Variety (November 1957)

48 RADIO-TELEVISION VAri&ty Wednesday, November 13, 1957 Radio-TV Production Centers Continued from page 34 station manager ... Mrs. Betty Ross West, public affairs and education supervisor for the NBC stations here, vacationing in the Bahamas with her husband . /. John E. Phillips and Carlin J. Heiman added to Neil- sen Station Index client service staff . . . Warner Anderson and Tom Tully, stars of “Lineup” on CBS-TV, due in on Nov. 25 on behalf of Boys Club of America. IN BOSTON ... WEEI sales dep’t has formed two basketball teams, the “Kimlutes” and the “World Trotters” . . . John H. Kimball, WEEI account exec, and Janet Gail wedded ... Storn Trio of Carl Moore’s “Beantown Vari¬ eties,” WEEI, inked with Jubilee Records to do eight sides ... Priscil¬ la Fortescue, WEEI's traveling reporter, did a phone interview with Lowell Thomas from N.Y .. . “Slim Pickens” (Jerry Howard) of WEEI's “Jerry Howard Show" nabbed a certificate of appreciation for his “unique type of commercial announcing” from B. U. School of Public Relations and Communications . ; . WEEI. staffers led by Tom Gorman, gen. mgr., are helping the United l£und drive and working on the com¬ mittee are: Joe Cnllinane, sales promosh dir.; Arthur C. King, dir. news- public affairs; Marie Houlahan, WEEI flack . . . B. T. Babbitt skedded saturation campaign on Yankee Home and Food Show, WNAC, plus 31 affiliates for Bab-O with Duncan MacDonald doing the commercials . . . Henry Morgenthau, sOn of the former Secretary of the Treasury, now tv projects mgr. of WGBH-TV . . . Edward Weeks, editor in chief of At¬ lantic monthly, discussed the 100th anni issue on WNAC-Yankee web with Duncan MacDonald ... Margo Whiteman, daughter of Paul White- man, is new weather forecaster at WNHC-TV, New Haven . . . Hal Swa- ney joined WGAN-TV, Portland, announcing staff . . . Norm Prescott, WBZ-TV, doing the live Clover Edsel of Malden commercials . . . Wal¬ ter Cronklte flying In Nov. 19 to speak at joint sesh of Broadcasting Ex¬ ecutives and Ad Club with Norman Knight, WNAC-TV prexy, present¬ ing him . . . United Farmers of New England Inc. inked for participa¬ tion in “Boston Movietime” on WBZ-TV on twice weekly basis . . . H. P. Hood & Sons, Charlestown, signed a 52-week contract for the half- hour adventure film, “Twenty Six Men,” on WBZ-TV Sundays. IN LONDON . . . Albert Dekker making a special trip to Britain to star in a commer¬ cial tv production of “Death Of A Salesman,” for Granada-TV on Nov. 27 . . . George Sanders, here for filming commitments, headed the bill of Associated-Television’s “Sunday Night At The Palladium” (10) . . . Gilbert Harding will present another BBC-TV series entitled “I Know What I Like,” commencing Nov. 19 . . . Tonight (Wed.) Granada-TV will air its first kiddie version of “Criss Cross Quiz.” Cash prizes will be swapped for gifts in kind . . . Associated Rediffusion sent out a shoal of toy sea lions to celebrate the second anni of “Snoozy,” the sea lion who’s appeared regularly in its children’s programs . . . BBC-TV will air a CBS telerecording of Mac Shoub’s “Mama’s Sidewalk Cafe” on Fri¬ day (15» . . . Tessie O’Shea lined up as a panelist in a forthcoming com¬ mercial tv game. IN WASHINGTON ... Polly Bergen in to highlight birthday fete given by Women’s Nation¬ al Press Club and American Newspaper Women’s Club in honor of Mrs. Eisenhower . . . Dodie Goodman, of NBC’s “Tonight,” an attention-get¬ ter as guest speaker at Immaculata School for Girls . .. Roger Williams, in for a Constitution Hall concert, bicycled around town’s radio-tv sta¬ tions for interviews . . . Ruth Geri Hagy, producer-moderator of ABC’s “College News Conference,” chairman of 5th annual “Woman of the Year” luncheon in New York yesterday (Tues.) . . . Carmel