Variety (March 1959)

28 RADIO-TELEVISION Jsahiety Wednesday, March 4, 1959 All British Political Parties Alerted To TVs Vital Role in Election London, March 3. With at least one more meeting, not yet fixed, to go, it looks as if. Britain’s three main political par¬ ties have virtually agreed on the part television will play in the next general election campaign. Precise date of the election is still any¬ body’s guess, but inasmuch as this’ll be the first time tv comes into the event as a potentially vital factor the Conservative, Labor and Liberal Parties have natural'v giv r - en the subject intensive study. There’s been a long series of meetings, all behind closed doors, over the past several months, each attended by two toppers from each of the parties plus representatives of the British Broadeast'ng Corp. and Independent Television Au¬ thority. Though there would be revision of details when the Dis¬ solution of Parliament pave the signal for the election, the general scheme 'evolved in these get-to¬ gethers has three man points. First is, that the o?.rt"-politicaI election broadcasts rhou d total 10 over BBC-TV and the commercial networks in the rat'o of three or four each to Socialists and Con¬ servatives and two to the Liberals. The second is, that both BBC-TV and the commerc'r* v/ebs should be free to present the r own elec¬ tion features on a regonal basis, these taking in quiz and panel-dis¬ cussion programs. Thirdly, campaign speeches and events should be .given news cov¬ erage according to the'r news val¬ ue, with BEC and IT\ act'n<* -as watchdogs to ensure the mainte¬ nance of “due accuracy and impar¬ tiality” as required by the Tele¬ vision Act. j One item bn w ; "I?h full aj ment has not yet been reached in • NBC Dims RODEO AS SUMMER ENTRY NBC-TV r s programming thinkers are dispatching an ambassador to Houston next week to survey the rodeo situation with an eye to part¬ ing one for a summer replacement for "Jefferson Drum” in the Thurs¬ day ?:30 p.m. slot. Object is to find a major bronco- busting, steer-wranglin’ outfit which could be telecast on a live weekly basis. Program would be lassoed under the moniker of “Rodeo.” Tap Shear for Emmy Hollywood, March 3. Barry Shear, currently directing the Buddy Bregman show on NBC- TV here, has been tapped by the network to produce and direct the New York end of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Awards telecast May 6. Joe Cates had pre¬ viously been set to do the Gotham end, but plans were changed. Wed. TV Facing Overhaul at ABC Once its strongest night, Wednesday has become ABC-TV’s most serious programming-sales problem for next fall. Loss of the Plymouth biz in the 7:30-8:30 slot leaves the network with no firm commitments that n’ght for the new' season, although the likeli¬ hood of Eastman Kodak and Quaker Oats remaining with “Oz- zie & Harriet” is pretty good, and so is the chance for continuation i with sponsors! of the Wednesday night (from 10 p.m. on) fights. At the very least the network has ah hour-and.-a-half to program | and then sell. And if it loses Don- {na Reed, at 9 p.m., the count goes up to two hours. Though the ratings on the Reed the inter-party tcll:c *> a s-y.item ! Show have improved in the last of safeguards to ensure that there j few weeks, its future, after the shall be a balance of party inter- ! bankroller pact ends in September, is very iffy. The 9:30 period is now sustaining. Tentatively, the network is leav¬ ing Welk (sans Plymouth) where he is, but it is understood that the ABC programmers are contemplat¬ ing a nearly total overhaul of Wednesday and the blueprints (vis-a-vis NBC's 7:30 “Wagon Train”) don’t include Welk on Wednesday. This is an ironic twist. Wednes¬ day was ABC’s first fully-pro¬ grammed, undeniably strong rat¬ ing night (beginning with “Dis¬ neyland”) and now the network is faced pretty much w r ith the pros¬ pect of starting over again. How Open. Is‘Bid’With WNTA-TV Now’SRO? Sutro Bros. Baying In Title “Open End” seems to have lost its meaning. WNTA-TV ests struck on the a r during the entire campaign. In the event, the webs themselves .will probably be left to look after this. When the parties. ITA and BBC have completely finalized their guidebook, the networks will he faced with a big headache, prob¬ ably one of the highest of all. Which is, simply, what’s the maxi¬ mum coverage they can give with¬ out making the viewer leap for the off-switch? Not that tlvs isn’t of some concern