Variety (February 1959)

RAflw-fEOmsroiv 27 5 ysmmf CBS:' Washington, Feb. 24, i Nightmarish equal time situation lacked off by Chicago’s Daly vs. Daley case will he taken to the courts (ra&er than to Congress) unless-Federal Communications Commission ^reverses itself, it de¬ veloped today (Tues.). CBS filed an appeal today with FCC asking reconsideration of ( FOC’s last week shocker, when the Commission divided 4-to 3 to require Chicago television outlets to give equal time to pere nn ia l political aspirant Lar Daly if they had carried news film clips of his opponent, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, opening local March of Dimes campaign and greeting visiting Argentine President Ar¬ turo Frondm. At the same time, the Commission unanimously ruled that Mayoralty candidate Daly must have the same tv time used in other film clips showing Mayor Daley filing for reelection. With CBS’ Chicago outlet, WBBM-TV, one of those involved, a high CBS exec said here the web will take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals if the FCC refuses to reverse its decision. CBS interprets the ruling as impossible to live with if the network is to • have any political coverage henceforth. For the time being, possibility of congressional relief (by re¬ writing Section 315 of Communications Act) is'termed virtually, hopeless by broadcasting reps who scout Capitol Hill opinion. Previous efforts to l egislate Section 315 reforms have failed. _ Robinson’s “Mass With Class Bid; ‘Gotta Drive Out Dine-a-Dozen Boys’ Program chieftains of the three4* ■ 1 1 ’■■■-■ ■■■ tv webs looked at presfentday pro-; M » « Atl- gramming standards on Thursday *» DO • OOFC now• (19) and decided there was room WLIB, Gotham indie spe- for more quality programming. cializing in Negro audience, Hubbell Robinson Jr., exec veep always knew it had a respon- * of CBS-TV programs; Alan D. sive audience, - hut wondered Courtney, director of nighttime when sponsor Sloan’s liniment- programs of NBC-TV, pinch-hitting Taised the ante from one to for Robert F. Lewine, veep of NBC- two wrappers for its tie-in TV programs, and Thomas W. promotion with - the Apollo Moore, veep of programs and tal- Theatre mi 125 St. ent at ABC-TV, soimded off at the Liniment used WLIB to ping monthly chapter meeting of the product and promotion where- American Marketing Assn, at the by wrapper for package was Hotel Sheraton East on the subject good for free admish to tbea- of tv programming. tre. WLIB learned that drug Speaking with candor, Robinson stores near theatre sold out observed that if tv is to set as its only goal mass circulation "without * acl j. a sense of responsibility about the admish nature of programming which theatre was 90c. achieves that goal, it must inevit- ably deteriorate to the intellectual |mn jx ft level of the comic strip and, in fact, lyf/I mav there 4s evidence to indicate that illlv m lvffv JL UI some producers and their- backers »' . and agents have concluded that v> a y 98% of all American life stopped |/aaw I.QinPAUrOir p or the east bank of the Mississippi 1 udl* UdITvWdj v some time around the year 1870/’ * • Robinson said he had no quarrel * « yv « j with the advertiser and his agency HIaaa jm Uaw|a who look at tv in terms of num- illuiK ill J[ fl jfi bers had decimal points. His quar- (Continued on page 43) Paris, Feb. 24. SUILIilitP Nipups in Chi Mayoralty mWMl Bate & Ensuing FCC Ruling Accents Need For‘Equal Time’Clarification NBC Praps For Paar,Garroway’s Hlade in Paris’ For a tv network to revamp an llPPfl I*A entire evening -of programming at llvvll 1 VJ the start of a season isn’t exactly revolutionary. Such thing s are .