Broadcasting (July - Sep 1949)

Schenley (Continued from page 19) ity may be vested in us. . . ." With respect to state laws governing liquor advertising, the Commission observed: In those localities and states where the sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited by local or state statutes, such advertising by radio in those areas would, of course, not be in the public interest, since adherence to the laws of the state in which a station is located, especially laws expressive of the public policy of the state or locality on subjects relative to health, safety, and morals, is an important aspect of operation in the public interest. Obviously, the same is true with respect to those areas where advertising of alcoholic beverages is prohibited by law. Where there are no laws prohibiting such sale or advertising, the problems raised by such programs and advertising are the same as those raised by any other programs which may have limited appeal to the radio audience. As the Commission pointed out In Re Application of Capital Broadcasting Co. (WWDC) for renewal of license ... in which questions were raised with respect to the broadcasting of horse racing information, the basic criteria which must be applied in determining whether that or any type of specialized program service is in the public interest are 'What is the nature of the interest served by the particular type of program service? What is the place of that interest in the life of the community? What are the affirmative values to be realized by the satisfaction of that interest? What are the possible detrimental effects of the satisfaction of that interest? What other interests are excluded and to what extent, by the particular specialized program service? These are not questions to be resolved in terms of the private moral judgments or esthetic and other values of either individual licensees or the men who compose the Commission. They must rather be resolved in terms of that open-minded, well informed, judgment, sensitive to all aspects of the life of the community, without which the criterion of the public interest must become a meaningless cinher, utterly devoid of the power to give guidance and to make radio broadcasting an affirmative contribution to the life of the nation, as Congress intended it to be.' . . . Cites Morris Decision FCC reminded that alcoholic beverage advertising by radio "may be highly controversial," as stated in its famed Sam Morris-KRLD decision, and that "the fact the occasion for the controversy happens to be the advertising of a product cannot serve to diminish the duty of a broadcaster to treat it as such an issue." Therefore if "serious, social and political issues" are raised through liquor advertising in some cases, the Commission noted, an obligation is thereby imposed upon the station "to make available time, if desired, to individuals or groups desiring to promote temperance and abstinence." Commerce Committee spokesmen acknowledged receipt of halfdozen letters from stations generally commending Sen. Johnson's initiative and conceding the gravity of the whole problem if networks and stations decide to accept hard liquor advertising. The communications were not released for "ethical" reasons harking back to 4,000,000 PEOPLE KWKW Pasadena Los Angeles NATIONAL REP. FORJOE & CO. i stations themselves, and due to committee policy. One station operator told Sen. Johnson he was not advocating liquor ad acceptance but explained that the difference between beer and hard liquor commercials is, in some cases, a matter of degree. If a station accepts advertising from brewers of the more potent alcoholic beverages, why not liquor commercials too, he asked. The premise in those cases actually is faulty, he added. Football Sponsors ( Continued from page 21 ) network of 20 stations in Arkansas to carry the play-by-play of all U. of Arkansas games to be sponsored again by Esso Standard Oil Co. R. M. Gray, manager advertising sales promotion department of Esso said that "last year, surveys showed that more than 6 out of every 10 Arkansans who had their radio turned on Saturday afternoons were listening to the broadcast. This local public service has proved a highly successful supplement to the year-round service of the Esso Reporter. Redskin-Ram Exhibition Bought by Richfield FIRST FOOTBALL telecast of the season on the West Coast will be sponsored on KTTV Los Angeles Friday (Aug. 26) by Richfield Oil Corp. when the Los Angeles Rams play the Washington Redskins. Announcer Bill Welch will handle play-by-play and John ("Richfield Reporter") Wald the commercials. Richfield inaugurated TV earlier this summer with two Los Angeles TV programs and one-minute spots in all West Coast TV cities scheduled by Richfield's advertising agency, Hixson & Jorgensen Inc. A special survey to determine total audience will be conducted. Ethyl Network For LSU Games A POWERFUL regional network will air ten Louisiana State U. football games this fall, with WJBO Baton Rouge serving as the originating station. The announcement was made jointly by the sponsors. Ethyl Corp. of Baton Rouge, and the station and university. WWL New Orleans and KWKH Shreveport — two 50 kw clear channel outlets — have been added to five other stations comprising the network, which will beam broadcasts to every section of the country except the far west and far east coasts. (See On the Dotted Line page 28.) Stations are KLOU Lake Charles, KMLB Monroe, KALB Alexandria, KVOL Lafayette and WJBO. All are 5 kw outlets, save KLOU, which is 1 kw. John Fulton, general manager of WGST Atlanta and veteran sportscaster, has been chosen by the Ethyl agency. Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn, to announce the games play-by-play, most of which are slated for evening. Bob Scearce, production manager and sports director of WJBO and its affiliate, WBRL-FM, will handle color description and commercial announcements. * * * Norfolk High Sponsor MARK'S Shoe Stores, Norfolk, has signed with WLOW in that city to carry the full schedule of the local Booker T. Washington High School. Textiles (Continued from page 25) $18,722.79, exclusive of staff salaries but including booklets and similar supplementary material. Two new stations — WGUY Bangor and WIDE Biddeford — were added. The company has five, plants in Lewiston, Saco and Augusta and normally employs upward of 7,500 people. "Our radio program has poured out in lively style the human interest story of our state," President Ruhm reports. "It has one of the largest listening audiences in Maine. People talk about it. We employes are proud of it. When a friend says — '.I heard your program last night — it was good,' you're proud, no matter what your job may be. Pride and morale are much the same thing. When we all get a kick out of saying 'I work for Bates,' then we're beginning to go places." Public relations problems of the textile industry are out of the ordinary. It is the most decentralized of major industries w.t.i some 1,200 plants scattered through 34 states. In years past, it has struggled under the handicap of low profits with generous sprinklings of red ink. Under such conditions, wages were often low. Naturally, industry public relations were not of the best. However, profits since 1940 have been sufficient to permit the industry to catch up with other more favored businesses and it has established living standards for its workers which compare favorably with any in the nation. Working conditions, housing, recreational and cultural facilities have similarly been markedly improved. The mills now face the problem of eradicating beliefs based on conditions long since past. Success of radio programs so far developed give evidence of their value in this task. Canadian Billings CANADIAN NETWORK billings for autumn and winter months will show few major changes, according to compilation of Trans-Canada and Dominion network bookings released to stations. A number of important advertisers have decided to drop their shows, but a larger number of options are shown being discussed by unnamed adveit'sers. There are no changes shown on daytime bookings on either network. FIRST IN THE DAVENPORT, ROCK ISLAND, MOLINE, EAST MOLINE AM 5,000 W 1420 Kc FM 47 Kw. 103.7 Me. TV CP. 22.9 Kw. visuol and aural, Channel Basic Affiliate of NBC, the No. 1 Network woe is the FIRST individual station . . . the 071/2/ Quad -Cities station ... to offer its clients commercial ccrpy analysis. On request WOC's Research Department tests woe advertisers' copy for sales effectiveness through listening ease and human interest . . . according to a proved formula de\'eloped by renowned analyst Dr. Rudolph Flesch. All WOC-written copy is so evaluated. Another in WOC's long list of "FIRST'S"! Col. B. J. Palmer, President Ernest Sanders, Manager DAVENPORT, IOWA BROADCASTING • Telecasting ^EEE & PETERS, INC., Nationol Representatives^ August 22, 1949 • Page 39