Variety (November 1957)

28 RADIO-TELEVISION UfisSIEfY Wednesday, November 13, 1957 CBS Radios Beam to Affiliates; More Money This Year Than Last For the first time since 1950,4 CBS Radio was able to inform its affiliates last week that station pay¬ ments as well as network revenues have increased over the year be¬ fore. With the CBS Radio Affili¬ ates Assn, meeting in their fourth annual convention at the Hotel Pierre, N. Y., CBS prexy Arthur Hull Hayes emphasized the good •news—the "first rise over a pre¬ vious year since the decade’s turn” in payments and billings. Hayes marked improvements both In the web’s daytime and nighttime structures, pointing out that with daytime reaching 82% more audience than the nearest competitor during the average sponsored minute over a seven- day period, the network has now reached a more-than-90% sold- out status. In nighttime and week¬ end periods, he said, the web’s “Impact Plan" had only 11 seg¬ ments sold in the first quarter of this year, whereas for last week „ , alone, the network sold 118 such ] “Tonight" hit the jackpot Frl- five-minute nighttime-weekend seg-• day <8>, piling up $4,200,000 in men t s 1 gross new business in the one day, Sales v.p. John Karol reassured i representing an alltime single-day the affiliates on another point h '* h for NBC-TV’s parhcipating which has proved a sore spot in ! program operation.. The new busi- the past. “So far as six- and eight- ■ ness - c0[ nbined with eat her sales second spots are concerned, we I ® n da< * ^ aar ^tarrer, hrings are trying to go the other way" he | total sal . es on the ahow “ said. "We are trying to build inter-; ^ree smce Aug ' 15 t0 ership ‘of ^ rad‘i<^rogram!“ ’ Aff ill-! ^ Sig gun In the *4,200,000 sales ates in the past have shown strong j j^on'jjoo out* (S° sDot^televSon opposition to the eight-second-^ SfSSJL 0 ?, 4 ^ chain-break idea, as well as pro-1 and «-into he Tonight posals of one-minute participations j re S eSi n g 234 p^ic° P atlons to run In a pre-convention session, af- j at the rate 0 f one a njgjjt start- filiates elected Charles S. Caley of i j n g j) eCi 30 , is also a record sale WMBD, Peoria, as its new chair-. f or participating programs, the man of the board, succeeding John . s i n gj e largest outlay yet recorded. M. Rivers, of WCSC, Charleston, SSC&B is the agency. S. C., who becomes an ex-officio other major chujiks of business member of the board. John S. came from Bristol-Myers, which Hayes of WTOP, Washington, was j through Young & Rubicam laid out O’Keefe Exits ‘Suspicion’ Hollywood, Nov. 12 , Dennis O’Keefe has. been dropped as host of "Suspicion," on NBC-TV. Web made the change In belief It would help the program to get right into the show itself, now opens with a one-minute teaser in¬ stead of a host. O’Keefe is under contract to NBC. ‘Tonight’ Speaks In Paar-Shaped Tones—$4,200, elected vice chairman, while Joseph M. Higgins of WTHI, Terre Haute, was elected secretary. New directors at large are Worth Kramer, WJR, Detroit; Lee Wailes, of the Storer stations; and Caley. District representation on the board consists of J. Maxim Ryder, WBRY, Waterbury, Conn.; C. Grover Delaney, WHEC, Rochester, N. Y.; Hayes; Harold Danforth, WDBO, Orlando, Fla.; Hoyt B. Wooten, WREC, Memphis; Higgins; Frank Fogarty, WOW, Omaha; J. C. Kellam, KTBC, Austin; and Westerman Whillock, KBOI, Boise. Hayes also presented three "Gold Mikes” to stations with 30 or more years of affiliation. Awards went to WADC, Akron, WBNS. Co¬ lumbus and WCAU, Philadelphia. FCC Closes'File on Cohen’s Rap of Cop Hamilton In Mike Wallace Interview about $1,500,000 for 208 participa¬ tions for Bufferin and another 28 for Ipana, both starting this week; Polaroid, a current sponsor, which added another -40 participations starting in January via Doyle Dane Bernbach, and 21 participations from Webcor, via John W. Shaw agency, startng this week. Norelco chipped in with 115 participations for spring and summer, while Tintair bought 26. Len East to Coast FMer Hollywood, Nov. 12 . Former New Orleans announcer- account exec Len Fast joined staff of KRHM-FM here, as