Variety (August 1958)

RABIO-TELEVISIOX 'Vote for NBC’ Promo Preems ; Continued from page .23 ; denominator, is a new newspaper co-op deal described as the “3^for- 1” plan. NBC; affiliates and client, in this instance, will share; the cost equally of 350 line ads in non-o&o markets. The plan will be avail¬ able to. all clients and to all sta¬ tions and for the first time affords stations an opportunity to' run a sustained ad schedule throughout the premiere season as well as use a client's money for tune-in ads. Advertiser acceptance.of.the plan todate has been excellent, it" has been learned. On the publicity front,- another of NBC’s highspots will be the second annual press junket from Oct. 19 to 25, calling for the trans¬ portation of tv editors from all parts of the US. to N.Y. for in¬ terview's with the upcoming sea¬ son’s headliners, a q&a session with -NBC board chairman Bob Sarnoff, a behind-the-scenes'inspec- tion of production facilities and a briefing on NBC’s future, plans. Last year the editors wen* taken to the Coast for a look-see of cur¬ rent product. The first of NBC’s “Coordinated Projects of the Week” will be the Steve Allen Show slated for Sept. 21 and presenting the headliners drawn from the major shows in the fall lineup. Allen did a similar showcasing job last year Which snared one of the highest ratings of the season. NBC will repeat season’s successful.nationwide closed-circuit preview' oh Sept. 11. TV editors will be invited to at¬ tend the preview', of the new seasons programs. Special ‘Variety’ Issue’ Network affiliates have also been told of an NBC-TV special issue to be published, by Variety on Sept 10. The issue will deal with tv’s second decade and more specific¬ ally with NBC’s upcoming pro¬ grams plus detailed charts etc. NBC affiliates will receive copies of the special issue as part of the 1958-59 over-all publicity campaign. The direct teletype wire sendee to some 40 of the country’s major dailies will be utilized by the press department to transmit the. latest program news, thus re¬ portedly. beating opposition press departments with program, in¬ formation by as much as 48 hours in many instances. Summing up its print media achievements from Sept. 1957, through May 1958, the |NBC Press Department informed affiliates that it wrote and distributed to each tv editor approximately 3,500,000 w’ords of new's and feature copy, This material went to about 1,400 dailies, magazines, trade papers and affiliates. Its photo depart¬ ment distributed more - than 1,000,- 000 black and white prints, 4,500 color transparencies and more than 47,000 mats to 600 dailies and tv supplements covering Video news. Nor has the exploitation depart¬ ment of NBC been idle regarding plans for the coming season. Its schedule of tieups run the gamut from record albinos to public school bulletin boards. In virtu¬ ally all instances NBC names and program credits will be clearly visible on the sleeves of record albums made on RCA Victor, labels and other recording: companies. ‘Stay Timed* Last year,; NBC’s exploitation department launched the “stay tuned” crawls in prime time. This year the technique will be em¬ ployed as well on . the daytime schedule. However, this year’s “editorial promos” will have some¬ thing new added: the plug for the forthcoming program will be de¬ livered by the .top name of that program. . Thu's, as Art Link- letter’s “People Are Funny” draws to conclusion,; Perry Como’s voice will be ' saying: “This is Perry Como- Stay , tuned for what we believe will be a most enjoyable hour of entertainment in color and in black and white.” NBC expects to use a total of 200,000; of these “stay tuned” announce¬ ments during the 1958-59 season. Additionally, there will be more “walk-ons,” or what NBC describes as promotional : “marriages”—in which headliners appear as guests on adjacent programs. During the coming season, live walk-ons and guest appearance will be augment¬ ed by filming the performers in | open-end interviews for local show use. • . Other exploitation devices on the agenda include newsreel clips such as last season’s income tax bit by Jerry Lewis and ; Bob Hope’s re¬ turn from Moscow; numerous con¬ tests pointing up Como* Allen, Hope and George Gobel; tie-ins with Harper’s Magazine. Look, Bantam Books and the publishers of Shirley Temple’s Storybook; cooperative .ventures with more than 50 boards of educa¬ tion from coast to coast and a number of other program-proclaim¬ ing endeavors. Spearheading the all-inclusive campaign is Ken Biiby, NBC ext cu- tive veepee of public relations. His aides ni this project include Syd¬ ney H. Eiges, veepee in charge of press; John Porter, director of advertising and promotion; Al Rylander, director of exploitation; Ellis Moore, director of N.Y. pre«s dept , and Casey Shawhah, direct tor of Hollywood press dept. '' The August air campaign is re¬ portedly getting an overwhelming response from NBC affiliates and the “Vote For NBC” theme is be¬ ing employed In various local forms to supplement the . Overall drumbeating project. Moreover, rival