Variety (February 1957)

26 PiiBStEff BAlUtt-TlIIJByMSlOW From the Production Centres fc— Continued from P9icf 24 > from ABC-TV Films to the Adam Young station rep shop , . . Jim Hanlon, WGN public relations chief, bedded after a coronary scare , . . George ’Manr, vet Milwaukee radioite, joined the sales staff at WISN-T^, the Hearst-owned station In the beer capitol . . . WIND' commercial manager^ John Carey vacationing in Nassau . . . WBBM- TV’s “Early Show’* matinee strip from the Metro library bows Mon¬ day (25) at 4:3ihwith Lee Pbillip*s “Shopping With Miss Lee” tidbit moving up to 12:15-12:30,.replacing the'“Luncheon Show” . . . WAIT deejays Reed Farerll and Spider Webb hosting Friday night teenage record hops at the Capri ballroom . . . Chi CBS special €vents director Hugh Bill penned a piece for Sigma. Delta Chi’s Quill on WBBM’s “Ear on Chicago” . . . Sportscaster Wayne Griffin back on WBKB with a Saturday night half-hour built around films of the top boxing matches of the past six years . . , Paul Molloy’s Sun-Times tv column goes five times weekly, riV LONDON . . . Brian Glynn Henry joins Assqclated-Rediffusion, the London week¬ day commercial tv programmers,* as television advertising manager on March 18. At present, Henry is advertising manager of a London evening paper . . . Granada-TV present another in their series of adult plays, “Home Of The Brave,” by Arthur Laurents, in their “Play Of The Week” series today (Wed.) .. . Bill Maynard begins his own weekly series titled “Mostly Maynard” on, BBC-TV next Wednesday (26) . . . Films produced or directed by George Stevens featured on Assbeiated- Rediffusion’s show, “Spotlight” last night (Tues.) .. . Mitchell Torok and Constance Bennett on “Sunday Night At The London Palladium,” last Sunday (17) , . . Ex-Ted Heath vocalists Lita Roza and Dennis Lotis will be featured together ^in an ABC-TV version of “The Girl Friend,” to be aired on March 2 . . . Eartha Kitt will appear in a filmed interview on BBC-TV’s “A to Z” which reaches the letter “K” on March 1, IN BOSTON ... Tony LaCamera, tv editor Boston American, to represent Hub writers on panel discussions, at upcoming confab on public service by West- inghouse at Hotel Statler and WBZ-TV, Feb, 27-March 1 . . . WNAC- TV’s film unit director Jim Pike arid Jeff Forbes made three 20 sec. and 10 sec. animated film spots for National Brotherhood Week and national headquarters has ordered 120 prints for 120 different tv sta¬ tions coast to coast. Frank Luther did the jingles . . . Norman Hnight, exec veep and gen. mgr. WNAC-TV, named media chairman for Mass. National Conference Christians and Jews , . . Blair’s Fpodland, Inc. is supporting Grctchen Jackson’s 15 min. women’s program on WBMS for 13 weeks .,. . Rex Trailer, WBZ-TV cowboy personality, takes to the highway Sunday (24) to spread the word of the Hub tea party to New York and Philly. Garbed in the clothes of the period he will re¬ enact the 360-mlle weeklong ride covering approximately the same route taken by Paul Revere ... Rock Hudson guests with disk jock Norm Prescott on WBZ-TV’s “Giant Movie Party” Tuesday (19) . . . WBZ-TV preemed its new series, “Star and the Story” at Studio 6 for the Hub press and Pbyl Doherty, director of p. r. and advt., had Betty Madigan, singing at Blinstrub’s and Johnny Mathis in from New York as guests. Film is on Sundays at 4:30 p.m. . , . Cedric Foster, WNAC and Mutual commentator back at Hub office following DC visit cover¬ ing national politico scene . . , Joe Dube, WNAC production supervisor, announcing arrival of new baby girl. IN WASHINGTON . . . U.S. Information Agency teed off a new daily En.glish language “Re¬ port from America” radio show to Africa past week . . . CBS v p. Lou Cowan guest speaker at last week’s Ad Club meeting ... WTOP-CBS d.j. Eddie Gallaher vacationing in Florida, with Don Gaynor and Arch McDonald pinchhitting on his two daily shows . . . Epilepsy Telerama jointly sponsored by radio station WOL and WTTG netted fund $35,000- $40,000 . . . Eugenie van de Water, ex of WJAR-TV, Providence, B.I., has joined. WRC promotion department as a writer . . . Sportscaster Jim Gibbons, who recently ankled WMAL-ABC, switches to WRC-TV next Monday (25), with show sold out in advance of preem . , . Duncan Miller bows out of WTTG, where he handled publicity and promotion, to take over flackery chores for National Symphony, replacing Roy Meachum, who joins staff of Washington Post. IN SAN FRANCISCO . . . KOVR-TV, Stockton, joined ABC last Sunday (17), following boss Terry Lee’s inking of an affiliation contract. Stockton station pre¬ sumably is