Variety (October 1956)

so TV-FILMS PKamfr Wednesday, October 3, 1956i FCC Sets Hearing on TV Ownership By Vidpixers in Girild-WMBV Case Washington, Oct. 2. - Question of public policy in¬ volved in permitting a film syndi¬ cation firm to own a tv station will be the subject of an oral argument before the FCC next Monday (8) as a result of a protest against the acquisition by Guild Films Co., New York, of.WMBV-TV in Green Bay, WisX Purchase of the station for ap¬ proximately $700,000 was approved by the Commission nearly three months ago when it denied a peti¬ tion by WFRV-TV, a competing station, for a full evidentiary hear¬ ing to inquire into monopoly ques¬ tions raised. Subsequently, WFRV- *fV filed for reconsideration and the Commission stayed the grant pending final de'.ermination of the protest. In an order issued Friday (21), the agency said it would hear argu¬ ments by WFRV-TV to support its claims that the grant should be set aside because Guild's plans for op¬ erating the station are!* too “vague” and are not designed to serve the community. In apposing the WFRV-TV peti¬ tion, Guild replied that it pro¬ poses to continue the present pro¬ gramming and policies of WMBV- TV ‘Jand, as conditions permit, to increase the high quality film and ‘local programming” of the outlet. Guild charged the petition wi-h being a device to 5 “harass, delay, and obstruct” the transfer to serve WFRV’s “private competitive in¬ terest.” Guild said i hat it is “a small fac¬ tor” in the total film syndication business, that it distributes 11 out of a total of 502 film series pro¬ duced by syndicates and 536 out of a total of 17,400 individual pro¬ grams or episodes. Company said that it is currently distributing ap¬ proximately 100 of an estimated 3,500 feature films available for tv. Guild contended that the Com- . mission has no authority to deny ‘'the transfer “simply” because it is a national film syndicator. All of the ne .works are in the film syndi¬ cation business, company noted, “yet never has a question been raised concerning that aspect of their operation.” WATVtoTintUp WATV, the Newark-N.Y. video indie, is the latest to gear for color in the metropolitan areas. Station has purchased two RCA film pro¬ jection units, which it will use to air its 52 20th-Fox pix. New chains are able to carry multichrome, but the station has not fixed a date for the tiners first' appearance. WATV features, it was disclosed by topper.. Lou Rosenhaus this vveek, will be shown in their enti¬ rety. Length of each of the twice- nightly exposures will be two hours or more in length. Sation plans to show each of the 52 films twice nightly between Monday and Fri¬ day and three times on both Satur¬ day and Sunday. Only 10 minutes will be allowed for commercials in each showing. WGN-TV Expands Feature Library Chicago, Oct. 2. - WPh WBBM-TV poised for its in¬ itial feature film splash using the Metro library and WBKB soon to unleash the RKO catalog, WGN- TV continues to upgrade and ex¬ pand its firstrun backlog for its nightly 10 o’clock theatre. Indie WGN-TV last week ordered the 104 Columbia releases from Screen Gems and is finalizing a deal with Associated Artists Pro¬ ductions for 65 Warner Bros, pix a year over a three-year period. Also purchased- was . approxi¬ mately 100 “Bouncing Ball” novelty shorts from National Telefilm As¬ sociates. TPA Ups Wolfson William A. Wolfson has been upped to treasurer of Television Programs of America, after five months with the company as con¬ troller. Wolfson moved over to TPA in April from NBC Television Films, where he was business man¬ ager. TPA treasurer post had been va¬ cant since Sy Malamed, whom Wolfson “ replaced as controller, moved to Screen Gems. Malamed had doubled as treasurer and con¬ troller. MacDonald Carey As Ziv Pitchman On ‘Christian’ Series Following the pattern set by na¬ tional sponsors in using stars of their tv shows' to sell products, a growing number of local and re¬ gional sponsors for Ziv’s “Dr. Christian” have recruited the serv¬ ices of MacDonald Carey, the star of the show, for pitchman chores. Recent sponsors who are using Carey to sell products of “Dr. Christian” include Hekman Bis¬ cuit Co., which is *an alternate week sponsor in Detroit, Cleve¬ land, . Toledo, Youngstown, and other markets. Also, Mueller’s