Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

Brown Approval Hangs Fire As Congress Gets New Measures Davis Plans Sweeping Radio Hearings; Shipstead Measure Would Kill the Davis Amendment BULLETIN BY A VOTE of 10 to 1, Chairman Couzens alone opposing, the Senate Interstate Commerce Committee, following a special hearing Feb. 26, voted to report favorably on the nomination of Col. Thad H. Brown as second zone radio commissioner. This practically assured his confirmation by the Senate, which will probably act within a week. By LYNNE M. LAMM WHILE Col. Thad H. Brown's confirmation by the Senate as second zone member of the Radio Commission still hung fire, radio leaders on Capitol Hill and a few other members of Congress were busying themselves with writing, introducing or contemplating new radio legislation covering a variety of broadcasting angles. Announcement was made by Rep. Davis (D.) of Tennessee, chairman of the House Committee on Merchant Marine, Radio and Fisheries that he will call general hearings on radio shortly after March 1. His own omnibus bill containing the anti-lottery provision having passed the House and pending in the Senate, Rep. Davis does not intend to confine the hearings to any particular measure. "They will cover a large range," he said, "and perhaps include many of the radio bills now pending before the committee." He said he has no intention of limiting the scope of the hearings and that all interested parties will be heard. Rep. Davis has not yet completed writing a second bill in which he intends to fix a scale of license fees on broadcasters "sufficient in the aggregate to support the federal regulation of radio" which amounts to about $1,000,000. Opposition to this bill may develop on the plea that the radio Commission and the Radio Division of the Department of Commerce do not devote all their attention to broadcasting; hence many broadcasters feel that they should not be compelled to defray the expenses of a government agency that serves also the thousands of users of long and short waves. Rep. Davis' bill also would curb radio advertising in some manner and would restrain Americans from going to Mexico and Cuba to broadcast to the American audience. The Shipstead Bill PROBABLY the most interesting legislative proposal advanced in the last fortnight is contained in the bill (S. 3649) by Senator Shipstead (Farmer-Labor) of Minnesota. It is an amendment which would materially alter the present allocation of broadcast frequencies, making the 1930 radio receiving set figures the partial basis of a new allocation based also on population and area to be served. Instead of having the allocation dependent upon population, as now, the Shipstead bill prescribes that "in such equitable allocation the licensing authority shall give equal weight, as nearly as may be, to population, to gross area, and to the number of receiving sets in homes as determined by the Bureau of the Census." According to Senator Shipstead, this would enable about 30 states to secure more broadcasting facilities while only 10 would stand to lose. Moreover, he believes, it will have the tendency of relaxing the present "frozen" condition of broadcasting brought about by the mathematical equalization resulting from the Davis amendment. The bill states "that for the purpose of preventing a needless waste of broadcasting facilities, the licensing authority may in its discretion allocate to States situ The following tabulation shows the present status of radio legislation: SENATE S. 4 — Fess radio educational bill, pending Committee on Interstate Commerce. S. 21 — King copyright bill, pending Committee on Patents. S. 22 — King bill licenses for unused patents, pending Committee on Patents. S. 176 — Hebert copyright bill, pending Committee on Patents. S. 481 — White omnibus radio bill, pending Committee on Interstate Commerce. S. 750— McNary bill to prohibit lotteries, pending Committee on Interstate Commerce. S. 1035— Tydings copyright bill, pending Committee on Patents. S. 1037— Dill bill transferring Radio Division to Commission, passed by Senate and pending before House Committee Merchant Marine, Radio & Fisheries. S. 1866— Dill patent bill, pending Committee on Patents. S. 2374 — George bill to give City of Savannah, Ga., naval radio station being abandoned, pending Committee on Naval Affairs. S. 3046 — Dill bill on clear channels, pending Committee on Interstate Commerce. S. 3047— Hatfield bill for labor clear channel, referred to subcommittee: Hatfield, Brookhart and Bulkley. S. 3649— Shipstead bill to change allocation, pending Committee on Interstate Commerce. S. Res. 28 — Howell bill for investigating possibility of broadcasting from Senate chamber, pending Committee on Rules. S. Res. 58 — Dill bill to investigate RKO, pending Committee on Audit and Control. S. Res. 71 — Dill bill providing for broadcasting from Senate chamber, pending Committee on Rules. S. Res. 129 — Couzens-Dill resolution for advertising investigation by Radio Commission, passed by Senate and now in effect. atec. wholly or principally west of the Continental Divide, broadcasting facilities in excess of those to which such States would normally be entitled on the basis of population, gross area, and number of receiving sets in homes, when such additional