Variety (February 1959)

RADIO-TEUE VISION 22 W<iie«h>yy Fdbnaary 25^ 1959 TV Sam s TV Quiz Scandal Stirs : ^ ••• Parliament Queries on Coml Viieo" By ERNIE PLAYER f London, Feb. 24. A tightening-up of the operation of television quiz programs in Britain is now being put into ef¬ fect following last week's publica¬ tion of the report by Sir Lionel Heald* Queen’s Counsel and former Attorney-General, into alleged ir- regjdtefttes 1 in itiqning Granada- TV's “Twenty-One” show. At the same time, the report has had other sequels. It has stirred up fre sh- queries about the effec¬ tiveness of Jthe Independent. Tele* vision. Authority, the body re¬ quired under the Television Act of 1954 to keep a watch on the opera¬ tions of commercial tv. Especially has if added fuel to the fires of two Labor Members of Parliament, Christopher Mayhew and Donald Chapman, whc point to this as providing further proof of "scan¬ dalous weaknesses” at the top of ITY. and raise again their, view that, in addition to other alleged laxities, XTA is allowing programs to carry too- many advertising, breaks. These MPs aim in the House? of Commons today (Tues - .) to get permission to introduce a b31 to restrict tv ads to the begkmings- and ends of programs, also, to en¬ sure that the interval between commercials s hall- be not less than . 25 minutes. They have found' about half-a-dozen supporters for their move, but even if the bill were to be Introduced tins Parlia¬ mentary • session there would' be smalt chance of it being passed. ITA wilt doubtless come under some fire in the Commons tomor¬ row (Wed;) too. Gerald Kabarru MB has tabled a question ter- the Postmaster- General, Ernest Mar- ‘ pies, which asks if’ his attention? has-been drawn to a “breach of statute” by Granada-TV over the "TVenty-One” program. Sir Lionel Heald’s report, a vol- umtoous affair with its associated documents, was issued last Wed. (IS)- Sir Lionel was instructed by Granada’s solicitors in October bet to inufertake his following com¬ plaints by one Stanley Armstrong to the TTA that, while a contestant on "Twenty-One,’ r he had been given prior information of the questions he would be asked on the air. Sir Lionel turned in his report on Febuft. There were several main conclu¬ sions, which included that the pro¬ ducer of. the show, Robert Kesten* did give an indication on the limits- 1 tion of subjects in order to make the game more interesting,, but "whether or not, as alleged by Mr. Armstrong, the practice was car¬ ried to the extent of disclosing spe- cLtie questions and answers is a matter of acute controversy as be¬ tween 3Hr. Armstrong and Mr. Kes> tea which 1 cannot determine.” Inasmuch as Kesten was not an em¬ ployee of Granada but an independ¬ ent contracted to handle the ‘Twenty-One” show, with entire responsibility for the preparation and arrangement of the program, the network itself was, in Sir Lionel’s findings, absolved- from any blame there might be. Sir Lionel — who, incidentally, waived his fee for the report be- (Continued on page 42) Sez Bob lope Reacted On TV States PnrckotJ Dirty Trick, on Old Vic Members of the Old Vic company who did last night’s (Tues.) 9{J-minute “Hamlet” performance on CBS-TV’s Du Pont Show of the Month didn’t even get to see how it came off. , S-. - - - - Show was pre-taped but wasn’t finished until Monday night. By pre-arrangement, troupe was obliged to take-off for London Tuesday /hmfnfog. Show didn’t go on until 9:30 last night. • It’s considered likely that the Old Vic group will eventu¬ ally see their taped "Hamlet” via a CBS sale of the program to either BBC or one of the British commercial tv outlets. DuPont paid Sol Hurok $75,- 000 for the package whkfi is split between Hurok and the Old Vm Co. Hurok’s perma¬ nent Paris rep, Wolfe Kauf¬ man, who- was company man¬ age for the tijoup^ on. its ceastrtd-cbJHd tpur '»&£.,re¬ turned with them yesterday. Before AirTme Indicative of how the networks,- and CBS in particular, are already firming up sponsor commitments for next season;. is- the two-spon¬ sor SB© status on '^Peck’s Bad Girl,” the new Patty McCormack series. Network hasn’t even decided! on a slotting for the show for next season, yet both Ralston and Kim¬ berly-Clark have already signa¬ tured for cosponsorship- of the! half-hour entry. Ralston came- in East week; Kimberly-Clark had been paeted & couple weeks bide.