Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1959)

5 The Week in Congress More about Boosters Win a Battle: The Western revolt in Con gress against FCC’s decree that operators of more than 1000 illegal, unregulated TV booster stations must take them off the air (Vol. 15:4) gathered such force this week that the Commission hastily met, and voted unanimously to start a strategic retreat (see p. 1). In the House alone, more than 25 bills & resolutions peppered the hopper. They demanded investigations of FCC’s ban, proposed Communications Act amendments making them legal, and an expressed sense-of-Congress policy favoring the operation of vhf TV booster or repeater stations. On the Senate side. Sens. Carroll (D-Colo.) & Allott (R-Colo.) were marshals of the rebellion. A wideranging bipartisan coalition joined them in support of measures (S. Con. Res. 4 & S. J. Res. 26) to block FCC’s action. Recruits included Sens. Mundt & Case (R-S. D.), Curtis (R-Neb.), O’Mahoney & McGee (DWyo.), Mansfield & Murray (D-Mont.), Langer (R-N. D.), Chavez (D-N.M.). They were assured of a powerful ally in Chairman Magnuson (D-Wash.) of the Commerce Committee, too. In addition, one western state legislature after another poured petitions on Capitol Hill imploring Congress to step in and stop FCC from depriving citizens of booster service. Immediate result: FCC voted unanimously to revise its 6-1 decision of last Dec. 30 (Vol. 15:1) giving booster operators 90 days until March 30 to apply for uhf translators instead or go off their unauthorized air. The deadline was stretched to 6 months — to June 30 — “during which time the Commission will study the legal & technical aspects of the problem.’’ Presaging moves by FCC to ask Congress to write its own rules on boosters, the Commission said “studies will include possible new legislation looking toward amending the Communications Act to pi’ovide more flexibility in administering Sec. 319 (a) and a possible relaxation of the operator I’equirements for broadcast stations.” No voice in Congress was raised to defend FCC’s original “final action” banning boosters, which followed 4 years of rule-making proceedings. But outside Congress, NAB and National Community TV Assn., which have suffered booster headaches for years, did speak up. “We thought the FCC was right in the first place, and we certainly didn’t think it would come around now and reconsider it,” NAB TV v.p. Thad H. Bx'own told us sorrowfully. “We’re only hopeful now that the situation will be cleared up so that there won’t be illegal stations on the air.” The issue will have a top place on NAB’s winter meeting agenda next week in Florida. “For a solid year,” said NCTA gen. counsel E. Stratford Smith, “Congress has been highly critical of the FCC for decisions allegedly based on influence & political pressures rather than on the FCC’s own sound judgment. Now Congress itself is forcing the FCC to take action that the Commission has found not to be in the public interest — for good safety & engineering reasons. We honestly think the FCC’s decision in Dec. was a sound one. In the last analysis. Congress should agree that extremely technical problems should be left to the FCC.” Go-Ahead for Harris: Chairman Harris (D-Ark.) of the House Commerce Committee this week got his authority— and $125,000 for staff hire — to continue investigations of FCC & other federal agencies which his legislative oversight subcommittee started last year (Vol. 15:4). Without objections from anybody on the floor, the House approved 12-part resolution (H. Res. 56) giving Commerce Committee broad power to look into many jurisdictional areas, including: (1) Allocation of radio spectrum. (2) Color TV. (3) Pay TV. (4) Educational TV. (5) Ownership & control of radio & TV Stations. (6) Technical developments in communications field. With equal ease, Harris also won a $125,000 special appropriation for probes (vs. total of $325,000 for oversight unit in 1957-58), which will be conducted by an as-yet-unnamed subcommittee or subcommittees. At week’s end, he and ranking minority committee member Bennett (R-Mich.) were trying to reach an agreement on subcommittee makeup. Meanwhile, the Committee itself was embarked on hearings into such nonTV-radio subjects as railroad retirement and airports, setting no schedule for any other business. -;f * On other legislative fronts this week: Rep. Dingell (D-Mich.) added more anti-pay-TV proposals to those already made by Harris (Vol. 15:3) and others in House & Senate. One Dingell bill (HR3287) would amend Communications Act to prohibit pay TV. Another (HR-3288) would “clarify existing law” on pay TV. Rep. Vanik (D-0.) suggested that if there were more “superb” programs like “What Every Woman Knows” on CBS-TV’s Du Pont Shoiv of the Month Jan. 28, “any interest in pay TV” would vanish. Reps. Horan (R-Wash.) & Magnuson (D-Wash.) introduced bills (HR-3651) & (HR-3666 to repeal manufacturers’ excise tax on uhf or all-channel TV sets. Reps. Henderson (R-0.) & Whitener (D-N.C.) proposed (HR-3308 & HR-3395) to eliminate communications excise taxes. Sen. Eastland (D-Miss.) submitted resolution (S-61) from his Judiciary Committee authorizing “study of administrative practice & procedure in govt, depts. & agencies,” including “rule-making, licensing & adjudicatory functions.” Rep. Steed (D-Okla.) offei*ed a bill (HR-3506) setting up ham radio networks as auxiliaries to military communications. Chief counsel Robert F. Kennedy of Senate rackets committee got the transcript of Edward R. Murrow’s now-celebrated CBS radio documentary The Business of Sex (Vol. 15:4), to see if his committee should look into alleged employment of call girls by business.