American television directory (1946)

Eleven months before the United States found itself in the midst of World War II, the American Television Society was born under modest but very hopeful circumstances. Eight people attended that first meet¬ ing on January 23, 1941 — all members of a New York University class in tele¬ vision programming who had gathered together to form what they decided to call a “Television Guild.” Its purposes were ambitious: “To create . . . and produce scripts and programs of every kind and variety suitable ... to the television medium, to be . . . distributed and sold to the television, radio, thea¬ ter or motion picture market . . . such scripts to be known as ‘A Television Guild Production’; to provide and/or employ the personnel necessary to these undertakings, and to copyright and publish the Guild’s material.” Further objectives were the advance¬ ment of the study and appreciation of television as a cultural, educational and entertainment medium; the establish¬ ment of a clearing house for television information, a forum for discussion of ideas and problems, and a complete television library. Toward these ends it was planned to invite recognized leaders in television or related fields to speak to the group at special meetings. This young Guild was conceived pri¬ marily as a profit-making organization, and not the least of its difficulties was that of working out some practicable formula for dividing its prospective wealth. There were more immediate problems, however, some with a famil¬ iar ring — the lack of a suitable meet¬ ing place and laboratory space, a dearth of scripts, uncertainty about the FCC’s plans for television, and corresponding uncertainty among the big television studios about the future. It is not surprising therefore that May 15, 1941, saw the transformation of the little Guild into a new society, to be known as the American Television Society, a “nun-profit-making organiza¬ tion which would serve as an intelli¬ gence center for the pooling of television information, but which would not ex¬ clude financial arrangements being made at a later time . . .” ATS began with twenty-one members all told. There are some familiar names HISTORY. . . AMERICAN TELEVISION SOCIETY ATS has emerged from the years of war strong in direc¬ tion and purpose. Its contributions for the new age ahead should be of immeasurable value to society. By MYRTLE ILSLEY CBS Promotion & Advertising on the rolls of those first meetings — Don McClure, Fred Kugel, Jerry Dan¬ zig, J. Raymond Hutchinson, Carl Ruff — all of them former Guild members. The going was still pretty rough, but the new Society was launched in heroic style nevertheless, by a dinner at the Hotel Astor on June 26, the first public ATS television forum ever held. Sixtyfive people attended; the guest speakers included Thomas H. Hutchinson, teacher of that first NYU class, Paul Lazarsfeld, Ira Hirschmann, Comdr. Mortimer W. Loewi, William Morris, and J. R. Poppele, and each one of them predicted the important part that such a group as this would play in the future of tele¬ vision. In November of 1941 Warren Caro, first President of ATS, was forced by pressure of his own work to resign, and Norman D. Waters was elected to fill out his term. Holding the Fort Mr. Waters took office at a time of great confusion in the industry. With the outbreak of war the following month, no one could predict the imme¬ diate fate of television. The Society went ahead with plans to help in the preparation of televised defense pro¬ grams, but it was soon apparent that although engineering activities would continue in the form of war research, television production would be cur¬ tailed and finally halted altogether. Faced with the choice of disbanding for the duration or holding the fort for an undetermined length of time, the members of ATS felt that they could serve best by keeping alive the great¬ est possible public interest in television until the war was over. Nevertheless, 1942 was a rugged year for television enthusiasts. ATS meet¬ ings were infrequent; activity in the in¬ dustry was at a standstill. Not until May, 1943, did the Society revive, with a well-attended gathering at the Hotel Capitol to hear a spirited exchange of programming ideas by Will Baltin, Paul Knight, Nor an Kersta and Charles Kleinman. The ice was broken once more; a regular schedule of month¬ ly meetings with well-known guest speakers began. By the fall of 1943 the rapidly lengthening membership rolls were proof that this renewed enthusiasm was gaining momentum month by month. A re-statement of ATS policies and di¬ rection seemed essential, and so in December, 1943, a new Constitution was adopted, defining in greater detail the objectives first pointed out by the farseeing little Television Guild. This was not enough, however, and in March of the following year the American Tele¬ vision Society filed a certificate of in¬ corporation. The briefly-held plans for profit had long since been forgotten, but the other early ideals were stronger than ever. ATS was officially organized to “ad¬ vance, promote and foster the study, understanding and appreciation of tele¬ vision as a cultural, educational, enter¬ tainment and advertising medium.” Ad¬ vertising was a new addition to the older definition, but the provisions still included an information clearing-house, a discussion forum, a television library, and special meetings on television. Three types of membership had final¬ ly been determined: charter, regular, and associate (for student and junior members). The Society’s business would be directed as before by a seven-man Board of Directors together with the four officers elected annually. And to insure the widest possible representa¬ tion, it was specified that never could a majority of this Board be employed in the same phase of television, nor could more than two Directors be employed by the same company. It did not seem at all fantastic now for the by-laws to provide for author¬ ization of local ATS chapters in other cities, because membership was climb¬ ing steadily — the original eight of the first meeting had grown to 85 by 1943, and to 350 by 1945. A Parade of Speakers In 1944 Dan D. Halpin succeeded Norman Waters as President, and in turn was succeeded by George T. Shupert the following year. The Terrace Room of the Hotel Capitol had given way to the auditorium of the Museum of Modern Art as a meeting-place, and an array of guest speakers lined its platform every month to discuss tele( Continued on page 70) 68