Variety (March 1956)

28 RAMO-TEMSVISIOIV yA-RIETY Wednesday, March 14, 1956 Westinghouse B’casting’s Public Service Now Comes in Bundles Westinghouse Broadcasting Corp.,+ which inaugurated “group” public service - educational "programming this season via intra-company projects carried by all the WBC stations, plans to do the same thing on an even greater scale in the fall. Programming v.p. Dick Pack has set out four major series, of which stations will pick three, plus a request for a “Project X” which would have each station picking its owrt pubservicer de¬ signed to make its community a better place in which to live. Pack has designated as the four major projects for the year Ameri¬ can History, Mental Health, The Teacher and America’s Need for More Scientists & Engineers. Each station will be required to under¬ take any three of the four, giying each its own treatment. Stations can schedule the projects any way they like—as a 13-week series, as a 52-wecker, as a “local spectacu¬ lar” as an hourlong one-a-month series. Both radio and tv stations in the WBC chain are in on the project. American history series would best be undertaken in conjunction with local historical societies or schools and colleges, stressing the local angles as the most colorful manner of presentation. At the national level, a tie-up with the American Heritage quarterly is be¬ ing effected to supply material and research. On the mental health project (a continuation of this sea¬ son’s jingle campaign among-the WBC stations), the emphasis would be not on “mental illness but on mental health” with a positive ap¬ proach. WBC’s group pubservice sched¬ ule this season had embraced in radio the “Sing Along for Mental Health” campaign, the Berg^i Evans-starring “Of Many Things” and extensive coverage leading up to and into the White House Con¬ ference on Education. The tele¬ vision side concentrated on the White House Conference with ex¬ tensive news coverage and the “Big R” documentary film series, with both the radio and tv proj-‘ ects garnering lots of trade and public plaudits. Pubservice campaign was strong¬ ly backed in a followup memo to stations by WBC prez Don McGan- non, who in a “damn the profits” mood, called on the stations to put out their best in the extra stanzas. That the parent Westinghouse Electric is eyeing the pubservice venture as a means of strengthen¬ ing public relations is inherent in McGannon’s memo, which for one thing, states, “I want you to con¬ sider any profit objectives for 1956 on the basis of excluding money spent for public service from the normal course of operation.” In another oblique reference to cor¬ porate goodwill, McGannon states that “these projects are just as vital to our operation as our com¬ mercial activities.” Pitching, in with Pack to develop • the projects were Bill Kaland. pro-! gram manager, and Gordon Haw- \ kins, WBC educational director. Hub Bans Cameras Boston, March 13. TV cameras were barred from the State House hearing on Governor Herter’s recom¬ mendations for the reorganiza¬ tion of the Massachusetts courts system. A majority of the legislative committee on the judiciary favored a tv hearing. Rep. Ed¬ mond J. Donlan of West Rox- bury said, but Senator Ralph V. Clampit of Springfield, chairman, was against it. Senator Newland H. Holmes, floor leader of the Senate, said he would not put the matter to the rules committee for a vote unless Chairman Clampit requested approval. He noted that the Judicial Council op¬ posed tv and radio public hear¬ ings in its recommendations to the Governor and the Legis¬ lature. ‘Emmy &‘Oscar To Marry?