to the politicians themselves: Labor in particular seems to be awa r e that over-con¬ centration on the elcct’on may make the public furious, or worse, apathetic. This is one reascn why there’ll be an end to party-pol'tical broad¬ casting at an agreed t'me before polling day—possibly 43 hoirs. By common consent. throughout the entire period Sunday will be a by¬ passed day. Nobody yet seems to h-'ve ccmc , up with an idea on v hat k nd of ; program should he a: Td in the ! , , , peak hours of actual poking day. I 'Newark) talk program, moderated Clearly the alternatives of putting j by producer David Susskind, was du ? T ’ c: L 0 ’M pr 1" i begun 20 weeks ago on the premise sent equal problems. Maybe there s ,, . , , .. a chance here fcr writers to dig out j ^ * a ^ was runmn& thneo rciontaf) cn-ir.:.. A +1. I those rejected scrims. And there' also a chance for some k'nd of compromise in the sr rt fcst'on, not too unfavored, th-t reminders about going to the veiing stations should be flashed cn the screen at hourly intervals. RCA’s ’58 h'mt At show could continue indefinitely. Conversely, if the show was run¬ ning cold, Susskind and his cohorts could end it after Very few m nutes. Now it’s SRO on sponsors and things have changed. Rarely has the program, since J gomg on the air, ended in much less than 90 minutes, but at least it had the right to do so, based on nothing more .or less than an esti¬ mate by the programmers them¬ selves whether there was still [ something worthwhile and inter¬ esting to talk about. NBC was up in gro-s billings. But beginning Sunday (8), the audience coverage, public service | Sutro Bros, investment house, niak- ?n-o n -t W electron * c techniques in i ing its initial video buy, will spon- 19o8, it was revealed in the annual, c 0r the 11-11:30 portion of “Open CBS 9 Buy in Philly Expected to Ease Rap in NBC Switch Washington, March 3. Speculation here is that Justice Dept, might not push for harsh action against NBC for its take¬ over of Westinghouse’s Philadel¬ phia facilities despite Supreme Court’s antitrust go-ahead last week. Standout development behind this thinking is fact that CBS has moved into Philadelphia since Jus¬ tice Dept, filed its original com¬ plaint against NBC a little over two years ago: This was dismissed by Federal District Court but ordered reinstated by U.S. Supreme Court in a 7-0 decision last Tuesday (24). The High Court’s ruling didn’t concern merits of the Govern¬ ment’s antitrust charges. Rather, it resolved question of whether Jus¬ tice can bring an antitrust- suit against a broadcast transaction previously approved by Federal Communications Commission. CBS purchase of WCAU (AM- FM-TV) from Philadelphia Bulletin alters comoetitive picture consid¬ erably. both in Philadelphia and the nation. Even with NBC in the Philadelphia tv market, CBS ranks first nationally with VHF outlets in New York, Chicago, Los An¬ geles, Philadelphia and St. Louis, (respectively first, second, third fourth and ninth markets in terms of sales and population.) If NBC were required to move out of Philadelphia, its underdog position vis-a-vis CBS would be even more pronounced. Such di¬ vestiture would leave the web with VHF o&o’s in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington (which ranks as the lllh biggest market). This situation raises a tough pol¬ icy question for the Justice anti- trusters. Whether upshot wiil be a decision to agree to a mild con¬ sent decree letting NBC remain in Philadelphia to compete w’ith its rival web is still problematical. Significantly, there was report¬ edly a wide gap of opinion in the dept, two years ago as to whether the original complaint should be filed. - ‘BROWNING VERSION’ AS DUPONT ENTRY DuPont Show of the Month for April 23 will offer Terence Rati- gan’s “The Browning Version” in 90-minute drama presentation from 8 to 9:30 p.ml This will give CBS-TV viewers two 80-minute “live” dramas, back to hack, on that Thursday evening —with “Playhouse 90” in its regu¬ lar 9:30 to 11 p.m. slot following it. Maurice Evans headed up legit version of “The Browning Version” and Michael Redgrave in the film version but thus far no casting for the tv’er has been set. report to RCA stockholders. In tv, according to Brig. General Da¬ vid Sarnoff, chairman of the board, and John L. Burns, proxy of RCA. NBC bettered i-s 1 Q 57 record of time sales by 11.3 f c, representing the largest dollar-volume gain of all three webs. Fourth ouarier s-'Ks r e RCA ! End,” which, for all practical pur¬ poses, means that the stanza can¬ not end in less than 90 minutes, since three weeks ago Helena Ru- benstein bought the first 60 min¬ utes of the stanza’. Incidentally, Harry Golden and Arthur Godfrey are slaied to team rose 6Tr, boosting total 1958 sales : “P with Susskind on tne Marcn 15 volume to S1.176.0C* 0G0. E-rnings 1 °P ei ^ End - Soon fnereafter during the last quarter aLo topped ‘ Susskind p;ays host to an all- the comparable period a yea*- agaJ^ e S ro P anel » con.