Variety (August 1957)

Wednesday, August 28, 1957 KADIO-TELEVISIOV N.Y. Banks Novel Sponsor Pattern Unusual sponsorship pattern is being employed on New York tele¬ vision by the First National City Bank, which sponsors the slx-a-, week John K. M. McCaffery 11 p.m. newscast on WRCA-TV but just re¬ cently* purchased the immediately- following “Late Weather & Sports” on rival WCBS-TV. The WCBS-TV buy is for one night a week, Tues¬ day, but the bank has ordered two more segments as soon as they open up (Piel’s Beer and General Cigar have them currently). Under the new pattern, the bank sponsors WRCA-TV news from 11 to 11:10 and then switches over to WCBS-TV at 11:10 for five min¬ utes of weather and sports to 11:15. Pattern is virtually unorecedented in program buying, though com¬ mon enough in the scheduling of spot announcements. Princioal rea¬ son for the buy is First National City’s desire to get a news fran¬ chise on WCBS-TV. But from a media point of view, the buy is an eff 5 cieflt one as well, maintains WCBS-TV sales Chief Frank Shakespeare. He theorizes that there’s little audience switch¬ over between the two stations at 11:10, when the news ends and the weather begins on both outlets. In¬ stead, there’s a straight flow¬ through for the 11-11:15 quarter- hour. That means that the bank will be reaching a completely dif¬ ferent audience with each of its two segments, and as long as the cost-per-thousand is right, Shake¬ speare states, then the buy is an eff ; cient one. First National City originally wanted to get in on the WCBS-TV “Seven O’clock Report” segment featuring Robert Trout, but while it was working out the details, rival Manufacturer’s Trust Co. stepped in with a five-a-week buy on that, so First National City moved into the weather & sports segment instead. U.S. Students 'Covering’ Red China for NBC Two of the 41 American stu¬ dents in Red China are covering the tour on radio and, television for NBC. Students are * Robert Cohen of Los Angeles, who, armed with a newsreel camera, is filming the junket and sending the foot¬ age to NBC, and Ed Hochman, who is broadcasting over a direct cir¬ cuit to San Francisco from Peiping. Students are visiting China in de¬ fiance of. the State Dept. The students were hired as stringers in Moscow by NBC cor¬ respondent Irving R. Levine, who turned over a camera to Cohen for his . coverage. The network, of course, hasn't been able to get its own correspondent into China, ' though Far East chief Jim Robin¬ son is poised in Hong Kong as one of. 24 newsmen authorized last week by the State Dept, to enter the country. Kovacs’ Topaze’ Stint Ernie Kovacs is due to return to -television next fall via CRS-TV in a one-shot dramatic stint as the lead in Marcel Pagnol’s “Topaze.” The comedy, which John Barry¬ more difl in films,'is pencilled in as the third “Playhouse 90 ,r effort of the season, on Sept. 26. It’ll mark Kovacs’ first dramatic role in tv and his first stint since winding up his contract \rith NBC. “Playhouse 90” producer Martin Manulis has already pencilled in a Rod Sterling original, “The Dark Side of the Earth,” with Van Hef- flip Starring, for the second show of the season, following the “Death of Manolete” as the kickoffer. Harold Wagner Into Mutual Program Sot Mutual, in a move to shore up the .posts left vacant by the resig¬ nations in the wake of the sellout by RKO Teleradio, has appointed Harold M. Wagner, programming director. Other exec appointments include: 1 director of research and sales pro¬ director of reserach and sails pro¬ motion; and Joseph F. Keating, as assistant program director. Wagner, with the net since 1941, had been manager of program op¬ erations, working under program director Brad Simpson, now re¬ signed. Keating,, who had left the net in June for a special assign¬ ment with CKLW-TV, Detroit- Windsor, formerly had been an exec producer with the net, while Poster had been in the sales pro¬ motion departments of Mutual and ABC Radio. Detroit—A two-year contract for exclusive braodcast rights to all Detroit Pistons games, at home and away, has been signed by the pro¬ fessional basketball team, the Na¬ tional Brewing Co. of Michigan and WJR. Terms were not announced, but sale of'the rights was one of the highest in the basketball league’s history. National Brewing also purchased tv rights for the 1957-58 season, but details for tele¬ vising games have not been com¬ pleted. CBS' Ho-Hum on. Tint CBS-TV, as last year, will program substantially less col¬ or than NBC-TV, with the only . majpr new tint entry for the web so far the new “Big Rec¬ ord show. Other than “Rec¬ ord,” only programs slated for tint at this point are the live Red Skelton shows, the once-monthly “Shower of ’ Stars” and the network’s spec¬ taculars. Schedule is largely a repeat from last year, when Arthur Godfrey’s Wednesday night show, which “Record” is re¬ placing, was colorcast. Similar¬ ly, the Skelton show was a color entry last season, and so was “Shower” and the .few specs aired by the web. Wally Griffin Siped For Sullivan Foursome Comic Wally Griffin has been signed to a four-show contract by Ed Sullivan. Sullivan spotted the comedian on a recent trip to Ber¬ muda, where Griffin was playing the Empire Club, and immediately pacted him. Ironic twist is that Theatrical Enterprises, Griffin’s managers,, and MCA had tried to get Griffin an audition with Sulli¬ van previously in N. Y. First of the four dates is Sept. 15. .. Jerrold Also in Frisco Pay-TV Bid, Promises ‘New Concept’ San Francisco, Aug. 27. Latest entrant in the. Frisco closed-circuit derby is president Milton J. Shapp of Jerrold Elec¬ tronics, Philadelphia, who filed a franchise application with city of¬ ficials in person last week. Shapp said he wants to telecast over two channels, one to carry 15 first-run films a month, the other to carry special events. He claimed system is financed by “a group of motion picture inter¬ ests”—he wouldn’t say which ones —and is prepared to lose money for four years. He cautioned wire installation would take three to four years, scoffed at Skiatron claims that pay-tv could be on the air in 10 or 11 months, said his non-scramble system ’would cost homeowner about $8.50 monthly. “We’re proposing a new type of theatre,” he said, “instead of con¬ crete and steel, cable and electron¬ ics .. . it’s theatre taken to the people, instead of people congre¬ gating in theatres—we hope to re¬ gain for theatres the audience they’ve lost and also give them an audience they never had . . . it’s a new concept of getting films into homes.” Shapp said the idea in Frisco I would be to run a single film qon- tiriuously, morning, afternoon and night, for two days, then switch to a new picture. He i*eoprted his company had surveyed the nation, found Frisco and “two other cities”—again, he wouldn’t say which ones—ideal for pay-tv. He ruled out New York (“too many problems”) and Los Angeles (“too spread out”), said his service could start'wifh 40 r r of the city wired,. that total wiring job would cost *$4 million, plus $70 to $80 for a lead into each home. In two years, he said, he’d have 10 r c saturation, in six years 50 r r. Company could start making money in four years, he claimed. Meanwhile. Skiatron's formal ap¬ plication for a pay-tv franchise went to Frisco's legislative body, the board of supervisors, yesterday i26>, and was promptly referred to the board’s finance committee for rec¬ ommendations. The 10-page document omits two details: 1) There is no mention of a charge to customers who watch over the Skiatron circuit; 2i There is no restriction against transmitting advertising. BROOKS COSTUMES EXQUISITE OFFICES 5 Rtforrr Modern Duplex Suite Facing Central Fork Sonrh Carpeted, Drapes I, 2 or 3 Offices Available With or Without Services;.Reasonable JU 2-0251 x • ■ I " * %| 316,000 WATTS