‘Net A Chance': Seaton Wrigley’s ‘Crisis’ On Autry AM Sub Chicago, March 16. There was some mighty fast l'oot- tfrork at CBS here last week when wrd came down from the front ofl^ce to whip up a network radio package for the Wrigley Co. to replace the Gene Autry Sunday night show while the cowboy star takes a doctor-ordered hiatus ef¬ fective last Sunday night (ID. With CBS veep II. Leslie Atlass taking a personal hand in Ihe “crisis.” deejay Howard Miller was drafted as a producer and Burgess Meredith was signed to emcee the variety show slated for a five-week interim run while Autry takes a rest. Meredith is doubling from his starring role in the “Teahouse of the August Moon” legiter. Others lined up in rapid fire order for the 25-minute show were gospel singer Mahalia , Jackson, Gogi Grant, the Four Lads with comic Lenny Collyer a late added starter. Hollywood, March 13. Both George Seaton, prexy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and Howard May¬ er, its press agent, have denied emphatically a claim by Don De- Fore, prez of the Academy of Tele¬ vision Arts and Sciences, that the pix acad is seeking a merger with its video counterpart. Mayer, in denying DeFore’s claim, said he happened to be on the sanje plane with DeFore two years ago, and urged DeFore sit down with reps of the pix Acad¬ emy to iron out certain areas of confusion between the two acad¬ emies, such as the similarity in title. Tv acad calls itself the^ Acad¬ emy of Television Arts an'd Sci¬ ences. Meanwhile, a press conference was called by the Academy’s board last week ostensibly to discuss the Emmy awards dinner, but it was generally known that the question of the criticisms against the Acad's nominations and structures by such stars a's Jack Webb, Jerry Lewis, Dick Powell, Groucho Marx and Danny Thomas would come up, and it did. First prexy Don DeFore let it be known the request by producer M. Bernard Fox for a three-months postponement to straighten it all out would be ignored, commenting “these people can’t come in just before our show and seek a post¬ ponement.” He also said the board had invited critics Lewis, Powell, Webb, Thomas and Groucho Marx to the meeting, but none was pres¬ ent. Webb wired he couldn’t make it due to the fact he is in produc¬ tion, while Marx wired: “I would find it rather humiliating, at this late stage of my career, to appear before a tribunal at a press con¬ ference and contend that I am a comedian. I cannot understand calling in the press at what should be, if anything, a meeting betweeh ■ the board of governors and memV j bers of the Academy. Had the presj not been invited.I would have beei I only too happy to appear.” | DeFore made it clear the board ! felt that since Groucho has first ; aired his beef against the Academy through the press, it felt no con- (Continued on page 46) NBC-TV in Chi Leasing Prudential Bldg. Aud Chicago, March 13. NBC-TV is finalizing a lease ar¬ rangement with the new Pruden¬ tial Bldg., for the use of its com¬ modious auditorium as auxiliary studio space for network shows and commercials during the Demo¬ cratic political convention here next August. The establishment of a “work¬ ing agreement” with the Pruden¬ tial Bldg, could conceivably also provide NBC with an audience studio of adequate proportions for use by shows like “Tonight” for their occasional Windy City visits. Bachem Back to CBS Jack Bachem is back in CBS Radio’s camp as an account exec alter a seven-year hitch with Du¬ Mont. In latter affiliation, he moved up from an a.e. to assistant director of sales, national sales manager and general manager. Bachem’s first CBS hookup was in the period 1937-49. Prior t,o that he was with NBC in various top sales positions, moving into the broadcasting sphere after 13 years in ad and sales berths with leading mags. i ; I j J ( i ? i Pharmaceuticals Pump Adrenalin Into Pub Affairs The pharmaceutical and medical houses are the'“last outposts” on sponsorship of public, affairs pro¬ gramming, now that institutional advertising via tv has practically flown out the window. (Lack of sponsor interest, for that matter, is the primary reason why the am¬ bitious study-in-depth program¬ ming ventures off the networks’ public affairs shelves are fast be¬ coming extinct, with "See It Now” as the lone major survivor, and even this is obliged to play sus¬ taining time.) Thanks to the pharmaceuticals, however, the tv webs are still breathing life into the costly one- shot presentations in the public affairs area, with result that the upcoming “Out of Darkness” mental health telementary on CBS- TV scheduled for next week may be brought in under the sponsor¬ ship wire bearing a pharmaceutical tag. (Program will preempt the Sunday afternoon “Omnibus.”) Al¬ though