-. Even though ’SS-’SS is oidy.-aA the mid-season mark. CBS hasiy al¬ ready brought ^KeUcte' intothe' house for next season’s "Denms the Menace” series (out of the Screen? Gems shop! and Lever Bros, has bought half of the new "Blue Men” series (see separate story). ********** * Cosmetic firm Max Factor is ne¬ gotiating, for the buyout of Mutual Broadcasting System; owned - by Hal Roach Studios and Scranton Corp. Negotiations for the radio web came in the midst of corporate dif¬ ficulties for F. L. Jacobs Co* the parent company' Of Scranton Corp. and various show biz subside in¬ cluding -MBS and Had Roach Stu¬ dios; Hal Roach Jr: f took over as presc- of 'Jacobs in the wake of | government fraud charges lev¬ elled; against Alexander Guterma, [the? former Jacobs and MBS topper. Talks for the Max Factor take- 1 over were held’in N. Y. yesterday (Tues*), with Blair Walliser, exec v ' (Continued on page 43) MB Blows Ereniafp Benton & Bowles and Eversharp, 'subsidiary of Parker Pen Col, have mutually agreed to terminate their relationship: The* account is esti¬ mated to bill in the neighborhood of $l,6flO;O0O; with the'termination effective immediately. George A. Eddy r marketing vee- pee for Eversharp said "that he is considering several Chicago agen- . cies.” • Are Daily Gazettes Discharging Theur Responsibilities? NBC, CBS to Find Out Pied Piper: ’58 Style Botbwell, Scotland, Feb. 24. Television is being named here as the big bad giant-kill¬ er. It is driving mice mad! Three hundred pet white mice, kept as a hobby by a 17- year-old schoolboy, Jamie Niven, of Camphill, Bothwell, have vanished, and their own¬ er Jblames tv. ■ "The television sets in the . houses in this neighborhood - are to blame,” he told Variety. "They ’ have been emitting sound waves’ which annoyed them. The mice just could -not stand it, and marched away.” Only a few mice vanished when: tv sets became prolific. Then there was a mass migra¬ tion from their home in a gar¬ den hut. j What Happened In Boston? * Los Angeles, Feb. 24. j Because he*, "repudiated” am agreement tor purchase of a Rock¬ ford, III., tv station. Bob Hope is defendant irt a Superior Court suit brought by Ashley Robson- and Al¬ bert Zugsmith asking $1,135,000; damages. Co-defendant is Contin¬ ental Television Corp;, which com-; plaint says was formed by the two platotififit with Hope and Arthur H. Hogan, for purpose of acquiring I control of Greater Rockford Tele¬ visin’ Corn., which operates WEEK, Hod&brd. Plaintiffs claim: that by Hope’s action, they lost commissions and profits Suit declares that agree¬ ment was made in July, 1957, and that since that date Hogan had as¬ sisted his claim against Hope to Zugsmith. ***** ■Washington, Feb. 24. One applicant for Boston Chan¬ nel 5 last week likened the con¬ test to a football ga m e. After the first week of the court- ordered rehearing at Federal Cbm- munications Commission, it became clear that rival parties in the acrimonious affair weren’t playing beanbag. The stakes are high, and the en¬ mities among some 'participants long-standing and rooted to a large extent^ in the dog-eatdog. compe¬ tition of Boston' journalism:.' A power fight was inevitable' when Channel 5 was put up for- grabs. At least- some of those interested knocked on many doors in Wash¬ ington—from, the White House to the House Office Building—and sel¬ dom, if -ever, were turned away, Result, the hearing is piling up at record that looks like a Who ? s Who, past and present of Washington officialdom. Its this effort, FCC Commission¬ ers were approached unabashedly