an account exec. JIMMY NELSON DANNY O’DAY and FARFEL . With HUMPHREY HIGSBYE November 23 and December 14 on the “Jimmy Dean Show,” CBS-TV. Currently TV Spokesman for the NESTLE CO. and LIBBY, McNEILL and LIBBY. Management— Mercury Artists Corprc 130 Fifth Ave., New York: JU 6—6300 Como Offered To Britain At PerKine “The Perry Como Show” will be seen in Great Britain after the first of the year. NBC-TV is near to a deal under which it will sell kinescopes of the Saturday night Como show to the BBC-TV for weekly airing in England. Network won’t disclose the price, but it is believed to run somewhere around $ 10,000 per show. That’s based on the fact that in past negotiations, half-hour film shows have commanded prices up to $5,000 per episode, and since the Como stanza runs an hour arid constitutes one of the best-rated American shows, the $10,000 fig¬ ure seems logical, NBC is • kine- scoping the black-and-white pic¬ ture, thougli the Como show Is tel-, ecast in colon The BBC-TV deal, incidentally, is somewhat contradictory to the announcement last week by BBC- TV director Gerald Beadle to the effect that BBC-TV was throwing in the towel in the battle against the commercial programmers for ratings and would offer "programs nearer to the forefront of taste and intellectual Interest" instead .. of straight entertainment. Damn The Torpedoes There's Madness in NBC's Method in Courting Affiliate Acceptance of ‘Clock TV' RCA’s 4D0G Fire Fairmont, Ind., Nov. 12. Fire swept through the leased warehouse occupied by RCA, caus¬ ing: an estimated $400,000 damage, including destruction of. thousands of television picture tubes. Cause of the fire has not been determined. TV Exodus to West Gives N.Y. ‘Branch’ Office Lookeroo Hollywood, Nov. 12. Switch of major television activ¬ ity from the east to Hollywood Is placing fresh emphasis upon the value of Coast agents having their own branches in N. Y., according to Ingo Preminger. Preminger, who conducts his own agency here, returned last week from Gotham where he made arrangements to open a fully-staffed office Jan. 1. Video move westward cues the importance of such eastern agency operations, Preminger said. The top literary sources through which television acquires the bulk of its material are in the east, he pointed out, as are many of the top writ¬ ers. Consequently, there is a vital need for Hollywood agencies to have their own men on the scene, to snap' up suitable properties which are not-available here. Sev¬ eral of the big agencies, of course, have had eastern offices for years, but few of the non-combine agents have anything more than reps in Manhattan. "There is such a huge hunger for television programming that it’s es¬ sential now for a Hollywood agent to have more than representation in N. Y.,’’ Preminger noted- "This can be done only by the agent set¬ ting up his own base of eastern op¬ erations, so be can compete on an equal basis for new material.” Preminger also noted a new change in agency operations on the -Coast, a “lack of competition.’’ Many agents now work together on deals, he said. He cited as an ex¬ ample of this his own current deal¬ ings with. Music Corp of America. Both are seeking a suitable proper¬ ty for Ralph Meeker as basis of a new tv series. Third of A Nation: Whither %ive ’? By ART WOODSTONE In the midst of a television sea¬ son when better than two-thirds of the network shows are on film, a key program executive questioned Washington, Nov. 12. Federal Communications Com¬ mission will take no action against ; .. , ...... . , , ABC-TV for the Mike Wallace in- j the feasibility of using so much te-iview six months ago with Mickey telefilm and predicted that live pro-| Cohen on its network. Agency last gramming "has a greet chance to week informed Capt. James E. I come back." Bucking the trend, Hamilton of the Los Angeles Police j James Aubrey, ABC-TV v.p. and Dept, that it does not have "a suf- -No-. 