networks have latched on to the mid-summer air campaign and are. said to be copying many of NBC’s promotional undertakings,: Omaha—Storz Broadcasting Co. has appointed George W. “Bud” Armstrong as executive vice-presi¬ dent. Armstrong joined Storz in 1949 as a disk jockey at KOWH, Omaha. PSriety Granada-TV Latches On . To Golden Anni of ‘Rep’ ' London, Aug. 26. Granada-TV will play its. part in the Golden; Anniversary celebra^ tion of the British repertory stock theatre movement, which began at the Gaiety Theatre, Manchester, Sept; 7, 1908. Repertory theatres throughout the country will celebrate the jubilee by producing a new play, reviving a play once performed at the Gaiety, hr performing a play from. the foundation period. The tv programmers will join in by presenting one of the Gaiety plays, “Mary Broome,” by Allan Monk- house, Sep>t. 3. . Wednesday, August 27, 1958 Storer in Atlanta; -Tv - means . precision prompting! The 0*Tv system of positive synchroniza¬ tion used on all* net¬ works {no service has an exclusive on any station) Absolutely silent. Designed to fit all cameras, Yu in-lens mirror system available . . .. tailored to fit your budget .. . Q-Tv NEW YORK 630.9th Av*nti» JU 6-6466 CHICAGO 5 W. Hubbard MO 4-6646 HOLLYWOOD 810 N. Highland HO 7-9262 Atlanta, Aug. 26. Turnover at WAGA-TV, Storer Broadcasting Go. miH, continues apace. Three staff members have resigned and four were added to payroll. Don Naylor, program director for past eight years, stepped down, effective immediately. Skip Thom¬ as, announcer, is leaving as of Sept. 1. with Phil Taylor, production manager, quitting on same date. Previous r e s i g n a*t i o h s were Glenn Jackson, general manager, who was succeeded by Robert J. . Kerns, formerly with Storer’s Phil¬ adelphia station; and Jack Collins, erstwhile assistant managing direc¬ tor and sales manager, Collins . took post as general manager of WGST. an ABC affiliate* owned by j Georgia Institute of Technology ; and operated by Georgia Board of ! Regents. \ Newly hired by WAGA^TV are Hank Davis, formerly of Tulsa, Okla., replacing Naylor as program director; Gideon Gilliam, former Atlanta insurance broker, as na¬ tional saleis ; merchandising direc¬ tor; William Flynn, : formerly a tv station salesman fn New Orleans, who becomes national sales man¬ ager; and Ken Wilson, radio sales¬ man with the Tobacco Radio Net¬ work in North Carolina, who is new local sales manager. . Another recent change In Stor¬ er’s WAGA AM-FM setup here brought in James E. Bailey, of To-r ledo, as managing director of radio station, succeeding Claude HV Frazier* who was to be “reassigned in the organization.” Bailey war vice-president and managing direc¬ tor for WSPD, Storer’s Toledo out- ■ leh Storer mills are CBS outlets ■here. Some, changes in WSB radio’s setup were announced recently by general manager Frank Gaither. Veteran newscaster Jimmy Bridges has moved into the sales service department; Aubrey Morris, erst¬ while Atlanta Journal police re¬ porter of late serving WSB as rov¬ ing reporter in the WSB radio car, will direct an expansion of such news bureau activity with the as¬ sistance of Ted Hightower. Hightower’s former duties. as traffic manager will be assumed by Margrette Duty, who will be assist¬ ed by Libby Brown and Betty Hen- thorn, an addition to the traffic de¬ partment. ! WSB, which with WSB-TV Is owned and operated by Atlanta Newspapers Inc., publishers of At¬ lanta (p.m.) Journal and (a.m.) Constitution, is NBC mouthpiece here and oldest station in south. Delaney Vice Hickey Bill Hickey 15 resigning as sportscaster on the WCBS-TV (N;Y.) Monday-through-Satiirday late weather and sports program and will move to the Coast. Bob Delaney, who was second man to Russ Hodges on the Giant telecasts, will replace Hickey ef¬ fective Sept. 1. Carol Reed stays on as the weather reporter. TV IN SCOT OUTPOST Wick, N, Scotland, Aug. 26. Television will spread to this northern outpost. of Scotland by early 1959. It will cover Kirkwall, in the Orkney Islands, and a large part of. Caithness. British Broadcasting Corp. will provide temporary installations be¬ fore construction work on perraa- nent stations is completed. ‘Dotto’ Headache ■ 5555 ' Continued from page i is ready to make' a statement, he will do so. It is not finalized In our minds what happened. We are still investigating it. If there was a payoff we were not involved and had no knowledge of It.” Colgate-Palmolive Co., sponsor of “Dotto” on both NBC and CBS, summarily yanked the show off the air soon after it learned about alleged unsavory goings-on back- stage. The FCC already has an affidavit from .the complainant and is said to be looking into the mat¬ ter, but is making no announce¬ ment as to the nature of the com¬ plaint. The D.A.’s office, it was learned, also received squawks regarding the behavior pattern of other quiz shows on the networks. It was re¬ ported that several contestants, as well as prospective contestants on widely known quiz show's, had ap¬ peared at the D.A.’s office to dis¬ cuss their grievances which were said