Quinn here for a week of tv guest song stints on “The Jimmy Dean Show” (CBS), Nancy Hanschman, producer of “Leading Question,” feed off first of four programs on the Soviet Union last Thursday (7), 40th anniversary pf the Russian Revolution . . . Donna Hoover upped - from radio-tv film director for town’s United Givers’ Fund to acting public relations di¬ rector . . . Mark Evans, WTOP-CBS’ globetrotting radio-tv personality, booked by National Geographic Society for a lecture on his South American junket . . . Annual convention of National Assn, of Televi¬ sion & Radio Farm Directors set for Nov. 29-Dec. 2 in Chicago . .. Flor¬ ence Lowe, Washington correspondent for Variety, a judge for the “Miss Teen” contest on the top-rated "Milt Grant show” on WTTG-Du- mont. IN PITTSBURGH ... Ed & Wendy King to Las Vegas for a vacation and their nightly “Par¬ ty Line” program over KDKA is being turned out by A1 McDowell and Tom Bender during their absence . . . “Around the Children’s Corner,” the Coral album of Josie Carey and Fred Rogers, who do the daily "Children’s Corner” program over WQED, has just been released. Miss Carey, but without Rogers, also does a morning half-hour, “Josie’s Storyland,” featuring. Sterling Yates, on Ch. 2. Yates has started a new hour-long weekly jazz series Saturday evenings at 7 oh KDKA-FM . . . Helen Lenhardt, girl Friday to KDKA-TV sales manager John Stilli, ex¬ pects to become a mother in April . . . Dave Lewis, director of promo¬ tion at Ch. 2. and hiffwife off to Florida for a couple of weeks . . . Tele- newscaster Carl Ide to Detroit to finish the narration on a documentary for U.S. Steel .. , Sportscaster Ray Scott named delegate to the Variety Club convention in London next April. IN OMAHA ... New? changes at KBON have Joe H. Baker as v.p. and assistant g.m., and Robert N. Kindred as sales boss . . . Buddy Webber promoted to program director of KOWH, with Frank Allen joining that outlet as news director . . . KSWI in Council Bluffs, la., has become an affiliate of Mutual . . . Iowa State Board of Regents has okayed a continuation of pact between WOI-TV at Ames. Ia., and ABC running to June 30, 1959 . . . Sportscaster Red Barber in town to address, meeting of North¬ west Province Synod of Episcopal Church . . . C. Earl Williams resign¬ ed as manager of KFNF, Shenandoah, Ial, to take a similar post with KWYR at Winner, S. D . . . U. of Nebraska educational station KUON- TV in Lincoln started night programming last Monday week, with Jack McBride as station director . . . Dick Welna shifted from KBON to. KOOO as chief engineer . .. George C. Mirras managing new sales dept, of WOW and WOW-TV . . . Eugene S. Thomas, g.m. of KETV, selected as new member of board of trustees of Children’s Memorial Hospital. , IN MINNEAPOLIS . . . Bee Baxter, long an ace KSTP-TV personality until her retirement last year, returning to air as hostess on Minnesota Heart Assn.’s edu¬ cational station KTVA-TV series ... U; of Minnesota'football coach again on air with his WTCN-TV Sunday night sponsored show which includes films of preceding day’s Gopher game . . . KSTP promoted Bill McGivern from tv assistant news director to radio and special • vents dept.’ head . . . For its play-by-play of all U. of Minne-. sota football games WCCO Radio again has “team” that includes former all-time Gopher coach great, Bernie Blerman, and local news¬ paper sports writers Sid Hartman and Halsey Hall . . . WTCN Radio pays $25 every week to person who supplies It with best news story -lead ... New* radio station-to be launched in suburban Golden Yah- ley . . . Here - for Twin Cities’ “Bonds for Israel” dinners, George Jes- sei made a KSTP-TV appearance . . . Newswriters Dick Chapman and Bob Schwab WCCO additions. KSTP-TV sports director Dick