Variety (March 1959)

Wednesday, March 11, 1959 P'SHIETT RADIO-TELEVISION 29 MCA GETS RICHER BY THE HOUR Spelling Out Bob Samoff s Contract Radio Corp. of America proxy statement which went out in the mails this week spells out the 10 -year contract for Robert W. Sar- noff, NBC board chairman and a director of RCA. Specifically it reads: “For employment by $»BC for a period of 10 years at the rate of $150,000 for 1959 and an annual increase of $ 10,000 until the rate of $ 200,000 is reached, which rate con¬ tinues for the remainder of the period of the agreement.” Sarnoff s salary for 1958 is listed as $136,743 and puts at $105,- 600 his retirement income at the age of 65. Both Sarnoff and NBC prexy Robert E. Kintner were voted 10- year contracts at a recent board meeting, with, the latter’s subject 4o annual board review. Because Kintner’s not a member of the RCA board, there is no salary listing but it’s reported in excess of $125,000 per annum. RCA stockholders meeting will be held Tuesday, May 5, in the RCA Bldg., N.Y. Mon. Nite at 10 a Waltz (or Murray And He Intends to Keep It That Way For the second time in less thanf a month, NBC, Steve Allen and the sponsors of the “Arthur Mur¬ ray Party” are riding the horns of a dilemma, and what shapes up as a major rhubarb seems to be in the development stage. Three weeks ago, when the net¬ work announced that Allen, for the duration of the season, would move 7:30 to 8:30, it was decided to shift Murray out ©f the Monday night at 10 period and into Sunday 8:30 to follow Allen. However, Mur¬ ray’s sponsors, P. Lorillard and Pharmaceuticals, wanted no part of it. They like the Murray show exactly where it is. It comes up with a respectable 19 or 20 Tren- dex, it’s a good year-round show and, since Murray and NBC con¬ tribute toward the programming 1 cost, it’s a perfect cost-per-thou- sand value. In effect the sponsors told NBC to “leave us alone.” Now NBC’s got it worked out that Allen could be a hot Monday night 10 to 11 program commodity next season, following the same pattern used by CBS in installing Garry Moore in the Tuesday night 10 to 11 slot. In fact NBC even has Plymouth interested in such an arrangement. But again, this will mean the dis¬ possessing of Murray and. finding a new time period for the show: As far as Lorillard and Pharma¬ ceutical are concerned, the same argument still goes — “leave us alone.” What happens now is in the lap of the NBC program gods. NCAA Grid Rights to NBC-TV MARY MARTIN IN EASTER SUN. SR0 Mary Martin has finally hit an SRO on her -brace of Easter Sun¬ day shows for NBC t TV, with RCA moving in to buy up the remaining half of the nighttime (8 to 9) show. Sharing the tab with RCA will be Timex. Matinee edition will be spon¬ sored by General Foods. As of Easter Week, RCA’s spon¬ sor impact on the network will be |^elt in many program areas, in¬ cluding, along with Miss Martin, the new Jimmy Rodgers show, I “Ellery Queen” and Steve Allen. Again NBC-TV this week got national tv rights to the NCAA football schedule for the 1959 season. This marks fifth consecutive season and eighth time in nine years that web has carried the big “Game of the Week” telecasts. Schedule calls for 10 games— nine Saturdays and Thanksgiving Day. Number of national dates is one more than last year. Two games will be aired on a split-net¬ work basis on one, and possibly two, of the 10 dates. MBS ‘Reporters’ Roundup’ Scores Major D.C. Coup As Rayburn Succumbs Washington, March 10. .. Mutual's “Reporters’ Roundup” lias finally rounded up a Capitol Hill Texas maverick who has con¬ sistently and firmly dodged the lassos of every other news-panel radio or television show since such programs began. The man is House Speaker Sam Rayburn who made his broadcast¬ ing q&a debut a few days ago on the Mutual show co-produced by Robert F. Hurleigh and Jack Gertz. Years ago, Rayburn once gave in to Martha Rountree’s hard sell and agreed to go on “Meet the Press,” but he became ill and had (Continued on page 56) By GEORGE ROSEN The NBC-MCA romance on pro¬ gram buys, from all indications, is hotter than ever with the Music Corp. of America’s sale of those hour-long filmed entries, via its Re¬ vue subsidiary, projecting the agency into an even more domi¬ nant sphere of influence and afflu- sarily lie in the fact that four 60- minute weekly attractions out of the Revue shop will be riding the network next season (three of them new properties) or- that thus far all the hour-long MCA-Revue en¬ tries have tooted up to a $ 20 , 000 ,- 000 NBC program investment. Specifically, what puts MCA in such an enviable position is that the agency, owning the rights to these filmed properties on future use, could ultimately realize up to $50,000,000 before their residual potential (syndication, foreign sales-, etc.), is exhausted. This, of course, pertains to MCA’s stake in hour programming and is complete¬ ly divorced from the multiple 30- minute skeins such as “Wells Fargo,” “Restless Gun,” etc. It takes at lot of 10 % talent commis¬ sions over a long span for an agen¬ cy to match that kind of perform¬ ance, which explains why most other facets of the MCA operation today pale when contrasted with the onward-&-upward Revue story. (As a corollary, William Morris (Continued on page 52) L & M In $8,000,000 Pledge Of Allegiance to ABC-TV After Flock Of Program Cancellations On NBC Sunshine Scrams Peter Major question being posed by jthe trade this week: Is the NBC- j Terry Clyne honeymoon over? Sunshine Biscuit Is backing out < Something like $8,000,000 in .pro¬ of its alternate week quarter-hour : gram . Ume billings for the . 59 _. 60 buy on ABC-TV’s daytime strip ■ CMc . rtT , M . rei .. . Peter Lind Hayes. Coin, plus an j s ® ason sa ys ^ is. - ,| additional sum being budgeted by Clyne, the tv factotum at Mc- MPn AyrnA 6 f^ cracker - is g° in g i»to two NBC Cann-Erickson responsible for all NBC-MCA wedding doesn t neces^j ^ovtimp chow* *. ., _ ,, .- -' - — icavtime snows. 1 the Liggett & Myers programming, has been going through a shatter¬ ing experience this season. He placed virtually all the L & M billings in the NBC-TV basket with a resultant track record on can¬ cellations quite unique for a single season. These include such entries as “Brain & Brawn,” Eddie Fisher, George Gobel, Ed Wynn, “Behind i Closed Doors” (all cancelled) and fa “Steve Canyon” skein that’s run- | ning third place in a three-way race in its time period. This week L &M upped and, in j a move that took NBC by complete Sales pitch on “Pete Kelly’s j surprise, pledged allegiance to Blues,” which is seeking a ! ABC-TV’s upcoming schedule to matching sponsor ton Liggett Myers before it begins on NBC-TV ; m two major entries, “The Alas- next April 7, is a fairly good indi- ;kan,” which goes into the Sunday cation of just how crazy a year this j night 9:30 to 10:30 period, and k a .? T been. '“Bronco,” the western replacing Network is offering prospective “Cheyenne” Tuesday evenings 7-30 co-sponsors this half-hour pack- ; to 8:30. age by Jack Webb’s Mark VII Ltd. 1 six first-runs at a price of $50,725 per episode, to be split, naturally, (Continued oh page 48) daytime shows. .They are “Price Is Right” and “Tic Tac Dough.” Reruns Tossed In Gratis in NBC-TV’s ‘Pete Kelly’ Offer IT’S GETTING CLOSE... ♦o P4Sriety '$ ad deadline (March 12) for the NAB Con¬ vention issue March 18. As a midweek publication, 1SARIETY insures a fresh, hot news issue distributed to convention dele¬ gates while they are still in the midst of the Chicago business meetings . Don't wait, act now and take advantage of mid-conven¬ tion "demand" readership to give your sales message the showcase it deserves. Space reservations at any office listed below: NEW YORK 34 154 West 46th St. HOLLYWOOD 28 6404 Sunset BWd. CHICAGO 11 612 No. Michigan Ave. Saudeks 2D0G Avco TV Spec Robert Saudek Associates will do the hour-long “intro-spectacu¬ lar” kicking off the dedication of the new $15,000,000 Avco Research and Development Labs in Wilming¬ ton, Mass., over NBC-TV Sunday, May 24 from 5 to 6 p.m. Budget for the one-shot will be in regioii of $ 200,000 for both time charges and production costs. For¬ mat will afford a looksee of plant facilities, examination of problems of outer space and assay bf world outlook in era of nuclear physics. Aluminium Ltd., sponsors of Saudek-produced “Omnibus” on NBC-TV, is reportedly ready to sign for another semester. “Lincoln Presents Leonard Bernstein and N. Y. Philharmonic,” another Saudek show, rounds out its cur¬ rent season Sunday, March 22, w’ith indication for renewal next sea¬ son. NBC-TV also has Saudek un¬ der contract to produce four 90- minute specials during ’59-’60 sea¬ sons. -. * Can’t Fmd a Sponsor, Jerry Lewis May Skip Further Specs This Yr. Hollywood, March 10. Jerry Lewis, who has starred in two specs on NBC-TV thus far this season, may not do another due to lack of sponsor interest, network sources revealed here. Web insiders revealed that while Lewis had originally been sched¬ uled to do more than the two specs, inasmuch as no sponsors have been found, there is a defi¬ nite likelihood it may pay him off. Lewis' pact calls for him to be paid per show, and just how much he would receive in event he does no more specs this season is a matter of negotiation. There is a slim possibility a Lewis spec might, be presented as a sustainer, but networkers dis¬ counted this possibility, pointing out the comedian would be averse to being on tv without a bank- roller, and the network, too, wouldn’t be enthusiastic about the idea.