Variety (February 1957)

Wednesday) FeBnianr 20, 1957 RADIO-JTBIJEIVISION 23 McCONNAUGHEY EXIT ON TAP Fat Rise in U^. TV Viewkg The new tv year got off to a good start with Nielsen reporting a 30% rise in January, '57 in the total number of homes tuned in at an average evening, as compared to January, '56, Reflected ill the figure is the rise in the number of tv homes In the U.S. over the coprse of a year, with Nielsen reporting 39,300,000 U.S. tv homes in January, '57, as compared to 35,100,000 tv homes Ifi January, '56, a rise of 11%. Comparing the two years in the same month,. Nielsen reports an average evening total audience rating of 25.4 iii '57 against 22.7 in '66. Translated into homes, there were 81,123,000 homes tuned in on an average evening during January, '57, aganst an average of 6,976,000 homes during January, '56. Ratings of the two periods show a 11% rise in January, '57, and a 30% rise in the total num¬ ber of homes. . Protests Swd Over WRCA-TYs ‘10 PIod’; Branded as Giveaway Slam at WRCA-TV's selling prac 4 tices and a negation of the asser, tion that New York has become a “spft" market for national spot business were made last week by WABC-TV as a result of the NBC key's new “10 Plan" and some sup¬ porting remarks made by Tom McFadden, NBC o&o veep. Apart from WABC-TV, and WCBS-TV which had its say last week, all of New York's other tv stations — ^ WPIX, WABD, WATV, WDR-TV— are up in arms about the selling plan which for every Trlple-A spot bought on WRCA-TV the adver¬ tiser qualifies for a bonus of nine free spots. “It's awful when the No. 2 sta¬ tion in New York goes Into a give¬ away,’’ Joseph Stamler, WABC-TV sales chief, declared. “I agree at all times that anybody at any time should be free to solve his own problems as McFadden says, but we feel at WABC-TV that If a nextdoor neighbor of yours is'chopping down a dead tree, you certainly are entitled to ask that he take steps to prevent it from falling on your house.’,’ Stamler said that the WRCA-TV “giveaway" creates a generally bad impression of busi¬ ness all over tv and Stamler said the downbeat aspect was not lim¬ ited to New York since NBC has extended the plan of nine bonus spots to other o&o markets. 'McFadden stated in Variety last week that a soft spot appears to have developed In sale of prime station breaks and that this soft state is affecting all advertising media, particularly tv. Stamler’s reply was that it is not true anywhere in New York but apparently at WRCA-TV. He noted a reported rise of 12% in WCBS-TV profits from January, 1956, to January, 1957, and a 22% rise in WABC-TV’s Jan.-to-Jan. billings. Then he said, “In our dealings with time buyers we have always found them to be cautious, and It’s possible they are not buy¬ ing certain high-price spots, which used, to be automatic, because the buyers get better cost efficiency (Continued on page 40) DST to Cue fide Use of TV Tape Video tape will be used exten¬ sively for the first time for day¬ light savings time repeat purposes this summer by NBC-TV. Network Will supply eastern and midwest affiliates remaining on standard time with up to 10 hours a week of taped repeat programming, start¬ ing April 28 and running through Oct. 26. ^^etwork had hoped to use tape even more extensively, but delays in delivery of production models of the Ampex machine (originally, production models were promised for last November; now the web doesn’t expect them until next No¬ vember or later) have limited the use of tape for this year. Decision to use as much tape as the web will was made last week at the meeting of the affiliates' exec com¬ mittee with the web last week. Under the tape plan, all the web’s Monday-through-Friday 7:30 (Continued on page 40) NBC-TV ‘FOX’ SERIES TO ROLL IN ENGLAND Hollywood Feb. 19. Sam Bischoff and Dave Diamond will shoot a pUot for & new NBCTV half-hour adventure series In England, with International TV Productions participating. Series is entitled “The Fox,’’ with pilot penned by creator Crane Wil¬ bur. It will be slotted for an earlyevening spot on the net next sea¬ son. Anthony Dexter will star in the deal.n^otiated with NBC for Bischoff-Diamond, by James Saphier. Abbey Ibeatre Teklibn Series; Dicker U^. Deal London, Feb, 19. A new telefilm series, featuring the Abbey Theatre of Dublin in fa¬ mous Irish plays, is to be produced in Britain. A pilot h^s already been completed at the Nettlefold Stu¬ dios, Walton-on-Thames, and a U. S. distributing deal is now be¬ ing negotiated. Backing the venture are Emmett Dalton, Louis Elliman and Bob Baker. Dalton, the former British rep for Sam Goldwyn, has active tv and studio interests, while Elliman is managing director of Odeon (Ire¬ land) Ltd. Baker is a partner in Tempean Films, an indie produc¬ tion company. The pilot was based on George Shiels’ play “Professor Tim” and thtr televersion has a running time of approximately one hour. It was filmed on a budget of about $55,000 on a 10-day schedule. I The aim is to produce a series of 26, using the best-known Irish plaswvrights, among them, of course, Sean