Variety (March 1959)

RADIO-TELEVISION New Ruling for Britain: No More Pseudo News Flashes on TV-Radio London, March 10. From now on, British television and radio drama will have to do without those pseudo news flashes of the sputniks overhead and Mar¬ tians are here type. And that’s of¬ ficial. The Independent Television Authority, caught up in a barrage of criticism following just such a scare announcement at the start of the Associated-Rediffusion play “Before The Sun Goes Down” on Feb. 20, has decided that a firm ban is the only real means of avoid¬ ing viewer and listener misinter¬ pretation in the future. The Feb. 20 announcement baught ITA and A-R completely off guard, not because both outfits had over¬ looked the dangers inherent in simulated newscasts but for pre¬ cisely the opposite reason: they r d considered the perils and had, they thought taken care accordingly..Re¬ sult was, that after viewers had protested in various sudden ways, by ringing Scotland Yard, A-R, newspapers et al. t both the Author¬ ity and the network individually conducted inquiries. ITA came up with the verdict that there had been an error of judgment by “two or more” A-R people. The web hasn’t yet made any announcement on its internal probe, for the simple reason that it can’t determine precisely what, if anything, went wrong. There had been a cut in the script, it’s true, but whether that had been made within A-R or at ITA’s suggestion sometime previously can’t be dis¬ covered. Anyway, whether the un¬ cut script would have made any difference to the resultant reac¬ tion is a matter of debate. Two things are certain. One is, that most of the viewer ire was in¬ spired, not by p^nic following ac¬ ceptance of the “satellite overhead” announcement as genuine, but by irritation that tv should use such a device. The other thing: that the whole incident has been important not so much in itself as in the anti- ITA ammunition it has provided to the critics of that body. In effect, then, the matter may be said to be closed, excepting that it’ll be raised every now and again when militant Members of Parlia¬ ment or certain newspapers find further cause to attack ITA. Which means, probably, that it will be raised frequently, for ITA in one way or another—ovef quizzes, ad¬ vertising breaks and so forth—! seems constantly to be in the front line these days. Meantime, the BBC hasn’t en¬ tirely escaped censure in the past couple of weeks. In the House of Commons couple weeks ago questions were asked about a tv show concerning mental hospitals, it being suggested that allegations of violent and brutal treatment of patients made in the program were detrimental to both patients and nurses. In reply, the Minister of Health, Derek Walker-Smith, said he’d asked BBC’s Director General, ‘ Sir Ian Jacob, to make full in-: quiries. ! ABC-TV Razzie Dazzle ^ Continued from page 30 old “Operation Daybreak,” where¬ in the competitive program ratings are n.s.h. In the course of the hour-and-15- minute presentation, network ten¬ tatively laid out the new 1959-60 programming. “Cheyenne,” as pre¬ viously reported, was lined up on Mondays along with the already sold “Troubleshooters.” Robert Taylor’s “Detectives” is set for Tuesdays (at 9:30), “Bourbon St. Beat” for Wednesdays, Dick Clark’s “World of Talent” for Thursdays (and although not mentioned until later “Fat Man” is slated for 10-11 on Thursdays). Gale Storm and western “Cry Fraud” for Fridays, [“Public Enemy” for Saturday and 1 “Alaskans” for Sunday, P&RiEfr ‘Picasso to Picasso’ At a hardwood clinic in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York last week, Michael Greer, prexy of the National Society of Interior Designers, said there was a tv program in the works pegged around the homes of NSID members. Series of 13 shows (presuma¬ bly in film), it was indicated, would do a switch on “Person tor Person.” In the latter, of course, the home decor, paint¬ ings etc., are secondary to the persons interviewed by Ed Murrow. In the NSID pro¬ gram, the home will be the thing. Twilight Zone’As 4th CBS-TV Entry Sold For’59-60 CBS-TV has firmed up still an¬ other sponsor deal on a next sea¬ son program entry, six months in advance of premiere time. In the newest instance of this unprece¬ dented early negotiation, General Foods has pacted to sponsor the new Rod Serling “Twilight Zone” half-hour drama series. GF is tak¬ ing the show on an every-week basis for