Radio: Paley's Comet

Like a triumphant general retiring to winter quarters, CBS Board Chairman William S. Paley last week stepped aboard a plane bound for Jamaica, B.W.I.

Before he left, there was a final flurry of victorious communiques. Item: Frank Sinatra and Edgar Bergen had joined the talented throng (e.g., Amos 'n' Andy, Jack Benny, Red Skelton) that had deserted NBC for Paley's CBS. Item: Prudential Insurance Co. had lent CBS $5,000,000 to add muscle to the network's already long arm.

The star-snatching, which prompted Variety to call CBS "Paley's Comet," is a one-man triumph for dapper William S. Paley, 47. Born in Chicago and educated at the University of Pennsylvania, Paley was doing all right (vice president in charge of advertising) in his family's Congress Cigar Co. when he decided there was money in radio. Impressed because radio plugs boosted his La Palina cigar sales by 150%, in 1928 he bought control of CBS for $300,000. Since he took charge, the network has grown from 20 stations to 179.

Bill Paley's explosive energy and his dislike for procedure often disconcert his staff. He sometimes hands out jobs to subordinates in the elevators, or in the morning has a "sensational" idea which he discards by nightfall. But Paley has surrounded himself with a group of hardworking, intense young men who stick to CBS because they like excitement as much as they like the pay that CBS hands out to its upper-bracket men.

This week, sunning himself in Jamaica, Paley could look forward to continuing triumphs. Next fall, CBS will have the brightest line-up of talent in its history. And, betting that TV's black-&-white image is temporary, CBS has already spent $2,000,000 preparing for the day when FCC allows TV in color.