Macaroni, alternate sponsors in New York,' Philadelphia, Boston; Nehi Bottling Co., in Grand Rap¬ ids and Lansing; and Miller Brew¬ ing, Chicago. In addition Carey commercials are being used by Lee Optical Co. and American Sleep Products in their respective sponsoring mar¬ kets. H’wood Reps to Push NABET Jurisdiction On Vidpix at Can. Meet Hollywood, Oct. 2. Departure last week of four Hollywood delegates to the Na¬ tional Assn, of Broadcast Employes and Technicians convention in To¬ ronto, which started Sunday, high¬ lights NABET’s claims to jurisdic¬ tion over vidfilming. At a meeting of the Hollywood local when dele¬ gates were elected, they were in¬ structed to “promote and advance” NABET’s jurisdiction over tele¬ filming crews, now mainly con¬ trolled by IATSE. Both NABET and the Interna¬ tional Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have challenged IATSE in this field. NABET currently supplies crews for syndicated “Paul Coates Confidential File” and ABC-TV “You Asked for It” shows, while major IBEW series is Jack Douglas’ “Kingdom of the Sea.” Hollywood delegates are Joe Williams (a candidate for union’s national prexy post), Fred Shidel, George Hillas and Louis Boon- shaft. Coast regional director Syd Rose is accompanying the delega¬ tion as an observer. Asher, Skouras Will Continue Huddle in N.Y. Irving Asher, production chief of T * F-TV .Productions, 20th-Fox tv subsid, is due in N. Y. this week to continue huddles with 20th prexy Spyros Skouras anent new product being blueprinted for the vidfilm- ery. Asher and Skouras confabbed last week on the future plans of the company, and a decision was reached to finalize their conver¬ sations^ and decisions in N. Y. While east, Asher will also confer with tv execs on company biz. 7TH YEAR FOR NAM SERIES On Friday (5), “Industry on Parade,” distributed by the Na¬ tional Association of Manufactur¬ ers, will enter its seventh year of continuous telecasting. ROSEMARY CLOONEY IN NEW SYNDICATION PACT Hollywood. Oct. 2. Rosemary Clooney will resume filming her syndicated musical vid¬ pix series on the California Studio lot Oct. 22, according to a contract inked between tjie studio and Miss Clooney’s Maysville Productions last week. Miss. Clooney (Mrs. Jose Ferrer in private life), knocked off several months ago after completing 26 stanzas, to await the arrival of an heir. Present deal with the lot provides that she'll shoot 13 more stanzas with MCA-TV Film Syndi¬ cation to have an option on an¬ other 3 9. ^ _ 8 Screen Gems Segs Roll Simultaneously Hollywood, Oct. 2. Year’s high in vidpix production will be hit this week by Screen Gems, Columbia tv subsid, which rolls eight telefilms simulaneously Lensing are two stanzas of “77th Bengal Lancers” series; two “Cir¬ cus Boy” telepix; two “Ford The¬ atre” ’segments; and one apiece of “Playhouse 90” and “Father Knows Best” series. Hitchcock’s 3-Part ‘Cliffhanger’ Telepix Hollywood, Oct. 2. Silent screen “cliffhanger” tech¬ nique gets a revival in tv. in the hands of Alfred Hitchcock. Ac¬ cording to the producer and direc¬ tor of the CBS-TV “Alfred Hitch¬ cock Presents” teleseries, he plans an experiment in which one story will be cut into three segments, to be aired three consecutive weeks. Each weekly ending will leave the characters in desperate straits, reminiscent of the old •'perils of Pauline” serials. Hitchcock, of course, will con¬ tinue filming in his current format as well, to run in entirety in a half- hour. Mestre’s All-Film Cuban Station Goar Mestre, Cuba's “Mr. Television” who has*been in New York the past week negotiating deals for major studio feature backlogs, has practically set Havana on its collective ear with a unique and perhaps the most offbeat television operation to date. Mestre, who owns the six-station CMQ* network which blankets the entire island, is also operating a separate tv station in Havana which he calls CMBF-TV. It has an all-film “format” running from -1 p.m. to midnight-on iL continuous grind policy of two features a day punctuated with comedy-cartoon-documentary shorts. Al¬ though at the start it was rough going, it now enjoys a No. 2 status among Havana stations, with Mestre’s own CMQ (which is 95% live) way out in the forefront. Midway in the grind run (6 to 8 p.m.) there’s a “matinee” breather for the kids, when