confident FCC will go for transmitter shift taking KOVR out of Frisco ^ea, projecting it into the Sacramento picture, where UHF KCCC is'^lso an ABC affiliate . . . KCBS’ “Jane Todd” (Wanda Ramey) heads to London next month to help inaugurate BOAC's Frisco- London direct service, will tape some material there. Evangeline Baker will pinch-hit for her on KRON’s “People with a Past” . . . Jacques Foti had departed KPIX for the lush green fields of Hollywood . . . FCC has okayed KSAY call letters for new‘10,000-watt station, field tests are now being made . . . KYA picked up the old KEAR “Candlelight and Wine” program, with John Bowles and Dave Borris handling it . . . New film editor at KGO-TV is Jim Raymond, ex-KOOL-TV, Phoenix. He replaces Carl Ring, who moved on to KOVR. IN PHILADELPHIA . . . WRCV-TV to make pickup.s for NBC-TV for week starting Monday (25), including “Close-Up” (26), “Tonight” (26), “Steve Allen” (3) and originations for “Today” (3-4). Jinx McCrary to interview Grace’s family, the John B. Kellys, from local studios . . . Bud Brees, WPEN singing deejay, pacted by RKO Unique Records. Brees, an ASCAP member, is a former Art Mooney vocalist . . . Sherry O’Brien returns to the air (March 1) with_an-evening sportcast over WJMJ ... Bill Mercer, who recently exited WDAS, signed by WHAT. He moves into the Kai Williams spot. Williams switches to WDAS . . . WPEN, to celebrate 28th anni and introduce new lineup of personalities, gave cocktail party for agency reps . . . Wm. B. Caskey, veepee and g.m. of station, attributed big agency and show biz turnout to WPEN’s policy of local personality programming for past five years. IN MILWAUKEE . . . James G. Haig, general manager for WRIT radio station, has chalked up another first locally airing news 15 minutes earlier each hour daily on the quarter-hour with Jim Wallace, WRIT news editor, doing the chore. That means 23 broadcasts each day, starting at 5:45 a.m,, and the windup 11:45 p.m. WRIT’S mobile unit participates continually in fast-breaking local news . . . KFBI, Wichita, followed the leader, with other stations nationally doing a switch to quarter-hour news setup . . . WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee Journal Television station, started using its third color camera in regular operation, last week. In Fall of 1956, WTMJ-TV added two color cameras and two black and white studios, after alterations became one large color studio. Station now has two color studios, with much new equipment acquired for maintaining top color programming . . . Charles “Chuck” Lanphier, formCr vet of local radio an4 television, has acquired an eatery ion the class side) Red Coach Inn, on Blue Mound Road. Lanphier was general manager of WEMP radio from 1936 to 1946 . , . Onetime Milwaukee (WEXT, now WOKY) deejay Tom Edwards, currently spinning disks on WERE, Vednesday, Febmaiy 20, 1957 Cleveland, bas a record **What li a.Teen Age Girl?” on Coral.. ..Sepia deejay Manny Maudlin has a Sunday aft, show going from Thelma’s Backdoor, with an assist by Levon McCone , ,« WTMJrl^V newscaster John Drury does the news on Sunday’s “Newsroom," 9:3Q to 10 p.m, IN SEATTLE ... Edna K. Banna has resigned as promotion-publicity manager of KTVW, Channel 13, to join publicity staff of Greatey Seattle, Inc. She was formerly with WLAN, Lancaster, Pa., and is a charter member of American Women in Radio and Television . . . Merlin Fisher of copy department takes over publicity chores at KTVW , .. W. F, Jalin, tele¬ vision editor of the Hearst morning P. I., has added daily radio-tele¬ vision news bit to KIRO’s “Northwest News Roundup” at 5:35 p.m. Jahn also is on KNBX Thursdays at 5:15 p.m. , . . KING-TV’s chil¬ dren’s program, “Wunda, Wunda” have set out to refute average kid’s concept of ah Indian as “a bad guy with feathers.” Director Kit Spier, star Ruth Prins and musician Elliott Brown are doing weekly program on Indians, based’ on authentic ethnological material. Spier is well- equipped for job. Both his parents are anthropologists and he has lived with several different tribes of Indians and has accompanied parents in the field on research expeditions. Authentic Indian- arti¬ facts—costumes, masks, coup sticks, etc.