-— By LES BROWN taken in stride these days. But */«,*• *;«,* Chicago. Feb 24. when practically two-thirds of an Variation on a bCSSe The nipups of pe rennial‘candi- evemng’s schedule is tossed over- London, Feb. 24. date Daly leading up to the board at midseason, as is currently Sir Robert Fraser, Director- chi may oral primaries being held happening, such unprecedented General of Britain’s Independ- today (Tues.) are reverberating' jockeying around suggests the tem- ent Television Authority, over the entire broadcast industry, po of the biz today and, in the case promised an immediate en- if Daly’s equal time demands have of NBC in particular, pinpoints quiiy into a TV “scare an- served no better purpose, they at what is probably its greatest period nouacement” made last Friday least have thrown clarity on the of mobility. (20) as a prelude to the Asso- f ac t that Section 315 (a) of the Take, for example, what is hap- ciated - Rediffusion networked Communications Act can be made pening Thursday nights on NBC. play “Before the Sun Goes a shambles of if carried to a ridicu- At the midseason mark, the Whole-; Down.” lous extreme. 7^30 to v 9:30 area of programming The announcement took the There is no question now but won’t bear the slightest resem- form of a mock warning from that the “equal time” rule urgently blance' to the two hours of displays the Prime Minister that an un- needs rewriting, if not rescinding, with which the network kicked off known satellite had appeared Where Chicago is concerned, ever the season. Involved in the up- over London. Reaction, remi- since Daly’s antics, the rule is no heaval has been the insta ll ing of inscent of, but not as alarming longer effectual, for the upshot of the “Jefferson Dram” repeats at as, that accorded the Orson the past fortnight’s happenings is 7:30; *35teve Canyon” has been; Welles’ ’The Martians Are that political candidates and local moved over from Saturday nights Coming” broadcast in the U.S. heads of government are all per- to replace Ed Wynn at 8 o’clock; in 1937. was that anxious view- sonae non grata on the Chi air- tire 8:30 period has been in a eon- ers rang up newspapers, Scot- waves during any-official campaign tihuing state of flux with a sncces- land Yard and A-R headquar- period. sion of Pharmaceutical entries, ters. As there is nothing in the sta- “Twenty One,” “Concentration” ■ ■■■ ■■■■ —— tutethat makes it mandatory for a and “Tt Could Be You,” and now * TW1W7 l| u» station to give-free time to anyone the latter is being bumped for a I |J| I If running for public office, all sta- half-hour Oldsmohile show with MP i,** 1 J[ f lll llilll lM tions here are now reluctant to do Bill Hayes and Florence Bender- O so in any connection—even in son. The 9 o'clock show, “Behind m —^ newscasts where the news might Closed Doers,” goes off jsoon, tire unfiii'A KaHaMI b* le S itimate unpolitical—lest co-sponsors, Liggett & Myers and 1 lllllftT J dilblU some self-designated write-in candi- American Home Products, can- date or splinter-party runner de- celling. That just leaves the con- * /tl 1 man ^ b is r ^8ht to the same, tinuing Tennessee Ernie and i|£ VrAil Particularly in the area of news Groucho Marx shows to round out 111 I/qVL llllC LjKcll the ^Sht to "equal time” becomes the evening. ^ insidious. Daly has monitored most Tuesday night situation closely TTnnWiViai mnn t r ac of the tv newscasts for several parallels Thursday, again involving mMti ^ iSc TV’s “Oration weeks and has toted up the min * two* hours (or two-thirds of an ^n^mhio SSs uteS ** d seconds for fihn cllps de ‘ evening) of changing horses-at- terttlfirstT wSk? is 27%>Sts voted to Ma y° r Richard J * midstream. This .involves the lop- aUek and^rer^iSng^or P^h for the March of Dimed his off in March ,of both the Eddie still another 26 weeks. greeting of Argentine President Ksher ana Gwrge Gdbel snows 8 to addition to the announced) Art £?- Fro ?u izi> an l hi ? 