Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1959)

7 FCC Budget Goes Up: A boost of .$1,240,096 for FCC (from $9,759,904 in current fiscal year to $11,000,000 in fiscal 1960) is asked by Pi’esident Eisenhower in the hold-down $77 billion Federal budget submitted to Congress this vreek. This increase for FCC, which has been coasting along with little budget change in recent years, would be spread across the board. The President asked for more money to take care of bigger workloads and reduce “time lag between dates of receipt and dates when applications are reached for consideration.” Proposed step-ups include: Broadcast activities, $2,361,601 vs. $1,942,055. Technical research & frequency allocation activities, $859,628 vs. $727,461. Engineering & monitoring, $3,226,040 vs. $3,137,022. Permanent payroll would rise to 1405 employees from 1273. In other broadcasting-connected agency budgets, the President requested: For FTC: $6,975,000 vs. $6,515,000, with a major part of the increase going for investigation & litigation, including TV-radio advertising monitoring. For USIA : $106,800,000 vs. $101,009,246, including $555,700 more for TV service and $642,000 for operating new radio facilities. For Office of Education in Health, Education & Welfare Dept. : $3,000,000 vs. $500,000 for Defense Education Act’s TV-radiomovies research program, which just got started last year (Vol. 14:46). Office of Education also is asking supplemental $1,000,000 audio-visual research appropriation for rest of current fiscal year ending June 30. Harris— More of the Same? House Commerce Committee Chairman Harris (D-Ark.) greased the way this week for quick return of his legislative oversight subcommittee — or a facsimile thereof — to the happy headline-hunting grounds. The first thing he did at the first meeting of his committee in the new session of Congress was to push through an all-embracing resolution (H. Res. 56). It calls for House authorization to continue “investigations & studies” started by the oversight subcommittee (Vol. 14:2 et seq), whose legislative life expired Jan. 3 (Vol. 15:1). Other pending business of the committee — including appointment of the regular subcommittee on transportation & communications, which normally would have FCC jurisdiction — was left waiting while Harris won unanimous support for his proposal to resume special probes. Harris met no opposition in the House Rules Committee, and his resolution was approved for an early vote in the House. There may be token resistance but there’s little doubt Harris will get the investigative authority — and money for a special staff — that he wants. The reconstituted Commerce Committee has a 21-12 Democratic majority vs. last session’s 18-15 ratio. And, of last session’s 15 Republicans, only 7 were left to carry on, election defeats & retirements taking away 7 of the other 8. A holdover, Rep. Alger (R-Tex.), chose to leave Commerce for a Ways & Means Committee assignment. New Republican members of the committee are Reps. Harold F, Collier (111.), Milton W. Glenn (N.J.), Samuel L. DeVine (0), Archer Nelsen (Minn.), Hastings Keith (Mass.). We polled them on their interests — legislative or personal — in broadcasting. None professed to have any. On the Democratic side, all 18 committee members at the last session won reelection, but Rep. Loser (Tenn.) preferred to join the Judiciary Committee, leaving 4 openings. They were filled by Reps. P. G. Rogers (Fla.), R. W. Hemphill (S.C.), D. Rostenkowski (111.), L. Brock (Neb.). Rogers used to have a token interest (less than 1%) in WJNO-TV (now WPTV), Palm Beach, but has no broadcasting connections now. Hemphill introduced an anti-pay-TV bill in the last session, may put one in again. Rostenkowski told us he owns a TV set, but otherwise is no expert on broadcasting. Brock said he is particularly concerned now about the FCC’s ban on boosters (see p. 5), a hot issue back home. The Senate Commerce Committee’s membership (11-6 Democratic vs. 8-7 Democratic at the last session) was rounded out meanwhile with selection of “liberal” Republicans — Sens. Clifford P. Case (N.J.) Thruston B. Morton (Ky.), Hugh Scott (Pa.) — to fill 3 vacancies. Among the Republican newcomers, Scott probably has demonstrated most interest in TV & radio. A veteran House member before he won Senate election, he once served on the House Commerce Committee, was an advocate of TV-radio coverage of House hearings. Scott, as Republican National Chairman, also pioneered use of TV in 1948 campaigns. Only 3 of last session’s Republicans on the Senate committee were left to carry on. Sens. Schoeppel (Kan.), Butler (Md), and Cotton (N.H.) survived the Democratic sweep which cost the seats of Sens. Bricker (0.), Potter (Mich.), Purtell (Conn.) and Payne (Me.). In contrast, all 8 Democrats were back, but Sen. Bible (Tex.) switched to Appropriations, giving vacancies to 4 newcomers (Vol. 15:3) — Sens. Engle (Cal.), Bartlett (Alaska), Hartke (Ind.), McGee (Wyo.). Chairman Magnuson (D-Wash.) of Senate Commerce Committee has called organization meeting for Jan. 27, but otherwise has set no schedule for TV-radio-FCC business at this session beyond next week’s hearings on his FederalAid-to-Educational-TV bill (Vol. 15:3).