—^from the Washington State Museum are being used in the programs. IN MINNEAPOLIS . . . Minnesota Associated Press Broadcasters association .elected A1 An- deraon, KLRG, Redwood Falls, president, and Christy Hanson, KNUJ, New Ulm, secreta^ . . . Campaign started to raise $200,000 to keep im¬ pending Twin Cities’ educational tv station, KTCA-TV on air through Sept., 1958 . . , Film actor Robert Wagner, in town for personal appear¬ ances, to plug “The True Story of Jesse James,” did a KSTP disk jockey stint . . WTCN disk jockey Don Doty recuperating from a fatigue attack . . . WAVN, in suburban Stillwater, Minn., has applied for power increase from 250 to 1,000 watts and also has purchased new remote broadcast equipment . . . While continuing as sports director, Jack Horner also has joined the KMGM-TV sales department. Station has reduced its sports reporting to a minimum since taking on the pre-1948 M-G-M feature films . . . KSTP-TV presented a 15-minute mental health program, “Minnesota U.S.A.” a filmed report on work being done at the state hospital for the mentally retarded and ill. IN PITTSBURGH ... Because this is Gene Kelly’s home town, his tv debut on “Schlitz Playhouse” will be premiered here on KDKA-TV Feb. 28, a day before it goes out over the CBS network , .. Ernie Otto, onetime manager for WCAE disk jockey Jay Michael, is now running a record store ip Can¬ ton, O., and also promoting jazz packages . . . Pete Thornton, publicity director for KDKA-TV,' and his wife back from a week’s vacation in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. . . . Bruce'Rice, former PittSburger, has been named sports director for KCMO Broadcasting Co., both its radio and television outlets, in Kansas City, He graduated from UCLA and went to K.C. a year ago from a station in Texas . . . Harris Breth, outdoor editor of Hearst Sun-Telegraph, has signed a deal with William Gi Beal Productions here to appear in and narrate a series of hunting-fishing teleplx. IN CLEVELAND . . . Joe Mulvihill, KYW all-night disker, helped crown Perry Como and Dinah Shore in Las Vegas heart fund show . . . Mrs. Grace Weiss, ex- WING, to WJW-TV accounting department . . . Pat Patterson renews “All-Outdoor” show back to hklf-hour Saturday KYW-TV pitch . , . KYW hosted (15) RAB Clinic . . . WGAR newscaster Jack Dooley re¬ newed at 11 p.m. by Second Federal . . . WEWS expanding its news operation with hiring of Jack Perkins, ex-WGAR, and George Moore, Press photographer . . . WJW-TV adding “Bandstand” with Phil and Mrs. McLean emceeing the hour-long dance studio teenager show when it leaves WEWS, KYW disker Wes Hopkins initiating “Operation Weskids” to bring youngsters in Crippled Children’s Society Program into limelight by way of programming and trips to area events . .. Skitch Henderson, and Helen O’Cohnell headlined KYW Heart Fund Assn.’s “Twin-Heart Ball” (14) at the Arena in hoopla $10,000 show in which 4500 attended. Pro¬ ceed went to the area Heart Fund. Mutual’s New Type Network Continued from page Z3 g Hauser” and the twice-weekly “Eddie Fisher Show.” Current ad¬ vertising contract commitments on such shows would be fulfilled, but there would be no renewals if plan goes into effect. The same holds true for talent contracts. Bob & Ray’s expires in September and in the interim, if plan- is adopted, they would be switched to do net deejay chores. Under present proposals, net’s sponsored* religious block would be continued, with affiliates shar¬ ing in coin, as well as the spon¬ sored midweek mystery-adventure block, under the present exchange of .programming setup, with net feeding affiliates a similar block of programming. That net would lose out on some sponsor coin—Coca-Cola, Ameri¬ can Molasses, McKesson & Rob¬ bins—^under projected setup is ac¬ knowledged. But a floor also is placed on possible losses, it’s ar¬ gued. There are also 17 five- minute news shows opened up to net daily,-under contemplated plan, it’s pointed out. With the Miles and Kraft biz already in the house riding on five-minute news shows, net could account for about half of its potential news sponsorship. In addition, Gabriel Heatter’s 130- minutes of news weekly, broken down into five-minute, slots, is fully sponsored. MBS execs say that in about two or three weeks sufficient affiliate sentiment should be sounded out to warrant a decision. The cur¬ rent try represents the net’s sec¬ ond attempt within a six months span to alter the traditional net¬ work-affiliate programming and cqntractual setup via a barter for¬ mula. This time the key being utilized Is news, with net pitching its world-wide facilities and name commentators as the big bargain¬ ing point. No TV Specs a—a Continued from page 21 Showcase” next season (out of the now-split-up Jaffe & Jaffe Show¬ case Productions stable) remains in the area of speculation at the moment. However Henry and Saul Jaffe resolve their divorcement and separate packaging operations, it’s anticipated they’ll both have a stake in the network’s future “spe¬ cials,” as with their present pro¬ duction of the Swift 90-minute shows designed for special sponsor campaigns, but the one-every-four- week pattern will be tossed out. There will, of course, continue to be a “Producers’ Showcase,” but the frequency and the slottings are yet to be worked out. In view of the two-preemption ceiling the present Monday night every- fourth-week pattern will be dis¬ continued. Tipoff as to the web’s sentiments about specs came when the net¬ work program brass met with the key affiliates at last week’s meet¬ ing (at which time Kintner was officially introduced to the affil executive committee). In detailing the new program exec lineup, great pains were taken to identify veepee Mike Dann as program <^hief of the “specials,” with total blackout on use of the word “spec.” Seattle—Leo Lassen, w.k. North¬ west baseball announcer, has part¬ ed company with indie KOL here, and for the first time In 26 years will not broadcast Rainier Coast League baseball games. Grades' British TV In Stepped-Up Roster London, Feb. 19. Two major appointments have been made by Jncorporated Tele¬ vision Program Go:, coinciding with a major stepping-up of their production* ITP is closely linked with Associated Television, the commercial programming outfit, which operates the London station at weekends and the Midlands out¬ let on weekdays. / Jack Philips, a member of the Philips electrical family, who wi.* formerly controller pf their r.ecord division in Europe, has been named ITP’s European sales controller and will operate from offices in London and Amsterdam. Ralph Smart has also joined ITP as exec¬ utive producer 'and his first assign¬ ment wi^l be the production of the “William Tell” tv series, which will be filmed at the National Stu¬ dios, Elstree. This series, budgetted at over $1,000,0()0, is now in the casting ^tage. ITP is also Involved in two Anglo^U.S. c .--production deals, both*of which are slated to go on the floor, also at the National Stu¬ dios, next month. The first is the OSS series, being made in associa¬ tion with Joe Harris and Flamingo Films on a budget of around $1,- 200,000. Robert Siodmak is to di¬ rect and Ron Randell has been assigned the starring role. The oth¬ er, which is being made in collab¬ oration with Television Programs of America, is the Charlie Chan series, with J. Carroll Naish in the title role. Production begins March 15. ITP, of which Lew Grade is managing director, is also actively associated with Hannah Weinstein and Official Films in the produc¬ tion of “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” “The Adventures of Sir Lancelot” and “The Buccaneers.” Two more series, to be produced by Mrs. Weiristein, are now in an advance planning stage. CBS-TV’s Hockey — Continued from page 23 j sons watched the Rangers knock off the Montreal Canadiens. The Boston Garden has had three complete sellouts in recent weekends, including the televised matinee Feb. 9. For the first time in years, they’re selling standing* room ducats at the Detroit arena. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the revived interest in the ice sport is the Chicago Black Hawks which have been in a boxoffice tailspin for several semesters as one of the weakest teams in the circuit. On Feb. 10 the last place Hawks drew 12,714 fans for the largest Chicago Stadium crowd since March 22, 1953. The local club for the first 18 home contests prior to the start of the national telecasts drew 129,106, an average of 7,173. The nine games since have pulled in 81,566, fans, an average of 9,062. There’s a little irony to the wel¬ comed return of the tv cameras to the Chicago Stadium. For three seasons from ’46 to ’49 the full Black Hawk home slate was tele¬ cast locally via WBKB. 'At that time the team’s attendance aver¬ aged 16,717 for 90 games over the span. But at the end of the ’48-49 season the club management de¬ cided the tv cameras would have to go, lest the continued telecasting weaken the gate. During the ’49-’50 season aver¬ age attendance slipped to 13,669 and continued to tail off to the low level mark of 7,173 before the start of the CBS-TV exposure this year. The CBS hockey four-camera re¬ mote crew is directed by WBBM- TV’s Dick Liesendahl. SB Hikes Radio Coin Standard Brands, which already has a heavy schedule on CBS Ra¬ dio, has purchased an additional chunk of the web’s daytime busi¬ ness for a special three-week cam¬ paign. Food outfit has picked'up 10 seven-and-a-half-minute seg¬ ments per week for the three weeks beginning March 11 in “House Party” and five soapers for its. Royal Desserts. Agency is Ted Bates.