1 program man at the network, ficient basis" to Invoke proceedings j based his convictions on the eco- against the web because of al- i nomics of film vis-, -vis live and, legedly defamatorv remarks bv; to some extent, on the greater flex- Cohen regarding L. A. Police ibility of live programming, a point Chief William H. Parker. : which has been cropping up more Commission described Hamil- and more °f la * e - ton's complaint as "essentially - Aubrey said it is frequently pos- directed to what constitutes a ; sible to produce a live half-hour lack of industry self -regulation : program at approximately half the which permits ‘sensationalism’ pro-' rost of a half-hour telepic package, grams of the Mike Wallace ‘inter-' The program chieftain asserted that view’ type to be broadcast." very few tv programs were not ABC informed the Commission, f pab , Ie of *> eing ? dapted satistac - agcncy told Hamilton, that “the i t y from Wm t0 hve - spontaneous nature of the inter- i Three other factors, Aubrey be- view precluded the network from ! lieves, will also have a great bear¬ having advance knowledge of what! hig on the re-emergence of live actually would be said during the \ video: A syndicated film market in program"; that it regarded Coheii’s \ which only a handful of the top remarks as "a most unfortunate in- i network shows will ever have re- cident"; that it broadcast over its I sidual value; the high cost of tele- network “a complete statement of i film * which forces advertisers into retraction and an apology to the[ a pattern of summertime repeats, principals Involved for any embar-j as against less expensive live shows rassment or personal distress which resulted"; that the sponsor of the program, Philip Morris, the ad agency, N. W. Ayer & Son, and Wallace joined in the apology, and that it has taken steps looking through which sponsors’ savings could easily lead to first-run live shows throughout the hot spell; and, as previously mentioned, the flexibility afforded by a live show, allowing changes in content on rela- toward avoidance of any repetition -Tively short notice, of such an incident. I Aubrey, who is being touted for] a raise in rank at .ABC-TV, pointed out that where a filmed network package might cost $40,000 net forj every first-run half-hour, he was certain that a live show of similar length could he delivered at nearer $20,000. He said that live programs needn’t be priced much higher than that. In cases where costs on live shows have gone up into the $30,000 and $40,000 brackets Aubrey said, "To be sure, the legitimate costs (labor, etc.) have gone up to a cer¬ tain degree, but packagers fre-| quently price themselves according to the going rate for the best shows ih the' genre. And the best ones got on the air only because they were originally realistically priced." He felt that even if there were none of the alleged padding of which producers are accused, a The Long Pause Certain, performers in the recent past have expressed a preference for live tv over telefilm for reasons of "sur¬ vival.” In a private conversation re¬ cently, a wl tv comedian, said that he would not do a film series because of one impor¬ tant factor: He’d be afraid that after finishing his 39 films, rhe might have to wait for several years before he could again 'do tv work; be¬ cause of his producer’s pro¬ hibition that he should not compete with himself while his telefilms are in syndica¬ tion. live show would still be much less expensive than film. Because of the high cost of tele¬ filming, Aubrey declared, producers require a„ minimum 26-week com¬ mitment from sponsors. The sys¬ tem, he said, “necessarily traps them' into repeating these shows during the summer.” The Bases Are Loaded Aubrey offered a warning in the interest of telefilm producers. He said that as more and more net¬ work programs go to film, there| won’t be any room in syndication for them to realize the dream of heavy residual returns. "Only the top programs will ever reach syndi¬ cation and then they will have to be deferred at'least three years from the. time of their network play." This, he suggested, will only delay any coin returns anticipated by the stars and production person¬ nel involved. One other note was added by the network official regarding syndica¬ tion