Evening star., 1948-10-10

There is more behind Fred Aliens
declaration of war on the give-away
program than meets the eye. 1t
seems that the topnotch comedian
made a fairly good estimate of the
situation before he marshaled his
forces for the attack. His first move
was to lay down thick smoke
screen when he announced that he
would bond his listeners up to $4,000
against the loss of any prize they
might have won by listening to
some other program. 1t seems prob
able the No. citizen of Aliens
Alley will never have to pay of.
What Allen Is actually doing is
hitting where the give-aWay pro-
gram idea is the weakest. And that
has always been the best strategy
as any admiral or general will tell
you. In that respect Allen is pro-
viding himself not only an excellent
comedian but smart operator.
Allen is apparently working on the
theory that to save time on the air
the "give-away" program must tele-
phone prospective winners OF their
prizes before the program goes on
the air. Otherwise all the program
time might be spent telephoning
all over the country only to find
people either out for the evening
or not listening to that particular
give-away show. If this theory is
correct, and there is plenty of reason
to believe that it is, any one at home
who has not been called by the time
the give-away program hits the air
can be more than fairly sure that he
is not in line to win anything. That
being the case, Allen wonders why
not listen to him for program of
fun and relaxation instead of chew
ing your finger nails waiting for the
phone which will never ring.
The target of Aliens large scale
offensive, of course, is the ABC
show stop the Music" Allen is
recording the competition every
week to make sure he has the names
VI I1lc HuulClo OlI GllC olAo" Juoe AAA
case one might try to cash in on
Aliens offer as well. Apparently the
only claims that Allen will get on
his bonding offer will come from
listeners to non-netWork stations
around the country who may have
local give-away shows with small
cash prizes and awards on the air
at the same time. Allen says he
hopes those listeners will be honest
enough not to put in claim.
Last week television was definitely
on the move. A group of passengers
and guests aboard the B. & O.s
Marylander speeding over the rails
at 80 miles an hour gathered around
a television set and watched the
Cleveland Indians trounce the Bos-
ton Braves in the second game of the
World Series. Reception was re-
ported to have been excellent all
along the line from Washington TO
Jersey City Television stations in
Washington, Baltimore, Philadel-
phia and New York City were tuned
III curing Cne "Trip. Only curing q
short segment of the route between
Aberdeen, Md, and Newark. Del.
when the train was out Of range of
video waves did the picture fade for
any length of time.
The experiment was carried out
with the cooperation of Bendix
Aviation Corporations radio divi-
sion and may lead to installations
In other crack trains.
Yesterday Philco Radio Corp.
teamed with Capital Air Lines
for an installation OF q television
receiver in the airliner President
which makes the run from Washing
ton to Chicago daily at 1890 pm.
r Il
Washington high school music
students are eligible to join Deems
Taylor on weekend With Music" ="
the new intermission feature OF the
New York Philharmonic Symphony