to include (1) the making of “deals” and; (2) alleged kickbacks of prize money'to production offi¬ cials. A top money winner on a high-rated quiz show was also said to have, been questioned. An actor, it is understood, filed the .original complaint in the “Dotto" case. Meanwhile, NBC, CBS, Colgate- Palmolive and Ted Bates, the agency, were still saying “no com¬ ment” regarding the reasons for the swift canning of the program. Orders from top echelons, in all instances, were barked to -say nothing but “no comment” regard¬ ing the “Dotto” cancellation. . Members of the network tv press departments, on the other hand,, thought this was poor polidy and hoped their bosses would soon change their minds and release their version of tne story. “Dotto” headquarters in the Hotel Woodstock, N.Y., it was re- j ported, were to be closed shortly and its office equipment, valued at $70 sold to a second-hand dealer. The N.Y. dailies, particularly the Post and the Journal-American, were giving the “Dotto” Case front¬ page treatment, pushing the Nau¬ tilus, Little Rock, New York guber¬ natorial race and other major news yarns into secondary positions. Granada sss Continued iron paje 27 5^5 nor other members of his family intended to sell any of their hold¬ ings. The company, is, however, mak¬ ing a “rights” issue of one for one at par and the Bernsteins had stated that they would pick up any shares under this issue not ac¬ quired by existing stock holders. The Stock Market enthusiasm for commercial tv shares is also shown in the trading for ATV stock, which is now being quoted at more than eight-and-half times ts par. value of $2.80. The boom was touched off two months ago when ATV published its balance sheet showing trading profits of over $11,349,000. The last Granada balance sheet, for the year ended Sept. 30 last, reported a trading surplus of $1,096,000. There is no direct trading in any of the commercial tv stocks, but there are dealings in the shares of Associated British Picture Corp., tl)e parent company of ABC-TV. Their ordinary shares, with ABPC balance sheet, published a few weeks ago, revealed a trading prof¬ it of over $9,774,000. London, Aug. 26. Associated Television’s “stake'a claiiii” policy is under way in Com¬ monwealth areas where tv hasn’t yet; got going. Skedded back in London last weekend (24) was Leslie Knight* who for the; pro¬ grammers has formed a subsidiary company in British Guiana in an¬ ticipation of future tv activity there. Directors of the new. outfit, which has been established on ini¬ tial capital of $140,000, are Nor¬ man Collins, Richard Meyer and Knight. ' The programmers have, long been eyeing the potentials of East Africa, the Bahamas and other far flung corners of the Common¬ wealth and more announcements are expected soon. Japan-Angio Settlement Of ‘Scotland Yard’* Case Tokyo, Aug. 26. A dispute over Japanese dis¬ tribution rights to 26 “Scotland Yard” telefilms of Anglo-Amalga¬ mated of Britain has been settled. Eastern Films; which acquired the Japan rights, was negotiating for a contract with the Kansai television station wheh it was dis¬ covered that the same series was listed , in a catalog by the Shin Nihon Koeiki which was being cir¬ culated among tv stations.. A check revealed that Shin Nihon Koeiki does not have the. rights, but was merely reprinting a list it had acquired from the European- Television; Corp. without specify¬ ing which product was theirs to distribute. After an Anglo-Amalgamated {protest. SNK agreed to delete the title from its listing. Wayne’s Vidblurbs Hollywood, Aug. 26. John Wayne and son Pat will do series of 20-second Vidblurbs plug¬ ging Gillette : and elder Wayne’s new . pic, Howard Hawks’ “Rio Bravo.” . Blurbs \vill be among initialers lensed by Four Star’s new tv com¬ mercial dept. CBC Names Comeau Ottawa, Aug. 26. Bruno Comeau, former desk man with Ottawa’s French-language daily, Le Droit, has been ap¬ pointed head of radio and tele¬ vision news services of the Can¬ adian Broadcasting Corp.’s French web. Comeau joined CBC in 1955 and was commercial production chief at CBC in Montreal. Louisville—Hugh L. Smith, Min¬ neapolis newscaster, has joined WttAS tv and radio as news editor. He succeeds Bill Minshall, who resigned in May from the local sta¬ tion to become news. director 1 of WIS-TV, Columbia. S C. r BROOKS [costumes 3 WmI «ht N.Y.C.*TaL Pl-T-SM* BREATHTAKING! HOME FOR SALE - HARRISON, N. V. Magnificent Georgian Colonial surrounded by 2Ys aero* of beautiful lawns, and shrubbery. A large en- trance hall with gleaming white marble floors, grace- ful winding staircase and a glittering crystal chan* delier reminds you that here is indeed a heme de¬ signed for gracious living. Wide doors lead from the livingroom to a TV room and torraco. The library is richly panelled^ and the kitchen is the last word in streamlined efficiency. There are 5 family bedrooms, 4 baths, powder room, playroom, 3-car garagt, ser¬ vants' quarters. Owner moving and must dispose of - this fine custom built homo. Call Owner's Agent — JOSEPH BRUCE RY 7-0212, Sunday—WH 6-3330