while- the ehannel award was still under consideration. But so far there has been no direct evidence of wirepulling tor the officials con¬ tacted, or, in the case of the Com¬ missioners, that any votes were swung. FCC awarded the channel to the Bosto n. Herald-Traveller subsidiary,' writ®, in April, 1957 by a 4-3 de¬ cision overriding a hearing exam¬ iner who had recommended Greater Boston Television Corp. After the Harris Subcommittee »touched on some of the goings-on in connection with the contest,. U.S. Court of Appeals told FCC to take another look. Last week’s hearings included testimony from Herald-Traveller, the Boston Globe, Massachusetts Bay Teleensters and exFCC Chair¬ man George C; McConnaughey. A run-down of the highlights: —Robert B. Choate, Herald- Traveller publisher, said hie had ’casual” talks about the case with then Presidential Assistant Sher¬ man Adams, then Cabinet Secre¬ tary Maxwell Rabb, then Com¬ merce Secretory SiicMr Weeks^ He 1 also had two luncheons' with McConnaughey but swore he.never talked about Channel 5 with him or any other Commissioner.’ —Forester Claris vice president of Massachusetts Bay Telecasters, said he visited Henry Cabot Lodge, U.& envoy to the U.N., Weeks and forme?* Presidential aide Robert Cutler. His purpose, fie said; was to prevent other parties from in¬ jecting politics into the case. —Perhaps most enlightening of all, McCbxmawghey said* he was- never loathe to sit down inform¬ ally with applicant who wanted to "put their Best foot forwards.” ESs rationale: an FCC member can’t live “in a vacuum.” He talked with both Choate* and dark- —John. L Taylor, v.p: of the Boston Globe said fits paper wrote Presi¬ dent Eisenhower protesting the grant to its bitter competitor—the- Herald-TraVeller. Globe wasn’t an applicant but representatives pur¬ sued. their objections to' the grant by contacting a host of government officials, including five FCC mem¬ bers, . More than $4,000,00(1 will be spent on 11 "uncommon^” over NBC-TV in March, something, of : a reeord for anysingfe month' in the web’s programming lineup. Ten] of the specials will be tinted. Virtually the entire array of of¬ ferings will emerge under commer¬ cial auspices with the exception of three-quarters of "Maria Golovin” and one-half of the nighttime- #, Mu- sie With Mary Mtetto.” NBC sales staffers, however, report in¬ terest in both shows and anticipate full-sponsorship by airtime. Most recent. purchase stemmed from General Foods which this week decided! oh the afternoon Mary Martin special Sunday, March 29 at 4.pm. This is the first of two .different musicals to be telecast on Faster Sunday. After¬ noon- show will include Miss Mar¬ tin’s flying scene from "Peter Pah.’ On same night (ff cfclaek) Mbs M artin will do- cavalcade of songs with Timex Watcfies picking up one-half .sponsorship. Other "uncommons” in beefed- up March include: Sunday, March 3, "Sopm.of Manie’s Friends” (Lig¬ gett & Myers), tribute to late NBC and: RCA exec Manie Sacks;. Wednesday, March 4, “Bell Tele-^j phone Hour” special musical] (American Tel and Tel); Sunday, March 8, “Maria: Golovin,” tv preem of Gian Carl® Menotti’s opera (RCA, one^piarter sponsor¬ ship); Friday, March 13, "Bob Hope?! Show*’ (Buick); Sunday, March 15, c (Continued on page 42) 42—Count Tiir—42 finny Categories By JO RANSON American press isn’t sacrosanct anymore in the video eyes of broadcasters if programming plans turn out -to be as electronically punching as cracked up to be. Both' CBS-TV and'NBC Radio e in the throes- of whipping up forum, symposiums, debates to dis¬ prove the publishers’ • contentions that there’s a renaissance-of news¬ papers. Broadcasters tee taking (the bellicose position that daily gazettes are not discharging their responsibility to'- readers and are gathering ammunition to prove the steadily waning influence of the press. Two no-mere-surface examina¬ tions of the press will be ' con¬ ducted on "The Great- Challenge” over CBS-TV