Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1963)

-'■""Television Digest with Consumer Electronics . . . (starts pa^e ?) MAY 13, 1963 NEW SERIES VOL. 3, No. 19 The authoritative service for executives in all branches of the television arts & industries ( WEEK^S NEWS Broadcast MAY 1 1963 FORECAST OF 'OVER-COMMERCIALIZATION' proposal expected soon from FCC: Start with NAB TV & radio Codes; ask industry to justify waivers— with copious detail. Rep. Harris 'concerned' with 'interruptions' from commercials (p. 1). RATINGS FRONT-HEARINGS, PLANS, STUDIES; Harris resumes hearings, calls Census Bureau & RAB's Bunker; Nielsen sets to battle FTC; Sindlinger moving into local radio (p. 2). REPS BACK RATINGS BUT WANT CHANGES: Spot check of N.Y. sales reps shows strong support for competitive services; well informed, vitally concerned, reps want improvements, too (p. 3). CBS AFFILIATES MEETING hears pep-rally reports on strength & durability of network's nighttime shows, witnesses preview of new starstudded shows, hears Aubrey & Stanton on high price of sportscasts and need for ETV (p. 4). FEES NOW FINAL, effective next Jan. It's $100 for major TV applications, $50 for major radio filings, $30 for all other broadcast applications. Non-broadcast figures down somewhat. Total annual take put at $3,843,000 (p. 5). CBS SEEKS ETV COMPETITION: Stanton telling affiliates ETV should have 'broadest' type of program, urging commercial telecasters to spark heavy campaign to raise ETV funds from public (p. 5). HENRY'S TOUGH LINE —use sustaining-program percentage as a 'yardstick'; require stations to announce, regularly, their 'legal responsibilities' re programming (p. 6). Consumer Electronics NO COLOR SERVICE PROBLEMS found by Mansfield nation-wide survey of owners & dealers; average yearly repair bill is $30.50; 'captive service' seen decreasing (p. 7). FEW WARRANTY CHANGES expected this year with new lines, but extended & free-labor warranties can be expected to remain as controversial as ever; only handful of major set makers still adhere to standard warranties (p. 7). PROFILE OF ELECTRONIC PARTS DISTRIBUTORS: Industry's 1,770 distributors are believed to have topped $1 billion sales last year for first time— up from 1961's $940.3 million. Sales of TV accessories declined 2.5% from 1957 through 1961, but components boomed 75.9%; batteries, 37.9%; tubes 27%. We analyze 7 companies' sales & earnings (p. 8). RCA'S FINANCIAL PROSPECTS: Color them bright, stockholders are told at annual meeting geared to color's success; Sarnoff reports record 4-month period, projects all-time high for '63 (p. 10). MORE FIRST QUARTERS; Admiral boosts sales & earnings; Motorola experiences 45% profit drop despite 4% sales rise to record $80.6 million. Latter attributes decline to investment in color tube & new semiconductor products (p. 1 2). FORECAST OF WER-COMMERCIALIZATION' PLAN: Proposal to put ceiling on commercials, first announced by FCC just before NAB convention (Vol. 3:13 p2), is about to come out in formal rule-making proceeding. Presumably, majority will again include Minow, Lee, Henry & Cox — though they could pick up another vote because action wouldn't be final. Guts of proposal will be NAB TV & radio Codes— FCC's premise being that it wouldn't be any more demanding than industry is of itself. In addition. Commission will spell out the kinds of situations which might warrant waivers of ceilings — daytime-only stations (particularly in north, in winter), outlets in cities with seasonal economies, small-market TV stations, communities with "too much competition." However, Commission is expected to ask those fihng comments to spell out exactly what kind of information should be suppUed by stations seeking waivers. For example, if station is to be allowed to claim "economic hardship," FCC is likely to ask it to spell this out — precisely. If anyone wants to criticize proposal (and Commission evidently believes this is conceivable), it will ask them to supply critical analysis and counterproposals. In addition. Commission is expected to emphasize strongly its desire to get comments from non-broadcast organizations and individual members of public. Commission is likely to justify its proposal on grounds that "over-commercialization" is disruptive of service and that NAB doesn't have real power to punish violators — or to reach those who don't subscribe