O'Casey. It’s uncer¬ tain at the moment, however, whether they’ll all be kept to a 60-minute running time. That will depend mainly on the requirements of the U. S. webs. Elliman is planning to go to New York In April with a com¬ pleted print of the pilot to finalize the negotiations which are now in progress. N.Y. Financial Scribe’s Sponsored Radio Seg Another newspaperman has drawn an offbeat broadcasting assign¬ ment. He’s Donald I. Rogers, fiancial columnist fdr the N. Y. Herald Tribune, who will' do a nightly five-minute business cap¬ sule as part of the “Tex & Jinx” radio stanza on WRGA. Show, titled “Your Pocketbook Daily,” will be sponsored by the First In¬ vestors Corp. Rogers will take a major news story and analyze its financial as¬ pects. Show goes into the 10:35 p.m. spot Monday tlirough Thurs¬ day and 11:15 Fridays, starting March 4. It’s a Texanco Enter¬ prises package, Texanco being the Tex McCrary production operation. Natkaal Spot TV’s $397,49g,(KI0 In ’56; P&G Tops IIF Spenders AS'DARyOM' • Washington, Feb. 19. Belief is growing here that FCC chairman George C. McConnaughey will resign and enter law practice In Columbus, O., before his term ' on the Commission ex¬ pires June 30. McConnaughey refuses to reveal his plans, saying he hasn’t decided whether to seek reappointment. Since there is considerable doubt among people who know the ways of the White House that he would have to “seek” the job if it were available to him, there’s reason to suspect that the adipinistration has other plans. Speculation is that McCon¬ naughey will leave some time dur¬ ing the spring, presumably after .the allocation proceedings are de¬ cided -and important tv hearing cases are out of the way. Who would succeed him as chair¬ man would depend on whether the' administration would bring in an outsider or give the job to one of the Republican members. If it's the latter, either Comr. John C. Doerfer or Robert E. Lee, both Eisenhower appointments, would be in line. There’s increasing talk, however, that Warren E. Baker, the agency’s chief cousel and gen¬ erally regarded as the outstanding staff appointment by this Commis¬ sion, would be seriously consid¬ ered. Should an outsider be brought in, either as chairman or as a commissioner, the Administration would have a wide field among former members of Congress who lost out for reelection. With the job now paying $20,000 per annum, no shortage of candidates is antici¬ pated. Fortifying the belief that Mc¬ Connaughey will resign is the fact that several of his aides are plan¬ ning to leave— fairly soon. Looks Like Good-Bye For ‘Good Morning’ As Rogers TV’er Faces Axe Handwriting is on the wall for “Good Morning With Will Rogers. Jr.,” and it’s probably only a mat¬ ter of weeks before a country & western style music stanza goes in as CBS-TV’s newest competitive entry against NBC's successful “Today.” Columbia expects to make a decision on one of six hillbilly formats which it has auditioned within a day or two, and will move quickly to get the new show on the air. Originally designated “The Mprning Show” when CBS decided to invade the 7 to 8 a. m. precincts three years ago, the program has gone through a number of changes, particularly in the talent -end. It started with Walter Cronkite, who (Continued on page 40) Lee Cooley to Helm Godfrey Subs 5 Weeks Lee Cooley pulls down his first on-the-air assignment under his new CBS-TV pact next Wednesday (27) when he’ll take over the Ar¬ thur Godfrey Wednesday night 8 to 9 span for five weeks while Godfrey is gamehunting in Africa. Cooley has lined up five musical shows which M'ill feature Peter Lind Hayes & Mary Healy, Guy Mitchell, Jo Stafford, Teresa Brewer and Vic Damone, who winds things up March 27. Plan for the five one-shots is to supply each show with either an overall theme or an actual “book" in the manner of Broadway musi¬ cals. So far, guests and director for only the first show have been set— Jack Whiting will appear with Hayes & Miss Healy, and Byron ^ Paul will direct. Cooley, who“ joined CBS as a producer-director last December, produced the audi¬ tion kinnie of “The Big Record" but hasn’t done any on-the-aif stints to date. Make Believe WNE'V, N. Y., came up with one of the strangest cocktail party cancellations on record last week. Indie had arranged to “launch” Ford in his new “Make Believe Ballroonf’ slot with a shindig aboard the S.S. Brazil. Station then sent out tele¬ grams calling off the affair because of the loYigshoremen’s strike. 