allocations will not materially impair radio broadcasting transmission or reception in other sections of the country." In explanation, Senator Shipstead said that "equitable distribution among the States is rendered impossible by the requirement of equal distribution among the unequal zones. The quota for each State must at present be determined solely by its relationship to its zone, not to the country as a whole." No action has been taken, nor have hearings been scheduled, on the White omnibus radio bill (S. 481) which is largely a counterpart of the Davis bill and which may be incorporated with the House bill. On the House side little attention has been paid to the Amlie resolution (S. Res. 110) restricting commercial broadcasting on Sundays, and nothing is expected to come of it. The resolution's author has suffered the wrath of the broadcasters' association of his own State of Wisconsin, who recently met in Chicago, charged him with promoting a blue law S. Res. 146 — Blaine resolution calling on Attorney General for status of R. C. A. suit, passed by Senate. S. Res. 163 — Dill resolution calling upon the State Department to call a North American broadcasting conferenpe, pending Interstate Commerce Committee. HOUSE H. R. 139— Vestal copyright bill, pending Committee on Patents. H. R. 256 — Christopherson bill prohibiting radio lotteries, pending Committee on the Judiciary. H. R. 410 — French lottery bill pending Committee on Merchant Marine, Radio & Fisheries. H. R. 421 — Hoch bill to amend I. C. C. Act to define radio as "Common carrier" pending Committee on Interstate & Foreign Commerce. H. R. 6039 — Sirovich bill to transfer Radio Commission to Department of Commerce, pending 'ommittee on Merchant Marine, Radio & Fisheries. H. R. 7253 — Connery bill to provide clear channel for labor, pending Committee on Merchant Marine, Radio & Fisheries. H. R. 7507 — Lea bill on ocean vessel radio equipment in Canal Zone, reported by Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, now pending on House calendar. H. R. 7716 — Davis radio omnibus bill, passed by House; now pending Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce. H. R. 8759— Amlie bill prohibiting radio advertising on Sunday, pending Committee on Merchant Marine, Radio & Fisheries. H. Res. 80 — Horr resolution to investigate Radio Commission and NBC control of Pacific Coast stations, pending Committee on Rules. H. Res. 110 — Amlie resolution on free speech, pending Committee on Merchant Marine, Radio & Fisheries. for the sake of "personal publicity" and voted to complain to Senator LaFollette. Dill Hits Nets SENATOR DILL (D.) of Washington, who is still writing a new copyright measure, came out on Feb. 17 with a statement that he was contemplating another measure to limit the chain ownership of stations. Senator Dill stated that he does not object to chain programs but wants to restrict the ownership by networks of so many stations. He also took occasion to say that so many complaints are being received from churches, editors and newspapers against commercial broadcasting practices that he "cannot see where this is going to end." Paramount Selling Its Share in CBS Buyer is Undisclosed in Sale Of 50 Per Cent of Stock NEGOTIATIONS looking to the sale by the Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. of its 50 per cent stock ownership in CBS were known to be in progress as Broadcasting went to press. Whether the stock was being bought by the present owners of CBS, who have first option, or by other interests was not known at this writing.^ From unimpeachable authority, Broadcasting learned that Paramount, despite the fact that its investment in CBS has been profitable and is still earning good dividends, has decided to sell. The decision, it is understood, is based entirely on the fact that the motion picture industry is suffering a severe depression and Paramount stock has fallen with the others. Although neither Paramount nor CBS officials would make a statement, the New York correspondent of Broadcasting was informed cryptically at the office of Ralph A Kohn, Paramount director on the CBS board, that "the CBS deal was privately completed and that Paramount had noting to say." Further amplification of this statement could not be procured. It is known that Paramount, which purchased its half interest in the summer of 1929 for an unstated sum plus a large block of Paramount stock, was seriously considering an offer from a banking group which proposed to put the stock on the market. However, the CBS stockholders had first rights to purchase if they could meet the offer. Actual stock holdings in CBS have not been made public, but at the Senate radio hearings in January, 1930, William S. Paley, CBS president, testified that it is held by "some 12 or 13 stockholders." Paramount's half of the board of directors at the time consisted of Ralph A. Kohn, Sidney R. Kent, C. E. McCarthy, Eugene J. Zukor and Samuel Katz. The CBS directors were William S. Paley, Jacob Paley, Jerome H. Louchheim, Leon Levy and Isaac D. Levy. The CBS stock holdings, it is understood, are practically all in the hands of the latter five men. Management, under the stock sale contract, remained in the hands of William S. Paley. Status of Radio Legislation Page 12 BROADCASTING • March 1, 1932