March 2$ and April 5. Called “Is American Journalism Meeting Its Responsibilities?” it reportedly will be a bare-fisted Inoksee at the pfdhTem with such knowledgeable individuals* as* John Fischer, editor in chief of Hdrpers; Barbara Ward, former editor of The Economist, and Sig Mrcfcelson, CB6 veep and general manager of CBS News* doing. clinical ap¬ praisal of the press situation, -It’s reported that the program may dis¬ play some of the gifted candor of the old "CBS Looks at the Press” aerial studies with the late Don Hollenbeck. The April 5 report 6n the press is.siugged “Is the American Public Getting the Information. It Needs?” This one will have. the. highly- informed James Heston* Washing¬ ton correspondent of the N.Y. Times; Arthur Sehlesmger, his¬ torian* and Robert Swezey of WDSU, New Orleans,, and chief of the Freedom of Information Com¬ mittee of the NAB on tape, Eric Sevareid will moderate both pro- grains: ‘ No* doubt the newspapers/ and other media of communication, will figure in the “Is America Anti- rnteHectnal?” discussion on "The Great Challenge” program March 1. Questions concerned with the deterioration of American cultural life wiS be dealt witlj by Prof. John Kenneth Galbraith, prof of economies at Harvard, at former editor of Fortune Magazine and author of the current best-slier, “The Affluent Society” and Dr. Robert Hutchins* prexy oftfie Fund for the Republic and former head of the TJniv. of Chicago-. Galbraith and Heston have been (Continued on page 40) Instead of a continued paring down of Emmy Award categories,, the National: Academy of Televi¬ sion- Arts and .Sciences has re^ turned to its expanded list of cate¬ gories for ’58-’59. Last year the academy chopped down the award: categories to 28. This year it will] bounce bade to? 42! categories, al¬ most double that of last year. Because of the large number of awards and the accent on enter¬ tainment, the academy telecast on May 6 on NBC-TV will not show the presentation: of all the awards. Some of the categories which, have been expanded over last year] include the .director’s, award; in¬ creased' from two> to four; awards| for writers, increased from two to four; and news categories* which- also were increased from two to four. This year’s Emmy’s wiH : be awarded for programs telecast be¬ tween Jam I, ’58 and Fteto 28,. ’58, a lAmonth period;* as what the academy calls "a- first move toward coverage of the tv season; rather than the calendar year, as in the past.” Dob’I Look N»w Bit Eigen s itfTrosttt Again; Chi Chez Cries ‘Baugh’ Chicago; Feb. 24. Jack Eigen, longtime radio-tv controversialist who ha*, been do¬ ing a Iatenigfit interview stint from the Chez Paree lounge nearly seven years, is back in fnaidde again. £his time It’s because - her provoked Sammy Davis Jfc. into making cer¬ tain remarks, about Frank Sinatra, who; on hearing a playback, tape, construed, them? as; nasty cracks. Reportedly, the incident cost Davis Jr. his friendship with Sinatra and parts in two: motion pictures. Now the Chex Farce wants to dump Eigen for another interview¬ er, but WMAQ say* it will , stick With the gabber even if . it has. to move the show to another nit’ery. The radio stanza has a goad audi¬ ence and has been st big money¬ maker for years. Cher bosses say will not lis¬ ted to the stations attempts at appeasement because they have act relations to maintain. Eigen, they say; has alienated at- number of im¬ portant performers at the dUb; and .topdrawer name* have been too tough to come by to the past to risk losing them because of Eigen. Bavfe Jr. has said, Fmstance* that unless the Cher gets rid of Eigen he- will never play the duh again. Eigen has been to trouble with the hitery and certain performers several times over the past seven years; but always before it has been patched up. Likely outcome this time is that ‘WMAQr wfil move the show to another Bisfrtt’ and the Chez will incept a new one to its lounge on a- different station.