Variety (November 1955)

Wednesday, November 23, 1955 JSJVRIJSTY RADIO-TELEVISION RADIO RATINGS? WHO NEEDS ’EM A Dog s Life They've got Rin Tin Tin working like a dog this week on a raz¬ zle-dazzle rpund of tv guest shots, Thanksgiving Day Parades, in¬ terviews, personal appearances and the like. “They" are Screen Gems, which produces the ABC-TV “Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," Natonal Biscuit, which sponsors it, and Kenyon & Eckhardt, Nabisco’s agency. Strangely enough, in all the activity, the only appearance the dog and his retinue will make on ABC-TV is on film on the show itself—every live appearance will be on either NBC and CBS. . Itinerary starts this morning (Wed.) when the Rin Tin Tin party of nine (including owner-trainer Lee Duncan and stars James Brown and Lee Aaker) arrive at Idlewild Airport and Duncan and the dog come into town via an NBC mobile station wagon for a wireless telephone interview with Bill Cullen on WRCA’s “Pulse." Then it starts—the check-in at the Savoy-Plaza, pictures with a 'Berlitz school instructor with Rinny brushing up on his French, Italian and Spanish (show’s been dubbed into those languages), in¬ terviews and Bamberger Thanksgiving Eve Parade (late Wednes¬ day afternoon) from Newark with a CBS-TV nationwide pickup. Thursday morning it’s the Macy’s Parade, with an NBC-TV tele¬ cast, plus more- interviews, plus at 4 p.m. hosting a reception for Nabisco’s toy contest winners, at the Savoy-Plaza. Next morning, it’s off again to Macy’s for the winners of the contest to pick up their loot (winners get free, rein for a specified number of min¬ utes in the toy department, carrying off what they can), with NBC-TV’s “Today” moving in for two remote pickups of the scramble. Rest of the day is interviews; Saturday is the canine Sabbath—all rest; and Sunday it’s off again on another interview- appearance whirlwind leading up to departure for the Coast, dog- tired, at 11:25 Sunday night. ’ From the Horse’s Mouth Bruce Beemer, Radio’s ‘Lone Ranger’ For 20 Years, Thinks TV Version’s All Wrong [Ml APPROACHES AFTRA ‘Unveils’ Welfare Benefits; FOUND TO SALES ^ rst ^ars Collections $ 1 , 600 , Detroit, Nov. 22. Bruce Beemer, who was,# radio’s "Lone Ranger” 20 years and is still heard via tape, is doing the talk¬ ing: “They’re playing the Lone Ranger all wrong on tv. They’ve got him all slicked up with that white hat, tight pants and just-so necktie. He doesn’t look like he ever did honest work, much less have the ability to outwit desper¬ adoes: “I see the Ranger make his en¬ trance in the rain, down the street of a Western town. He’s tired after a long ride; his boots are muddy; his coat is wrinkled; his saddle is worn and his guns look like they’ve been used. “It’s a shame the way Western heroes have been painted for kids. Sure, no smoking or drinking is a good idea. But the no work, no women, gives the kids the wrong idea. It. makes the men look ab¬ normal. “Wyatt Earp, now there’s the way a Western should be done. Hugh O’Brien looks like he could do cowhand’s work. He isn’t ah w.ays pure; he gets into trouble. “Look at Western history, men like Earp or Bat Masterson who yyere hired to clean up towns, weren’t guitar-twanging, fancy dressed dudes like Rogers, Autry and Cassidy. “The movies have finally real¬ ized Western men were tough and human; that Indians are not all bad. Television has got to learn too, or the real flavor of the West is going to be lost. That would be bad. The West, the real West, is one of the greatest things in. our American heritage.” IATSE and WABD Agree to Agree Situation between International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Em¬ ployees and WABD, N. Y., has been ticklish, to say the least, the past several days. In the meta¬ morphosis from network key to in¬ dependent, the DuMont o&o has shaved from roughly 160 engineers to 78 as of last .week. Union ac¬ cepted the arguments of Ted Cott, WABD chieftain, that since the out¬ let no longer was network home- base the union would have to re¬ alize that cuts were necessary. IATSE drew up a.two-month truce with Cott which ended Nov. 13 and then engineers wanted to with¬ draw “concessions.” But at a Monday (21) midnight meeting union 1 decided to set¬ tle for a continuation of the pr£s- (Continued on page 38) Block’s 500G for ‘Today’ Block Drug Co. is shelling out $500,000 gross for year-round ex¬ posure on NBC’s cross-the-board “Today.” Sponsor will go two-a- week on the participation route starting in January, adding up to 104 plugs. Harry B. Cohen agency set the deal. Baudino Pitching For Many Reforms In B’cast Policies Dallas, Nov. 22. Simplification and revision of the FCC regulations covering po¬ litical broadcasts was urged last week by Joseph E. Baudino, Wash¬ ington v.p. of the Westinghouse Broadcasting Corp. Baudino, ad¬ dressing the regional meeting of the National Assn, of Radio & Tel¬ evision Broadcasters here, called upon the industry and the FCC “to free tho station from liability for political matter which it must carry and cannot censor and to simplify the regulations covering political broadcasts.” Baudino also urged three other recommendations on the broad¬ casters, the extension of the sta¬ tion licensing period from three to 10 years 1 with accompanying changes to relieve the work