westerns become the fare. With the click of the all-film station, Mestre finds himself in a somewhat peculiar position. He’s also an exhibitor, operating five film houses. The success of CMBF-TV has made an unmistakable dent in the b.o„ but, as Mestre explains it, “you can’t hold back progress. Cubans, like viewers in the U.S., also want their features at home.” Mestre has been eyeing both the Warner Bros, and RKO back¬ logs for Cuban use, with Spanish titles (“dubbing costs too much.”) However, the Cubans prefer Spanish and Mex-made features. He has access to 80% of the Mex product along with features made in Argentina and Spain. With 260,000 Cuban homes boasting tv (sets costing $200 in the U.S. cost about $300 in Cuba), there is now a potential audience of 1,000,000 on the island, with the CMQ’network getting the big play and with a virtual SRO status. Mestre recently completed a $870,-. 000 transmitter rising 715 feet (capable of transmitting color, when and if) and capable of supporting the antennas of all five Havana station.?. Of the two existing rival operations, Television Nationale and Telemundo, only the former has agreed to share it. Channel .10, which was the fifth station (owned by George B. Storer), is now silent. Mestre believes that In 1957 television will come into its own throughout Latin and South American countries. From the Production Centres ■-—------- ---—■—: Continued from page 34 --■ cer Allen, who checked out Friday (28) as WGN news director, has signed on with Lewis & Martin Films as a veepee. Lloyd Pettit has taken over Allen’s 6:30 nightly newscasts on WGN-TV . . . WNAM, Marinette, Wis., named Bum-Smith as its national rep . .. CBS’ Charles Collingwood to lecture on the Univac next Tuesday (9) at an Armour Research Foundation symposium . . . Charles Chan, WMAQ's Latin music specialist, making the inaugural VIP flight from Chicago to Rio on the Brazilian International Airways taking off tomorrow (Thurs.) . , . Ray Raynor and Mina Kold logged their third anni on WBBM- TV’s Saturday afternoon record-interview show . . ; Fox Hfrad Brew¬ ing unleasing 190 minute spots on WMAQ over the next five weeks . . . Leonard Ostrom and Philip von Ladau upped to account exec status in Nielson's radio-tv division . . . Bob McKenna, ex-NBC-TV Films, added to the ABC-TV Film sales staff . . » WGN public relations chief Jim Hanlon in New York on business. IN SAN FRANCISCO . . . Seven new members just elected to the board of directors of the Frisco AFTRA local are Bob Bovard (KPIX), Bob Colvig (KSFO), Bill Dorais (KLX), Larry Doyle (KGO-TV), Parker Gayman (KFRC), Clar¬ ence Leisure (KNBC) and Phyllis Skelton (freelance) . . . Don Sher¬ wood's “San Francisco Tonight” on KGO-TV will be pared 15 minutes and slipped into a new>time slot, 11:15 p.m. to midnight, come Nov. 5 . . . New local tv character is Charlie Dugdale, ex-KOLN-TV, Lincoln, Neb.—he’s handling KPIX’s Western films . . . KCBS added another half-hour, 8-8:30 a.m. Saturdays, to Guy Chemey's load . . . AFTRA’s 1957 national convention dates have been set-^they're July 25-28, and the convention will be held at the Sheraton-Palace Hotel. Wanda Ramey, president of the Frisco local, figures on kicking off convention host, plans at the union’s Oct. 17 membership meeting . . . Mike Stephens has shifted to directing KGO-TV’s “Hi Time” and Vince Roman has taken over the producer-director chores on “San Francisco Tonight.” in boston ... Harold E. Fellows, prexy NARTB, due in from Washington Oct. 15 for first district meeting in Hub . . . E. B. Rideout, WEEI’s weather¬ man for 31 years, feted by sponsor H. P. Hood & Sons on 20th year of association at reception and fashion show in Hotel Somerset Wew- nesday (26). Staging the event were Marie Houlihan, WEEI p.r. direc¬ tor, and Joe Cullinane, sales promosh mgr. . . , WORL unveiling a “What’s My Name Contest” in which trips to Europe, Mexico and Ber¬ muda are being awarded for its sixth anni coming up Monday 8) . . . Ken Mayer, former Hub tv producer, joins the disk jock ranks with a program from his home in Newton over WBOS. First program; in which Mayer spun disks, chatted and discussed radio-tv critics, preemed last night, Monday (1). He becomes second Hub disker on the home broadcast kick. Nelson Bragg started the trend on WJDA, Quincy, last