Nesbitt a guest on NBC-TV “Today” t two days this week. .. WCCO-TV last Sunday passed up preeming “Sev¬ en Lively Arts” to show a Sonja Henie film oldie, but promises to bring “Arts” in on film later . . . WCCO Radio's Bob DeHaven vacationing in Chi for a week . . . Leonard Leigh, KSTP tv and radio staff organist, inked for Victor album... Dave Lee, former Willis S. Martin ad agency accountant exec in Ft. Wayne, Ind., named WTCN tv and radio promo¬ tion director . .. Robert Sheafer of WCCO news dept, a delegate to con¬ vention Radio & TV News Directors in Miami. WCCO Radio, heed¬ ing protests against the elimination of Sunday afternoon’s New York Philharmonic concert programs live, is bringing them in via tape Sun¬ day nights . . . John E. Mayasich, ex-U. Minnesota hockey star, a KSTP Radio sales staff addition . . . Radio WDGY’s Don Kelly has “An Ap¬ ple for Teacher” campaign to get letters from pupils extolling their school teachers which he reads over the air . . . KSTP-TV announcer Roger Kent appeared on the NBC Radio “Monitor” . . . IN DALLAS . . . CBS-TV, with KRLD originating, will carry the annual Cotton Bowl football game next Jan. 1. New contract was inked last week ... Bill Crowdus, WFAA announcer-emcee, upped to program director. He suc¬ ceeds Dan Valentine, resigned, who joined WCKR, Miami . . . Ken \ Knox, ex-KLIF dee jay, rejoined the airer'after a stint at sister station KTSA, San Antonio . . . Lilo, at the Statler-Hilton, made a p.a. on WFAA-TV’s new “Top 10 Dancing Party” to plug her first MGM al¬ bum . . . Pat Conway, Times Herald scribe, joined KGKO as news di¬ rector and to hypo outlet’s expanded news coverage . . . First live hand remotes in years have been launched with WFAA-570 airing Bob Cross orch, 11:30 p.m. to midnight, Mon.-Wed.- Fri. from Statler’s Empire Room. WFAA-820 picks up Joe Relchman’s band from Adolphus Ho¬ tel’s Century Room, same time, Tuesday and Thursday. Exposures will alternate, week to week, on the two AM’ers . . . “Confession,” 30-min¬ ute tv crime series which started live here but now is filmed for na¬ tional sales, bought by WFAA-TV for weekly showcasing which started Sunday (10). IN CLEVELAND . . . Wrigkl-Saiidbirg ■ ssimm Continued from page 43 i note in television showmanship. No professional comedy writer, however eggheaded, could have scribbled ' out with such eclat the nifty one-liners that these boys tossed off without a moment’s pause. Lines like, “Washington D. C. isn’t architecturally interest¬ ing. It’s a museum piece.” Or, speaking of national cultures, “The trouble with America Is there’s too much England in it.” Or, of the Jefferson monument in. Washing¬ ton, “It’s a public comfort station.” The one-liners were mainly Wright’s forte, he being a born deadpan fcomic who ’ can really bring laughs with his sacrilege and indeed he gave his good- natured crony many a chuckle on the show. Wotta Case of Casting! United States Steel’s “Chi¬ cago Dynamic” committee, which brought the two artists back to the Windy City for a special week- long steel promotion, did a'splen¬ did'job of casting. The two men foiled each other beautifully, Sand¬ burg playing it straight, poetic and witty and Wright wry and recalcitrant. At one point the poet threw a tricky poser at his vis-a- vis, then turned to Cooke and chuckled devilishly, “Got off a pretty good one- that time, didn’t Plain Dealer radio-tv editor George Condon, Press radio-tv columnist Nancy Gallagher, and Sanford Markey, KYW-KWY-TV news director elected to Press Club Board ... WHK’s Bill Gordon pacted for WJ\^-TV 10 p.m. Sunday film stint . . . Bob January signed as WSRS disker . . . Holland V. Tooke, .Westinghouse veep, on California hiatus , . . WERE v.p. Dick Klaus chalked up “first” in getting recording of this nation's