load of the FCC staff and to make su¬ pervision of the industry more realistic and effective,” to extend the term of network affiliation from two to five years, and to “avoid by voluntary action the ne¬ cessity for the Commission setting limits on the amount of time in (Continued on page 40) Bing’s St. Jo Buy Washington, Nov, 22. Bing Crosby is one-third owner of a company which applied to the FCC last week to acquire stations KFEQ and KFEQ-TV in St. Jo¬ seph, Mo., for • approximately $.700,000. Joining with Crosby in the purchase are Kenyon Brown, part-owner of KWFT-TV in Wich¬ ita Falls, Tex., and George L. Coleman of Miami, Fla. Crosby, who disposed of an in¬ terest two years ago in KXLY-TV in Spokane, Wash., listed his net' worth in the application as “in excess of” $1,000,000. By ART WOODSTONE The rating point is being chucked into the ashcan as the be- all, end-all of program measure¬ ment by more and more radio peo¬ ple everyday. From all Indications neither the station nor the net¬ work sales boss feels he can any longer sport 0.6’s or even the cur¬ rent 4.5 or 4.6 “giants” as an in¬ ducement to advertisers. Most particularly with the sta¬ tions and their radio spot reps, new approaches on sales are being found. And the topple of the radio point (or rating percentage) from its erstwhile perch has many in- dustryites relieved and happy. They are Jhe ones who have ada¬ mantly opposed the rating’s life- death absolutism for a long time. Few stations sell their wares by ratings anymore. Ratings are a per-broadcast measure, and the word is “Heaven help the pro¬ grammer who gets stuck by an off- day measure in this era of erratic radio listeriership.” It’s becoming more evident daily that radio is being sold for its saturation qualities, by the net¬ works as well as the stations. As a matter of fact, the networks for years have been subscribing to Nielsen which doesn’t offer any¬ thing but a four-week cumulative audience of “unduplicated” homes. Those resulting “250,000 radio homes” might mean exactly the same thing as a 1.8 rating, say, but it’s considered a more realistic | measure of radio’s worth than the latter. Besides, there’s the psy¬ chology of selling 250,000 of some¬ thing as opposed to 1.8%. Even those that don’t like Niel¬ sen or its new local four-week cumulative reports are willing, in many cases, to admit that the rat¬ ing itself defies definition. It rep¬ resents a percentage of some often arbitrarily chosen measuring area, that suits one station’s sales tastes but not another’s. Besides, it’s be¬ ing argued, t'he rating point per se is just extra work in figuring cost per-1,000 since it must be labori¬ ously translated into homes before it can be applied. Beyond the machinations of the researchers-ratings, “cumes” or otherwise—certain industryites ad¬ vocate completely different meth¬ ods of selling. Ward Dorrell is one—he’s an officer of Blair sta¬ tion reps and he opposes Nielsen radio measurements even though some of his stations subscribe to that system. He emphasized only last week in a speech before a mid¬ west ad group that "because there is at present no definitive meas¬ urement of the audience to a par¬ ticular program or station, buyers should pay close attention to qual¬ ity and type of programming; pro¬ motion and other services avail¬ able to the advertiser: the station^ character and personality; quality of management.” A partial block to elimination of rating points is the very fact that Madison Ave., for the most part, has its media departments geared solely to them. However, It is re¬ ported that agency resistance to new methodology is slowly de¬ teriorating. Allis-Chalraers Picks Up Yule ‘Scrooge’ Tab Chicago, Nov. 22. The late Lionel Barrymore’s characterization of Charles Dick¬ ens’ “Scrooge”‘will be aired again this Christmas for the 22d year. The half-hour is to be presented Xmas eve on Mutual by Allis- Chalmers. This will be the second year the I Barrymore holiday classic has been aired posthumously. It was con¬ tinued last year as a Xmas feature on the CBS “Hall of Fame” shortly after the actor’s death. Barrymore had been the “Hall’s” regular host ' until his death a year ago this I month. 21” Screen Now Standard Washington, Nov, 22. The 21” screen is rapidly becoming standard among the nation’s tv set owners, Amer¬ ican Research Bureau report¬ ed last week. During the last nine months, according to ARB, proportion of 21" sets has grown from 40% to 48%. During the same period, sets with 16” to 18" pictures have declined from 39% to 35%. In the newer tv markets, where the majority of sets were purchased during the past three years, the 21" set predominates. In Portland, Ore., the proportion is 72%. In Denver it is 68% and in Harrisburg it is 67%. Keystone Never Had It So Good- Now Eyes Video Chicago, Nov. 22. There’s one radio network topper who has observed the growth of television with considerable satis¬ faction. That’s Sidney J. Wolf, founder and prexy of the Keystone Broadcasting System, who de¬ scribes tv as “our greatest booster.” The transcription web, now en¬ compassing 869 affiliates, has ex¬ perienced its biggest expansion, both in billings and affiliations, the past half-dozen years generally de¬ scribed at the video era. Key¬ stone’s billing figures are one of the trade’s best kept