-..sang of actors lifting RCA’s ovcvrll rrt profit af- i Sidney Poitler and C.audla Me¬ ter taxes to nC0.?^2.fC0. ’F^ni^s I Neill, writer Lorraine Hanoury and per share p- I director Lloyd Richarc. : All are $2.01 in 1958, compared to S2.55 involved in the prctiuciioii of liie ir v 1957. 1 new legiter, “Raisin in the Sun.” Tintex, Dixie Cup Coin For NBC-TV Daytime NBC-TV • daytime programs picked ud some additional coin this week with indications that there is mo”e to come. During the month of April, Tin- tex will have ere one-quarter hour sponsorship of “It Could Be You,” “Dough Re Mi,” “Concentration,” and “Queen For a Day.” Agency is currently dickering with the network for a larger deal on behalf of Tintex for a slice of “Haggis Baggis.” ■Web also picked up additional coin from Dixie Cups wh : ch signed , to back “Price Is Right” on alt. Wed. and “County Fair” on alt. J Fridays. Dixie Cup deal starts at jtbe beglnn'ng of April and runs j through end of May. TV-Radio Production Centres IN NETT YORK CITY . . . WCBS Radio general manager Sam J. Slate back at his desk after biz trip to midwest and Coast . . . Louise O’Brien, vocalist on CBS Radio’s “Galan Drake Show,” 4>n Coast this week to film six tv shows with Liberace . . , WCBS Radio director Walter Cheetam on mend following serious illness at Astoria General Hospital . . , Eli Winkler Kaufman, former CBS Radio staff director, named merchandising man¬ ager of “Housewives Protective League” in Gotham . . , Kevin Mc¬ Carthy of CBS Radio’s “Right to Happiness” played lead in Broadway production of “Two For the Seesaw” during Dana Andrew’s vacation . ... Gertrude Warner returned in narrator-lead role in CBS Radio’s “Whispering Street” short story series. Richard Boone, who used to appear on Paul Tripp’s “Mr. I. Magina- tion” in early days of tv, visits Tripp and his current WCBS-TV chil¬ dren’s program, “On the Carousel” Saturday, March 7. Tripp and Boone will collaborate on the “Ballad of the Paladin.” Tripp’s daugh¬ ter, 13-year-old Suzie, has been accepted by the High School of Per¬ forming Arts . . . Carol Reed celebrates her seventh anni as CBS-TV weather girl on St. Patrick’s Day . . . John Tilden Martin who died the other day in retirement at 61 was not only author of one of earliest textbooks on radio writing and a longtime staffer in radio departments of BBDO and Roy. Durstine but will be remembered by oldtimers as former husband of .ftathryn Seymour, one of the founders of the Ra¬ dio Writers Guild, who died-of cancer over 10-years ago . . . Jerry Fairbanks Productions, commercial-industrial film company, has re¬ opened its N,Y. office and appointed film director George Bookasta as its eastern rep. f Lowell Thomas, CBS newscaster and exec producer of “High Adven¬ ture” on CBS-TV, selected for fifth annual “Mr. Travel” award by Travel Mag . . . Elsie Kubala, secretary to Charles Oppenheim, direc¬ tor of info services, CBS-TV Stations, recuperating following minor surgery . . . Myron McCormick appearing in CBS Radio’s “Suspense” Sunday, March 8 . . . Charles Steinberg, CBS-TV director of info serv¬ ices, back at his desk after five-day battle with the flu . . . Gene Wood joined “Captain Kangaroo’ writing staff . . . Marshall Flaum, story editor of CBS-TV’s “Twentieth Century” to address Lawrenceville, N-J-, School’s Herodotus Society this week. Syd Eiges on .the Coast for a week in connection with Jack Paar Hollywood originations , . . Michael Zeamer now directing CBS-TV’s “The Last Word” in adaitnon to Howard K. Smith news analysis . . . Alfredo Antonini to conduct music for all-Handel program on CBS- TV’s “Lamp Unto My Feet” Sunday (8) . . . Leslie Barrett flew to the Coast March 2 for tv assignments. Announcer Mike Baker (Pat Boone Show) has a film commitment set in Europe this summer. Also eyeing purchase of West Coast AM outlet ’. . . Frank Blair set for 15 half-hour “Briefing Sessions” for NBC’s Educational Network to be