upcoming satellite at White Sands Proving Grounds . . . John B. Gar¬ field named WJW-TV sales manager . . . Bob Cain, ex-WSKY, and Dick Reynolds named ito WJW disk staff .. . Dorian St. George exited Roches¬ ter to become-Cabling suds commercial voice .. .Tom O’Connell returned to Plain Dealeri^adio-tv-chores following long illness. IN DETROIT WJR has established a new recording and production division to pro¬ vide original arrangements for musical announcements (jingles), situa¬ tion dialog announcements and straight readers under the direction of Jimmy Clark, station's music director. WJR will provide talent, orch, sound effects—the whole works . . . New WWJ-TV early evening entry is the film series “Casey Jones.” . . . WJR’s Cracker Jills quartet were awarded the Inti Championship over 37 competing foursomes at the International “Sweet Adelines” Condition in' Miami * . . WWJ-TV will telecast four of.the basketball games of the Detroit Pistons, new pro outfit here . . . Donald Gray, star of “Saber of London” seen over WWJ-TV, was a recent visitocJ^ere . . . Bob MeBride, former emcee at WTOP-TV, Washington, andvpfesently Detroit Free Press director of research, is the new host oir CKLW-TV’s “Command Performance” show . . . WJR’s mobile studio was among the first vehicles to cross the $100 million Straits of'Mackinaw bridge, stopping in the middle of the 7,400-foot span to originate broadcast to CBS radio net. IN PHILADELPHIA ..." Lloyd E. JToder, NBC veepee and general manager of WRCV-TV, presented special award by N.’ Jr Education Assn, at their Atlantic .City confab, for stations’ effort in behalf of Jersey students and schools . . . Sally Starr (WFIL-TV) visiting. Nashville this week for 32d anni cf “Grand Ole Opry.” Fred Jervis, formerly in the film dept, of Triangle Stations, rrbw with WFILrTV promotion-. . . WFIL’s. Show Wagon,-at Convention Hall Auto Show (16-23), with Bill Webber, Johnny Carl¬ ton, Stu.Wayne, and Phil Sheridan originating Shows there . I . WCAU’s Charles Shaw named chairman of resolutions committee of Radio-TV News Directors Assn, at their annual meeting in Miami,* news dept, of the WCAU stations was presented'with “distinguished achievement” award by the news directors, in cooperation with the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern U....Ed McMahon to appear.;in a series of filmed Wine commercials on WFIL-TV. Pix are produced under super¬ vision of Elmer Jaspan . . John Corcoran, former newscaster, now partner in publicity firm . . . Robert E. Eastman, prez of ABNetwork, guest speaker at Nov, meeting of Television Sc Radio Ad Club of Phila. at the "Barclay (13) . . . The late Harvey Husten’s assistant, Sid Mark, preemed a nightly jazz session on WHAT ., Mary Diinlavey, formerly With ad agencies here and in N.Y., appointed sales rep on WIBG staff . . . Bill Sylk r WPEN . chief-, eleeted prez of Temple U... Alumni ... Bet¬ ty Furness to be commentator at “Haute Couture of Israel,” in the Ben Franklin. Robert Wagner, in town to. plug “Stopover Tokyo,” opening at the Fox last week, guested on WFIL—plus-tv with BUI Webber and Bill Badger ... Temple'U.’s FM station, WRTI, rebrOadcasting WRCV's “Psychia-. trist” series . . .Vince Lee, WRCV dee jay, back after a bout with flu .. . WFIL-TV production staffers to conduct tv seminar for Phila. clergy-- mbn.v. IN SAN FRANCISCO ... Richard Boone in Frisco area to help out Guild for Crippled Chil¬ dren, still a trifle dazzled by the ratings of “Have Gun, Will Travel” . . . KGO rehired Harvey Twyman . . . John Reavis, ex-KRON, named of¬ fice manager, George Patton ad agency, Oakland . . . KQED kicking off a new series, “The Measure of Man,” with John Dodds . . . new pro¬ motion assistant at KPIX Is Clare Van Sickle, replacing Louise Jorjor- ian, who