secrets, prob¬ ably from a reluctance to tip off the live networks of its competitive status. However, Wolf reports “business already booked for 1956 has doubled 1955 which was the best year in the 15 we’ve been in business.” Al¬ though Keystone still bicycles reg¬ ular programs for clients the bulk of the biz is now in minute spots as the national advertisers use the af¬ filiation family as spot carriers out to the grassroots. Wolf sees the current wire network trend to¬ ward becoming vehicles for . spot distribution not unlike what Key¬ stone has been doing for years. Success of the AM operation has prompted Wolf and associates to survey the possibilities of develop¬ ing a similar setup for tv. While there are no definite tele plans for the immediate future, the move will be made “eventually,” via the film route. Keystone’s big selling point as supplementary circulation has tra¬ ditionally been that its affiliation- dom bypasses the major tv markets. That still prevails, but in the past year or so there has been an in¬ creasing “invasion” of video terri¬ tory. As veep Edwin Peterson points out, Keystone is no longer a 100% rural affair with such cities as Milwaukee, Louisville and Dal¬ las 1 now repped on the station ros¬ ter. Keystone’s client roster is re¬ plete /with such bluechippers as General Mills, Ford, Kellogg, Na¬ bisco, Lever Bros., Procter & Gam¬ ble and General Foods and many other familiar radio-tv big names. One major account is using Key¬ stone exclusively for its radio cov¬ erage to backstop its tv. Ferrer’s WNEW Drama Jose Ferrer and WNEW, N. Y. radio indie, team tonight (Wed.) to do a Turkey eve documentary drama about Puerto Rican immi¬ grants. Ferrer will narrate stanza written and directed by station scribe Milton Robertson. Program, slated for 10:35 p.m., emphasizes role of Children’s Aid i Sodlcty in helping Puerto Ricans. ' Extensive welfare benefits under the American Federation of Tele¬ vision & Radio Artists new Pension and Welfare Funds will get untier way Jan. 1, with pension provisions of the plan taking effect on Jan. 1, 1958. two years later. Details of the plans, available to all members earning $1,000 or more a year from live television, were made public last week by the trustees of the funds, who also revealed that the first year’s collections had totaled more than $1,600,000. Welfare provisions of the plan call for (li $3,000 life insurance, (2) $3,000 accidental death and dis¬ memberment insurance, (3) Blue Cross hospitalization for the per¬ former and his family, (4) full ma¬ ternity benefits and (5) major medi¬ cal expense insurance up to $5,000 for the performer and the same amount for each of his eligible de¬ pendents. Latter, a new form of coverage, will pay in addition to te full hospitalization benefits 75% of all major medical expenses foi the performer and each of his de¬ pendents in excess of $200 a year up to a $5,000 maximum. Pension provisions permit re¬ tirement as early as age 55, and permits optional benefits to con¬ tinue lifetime payments to widows, •widowers or children of retired performers. Also provided are death benefits if the performer dies before retirement or during the early years of retirement. Pen¬ sion can take effect even if a per¬ former may have stopped working in the industry before having reached 55. Plan, based on the contributions to the fund on be¬ half of the performer, is nonethe¬ less weighted in favor of the artists whose incomes fall in the low and moderate brackets. Based on con¬ tributions and years in the indus¬ try, annual retirement income can hit a high of $7,500 or more. Eligibility requirements cover service in the live television in¬ dustry as a whole, rather than em¬ ployment merely with one producer or company. Performer must earn a minimum of $1,000 a year in live television, but in an additional-pro¬ tection clause, he remains pro¬ tected for one subsequent year if he has had no work the second year. Contributions to the funds are made only by the employers— the networks, stations, independent producers and ad agencies—in an amount of 5% of the gross pay of the performers. Board of Trustees, comprising an equal number of industry and (Continued on page 38) CBS Radio, TV s NewBizWrapup CBS Radio (and tv) had Itself a sales spree last week. Here’s the blow-by-blow: “Arthur Godfrey Time” simul¬ cast—Easy Washing Machine, once- weekly; every fourth Friday, radio only; Corn Products (Mazola), one and a half segments; Bristol-Myers, currently backing a segment two and a half days, added another to make it three and a half per week. Segmented Selling: F. C. Russell Storm Windows, two and a half portions weekly of Bing Crosby show, starting Feb. 20. (Both Easy Washing and Russell are new to network radio.) California Prune & Apricot Growers Assn, quarter-hour of “Art Linkletter’s House Party,” starting Jan. 5; Giant Animals, 26 shows in the next few weeks (Christmas drive), including Galen Drake, “Romance of Helen Trent,” “Sec¬ ond Mrs. Burton,” “Johnny Dollar” and a foursome of “Our Gal Sun¬ day”; Circus Toys,' segs of Fred Robbins show, “Backstage Wife” and “Brighter Day”; White House Co. Xmas Chime Records, three Sunday daytime periods totalling 35 minutes; Sleep-Eze, sponsorship of weekly series, “Surprise Thea- tre,” Saturday 12:55-1 p. m. | d