5““* for to 9; the dropping ot the 9 to 9:30 pimoatttb spring of tt of the reel I cU °?' save t ?!. la l te £ W S* G^orge ani^show and the axing f 7 General ^ Weekly spots and of the Califomians”‘‘lD to 10:30. Bristol-Myers four spots-per-week, s ^ lons » J, ut thf : Federal Commum- (Latter show may popmp for Col- there have been othercancellations catlOGS Commission upheld Lar gate "in the Bums time as an in- reported by Amana Home Freezers, (Continued on page 42) terim slotting.) which has four spots a week, and . - CBS has been involved, in some Minnesota Mining, which has three. ^ __ „ _ of imddle-of-the-season program Also. as was previously noted, Nes- M* P I €*_ turbulence, notably in the Friday- tie pulled back on its three weekly I'fPil FftfUlQ Wednesday areas in the wake of “Daybreak”'insertions. W/U# 1 UUUd UWlViJ the Jackie Gleason and “Pursuit” Loss-of this business after the _ ___ cancellations, installing of “Raw- initial 26-week ABC daytime cycle I I |IJ O J ABC-TV Mulling Future Pattern Of Daytime Sked Unofficial count (as of the mo- (Continued on page 42) Mfckener Series Set for ABC-TV ABC-TV has bought a minimum of 13 hourlong telefilm dramas to be made by 20th Fox for the Mon¬ day 8:30-9:30 p.m. hole. Show, “Ad¬ ventures In Paradise,” based on South*Sea stories by James Mich- ener and under Martin Manulis’ production aegis on the 20th lot, firms up the ABC Monday night program picture, and it is reported that the Ralston-Purina part therein is locked up with an every- week half-hour .buy in “Paradise” in the offing. Firm scheduling of the 20th skeia pushes •'‘Voice -of Firestone” out of the 9-9:30 anchorage and into-the 10 p.m. slot, following the recently : scheduled ‘Trouble - shooters” series at 9:30. Networks held up finalization of the Monday prime time lineup un¬ til the future of Ralston, which has been fishing around for an 8:30 replacement for /‘Bold Jotimey,” was settled. The bankroller has not made firm its fall commitment in the 20th Fox show, but every in* dication has been given that ABC was not going to firm anything in the 8:30 time period until it knew that Ralston was going to accept it. Web’s imposing Monday pro¬ gram structure will in the - ’59-’60 season consequently read thus: “Cheyenne” (the Clint Walker ver¬ sion) from 7:30 to 8:30, followed tfl. 9:30 by “Paradise”; “Trouble- shobters” (for Marlboro) at 9:30 and “Voice • of Firestone” going at 10. Paris, Feb. 24. Bob Bendick, George Rogers and Leon Bellingham are here setting up coming two week video pro^ grams for Dave Garroway’s ‘To¬ day” and Jack Paar show to ema¬ nate from Paris via AmpeX tape. “Today” is due to go from this side April 13-27 and ’Tonight” the last week in April and the first week in May. Technical work is being handled by Intercontinental Inc., a U.S.- Swiss company, with headquarters all over the Continent, which will service U.S. video abroad. Be¬ sides being able to immediately tape a show on mobile units and have them off stateside and ready for show in 14 hour?, the com- (Continued on page 42) 'Kraetzer Stiftmg To Ednc’l TY-Radio Post Warren A. Kraetzer, after a long-run as director of the Office of Radio-TV of NYU, is moving into the vice-presidency for devel¬ opment of the National Education¬ al Television and Radio Center. His new job, as of April 1, will -call for him to handle public relations, promotion, publicity, development and long-range planning. Tom J. Brophy, associate director of NYU Office of Radio-TV, reportedly will get Fraetzer’s post. NETRC, now operating out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, expects to move to Gotham’s Coliseum Bldg, in the spring where the non-profit outfit will continue to build tv fea¬ tures for education and other broadcasting outlets in the country. John F. White is prexy -of the Cen¬ ter. Gen. Foods Scores In 4-Way Spread hide” and the Friday-to-Wednesday has caused problems in the pro- Iff 4"ff/l¥ * iFlflr/f *1 switchover of “TVackdown,” but gramming area. Almost definitely vttUi hardly to the extent of the NBC 'set to depart the airwaves this tempo of shifts. r spring are two half-hour cross-the- When, last August, ^ General And for each "program change