Variety (May 1957)

nmnm RADIO-TELEVISION WedneBday, May 15, 1957 S7. M’LENDON’S ‘TEXAS TRIANGLE’ ■4 4- CBS’ Derring-Do Nose-for-News CRS News & Public Affairs operation moved into the cloak* and-dagger field of newsgathering last week on two fronts. The first involves extensive filrii and tape interviews with Cuban rebel leader Fidel Castro and the second is an hourlong radio documen¬ tary promising -“new information” on the disappearance of Dom¬ inican Republic expatriate Dr. Jesus de Galindez and the subse¬ quent death of pilot Gerald Lester Murphy. The radio show, titled “The Galindez-Murphy Case: A Chronicle of Terror,” and narrated by Edward R. Murrow, will be aired on the network next Monday (20) from 8 to 9 p.m. Produced by Jay McMullen and'a staff headed by Arthur Rabin and Ted Sack, program consists of taped interviews of persons close to Galin¬ dez and Murphy and promises to reveal statements that witnesses saw Galindez after his disappearance, that intimidation was used to silence persons with information about the case, “the inside story” on Murphy’s father and fiancee in their visit to the Dom¬ inican Republic after the, flier’s death and information on ac¬ tivities of Dominican agents in th£ U. S. The Castro interview was handled by CBS newsman Robert Taber and cameraman Wendell Hoffman, who sneaked ’ through Cuban army lines into the Sierra Maestra mountain range and came out with two hours of tapes and films, along with two Ameri¬ can youngsters who had left their homes, in the U. S. Naval Base at Santiago to join the rebels three months ago. Special broad¬ casts of the interviews are set for CBS-TV Sunday (19) at 6 to 6:30 and CBS Radio the same day at 9:05-9:30 p.m. Taber and Hoffman succeeded'in reaching Castro where two. Birmingham newsmen on assignment from NBC a couple of months ago failed, and in the process, got NBC’s parent RCA Into an embarrassing predicament with Cuban President^ Batista, one of the company’s best electronics customers. The Taber-Hoffmap footage is the first of Castro 6 in his mountain hideaway, although . New York Times reporter Herbert Matthews’got the original beat on the Castro story several months ago by slipping through to interview him in the mountains—the first foreign correspondent to do so. ' Bob Sarnoffs Sad-Faced Vox Pop On Ratings: They’re Here to Stay NBC prez Bob Sarnoff’s series of newsletters to ’ radio-tv editors throughout the country hit a “let’s let our hair down, girls” note this week as Sarnoff ruefully but can¬ didly took up the question of tele¬ vision ratings. “Ratings are here to stay,” Sar¬ noff declared. “The type and num¬ ber of rating services might change in ,the future; but broadcasters, those who sponsor broadcasts, and K those who star in them will always want some yardstick to measure national circulation and viewer preferences. Ratings parallel, in some respects, newspaper or maga¬ zine ABC’s and Hollywood boxof- fice statistics, and they are viewed with comparable importance by many in and out of the industry. “If I didn’t believe that a year ago, I do now. I -recall a little ruefully, that NBC decided last fall to'stop issuing overnight rating in forma¬ tion and then see what happened. Much, unfortunately, did—perhaps in part as a result of our own bad timing.. The Nielsen report that followed our no-rating decision gave us no programs in the Top 10. Some of the press promptly drew a parallel between our reticence and our ratings. As I recall, Variety had some, fun with us." “But there , was nothing light¬ hearted in tl^ef response of various sponsors and agencies. Tradition¬ ally, they called our sales depart¬ ment the morning after for show ratings. Some stars did the same. Their joint expressions of unhappi¬ ness. Were both pointed and sin¬ cere, and the mischief v was com¬ pounded when one of our friendly competitors stepped forth and of¬ fered to supply NBC sponsors with ratings on NBC shows—since NBC wouldn’t do it. “So I retreated. Sponsors, agen- (Continued on page 54) U.S. Rubber t# Log 'Navy' Thors, at 10 on ABC-TV TJ. S. Rubber will be back on “Navy Log” next season in a new ABC-TV time slot. With American Tobacco ankling as skip-week spon¬ sor and .Bristol-Myers signed to “Log’s” present . 