Old-style commercial announcers, many of whom have spent 20 years selling a multitude of products over the air, may be on their way out. Elbowing them toward the discard is a new breed—most of them entertainers by profession—who have tied their commercial destinies to specific sponsors.
Perhaps seeing the handwriting on the wall, veteran Announcer Dick Stark, who has earned as much as $150,000 a year selling Chesterfield cigarettes. Camay soap. Amm-i-dent toothpaste and Remington electric shavers, is now hard at work studying architecture and will quit broadcasting entirely when he graduates. Another high-income veteran, Ed Herlihy, had this month to make a tough decision: after eight years as announcer on NBC's Kraft TV Theater, Herlihy got the choice of signing an exclusive contract or leaving the show. He decided to stick with his other accounts (Colgate, Oldsmobile, French's mustard, Hoffman's beverages, Horn & Hardart).
Ease the Way. The new look in announcers is being supplied by such entertainers as Cinemactor William Lundigan (Chrysler), Singer Vaughn Monroe (RCA Victor), Ballet Dancer Dorothy Jarnac (Stopette). Even where commercial announcers are kept on the job, entertainers are being hired to introduce them. On NBC's Oldsmobile Spectaculars, Actor Lee Bowman dresses up in evening clothes for the sole purpose of saying: "And now, ladies and gentlemen, here is Ed Herlihy with a message from our sponsor . . ."
Manhattan Adman Frank Egan explains that the new trend is simply an effort by sponsors to make commercials as painless as possible for viewers: "In radio you could use a musical bridge between the entertainment and the message so that the commercials didn't seem so abrupt and jarring. But on TV, if you interrupt audience attention to plunge into a commercial, viewers get resentful." For this reason nearly all TV hosts and masters of ceremonies are supposed to ease the way into the sales message.
On Lux Video Theater. Host James Mason looks pained about it, but pluckily mentions Lux; Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Adolphe Menjou smack their lips respectively over Rheingold and Schaefer beers; Jon Hall goes into ecstasies over Jay's potato chips; and Loretta Young apparently keeps a box of Tide on her grand piano. There are only a few holdouts, notably Sid Caesar who sticks strictly to his funny business.