boarders*. Liberace and “Musical Foods decided to put all its night- therfil are from fqfar to -six. sponsors; Bingo.” There is also a strong time tyegg s i n one network bas¬ on edge, with a stake in what’s possibility that ABC will distill fast (CBS) there was something happening, for in every instance Peter Lind Hayes from an hour to afao to eyebrow raising in agency it’s of vital concern not only to a half-hour daily. Whether these circles. Yet GF m the intervening the affected time periods but to ! shows will be replaced, or whether, months has managed to parlay it the rating status of the fore and m retrenching, ABC will stick to mto one of the neatest Nielsen aft adjacencies. an abbreviated two-hour-a-day trseks of the* season. At best, the March-April replace- “Daybreak” lineup, has not been Based on the second January ments represent ad lib thinking, decided at the web. Nielsen report (at the mid-season for the powerhouse (or potential While it did cut back on General mark), the four-way half-hour CBS powerhouse) entries are reserved Poods and Bristol-Myers, Young & spread namely Danny Thomas, LSii '' ^ V Ann Sothem, “December Bride” for fall kickoff. (Continued on page 40) and *« Z ane Grey,” levels out to ■ ■..■■■. . 1 ■ ■ 1 1 1 '■■ii i « i » m » an average Nielsen rating 31.0. . ‘ w Which is way above par for the TV as Weapon for Segregation Here’s the individual Nielsen Atlanta, Feb. 24. scorecard: Television has been blamed for many tilings.and, on the other Danny Thomas .. 38.2 hand, has been offered as a solution to numerous other problems. Zane Grey ...!!.!!..!!! 32fi •Now Cometh Georgia’s State Sen. Charles A Fannell of Chats- December Bride .!.!!. 26:9 worth with a plan to use tv as a weapon for preventing public Ann Sothem 26^2 TV as Weapon for Segregation Atlanta, Feb. 24. Television has been blamed for many tilings and, on the other hand, has been offered as a solution to numerous other problems. •Now cometh Georgia’s State Sen. Charles A Fannell of Chats- worth with a plan to use tv as a weapon for preventing public school integration, ' - Sen Panfiell introduced a resolution calling for a joint Senate- House interim committee—the General Assembly adjourned S°*c urday (21V—to study the possibility of completely educating -the state’s high school and college students via -tv. “You may think I've lost my senses by introducing a resolution of this kind, but within 10 years time you’ll see I’m right,” Pan- nell told his fellow-senators. “God has given us the answer to our problem of how to edu¬ cate our children in the face of the integration threat. He gave us television and talking , pictures.”- Senator said the country is operating under a “horse and bug¬ gy days” concept of education whereby the masses are brought to the instructor. He advocated a switch . . . bringing the instructor to the masses through electronics. “It’s wild, but not as wild as closing down our schools,” he said. Pannell said he has taught school himself and knows that any¬ thing that can be taught in a classroom could be taught on tv. He predicted education by tv would wipe out illiteracy in a matter of 10 years and said that if Georgia doesn’t lead the way someone else will. ' “Sticks and stones and inortar and brick seboolhouses are go¬ ing to be as obsolete in 10 years as the little red schoolhouse is today,” Pannell said. ‘Bine Men’ To Bow With Sommer Ron Hoping to give their newly- . created “Blue Men” a jump on the competition, CBS-TV in an unusual move will launch its cops and rub¬ ber skein on June 6. “Blue Men” sponsored on alt. weeks by Lever Bros, replaces the “Gale Storm Show” in the Satur¬ day at 9 time period. Lever, which had been picking up the tab on Gale Storm stays but Nestle has pulled out leaving CBS looking for an alternate backer. “Blue Men” was created by Herb Brodkin. Sheeting on series begins tli 5 s week ?n N.Y. Gale S'or-n program shifts to ABC-TV in April.