the network is keeping the -identity under wraps, it’s under¬ stood thalf the pharmaceutical may •go for a succession of such one- shots. Renewed advertiser interest stems primarily from the campaign recently engineered by the CBS Public Affairs Division, which 'brought in Bob Lang (ex-director of Radio Free Europe) to head up sales development in this area of programming reporting directly to chieftain Sig Mickelson. “Out of Darkness” will have commentary by both Orson Welles and Dr. William Menninger. American Safety Razor Into ‘Game of Week’ American Safety Razor is in c a co-sponsorship deal for CB! TV’s “Baseball Game of the Weel spreading over 26 Saturdays. WL Falstaff Beer fixturecT on a region network, ASR will take the who crosscountry ride, including tl Falstaff stations, and in latter ca the . non-beer outlets (about 10 will cut away and function co-op ASR’s Gem Razor plugs w prevail during'second half of tl games, with four spots running ■ seconds. Hugh Beach is produch the ballcasts. Also sold is the pre-game “Pre¬ view” series* 2:15-25, alternating Colgate and Viceroy Cigs, with Dizzy Dean the pivotman. Hewitt’s AFSTAR Tag New York. EditQr, Variety:. As x an actor who cheerfully be¬ longs both to AFTRA and to SAG, in order to work in television, I am writing to the governing boards of both unions, urging them to consider a merger of the two, as the only practical and statesman¬ like way of averting further sense¬ less jurisdictional conflict. To borrow an old advertising slogan: “Eventually, why not now?” 1 even have a possible name for the merged association: American Federation of Screen, Television and Radio (Artists), or AFSTAR. That has a pleasant connotation, and looks better, and sounds bet¬ ter than AFSTRA, or STRAG. Alan Hewitt i i J i l ) i ■>.» 11 ‘ * o: j • j i * Senate Probe of TV Practices Entering Controversial Phase Nix Pay-TV Guinea Pig Washington, March 13. FCC finally got around last week to acting on the appli¬ cation filed seven months ago by WFMZ-TV (off the air) in Allentown, Pa., to serve as a pilot station for commercial subscription tv. The agency turned it down. Commission said that be¬ cause of the voluminous Com¬ ments filed on the toll t,y pro¬ ceeding and the complex is¬ sues involved it will require more time to decide whether it would be useful to authorize an experimental -operation or to establish the standards and criteria which would govern the project. WB Asking IMG Per Telefilm In ’56-’57 Stymie Hollywood,^March 13. Warner Bros, "studio production v.p. Jack L. Warner is holding out for $100,000 per telefilm for next season’s “Warner Bros. Presents” series on ABC-TV, thus creating a temporary stymie in negotiations- on a new pact. In this, its first season in tv, WB received $65,000 per vidpic on the hour-long shows, and the contract with the,web calls for an automatic hike to $75,000 for next season. However, Warner feels this isn’t enough and is seeking the $100,000 figure for each of the 39 shows. Warner pacts with the web and sponsors end April 16, hut WB has fc given them a two-weeks extension, "to try and iron out the financial differences. GE, Liggett & Myers and Montesanto Chemical sponsor the Tuesday night.Warner Bros. Show. •Meanwhile, with actual produc¬ tion on this semester’s series near an end, Ellis St. Joseph, producer of the “Kings Row” series no long¬ er in production, has exited, the lot; Jerry Robinson, producer*of the “Casablanca” segment- of the WB trilogy and of one anthology, has ankled; Harold Palmer, assist¬ ant to production manager Oren Haglund, has left; al^o some cleri¬ cal help. Only trilogy producer left in the tv unit is Roy Huggins, who helms the “Cheyenne” portion of the ABC-TV series. Studio still has on its agenda for this season two “Cheyennes” and a pair of an¬ thologies. There was a report that William T. Orr, unit’s exec pro¬ ducer, may helm the anthologies. MILLER BREWING’S 500G FOR TONIGHT’ Chicago, March 13. Miller Brewing has earmarked nearly $500,000 for a year’s ride on NBC-TV’s “Tonight.” Twice- weekly insertions for a total of 120 on the Steve Allen-fronted late evening strip start June 28. Brew¬ er’s agency is Mathisson & Assoc, in Milwaukee. “Today” also had its fling at the cash register as Mobile Homes .re¬ ordered a batch of 39 participations effective May 2. Agency for the trailer group is J. Walter Thomp¬ son. Mutual Gets N.D. Grid South Bend, March 13. Mutual has grabbed off the ex¬ clusive network radio rights to Notre Dame’s home football schedule thus ending the Catholic school’s nine-year tieup v with WSBT’s “Irish Football Network.” Joe Boland, sportcaster and man¬ ager of. the indie web which last year fed the.gridcasts to a skein of 190 outlets, says this means the “termination” of the WSBT hook- Washington, March 13, « Developing steam as it goes along, the Senate Interstate Com¬ merce Committee inquiry into tv problems will hold nine hearings this month, beginning tomorrow (Wed.), and will continue well into April. Further testimony on alloca¬ tions and the UHF situation will be heard this week. The Committee plans to explore several highly controversial areas of tv in April, including subscrip¬ tion tv and network practices. At least three days will be devoted to these subjects, with Zenith, Tele¬ meter, and Skiatrcn on the pro side of toll tv and the networks, NARTB and the exhibitors Com¬ mittee Against Pay-As-You-Bee tes¬ tifying against. It’s likely that other witnesses will appear. There are indications the hear¬ ings on pay tv may prompt a de¬ mand for early action by the FCC on the pending proceeding. Comr. Robert E. Lee’s recent article in Look Magazine proposing to give the public an opportunity to try out the service can be expected to arouse UHF stations and marginal V’s to pitch fer the plan. The Sen¬ ate inquiry provides a powerful forum for this purpose. Testimony to be heard on net¬ work practices, probably from in¬ dependent stations, wil doubtless serve to give support to the Brick- er bill tb regulate the webs. Whether the networks will enter this phase of the hearings will probably depend* on the nature of the anti-network allegations. - Six witnesses are scheduled to appear tomorrow. They are John Engelbrecht, prexy of WTVK (UHF), Knoxville, Tenn.; S. A. Cisler, head of REAR (AM), San Mateo, Calif.; Benito Gaguine, Washington counsel for WKOW- TV (UHF) Madison, Wis.; John H. DeWitt Jr., head of WSM-TV (VHF), Nashville, Tenn.; Paul W. Morency, mapager of WTIC (AM), Hartford, Conn.; and Elmer Eng- strom, senior exec veepee of RCA. Among organizations,^ be heard at Thursday’s session are the AFL- CIO, Americans for Democratic Ac¬ tion, American Civil Liberties Union and NABET. Leslie Hoffman, president of Ra¬ dio-Electronic - TV Manufacturers Assn., is scheduled to testify Fri¬ day in favor of Congressional ac¬ tion to spur production, of all-chan¬ nel sets. After this week’s hearings, the Committee will recess until March 26 for three more days of testi¬ mony on the allocations problem. The witness list for these hearings has not.yet been compiled but will definitely include the networks. House Votes FCC $7,800,000 Budget Washington, March 13. House voted the FCC $7,800,600 last week for expenses during the fiscal year beginning July 1, an in¬ crease of $930,000 over the amounts appropriated for the agency for the current fiscal year. The increase was granted to en¬ able the Commission to catch up with a huge backlog of radio ap¬ plications and to complete its net¬ work study. The House earmarked $141,000 for the latter. In recommending the budget, the Appropriations Committee re¬ ported that the agency is “making progress isj certain parts of the tv backlog” but still is considerably behind in processing applications for AM and special radio services. The Committee said it is “very anxious” that these backlogs be reduced and that it “doesn’t want people who have filed applications to wait long periods of time through no fault of their own.” The increase enables the Com¬ mission to hire 70 additional em¬ ployees for handling radio-and tv work and to maintain until June 30, 1957, the special staff assem¬ bled for its network inquiry. Kansas City—New sportscaster at KCMO and KCMO-TV in Bruce Rice, who takes over this week after coming from 1 KWFT and KWFT-TV, Wichita Falls, Tex., where he was sports ^j^ep^qr. . , „