Broadcasting (Jan - Mar 1950)

Vol. 38, No. 7 JUDGE IS BOSS I N WASHINGTON, D. C, FEBRUARY 13, 1950 $7.00 A YEAR— 25^ A COPY NAB General Manager To Be Appointed By SOL TAISHOFF I IN A NONE too tranquil atmosphere, the NAB Board of Directors' meeting at Chandler, Ariz., last week handed to President Justin Miller plenary powers to run the asso ; ciation and to hire and fire i virtually as he sees fit. There was one exception. I The board authorized appointment of a general manager to whom all staff directors would report. The No. 2 executive would serve exclusively at Washington , headquarters and direct the business affairs of the organization. The board itself is to name a committee from its membership to advise in selection of the general manager whose appointment must have board confirmation. Also to be appointed is a field jrepresentative whose duties generally -will relate to new member ,iship and membership service. No Names Mentioned i There were no names mentioned "for the post of general manager. Whether President Miller would go outside the present NAB staff was not indicated. The post, it was conjectured, would pay from $17,500 to $25,000 per annum. A. D. (Jess) Willard Jr., who retired as executive vice president last July and who now is president of WGAC Augusta, Ga., was paid $25,000. ; Creation of the new post came tafter a proposal for appointment (of an executive committee of the iboard was tabled. The Structure and Finance Committees met in special session Thursday night to evolve the final plan, ratified by the full board the following morning. The plan contemplates assign'Went of all operating functions to the general manager, with President Miller to direct policy and to serve as radio's spokesman. But the general manager would report jfto the president, not the board. I'' Action climaxed a three-day session at which there was an evident undercurrent as to the manner in which NAB affairs have been administered in recent months. In giving Judge Miller a "blank check" the board approved the recommendations not only of the Judge himself, but of the Structure Committee headed by Clair R. McCollough, president of the Stein man Stations of Pennsylvania and Delaware. It was indicated that G. Emerson Markham would continue to head the recently created Television Division. Ralph W. Hardy, who has served as head of the newly created Radio Division, was expected to be named to another executive assignment, probably that of Director of Government Affairs. Under the reorganization plan, the Radio Division as such would become non-existent. Implicit in the board's action was placement of full responsibility for NAB policy in the hands of Judge Miller. A number of board members felt Judge Miller had spread himself too thinly bj' attending all district meetings and by otherwise hitting the trail when Washington affairs of paramount importance should have commanded his major attention. The board itself, however, was disposed to assume most of the responsibility for this condition. Judge Miller, who, in September rounds out five years as paid president ($50,000 per year, plus expenses), has a contract which runs until Feb. 28, 1954. It is terminable, however, by mutual agreement on one year's notice. If this should NAB BOARD HIGHLIGHTS # Judge Miller given sweeping policy powers in new reorganization. # General manager authorized, staff directors reporting to him. # Field director to be appointed. # Radio Division abolished. # Small station dues increased; minimum dues doubled. # Present 1214% discount in dues revoked. # Budget raised about $100,000 to nearly $800,000. # All-Radio film revision demanded. # BAB given $200,000 budget and vote of confidence. occur prior to 1954, it will be on the basis of a $12,500 annual retainer under which Judge Miller would serve as counsellor to the association until 1954. Vote for BAB Broadcast Advertising Bureau, created last April as radio's business-getting organization, was given a confidence vote with the approval of budget of $200,000 for the next fiscal year (beginning in April). With the revenue to be derived from the sale of information brochures, estimated at about $50,000, BAB's gross budget should be in the neighborhood of a quarter million dollars. Maurice B. Mitchell, BAB director, and William B. Ryan, general manager of KFI Los Angeles, chairman of the Broadcast Advertising Committee, made the presentation and walked off with practically everything they sought. BAB headquarters will remain in New York but a branch ofRce shortly will be established in Chicago. In the face of declining income and expanded operation, the board grappled at length with its budgetary problems. The Finance Com (Co'iifinued on page 76) mi mi moil By ED JAMES (See Editorial page iO) STATIONS throughout the counti-y were in revolt last week against further donations of free time to organizations conducting paid advertising campaigns in other media. The sharp station reaction was provoked by word that radio had been excluded from advertising appropriations for Army and Air Force recruiting in the first half of 1950 [Broadcasting, Feb. 6]. Although Grant Advertising, Chicago agency now handling the Army account, advised BROADCASTING that radio would get a large share of the budget beginning in July, the fact that no radio time was included in the Army's national advertising plans until then was enough to encourage some stations to suspend Army programs and announcements they had been carrying gratis. It was believed likely that the Army incident would serve as an agent for the crystallization of widespread action by stations on the entire subject of the abuse of radio's historic willingness to donate its time to public service, causes. That this subject was one of national interest among broadcasters became evident a fortnight ago when the NAB Unaffiliated Stations Committee adopted a resolution calling upon the NAB board to review the entire problem of free time [BROADCASTING, Feb. 6]. Protests to Grant The revolt of stations against the discriminatory practice followed by organizations that solicit time from radio while bujang space in other media was manifest in several ways. Many stations protested to Grant Advertising and, on a perhaps more BROADCASTING • Telecasting Discrimination Hit immediately responsive front, to their Congressmen. The exact volume of such correspondence was not disclosed, but it w^as known to be considerable. Some stations reported they had cancelled all further Army shows and announcements pending the restoration of radio to the national advertising appropriation. Broadcast Advertising Bureau and national station representatives were keeping stations advised on the Army issue, and BAB has planned talks with the Army. The protests to Grant Advertising were of no more than academic significance insofar as the ArmyAir Force budget for the first half of 1950 was concerned. The exclusion of radio from those funds, it was learned, was made when the Army account was being handled by Grant's predecessor, Gardner (Continued on page 75) February 13, 1950 • Page 19