fall—there are only a few new"shows on tap. Official, Guild and ABC Syndication are at the top of the heap. Official has up- coming “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” “The Three Musketeers” and “Rob- in Hood,” all of them foreign pro- ductions. Guild is already in pro- duction on "The Goldbergs” and “Confidential File,” and is ready- ing “I Spy” and “Brother Mark,” the latter to be lensed in Germany with Carlton Films and Marion Parsonnet. These will be offered for national sale, but the likelihood is they’ll end up in syndication in the fall. ABC, in its first majpr ex- pansion move, has “Sheena, Queen of the Jungle” in the works as well as additional “Douglas Fair- banks Presents” and has tentative- (Continiied on page 52) TV Parlays ’Lassie’ Into Big Boxoffice On Personal Appearances Television’s amazing ability to create box office attractions is by no means limited to personalites, plays, or films. It can even make a potent drawing card out of animals. A case in point is Lassie, which went on the air as the star of a CBS-TV film series in September, began doing appearances in De- cember solely on the strength of the tv show, and between Decemr her and now has already grossed about $50,000. Moreover, the dog and its trainer-owner, Rudd Weathenvax, are booked for the Canadian Na- tional Exhibiton in August for a six-day stand at a fee of $15,000 for the entire troupe, which in- cludes Lassie, another dog and an assistant trainer. If Weathenvax and the dog could fill all the dates offered them between now and the end of the year — but shooting schedules make that impossible— the gross fees would be between $150,000 and $200,000 making tele- . vision just a sideline, although that’s what started the entire busi- ness. Figures come from Bob Maxwell, producer of the tv show, who was in New York last week setting up | (Continued on page 54) 4 - ray-i v nassie rays m in apaaes ♦ NBC 9 * Toll-TV 1-Shot With CBS sticking to its guns re Zenith’s. Phanevision message, RCA is said, to be moving to offer time on. the NBC web to one of the toll-tv systems. Gesture, which would put the nets in the clear on any charge of conspiring against pay-as-you-see, is said: to be imminent. The CBS nix on the Phonevision pitch has been widely interpreted as reflect- ing the web’s policy stand re the parlor b.o. Congress May Push (or Free ^ Washington, April 12. A hint that Congress may be asked to seek free' television time for campaigning in next year’s elec- tions came out of last week’s hear- ings by the Senate Committee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency. It grew from the opinion ex- pressed at the session by Alex- ander Wiley (R., Wis.) that the mounting charges for political time on tv has many political -figures worried -that the powerful medium will be withheld from candidates without fat campaign chests. Wiley, ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee and a member of the Juvenile De- linquency Committee, is up for re- election next year. The indications; are that he will face a knock-doyn scrap in the G.O.P. primary. While FCC Commissioner Frieda Hen- nock was on the stand, he com-, plained: “I am thinking -about the in- creasing part played in elections by television, and the cost is get- ting prohibtive. Has the FCC given any consideration to providing a barrier against the stations in their charging? A man in the Wisconsin primary is limited to spending $5,000. For that he can’t buy 15 minutes of time on the Wisconsin stations.” Wiley added that some use the political subterfuge of hav- ing independent committees set up to push their candidacies. If these committees have a lot of money, he said, they can push their candi- dates on tv while those without plenty of funds can’t get their story across on video. This makes it impossible to get fair play before an election”, con- tinued Wiley. It’s a dangerous situ- ation. These days, a viewpoint with a tremendous amount of money can put its ideas before the public. The fellow who is preferred by (Continued on page 54) Sosnik’s Original Scores For ’Darkness,’ ‘Forest’ Harry Sosnik, who’s waging what’s almost a one-man campaign to secure recognition of the con- tributions of live music to televi- sion and particularly video drama, is currently propping a pair of. original scores for two upcoming “Producer’s Showcase” specs on NBC-TV. He’s doing an original for “Darkness at Noon,” and one for “The Petrified Forest,” and will conduct both, the latter on the Coast with a Hollywood orchestra. Sosnik, incidentally, turned out an original score for last week’s “Showcase” specola, “Reunion in Vienna," and led a 28-piece orch on the show. “The fight against re- cordings,” Sosnik says, “is always difficult because of the cost prob- lem and it takes every little thing to combat it and make the powers that be as well as the public aware of the advantages of live music as against recordings.” Chicago, April 12. Whether planned or not, Zenith Radio’s latest spat with CBS-TV over., the network’s turndown of a subscription tv commercial - slated for "Omnibus” two Sundays hack is paying off in spades for the set manufacturing firm’s campaign to get the tollvision message across to the lay and trade audience. Thanks to wide press play, the con- troversial blurb plugging the ad- vantages of" pay-tv ighich failed to get network exposure on CBS nev- ertheless ■ got national distribution* The next round may well hinge on the use of Zenith’s name nn last Sunday’s (10) “Omnibus” spon- sorship billboard despite the firm’s demand it be withdrawn. Although no definite decision has been reached, Variety learned Zenith is mulling legal .action against the “unauthorized” use of the Zenith trademark, which ran contrary to specific instructions. ' It’s under- stood the decision to retain the Zenith tag oh the final show of <the season Was made by the Ford Foun- dation, producers of the Sabbath display. Meanwhile, Zenith general coun- sel Joseph Wright is drafting a reply-to CBS veep Richafd Salant’s letter which outlined the network’s reasons for nixing the commercial. Zenith is taking exception to Sa- lant’s argument that subscription tv does not fall in the category of ’’products” eligible for showcasing commercially on the program. Ze- nith claims it falls within the “product and/or service” classifica- tion, while CBS argues it’s a “con- troversial public issue,” and there- by not'acceptable for use on shows not dfevoted to discussion of such issues, per standard network pol- icy.- Charge Censorship _ When CBS refused to okay the plug for the April 3 show, hank- roller blasted it as “arbitrary and unwarranted censorship” and told the web it wanted no part of that program and demanded its name be withheld from the following week’s telecast which wound up the “Omnibus” season. Wright also is expected to dis- agree strongly with Salant’s state- ments regarding discussions with CBS prexy Dr. Frank Stanton two days previous over the handling of the pro and con toll-tv debate used editorially dn “Omnibus” March 27. Salant charged the Ze- nith attorney was “outrageously and knowingly wrong” in stating (Continued on page 50) Sinatra Snarls Toast’ ‘Guys’ Plug Ed Sullivan’s proposal for a big sendoff on “Toast of the Town” for “Guys and Dolls” has been snagged by the refusal of Frank Sinatra to appear personally on the show with other members of the cast of the Samuel Goldwyn pic. Singer con- tends TV is as much his business as pictures and he should be paid for the appearance. Goldwyn claims his contract binds Sinatra to make such gratis appearances to promote the picture, a point Sinatra dis- putes. He has no control, how- ever, over clips of him from the film being shown. Sinatra is being paid $25,000 for guesting on the April 24 Max Liebman NBC-TV color specola. Gordon Heilman to TvB Gordon Heilman quits as CBS- TV’s director of sales presenta- tions on April 30 to step in to Tele- vision Advertising Bureau as sales promotion chief. Heilman is ex- pected to be the last major exec to join TvB under present expan- sion plans. The new sales promotion org’s appointee joined CBS in ’50, be- fore that being with Kenyon & Eckhardt.