96-Mm.Religio$o$ On SG Agenda As Network l-3hots Taking its cue from the success¬ ful theatrical b.o. returns on “The Robe” and the current “Ten Com¬ mandments," Screen Gems has been bitten by the “religioso bug” and is moving into the 90-minute area of one-shot film specs based on Bible stories. As with the bulk of SG properties, they’re being esigned for network exposure as holiday “preemption shows” such as Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiv¬ ing, etc. In all, SG contemplates doing half a dozen such shows. Four of them already have been ' scripted, under the supervisory helm of Bill Goetz, who is partnered with ! Screen Gems in the elaborate venI ture. Each of the films is being budgeted at $400,000, thus giving them a status akin to major the¬ atricals (ultimately a theatrical re¬ lease is planned for them over¬ seas). They’ll all be done in color. Initial entry will be “David the Outlaw,” based on the Biblical story of David and Saul. Among others on the agenda are “The Wives of Pilate” (themed to the Pontius Pilate story) and “The First Nun.” In view of the major costs entailed, SG is ^currently seeking sponsorship deals before embarking on actual shooting. EDITH ADAMS INTO R&H’S ‘CINDERELLA’ Rodgers & Hammerstein and CBS-TV have dipped into the legit theatre to cast another key role in their March 31 production of “Cinderella.” Edith Adams, cur¬ rently in the lead of “Li’l Abner,” has been signed to play the fairy godmother in the musical adapta¬ tion of the fairy tale. Signing of Miss Adams will dove¬ tail her into the show’s offbeat rehearsal schedule, resulting from the “My Fair Lady” doubling of Julie Andrews in the lead. Hers is the last major role to be filled in the musical, with Miss Andrews set in the title role, newcomer Jon Cypher as the prince, Howard Lindsay & Dorothy Stickney as the king & queen. Ilka Chase as the'“stepmother and Alice Ghostley and Kaye Ballard are the step¬ sisters. Garry Moore’s Brace Of New Sponsors Garry Moore has picked up an additional couple of clients for his morning CBS-TV’er in California Packing Co. and Pittsburgh Paint. Latter has extended its current stint by purchasing six additional alternate-week quarter-hours start¬ ing April 12 and running through June 21. California Packing has bought 13 alternate-week quarterhours starting April 12 and run¬ ning through September 27. McCann-Erickson of San Fran¬ cisco placed the California Packing order; Maxon set the Pittsburgh Paint extension. National spot television spending for 1956 was $397,498,()00, accord¬ ing to statistics of the Television Bureau of Advertising, It was the first full-year report ever available on aggregate spot expenditures for the medium. Last quarter of Jthe year, spot sales on a gross one-time basis reached $107,842,000 TvB which started these national spot reports during the last quarter of 1955, is considering entry into a breakdown of network television sponsors in„ terms of total expenditures for each individual brand name, it is understood. Big 10 companies in national spot for the entire year were, in order of expenditures: Procter & Gamble, $17,521,900; Brown & , Williamson, $11,288,700; General Foods, $19,411,400; Sterling Drug. $8,823,400; Philip Morris, $7,369,400; Colgate-Palmolive, $7,314,600; National Bis.cuit, $5,536,500; Miles Labs, $5,354,700; Continental Bak¬ ing, $5,264,900; Kellogg, $4,815,000. , In 1956, TvB reports, there were 16 advertisers spending $1,000,000 or more in national spot in the last quarter of 1956 aS against 13 for the last three months of 1955. All totals are for time and talent. Making a first appearance in the top 200 tv spot spenders were: American Character Doll; BonAmi; Chunky Chocolates; Clairol; Helene Curtis; E. F. Drew; Drug Research Corp.; Max Factor; Food Mfrs. Inc,; Gilmar Records; Kaiser Aluminum; Kimberly-Clark, Lan¬ vin Parfum; Lionel Corp.; Miller Brewing; National Presto Indus¬ tries; Omar Inc.; Sears Roebuck; The Texas Co., United Fruit, and The Wonder Co. Latest quarter report is highest of five tallied by TvB. Previous high was second quarter of 1956, $105,584,000. ABC Radio’s ‘Me, Too’ on Veepees A touchy situation seems to have been created when ABC Radio learned of the planned advances of five ABC-TV men to vlcepresidential status. Outcome is that the radio network will be given similar administrative advances. First of ABC Radio promotions came last \»eek, Whejq A1 Beckman, ABC-TV director of station rela¬ tions, got a stripe, so did Ed DeGray, his radio counterpart. Feel¬ ing there was that DeGray, work¬ ing in equrlly as tough an area as Beckman, needed the stripe to function among station owners without having to face the difficul( Continued on page 36) Bill Berns’ Year Leave, To Helm Jones Beach Stadium as Man. Dir, Bill Berns is taking a year’s leave of absence as director of news & special events for WRCA and WRCA-TV, the NBC flagships in N. Y., to become managing di¬ rector of the Marine Stadium at Jones Beach, L.I. Leave was granted at the request of Robert Moses, head of the Long Island State Park Commission, which op¬ erates the Stadium, in a letter to RCA board chairman David Sarnoff. . Managing director’s post at the Stadium is a brand-new one, and while Berns’ official duties are designated as the protection of the public interest in the entertain¬ ment enterprise, his actual duties will range from assisting Guy Lombardo in the latter’s produc¬ tion of “Show Boat" this summer via the handling of some of the negotiations, to handling public re¬ lations and promotion, facilitating ticket sales, et al. Wliil’e Berns' current activities at NBC are in (Continued on page 38)