week . . . Fred Cole, WHDH, ..emceed the Boston Herald cooking show at Symphony Hall from Tuesday (25) through Friday (28) and Ken & Carolyn, Ray Dorcy, Ken Wilson and Bill Green participated with Keii 6 Carolyn doing their “Yankee Kitchen” WHDH show and the disk jocks doing their “Stumpus” show IN MINNEAPOLIS .... Bobbie Bauer, formerly with KEYD-TV, joined KSTP’s promotion department, succeeding Sherry Hyde who resigned . . . Charles Loufek,’ WISK announcer,’and the wife celebrating arrival of baby son ... In its big safety campaign engineered by executive producer Bill Wippel, WCCO Radio aired six on-the-spot highway reports on a “Saturday Session.” Featured was a “safe driving safari” staged by the Min¬ neapolis “Rod Buddies,” a teenagers’ organization that tempers its hot rodding with safe driving. “Safari” resulted in two of the teenagers being made Minneapolis Safety Council members. Considerable news¬ paper publicity has accrued to the audio station in connection with .the campaign . . . Mary Jo Tiefney named KMGM-TV promotion direc¬ tor .. . Mrs. Charles McCuen, wife of the WCCO-TV newsman, re¬ cuperating after an emergency appendectomy . . . KSTP-TV’s person¬ ality Bob Ryan will havfr emceed 20 cooking shows this year. He’s also busy lecturing on his recent Russian trip. IN PITTSBURGH . . . John Davis, vet WWSW announcer-newscaster who would have been with the station 20 years in February, has resigned from the staff and plans to go into sales work . . . Chuck Reichblum set to .do the color from here on the ABC broadcasts Sf Pltt-Notre Dame and Pitt-Army football games in November . . . A1 Primo, assistant news editor'at KDKA-TV, has resumed his studies at U. of Pittsburgh and will ‘con¬ fine his tv work to the evenings now ... WISR in Butler celebrated 15th anniversary. Its president is now Joel Rosenblum, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. David Rosenblum, who founded the station in 1941 . . . Noel Mills, wife of WCAE deejay Torifmy Riggs, cast for lead in Playhouse's second show of the season, “Anniversary Waltz” . . . Stephanie Diamond doing Restonic mattress commercials on “The Gold¬ bergs” over Channel 2 until Florence Sando Manson; who recently had a baby, is ready to go back to work. She replaces Peg Sweeney, who took over when Mrs. Manson retired to await the stork and who Is now awaiting the stork herself. IN DETROIT . . . WXYZ-TV has “revitalized” its morning and early afternoon pro¬ gram structure to create a “new force’* in Detroit daytime tv pro¬ gramming ... Ed Sullivan Show will originate at 2,600-seat, $5,700,000 Henry and' Edsel Ford Auditorium dedication Oct. 14. Entire seating capacity already has been allocated for ceremonies and show , . . Charles W. MacKenzle, formerly sales supervisor for Curtis Publish¬ ing Co. in the Detroit area, has been appointed to the WWJ-TV. sales staff . , . WJR has six sponsored football programs on its schedule . . . For-the ninth consecutive year, WWJ-TV is offering “U. of Michigan Football,” on Friday nights reviewing previous week’s game and pre¬ viewing next day’s tilt with Bill Flemming as host and U. of M.’s ath¬ letic director Fritz Crisler as weekly guest . , . WXYZ’s football lineup includes nine Big Ten games plus Don Wattrick's comments . . . New WWJ-TV entries include “The Sheriff* of Cochise,” “The Rosemary Clooney Show,” and “The Les Martins Show,” a disk show featuring local jock. IN CLEVELAND . . . WEWS news analyst Dorothy Fuldheim left on a 13,000-mile tour of Europe. Don Perris accompanies her to assist in photographic cover¬ age ... Bob Miller, ex-WTAM-WNBK salesman, named to CBS Chi¬ cago radio sales . . . Joe Mulvihill pacted for Sunday night five-minute sport stanza oh KYW-TV . . . WGAR cited by Ohio State Safety Coun¬ cil with “outstanding achievement” . . . Chris Miller on “roaming the town” nightly stint with WSRS . . . Louise Winslow and Walt Henrloh staged sixth Pittsburgh Cinerama haul for WERE . . . Ethel Boro* named Cleveland News music critic . . , Plain Dealer radio-tv editor George Condon into New York for two week writing trip . . « Sam Elber named WERE. promotion-advertising director . . , Ann Fraytke appointed publicity director at WDOK . . . Lynn Sheldon ends career as Uncle Leslie, clown, for commercial -announcer for Wiedeman beer.