of programs off network. "What use does a film program, which failed on the network, have as a syndicated property?” Aubrey said that local film buyers prefer the stanzas with good network track records. "Only one type of tv program, as I see it, can’t be done as well live as on film," Aubrey said. “It is the western where outdopr action j is necessary. But wherever you op¬ erate in a restricted area, where the show is dependent on plot and characterization—for instance, sus¬ pense melodramas, which I think! are coming back—live is the answer." - Hollywood, Nov. 12 . If there was some bewilderment as to why NBC brought along on its ’ Coast press junket Walter Damra, WTMJ, Milwaukee, facto¬ tum and sparkplug on all things relating to affiliates, there was more to it than a Sampling of mad¬ ness in the .network’s methohd of doing things. Damn didn’t just come along for the ride (although he had himself a ball as an constant onlooker through the frantic week of activi¬ ties). NBC had a message to put across which, while ostensibly for the tv editors, also has a vital bear¬ ing on the affiliate family. And since it’s axiomatic that “as Damm. goes, so goes the affils," what the Milwaukee broadcast baron was seeing and hearing could have re¬ percussions on a broad station level NBC utilized the jtmket as a means of springing the announce¬ ment of its new magnetic "Tape Central” operation—the color and black-and-white. video tape record¬ ing for repeat broadcasts. which, will go into effect next April. In effect, this will bring about the long-anticipated “Clock. TV" • sys¬ tem, whereby every NBC 'station will be putting on a show at pre¬ cisely the same hour. Thus a Dinah Shore entry, regardless of .time dif¬ ferentials, wall hit every city Sun¬ day at 9. Such a "Clock TV" operation could create some drastic unheav- als in local station programming, particularly on the west coast and Rocky Mountain Time, where many stations have been enjoying a ver¬ itable bonanza between the 10 and 11 p.m. periods on local program, sales, having disposed of networlc programming at an earlier hour. That era will be gone forever, once “Clock TV" begins on a perman- ment basis. Stations will hence¬ forth be tied to the web clear up to 11 o’clock (except those nights when 10:30 to 11 has been given back to the stations.) Obviously the Stations aren’t going to like it. Over a year’s span it totes up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in local revenue. That's where Damm comes Into the picture. Watching the demon¬ stration here, he was 100 % sold on its virtues, technical and other¬ wise. It’s up to him to convince the ‘affiliates to accept the "Clock TV" premise. He might have a man’s- sized job bn his hands. Edison Awards Cites Several Kid 1Yers But Deplores -Inadequacy* Annual (tv, radio and film) awards dinner of the Thomas Alva Edison Foundation is slated for Monday, Dec. 2, at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria. While several juve stanzas were nominated in tv, including "Let’s Take a Trip,” "Las¬ sie," “Bold Journey,” "Robin Hood,” Captain Kangeroo,” "Dis¬ neyland*” and "Mickey Mouse Club,”' it is significant that the TAEFv awards committee decided against pitching a “best children’s tv program” for 1957. Nominations, made last month, for the “tv program best illuminat¬ ing the current scene,” cited “See It Now,” "Outlook,” “Face the Na¬ tion” and “Wide Wide World.” For. "tv program best portraying' Amer¬ ican* heritage,” it was “Hallmarlr Hall of Fame,” “Playhouse,” “Cam¬ era . Three” and “Father Knows Best.” “Our Mr. Sun,” “Hemo the Magnificent,” “Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays," “Mr. WizmxL" and “Adventures in Numbers and Space” were chosen as candidates for “best science tv program for youth.” * A TAEF newsletter said “there was a general, feeling of dissatis¬ faction over the inadequacy of children’s tv programs.. .Commit¬ tee observed that tv has become such an integral part of American life, in lieu of worthwhile shows for children, they will watch un¬ desirable ones .rather than not look at tv at all.”