telecast in April . . , Bob Saudek’s “Omnibus” won for second consecutive year Sigma Alpha Iota Award for “What Makes Opera Grand” presentation with Leonard Bern¬ stein on NBC-TV in March of 1958 . . . Tom O’Malley, talent booker on Jack Paar Show has parted company with Paar ... “Today” re¬ porter Dick McCutchen off to Berlin this week for special series on Berlin crisis . . . Win Forman of “Sunrise at Campobello” signed with Martin Stone to do four hour “Sunday Supplements” on WVIP and WWES and WWES-FM. Forman also finished series of radio spots for Dore Schary’s new film, “Miss Lonelyhearts.” ... April 5 is date set for “Art Carney Meets the Sorcerer’s Apprentice” on, ABC-TV, with essentially the same production staff—John Green, Burt Shevelove and writer Ogden Nash — involved in this one as did ABC’s recent click “Carney Meets Peter & the Wolf” . . . Jerry Schnitzer, formerly veepee of Lawrence-Schnitzer Productions, becomes exec veepee of the parent Robert Lawrence Productions . . . Comedy writer Barry Blitzer joins “Elay Your Hunch” staff . . . Kenneth I. de Vries joifling H-R reppery sales staff. Henry Hede, w’ho was administrative sales manager of ABC-TV sales department, got the’ nod this w’eek as the newest of the web’s vice presidents. Jan Murray appearing on Sunday (8) Ed Sullivan stanza . . John B. Lanigan, former veepee and Compton Advertising account super¬ visor becomes veepee and general manager of Videotape Productions . . . Donald Kurz and Jay Wietzner are partnered in new packaging house, Four Producticvg • • • CBS-TV programming brass looked over Walt Framer’s aud-participation package “Penny-A-Mile” for a sec¬ ond time last week for possible summer pinchhitting duty nighttime. Dry runs feature John Reed King as m.c. with Carl Cordell and Jan rockett in supporting roles in the geography game quiz. IN HOLLYWOOD . . . Esther Williams broke off negotiations with 20th-TV for a series and is now dealing with both Four Star’s Dick Powell and CBS-TV’s Hubbell Robinson. She would play three continuing characters, mostly on dry land . . . Fanchon DeVoe, onetime Coast radio commentator, is completing her book,. “The White Horse,” v’hich she will develop as a tv series . . . Howard Bell, veteran agency exec in Hollywood, was flown to Mayo’s in an ambulance planfe but little hope is held for his recovery. Ted Lenz is running the agency in his absence . . . Jack Mc¬ Coy claims the busiest schedule in tv: five and a half hours a day on KHJ-TV , . . Jim Riddell, new division head of ABC. got a small sam¬ ple of Alexander Guterma’s wheeling and dealing in high finance. Told he wanted to buy ABC, Riddell asked for how much (unofficially, of course). ReoTied Guterma, “you’re losing money so I’ll take it off your hands.” R ddell laughed it off and next day Guterma gave out a press release th~t he’s buying the network. Said Riddell: "the only thing that impressed me wrs the fabulous office, “rivalling any, Hollywood picture set.” . . . Joe Rines and his bride, Portland Hoffa Allen, being toasted all over town, Las Vegas and Palm JSprings. IN CHICAGO . . . What if deejay Howard Miller had actually ruti for mayor and Lar Daly asked for equal time on WIND? . . . Lee Armentrout exited Tal¬ ent Inc., to s gn en with Wilding Picture Productions as recording di¬ rector . . . Herb Miller left NBC-TV Films to join syndication sales force of Independent Television Corp. under Lee Cannon . . . Rudy Orisck and Fb'l Lind both starting new daily shows on WAIT this month . . . NEC-TV saless veep Ed Hitz returned fiom his Phoenix va¬ cation prematurely because of the death of his host and good friend, John J. Louis, a founder of Needham, Louis & Erorby ad agency . . . Eddie Hubbard taking over “Man on the Street’’ show on WGN-TV, vice Jack Brickhouse, who is touring the baseball training camps . . . George Dlefenderfer, NBC central division radio sales manager, off on five-wr-k E:::o"ean vacation . . . IIT’s “City in Sound” notching first anni on Y/MAQ this week . . .. Prof. Jacob Sker has returned as mod¬ erator cf “1 ranv Speaking” on WBBM and WBBM-TV after an eye operation . . . 1/NEQ and its “Chicago Bandstand” show have received the Erouic.’I* *cd Award from the North Shore Suburban Award Com¬ mittee . . . YI : T t:i E. Miller, ex-Adam Young rep. joined AM Radio Sales Co. "v. exec . . . Bill Paley, administrative asst, to WBBM- TV music cliiec.or Caesar Petrillo, named to Chi Council for Excep- (Continued on page 36)