8:30 Wednesday time, U. S. Rubber and the telefilm are moving next semester to 10 p. hi. Thursdays. Instead of an even Split on rotat¬ ing sponsorship the rubber com¬ pany has pacted for 35 telecasts in the new time meaning there are 17 half-hoUrs of the show available on a skip-week basis for part of the year» Sterling TV In A ;‘Web Radio’ Pitch Via Grid-a-Phone Sterling Television, longtime television distributor, is expanding into “network radio’’ this fall. Company, organizing a new divi¬ sion called Sterling Radio Network Inc., plans to phone direct play-by- play coverage of 60 collegiate and professional football games to sub¬ scribing radio stations. Company has inked Marty Glick- man and Bud Palmer to do -the play-by-play, and negotiations are underway .with Bill Stern to do some of the games. Sterling said that every Saturday of the football season there will be two games broadcast by direct phone hookup to stations — first, one from the east, followed toy another from the Pacific time zone. For the first five weekends, Friday and Saturday night games will be fed to the “network.” The Sterling radio deal is via a tieup with Sports Broadcasts Inc., Ed Pancoast-Marty Glickman-Ned Asch outfit. Sports Broadcasts, Sterling disclosed, is “associated with both the baseball Yankees and the football Giants,” indicating, that the setup will be a year-round affair once It starts. WCAU, Too, Reaches 35; Pat on Back From U.S. . Philadelphia, May 14. WCAU marked its 35th annl on the heels of the WIP, >VFIL 35th birthday' celebrations and was ku¬ dosed by Franklin Dunham, radio¬ television chief of tlje U.S, Dept, of Health, Education and‘ Welfare “for service to the community.” . In a letter to Donald W. Thorn¬ burgh, prexy and general manager of WCAU, Dunham noted station’s “true concept of public service”. He cited that the Philadelphia Orchestra broadcasts were first aired over WCAU (1931), as were the Robin Hood Dell summer concerts. Margaret Kearney’s “Career For¬ um” was singled, out for special praise “for its vocational guidance to young people”. ’ j DALLAS, HOUSTON, ANTONIO ‘FIRST’ By BILL BARKER Dallas,* May 14. In taking over KLBS in Houston today (Tues.), Gordon McLendon, 35, local radio executive, will have accomplished something all others have failed' to do in 37 years of Texas commercial radio. He’ll have put together for the first time sta¬ tions in the three major markets, Dallas^ Houston and San Antonio. Already owning what are general¬ ly recognized as top, highly profit¬ able indies in Dallas (KLIF) and San Antonio (KTSA), McLendon threatens to give Houston the same “blitz” treatment with Which l.e bowed in Sen * Antonio one year ago arid in 30 days raised KTSA from 2% to 30%. of the listening audience, to take first place there. McLendon’s" first move today was a change in call letters from KLBS to KILT, latter identifying his nickname, “The Old Scotch¬ man.” He’s in Houston this week for the change in Ownership and t6 okay complete remodeling of the Milby Hotel Studios. Complete pro-. gram chdnge will see seven new deejays on tap, three of them im- pdrted from McLendon’s KTSA in San Antonio. Promotionally, Mc¬ Lendon said, “I’ve planned several new things that we’ve never tried before. The Houston market means a great deal to us and we intend to pull out every stop to have the best station in the market. I'm even throwing in my ace KLIF disker, Art Nelson, to the Hous¬ ton battle on a one-month.loan.”