Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1963)

Governor opposes FCC Tennessee's Democratic Governor Frank G. Clement has reiterated his opposition to government control of commercial time standards. Speaking before the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters annual meeting, held Sept. 24 in Memphis. Governor Clement said, "I would like to say here that I feel a responsibility to use the influence of my office to reciprocate in helping you wherever we can." The governor said that it is improper for the government to intrude where the public has traditionally made the decisions. He closed his talk by saying, "I am opposed to the arbitrary limitation by a Washington bureau of your advertising, your news coverage, the amount of music you can carry, or any other manifestation of the free enterprise system, and I will continue to be opposed to it." WWDO salutes Washington's finest This young, hard-hitting executive is Sy Seleznow, dynamic Merchandising Vice President for the Washington Division of the Grand Union Company. He is responsible for many "firsts" in the brilliant direction of his division's merchandising. The current "Total Value" campaign created by Seleznow has produced quite a stir in supermarket circles. Better still, it is ringing the cash registers 'in 34 Grand Union supermarkets locally. This "sound of music" would not be possible without the role played by WWDC —"the station that keeps people in mind." Alvin Epstein, Inc. has been the agency for radio and TV for 12 years. 31 BLAIR Represented nationally GROUP by John Blair 4 Company PLAN \y MEMBER WWDC RADIO WASHINGTON D. C. a licensee, such as the rates charged by public utilities are controlled. CBS pointed out that this public utility concept is definitely prohibited by the Communications Act which states that broadcasters are not to be considered common carriers. The West Virginia Broadcasters Association called the proposed rules "raw and unabashed public utility regulation" of the industry. The NAB said the power to control commercial time is "the power to destroy. . . . We submit that as the First Amendment prohibits the exercise of such power over newspapers, it prohibits the exercise over broadcasters." ABC told the commission that advertising is covered by the First Amendment just as editorial content is protected from censorship. ABC quoted the Supreme Court decision in Grossjean v. American Press Co. in 1936. This case decided that a 2% license tax levied in Louisiana on newspapers having a circulation greater than 20,000 — for the privilege of ". . . selling, or making any charge for, advertising or advertisements"— violated the First Amendment. The decision said by restraining revenue, circulation could also be directly restricted. Storer Broadcasting Co. and others joined this opinion. "If the commission today, no less than the legislature of Louisiana, can restrict the amount of advertising carried by broadcasting stations to a given figure, it can tomorrow prescribe a lower figure," ABC said. Head Counting No Account ■ CBS told the commission that many of the licensees that do not now subscribe to the NAB codes would be among those exempted from the proposed rules if they are adopted. CBS pointed out that the proposed exemption of stations that can show they would not be able to economically survive under the rules has a current bearing on the number of code subscribers. However, the network said, the number of code subscribers has shown a steady increase over the years. CBS noted that in January 1959, 60% of television stations subscribed and 15% of radio stations; today 70% of the former and 38% of the latter are subscribers. CBS predicts the number of subscribers will continue to grow. Westinghouse told the commission that although the code subscription figures are what they are it found that 98.7% of all TV homes are within the coverage area of stations subscribing to the NAB code. (Westinghouse includes all counties in which TV station subscribers have 50% or better circulation [excluding Hawaii and Alaska].) The group owner also found 97% of the population within the 272 metropolitan areas of the U. S. served by radio stations subscribing to the code. (The company's figures don't include stations in nonmetropolitan areas or nonmetropolitan coverage of metropolitan stations.) Westinghouse said the public therefore is in a position to tune in code or noncode stations. CBS pointed out that FCC Chairman E. William Henry, when speaking to the International Radio and Television Society on Sept. 24 (Broadcasting, Sept. 30), said in reference to the 2,500 complaints the commission had received about commercials, that only 35% (875) were concerned with the length and frequency of commercials. CBS said that no doubt many of the 875 that complained would be against any commercials whatsoever. ABC questioned whether Mr. Henry could consider 2,500 total complaints out of "some 125,000,000 literate listeners" an adequate sampling "and (without knowing more about their individual pet peeves and personal axes) whether they represent a fair crosssection of the listening or viewing public." Cohn & Marks, a Washington communications law firm, told the commission that there is no suggestion that if the codes become rules complaints will cease. "Quite the contrary," the firm said, "members of the public frequently complain of 'overcommercialization' when the codes are being adhered to." CBS agreed that government regulation could not change the public's view of advertising. Viewers View ■ Dow, Lohnes and Albertson, representing a group of 28 licensees, claimed that there is no wide 58 (GOVERNMENT) BROADCASTING, October 7, 1963