moved to KSFO'.. . Latest guest on Earl He?ald’s “Science in Action”—a 21-foot python ... Riviera Sofa Co., moving in from Los Angeles, is buying big-budget time on KPIX I . . KCBS had to go with¬ out a mike sign while airing Christian Herter’s UNESCO speech—Mov¬ ietone News’ Roy Cluver took the sign and wouldn’t give it hack, even after he’d bumped into Mme. Pandit and started the State Dept, flap¬ ping. Bill Roddy, ex-KPIX and ex-NBC .newscaster, has opened a tv pro- ducton office at Pier 3, Frisco . . . Wanda Rainey, KCBS “Jane Todd” and president of AFTRA’s Frisco local, broke her leg in a garden spill . . . Terry O’Flaherty, Chronicle’s radio-tv critic, took ABC apart’ for knocking off “No School Today” after the kids show had been on the air eight years. His” key paragraph; “The radio industry is spending millions to build up the thought that radio is still a forceful entertain¬ ment medium. It's an entertainment medium all right—but as pear as I can. tellj it se*snjs tp b^ enteriain^g xnostly^enag^^e^e. days”/..«, Sandburg said, “The Sputnik is testimony man is curious, wants to know, will penetrate space . . Wright, pronouncing it “Putnik” again and again, had another aspect: “Mankind is going to gen¬ erate itself into an attraction, like the Putnik, if it doesn’t Stop de¬ veloping scientific attractions.” In short, it -was a b^ll, fresh, spirited and full of personality. As it’s not a.commercial station and short of funds besides, .WTTW didn’t order, an overnight survey, so there’s no indexing how, large a mass its audience was. Oppos¬ ing the telecast on the commercial channels were' “$64,000 Question,” “Californians,” “West Point/’ and . “Gray Ghost,” but the'' egghead station iff certain, from the gen¬ eral response, that it cut into the ratings substantially. WTTW’s best showing in the past was for its .two-hour income tax service in February, 1956, when It invited the audience to phone in.for ad¬ vice. Comm! Station’s Nix. United States Steel, of cowrie, picked up the tab for the talent but didn’t have to pay for the time. It's understood the show was first -offered to a commercial station here, but it was rejected because U. S. Steel refused to go for a straight sponsorship deal. Station felt it would be commer¬ cial sponsorship hiding under the mask of public affairs. Actually U .S. Steel, whose pro¬ motion is tied in with the construc¬ tion of several new skyscrapers, here, took a chance inviting the salty architect to participate in the program. On the show, Wright was murder on the topics of both skyscrapers and steel. Steel, he felt,,is being misused in construc¬ tion today, treated like wooden beams. And as for the tall struc¬ tures; “Skyscrapers have no busi¬ ness in the city, they belong in the country ... . The only purpose of a skyscraper is to collect rent.” Nib’s Global Continued from. page 35. Assn.; Hangen and Harsch appear at the Chicago Council on World Affairs; and Robinson speaks at the World- Trade Council in San Francisco. On Jan: 8, Hangen speaks at the Pittsburgh Radio & TV Club; on Jan. 9, the entire group are guests of honor at the Foreign Policy Assn, luncheon in N. Y., and the following day, they will host a press and VIP luncheon in 'Washington. They then head back for their respective posts. During their stay, NBC will give them additional exposure on radio¬ tv via guest shots on* “Today,” “NBC News,” “Outlook,” the Ar¬ lene Francis show, and on radio via “Monitor,” “Nightline” and “News on' the Hour.” Entire schedule was outlined to the news¬ men in London last week in a meeting with Bill Me Andrew, NBC director of news. McAndrew stayed in London for a week, making the BBC and TTA and gov¬ ernment .rounds and conferring with hi? foreign staff, called In for .th^nQcajwon. ; .. f; .