. Deejays due at KILT from KTSA, San Antonio, are afternoon spinner and program director, Don Keyes, Elliott Field and Bob Stev¬ ens, morning men. KTSA replace¬ ments will be Bob Drews, Eddie Dunn and Jack Elliott—the latter two switched from KLIF here. Bill Weaver Managing Bill Weaver, ex-KLIF exec, who went to WRIT, Milwaukee, when McLendon bought the Wisconsin airer, and lately the KTSA (San Antonio) head, .takes over as man¬ ager of KILT, Houston. KILT promotion started last week, with the new d. j.’s visiting a different high school daily and giving away hundreds of free rec¬ ords at each school. KLBS, prior to call-letter, change this week, ran teaser announcements beamed at the May 14 changeover. Also, last week the three Texas McLendon stations joined together in a public service deal, airing the appeal of Italian Consul Count Ludovico Barattieri, who sought the return of his son, Vittorio, 14. With all three McLendon radio (Continued on page 52) j WBBM-TVs 250G From Dead’Morn Chicago, May 14. WBBM-TV, local CBS station, expects to gross $250,000 this year in a time period that heretofore has been practically non-gainful. It’s been accomplished by stac¬ cato programming of three shows in a, 15-minute early morning space, an idea mapped ‘ but by WBBM-TV’s sales chief George Arkedis. Station waived sustaining network news when “Captain Kan¬ garoo” was pared 15 minutes in the early a.m. and slotted instead- a moppet show, a-weather show and local news, each five minutes apart, from 8:45 to 9, and each with blurbs at both ends, of course. As of now, according to a Arke¬ dis, the something-for-everyone trio is about 90% sold, with only two days of the juve entry still open. Largely attributable to the success of the experiment, now only a month old) is the fact that the principals on the threesome— Lee Phillip, P. J. Hoff, Jack Taylor and Jim Conway—#re pll substan¬ tial names on local tv known from shows that occur later in the day. NBC-TV’s Fri. Checkerboard Moves In Wake of Shifts by Sponsors BBC-TV Wham on TAM London, May 14. 'A BBC-TV program has been listed in-the Television Audience Measurement’s Top ; 10 programs for the commer-- cial areas. In the Midland and Northern zones served by both commercial and state tv, the BBC ? s transmission of the Football Assn.’s Cup Final, one of the .biggest British sporting events of the year, was placed first, and in the London area, third, This is the first time since September of last year, when the BBC-TV airing of “Fqur In A Jeep” was placed second - in the chart, that a state web tv show has got into the TAM lists. An estimated, 2,455,000. homes tuned into the BBC channel to watch the program. FCC Post Dp For Grabs; Mills’Nix Raises Doerfer Washington, May 14. The field for appointment of a member of the Federal Communi¬ cations Commission to fill the com- missionership to be vacated June 30, when the term of Chairman George C. McConnaughey expires, now appears to be wide open. Sur¬ prise. announcement last Thursday (9) by Edward K. Mills, deputy ad¬ ministrator of the General Serv¬ ices Administration, that he had requested that his name not be considered for the FCC leaves the race a virtual free-for-all. The White House was expected to sub¬ mit Mills’ nomination to the Sen¬ ate last week. It’s understood that Mills turned down the job because he could not have the chairmanship of the Com¬ mission: Apparently, there had been some misunderstanding as to Whether he was to be so designated but It was believed that he wAs to be named as commissioner. Mills’ statement that he “prefers” to re¬ main with GSA is interpreted here to indicate that he was not inter¬ ested fn anything less thari the top job at FCC. His present po¬ sition, which carries large respons¬ ibilities ip connection with super¬ vision of Government, buildings, in¬ cluding plans for extensive expan- sipn, is considered as important as being a member of the Commis¬ sion. Unwillingness of the White House to give Mills the chairmanship, per¬ haps influenced by reported indus¬ try opposition to an “unknown quantity,” indicates the President plans to name a member of the Commission as-chairman. John C. Doerfer is generally considered the- most likely choice. An articulate (Continued on page 54) No 'Climax’ for Singer; Stays Put for Kraft ? Hollywood, May 14. ■ “Kraft TV Theatre” story editor Arthur Singer, who had agreed to- a CBS-TV offer to join “Climax” as associate producer.and story edi-, tor for producer Edgar. Peterson, has decided to remain -with the N. Y.