a full 52-week commit¬ ment in one of the major advance bookings for ’59-’60. No evening or time slot has been assigned the show as yet. That makes the fourth CBS-TV show earmarked for fall premiere to achieve bankroller status. As re¬ sult of previous negotiations, “Peck’s Bad Girl” has been fully sold, with Kimberly Clark and Ralston sharing the tab; “Dennis the Menace” will be fully sponsored by Kellogg and the new Herb Brodkin series, “Blue Men,” has won Lever Bros, alternate-week en¬ dorsement. Dallas — Mark Wilson, whose magic shows have had local tv exposure since 1954, has been set for a five-station outlet. ‘Pete Kelly Blues’ SSS Continued from page 29 ___ with L&M. Gimmick is that NBC is providing the sponsors with six reruns without charge. Just as un¬ usual as this is the fact that it is a deal for only 12 weeks, six of them being rerun weeks. It’s a deal in which the producer is trying to recapture his entire production nut, and reportedly make a little something as well, on the first go-around. This attempt at immediate re¬ coupment is a change from the days of. the not-too-distant past in telefilm when packagers were will¬ ing, to offer first-runs at less than the actual production nut, and then look to breaking even or making a little on reruns. But those deals were for 39 first-runs and 13 re¬ runs—a period of a full-year in which it was much easier to amor¬ tize production costs than it is for today’s 12, 13 and 26-week deals. “Blues” situation is not the only immediate recoupment deal that has been reported this year. ABC is thinking in terms of a quick pay¬ back on some of its shortterm show deals, and NBC, the home of “Blues,” has got a few others [like this one up for grabs. Only trouble, network officials disclose, : is that it’s not as easy as it might look selling a first-run half-hour, | (even with reruns tossed in gratis) ! when the new segs cost around , $50,000 net. Max Buck Upped Max E. Buck has been upped to manager of WRCA-TV, NBC flag¬ ship in Gotham, in a reorganization move splitting WRCA Radio and WRCA-TV into separate operating units. Move, according to William N. Davidson, NBC veep and general manager of both stations, is in line with recent NBC-TV realignments with all promotions from within existing organization. Buck was formerly director of sales and marketing for WRCA and WRCA- Wednesday, March 11, 1959 = | WNEW-TV Under New Met Ownership Is No Longer Financial Burden Metropolitan Broadcasting man¬ agement estimates the last of the $3,500,000 bank loan it took a cou¬ ple of years ago will be paid off by the end of 1960. At the broad¬ cast chain’s current rate of earn¬ ings, it was explained, approxi¬ mately half the loan will have been met by this coming May. Part of the picture is the finan¬ cial status of WNEW-TV, the chain’s station in N. Y. The video op, which for years had been on the losing side of the ledjjer, has been running in the black since last year. In a shift from its red position in ’57, WNEW-TV, for the whole year of 1958, saw black ink, apparently not matching the earn¬ ing power of WNEW Radio, a ma¬ jor outlet in the met area but, at least, no longer a financial burden to the overall corporation. Both WNEW-TV and, even more surprising, Metropolitan’s Wash¬ ington tv station, WTTG, which has also been a longtime money loser, are running In the black in 1959. There is no detailed report yet on their net earnings, but the Jan.-Feb. period this year saw WNEW-TV gross 30% over what it grossed last year for the same time. As for WTTG, according to the corporation, the comparable grosses for the same two months shows the D.C. to be 60% ahead at the moment. The only Met operation not in the black Is WHK, a Cleveland radio station acquired last June. Shortly, Metropolitan’s consoli¬ dated net earnings report will be issued to stockholders, reporting a rij§e in earnings for the last fiscal year. At the moment, Met com¬ mon stock, is selling over the coun¬ ter at approximately $14 per share. Hylton, Derby TV Profits London, March 10. Jack Hylton and Lord Derby have made a $168,000 profit by the sale of $336,000 worth of Televi¬ sion Wales and the West shares. Hylton and Lord Derby still have $252,000 invested in TWW. BOB DIXON is pleased to announce MAGGIE GARBER as his TV-RADIO REPRESENTATIVE MAGGIE GARBER is delighted that BOB DIXON is pleased announce’ MAGGIE GARBER ASSOC. 400 East 57th Street, New York PLaza 9-8672