Evening star., 1937-04-18

The two main ways OF bolstering
and the Inauguration Of new program
ideas. The first method is by far the
more popular in the programing pro-
fession since the supply Of big names
for one-time appearance has always
been adequate. Nowadays, however,
even that seemingly inexhaustible
reservoir Of talent seems to show signs
Of leaving the program builders high
and dry.
Even Hollywood, with its dozens of
artists whose names are mentioned
constantly in cloak and living room,
has Its marginal utility limits, and
only four or five ranking screen per-
formers have failed to face the micro
phone during the current season.
IHE gamut of entertainment ranks
from Pearl Buck to Frank. the
jungle cat catcher who fetches them
back alive, and from Jazz Impresario
Ted Lewis to Maestro Leopold Stokow-
SKI, has been run in recent months
AT the moment the trend is toward
base ball players, and every one from
the bat boy to Ford Frick, National
League president, is giving fans the
lovdown on what the pennant pur-
suers are planning to do to each other
when the season gets under way Off
cially In couple Of days.
Charlie Grimm, Chicago Cubs man.
ager. shifted his chaw to the other
cheek to start the network base ball
parade April l on Bing Crosby's Music
Hall. and Grantland Rice, veteran
sports writer, went on with q COM
mentator's version of the seasons pros
poets on Joe Cooks hall of fame April
10. Bob Feller, 18-year-old pitcher,
followed week later. All through
March and early April announcers
from dozens Of stations enticed dia-
mond dignitaries into modest discus
sions Of their professional possibili-
ties.
Although guest-starring has been
the rage this season, it has merely
been a. full bloom version Of a trend
that started with the birth of broad
casting A lot of the veteran pro-
grams have been out-and-out variety
shows based on the caliber and size
OF Its list of visiting performers. Such
old timers as Rudy Vallee, Kate Smith,
Joe Cook, Hollywood Hotel and Radio
Theater have offered fresh features
every week. More recently Fred
Allen, Magic Key and even that top
notcher Jack Benny have resorted to
outside talent.
Just last Sunday the latter dry
dispenser of humor supported his
dessert program with the nonsensical
dialogue Of the popular George Burns
and Oracle Allen team. OF course,
the radio trade knew that there was
another reason for their appearance.
Many fans, also, must have suspected
before the Benny program was half
over that he was being used to pro-
mote the shift of George and Oracle
to a new sponsor and new network.
the Jack Benny Mary Livingston team
and the Burns and Allen duo.
MUTUAL BROADCASTING SYS-
A'A TEN has its London representa-
tive, John Steele, former noted news
paper correspondent, scheduled for
three special broadcasts on April Is,
May 6 and May IL, and is planning to
tie up with the British and Canadian
radio systems for the broadcasts of
King Georges speech and the cere-
monies.
Even the independent radio stations
Of the United Ste s.es-and more than
half Of them have no network affilia-
tions-will be able to pick the British
short wave commentaries out of the
air and rebroadcast them to their
local audiences. In fact, the burden
OF the broadcasting arrangements has
fallen on the British engineers and
arrangers and, except for the special
transatlantic relays by their own
staff men, the American networks
and stations have very little to worry
about in the way Of technical details.
Some so microphone pickup points
are planned in addition to those in
Westminster Abbey, within which
commentators will also be stationed
10 describe the brilliant assemblage
OF dignitaries and the coronation
ceremony. The days broadcasts on
May II will begin at about $50 am,
Eastern standard time (Which is five
hours later in London) when the
King and Queen are scheduled to
emerge from Buckingham Palace for
the ride to the Abbey. All along the
way radio men will be stationed and
when the service in the Abbey is over
the ubiquitous mike will describe the
Emile parade back to Buckingham
Palace. The climaxing broadcast fea-