-based show. . Singer had agreed to accept the CBS bid, but subsequently, it’s un¬ derstood, Kraft offered him a hike in coin plus the opportunity to direct some of the vidramas. As result, Singer Reconsidered and asked CBS for a release from a verbal agreement. Web let him go. ’ Now Peterson’s hunting for an¬ other associate producer. Ralph Nelson and Peterson are alternate producers of “Climax.” NBC-TV is doing some fast Fri¬ day night sponsor shuffling as the result of a couple of client switches and additions. As of .next fall, in the 9 to 10 period, American To¬ bacco and Campbell Soups will re¬ verse their time slots back to the previous pattern of American at 9 and Campbell at 9:30, the spots both had occupied via “Big Story” and “Star Stage”-“Dear Phoebe” up until this season when Campbell moved down to 9 and American up to 9:30 with “Big Story.” •Just what programs will accom¬ pany the switch isn’t yet known, however. For American Tobacco and Its recently-added ^alternate sponsor, Ralston-Furina> it looks like a tossup between a renewal of “Big Story” or purchase of “Man¬ hunt,” a new Revue Productions (MCA) film .entry starring Lee Marvin in a tough-cop role. Camp¬ bell hasn’t indicated a choice. Still further complicating the Friday picture is the fact that Lever Bros., which shared “On "Trial” this season with Campbell, recently bought into the 8:30-9 “Life of Riley,” thus leaving Camp¬ bell without an alternate in its new 9:30 time slot. As the Friday picture shapes up, 7:30 is still vacant. Old Gold is in at 8 with its new “Court of Last Resort.” At 8:30, Lever has half of “Riley,” with the other half open. American Tobacco-Simoniz have 9 p. m., Campbell 9:30 (with half open) and the Gillette fights will be back at 10. Royal ‘SaDy’ SRO’s NBC-TV Sun. Nile NBC-TV this week signed Royal McBee Corp. (Royal Typewriters) to alternate-week sponsorship of the “Sally” stanza and thus posted the SRO sign on its Sunday night 7:30-10:30 lineup. Still to be filled, however, is the web’s 6 to 7:30 pic¬ ture, both from the programming and sponsor standpoint. Royal will alternate with Chem- strand Corp. on the 7:30 to 8 “Sally” stanza,. which stars Joan Caulfield and features Marion Lome. Filmed stanza, produced by Frank Ross, Miss Caulfield’s husband and longtime, motion pia producer (“The Robe”), will start on the web Sept. 22 for Chem- strand, with Royal beginning its ah ternate sponsorship Sept. 29. Royal deal was set via Young & Rubicam. With “Sally” sponsorship all wrapped up, network is SRO from T:30 on. Johnson’s Wax, Grey¬ hound and Pharmacraft have the Steve Allen show; Chevrolet has all of the 9 to 10 period and Procter & Gamble sponsors Loretta Young at 10. 'Stock Exchange' Merger Of KOVR and KCCC-TV Kills Latter's Protest Stockton, Cal., .May 14... KOVR will soon merge with KCCC-TV, Sacramento, through an exchange of stock. An immedi¬ ate result is that KCCC-TV, UHF channel 40 , has withdrawn its pro¬ test to the FCC against allowing .VHF channel 13, KOVR, to mov# its transmitter from a Frisco to a Sacremento-oriented site. • Terry Lee, KOVR general man¬ ager, said his outlet will complete trasnmitter move from. Mount Dial** lo, midway between Stockton and Frisco, to Butte Mountain, 35 milei from Sacramento, next fall. Both stations currently are ABO affiliates. KOVR had tried to move into the Frisco market as- an inde¬ pendent, but couldn’t buck three strong Frisco network stations. Merger resolves a months-long struggle betwen the VHF’and UHF channels and sets stage for heavy ABC penetration of the fast-grow¬ ing Sacramento area.