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1 The Pl-ed Pikers
I; INDULGE US a little soul-searching shop
; talk after sign-off.
It's about the parasite P. I. We shall men
I tion no names simply because we do not want
I to promote the particular outfit.
j Several weeks ago there came over the transom from this company a display ad in the form of an open letter to stations and representatives— a P. I. deal for stations. The copy was artful. It sought the "advice" of stations
■, and representatives. But it made the inevitable pitch — sell it for two bucks and keep half.
We turned the ad down, consistent with our policy. It was resubmitted twice, but in each instance the P. I. aspect was there.
The story could have ended there, just as have several others in the P. I. plague of recent months. But our P. I. zealot wasn't content. He has circularized stations, advising them that the ad had been prepared for Broadcasting and that it "was turned down flat."
We began hearing from stations and representatives. They were of one accord:
"Congratulations on your policy. ... If ever the broadcasting industry looks favorably on PI business, I'm afraid it is the end of radio as a legitimate advertising medium."
"When local advertisers become familiar with this system of buying radio time, I'm afraid they will refuse to pay rate card rates."
"I think your refusal of this advertising is appreciated by the entire industry."
"I wish to congratulate you on the stand taken in this matter. I have always been a strong supporter of the stand taken by your magazine in regard to P. I. deals. Your action ... is definite proof that you practice what you preach. . . . You give us the best trade publii cation in the United States."
"Another reason for writing this letter (to the P. I. entrepreneur) is that I really want to go on record as complimenting Sol Taishoff and his advertising department."
And so it went.
Thanks for bearing with us.
Of Eyes, Type & Circulation
WITH COMMENDABLE enterprise, Editor & Publisher has made a precedent-shattering survey of television's effect on newspaper cir' culation. It has found that in 33 of 42 TV cities, newspaper circulation has increased some 29f this year over 1948.
The surprise is not so much that newspaper circulation increased, but that it increased so little, both in TV and non-TV cities. Newsprint has been plentiful, in contrast to wartime rationing and postwar grey markets. Circulation campaigns have been under way.
It may well be that TV will have little overall effect upon newspaper and magazine circulations. The experience may turn out to follow that in sound radio. More radio sets are being sold than ever before, and, after the first TV flush, radio tune-in actually has increased. Yet TV sets are selling beyond plant capacity and this Christmas will be an assured sell-out.
E. & P. shouts Eureka. But it may be whis> tling prematurely through its 7 pt. type. You ■ can read when you listen. But can you read newspapers or books when you're telelooking?
We'll be interested, in the results of E. & P.'s second survey a year from now, when the TV set population will exceed 7,500,000 in about 125 markets. TV may not be a cut-throat competitor, but we would not suggest, that the printed media turn their collective heads.
AM Alive or NARBA Dead
ANY day now there will be action in Montreal on NARBA. The issue is whether the most powerful nation on earth shall submit to the preposterous demands of Cuba, no bigger than a midget's hand.
Cuba, after feinting, bluffing and grimacing all over the Montreal landscape, asks for 108 assignments. It seeks protection from our regional stations, entailing a junior reallocation. It would break down three additional dozen 1-A clears and would acquire rights on virtually all our 1-B's. For an island population of 5 million it wants facilities adequate to serve practically everything in our hemisphere south of Florida.
If our delegation capitulates, the responsibility must be laid at the doorstep of our State Dept. (probably with the consent of the FCC) which sanctimoniously invokes the "hemispheric solidarity" wheeze. And that would be only the beginning. What about Mexico, which without explanation, so far has abstained from participation? And will Canada stand by?
It isn't so much how individual stations may be affected, though that's disastrous enough. Rather, it's the principle of the U.S. being caught in the continental pincers and being pushed around virtually at will.
If there is no treaty (and that would happen, we judge, only if the State Dept. is convinced that there would be no chance of Senate ratification), then the alternative presumably would be an "ether war." Such an eventuality, of course, is undesirable, but to American broadcasters and to the public, it is to be preferred over complete subjugation and the inevitable clamor from others for corresponding treatment.
Indeed, there's an ether war on now. Cuba is occupying about every facility it has demanded. The difference is we are not fightine; back with our own watts. Our State Dent., of course, might well oppose such retaliatory measures, but we feel national pride and selfpreservation would prevail throusrh an outraged Congressional reaction. Those members of Congress already apprised of the Cuban cupiditv have had the same reaction: Let's have "jungle warfare" if thev want it.
Why should our State Dept. shrink when mention is made of economic reprisals? Are broadcasters second-rate citizens? Are not listeners in America, where radio was born, nurtured and developed, entitled to service as ffood as that accorded our Cuban cousins? There are 150 million of us; 5 million of them, and you could put all of Cuba in the vest .pocket of Texas.
But there's more than one way of skinning the radio cat. Call the status quo a "cold radio war." Practically all of the eood Cuban transm.itters are U. S. made. Others are haywire. How much more power can they emit even with overloaded transmitters? Can they foot the additional bills? They can cover Cuba's pintsized area with a few watts, but they can't get any more rate out of wasted watts.
Cuba has little or no reserve equipment. Tubes and condensers burn out. Our manufacturers certainly wouldn't be disposed to sell them replacements simply to blast away at their good U. S. customers. That isn't prudent business. So, if need be, let them fire away and burn out.
The U. S. delegation, headed by FCC Comr. Hyde, has had a thankless job from the start. Chairman Hyd* has made it clear that he did not intend to stand by and see U. S. radio liquidated. He, however, is subject to State Dept. veto.
But, whatever the diplomatic stresses or the political strains, let's have U. S. radio alive, or NARBA dead.
Rev. FRANCIS EDMUND CORKERY, S.J.
A MONG the presidents of the nation's leadl\ ing stations, there are few Doctors of Philosophy, still fewer university presidents— and members of the clergy are rare indeed. Yet the Very Reverend Francis E, Corkery, S.J., A.B., M.A., Ph.D., STL, who in September became president of KGA Spokane, is all of these, and a first-class administrator in addition.
Father Corkery, whose priestly robes do not hide a colorful, vigorous personality, disclaims knowledge of radio operations, and his life's experience in the service of religion and education would seem to indicate at most a limited contact with station management. Still, as he talked about plans for the station before he became head of KGA, his conversation showed real familiarity with the problems involved even to such details as the desirability of a low spot on the dial.
The president of KGA, ABC's affiliate in the Inland Empire of eastern Washington State, has entered the area of radio by virtue of his position as president of Gonzaga U., one of the largest Jesuit institutions of higher learning in the Pacific Northwest. Formerly owned by Louis Wasmer, long-time Northwest broadcaster and a member of the university's board of regents, KGA was sold to Gonzaga last spring for $425,000 [Broadcasting, June 20]. Mr. Wasmer continues with the station in an advisory capacity, although serving without salary.
Father Corkery's philosophy of the role of radio indicates a rare combination of realistic practicality and loftier vision regarding the medium's value.
"A well and properly informed public," he believes, "is the only true safeguard of the dignity and freedom of man. Radio, being one of the major means of communication and education, has a tremendous responsibility of properly informing the mind in the basic underlying principles upon which the whole concept of human freedom and dignity rests. This responsibility in radio is the greater because it reaches every segment of society and reaches into every home in the land. Its message is heard by persons of every age and of every condition in life."
Because radio, to Father Corkery's way of thinking, is essentially a public service operation, it is particularly fitting that KGA should now be operated under the aegis of a university. The station president has no narrow conception of "public service," however, for he visualizes the inclusion of a constructive viewpoint in all programs, not merely the so-called "educational" broadcasts.
(Continued on page 41)
Page 36 • December 5, 1949
BROADCASTING • Telecasting