Broadcasting (Oct - Dec 1950)

Mr. Ward and in the fall he reported a response indicating that a substantial audience could be served by a station operating on 1550 kc, even though the older receivers could not tune in signals above 1500 kc. He stated that listeners appreciated high fidelity program service and announced plans for adding commercial shows to the station's sustaining schedule of classical music. The 400 broadcasters attending the convention, held Sept. 16-18 in Cincinnati, returned home with renewed confidence that the American system of broadcasting was firmly entrenched, their fears of excessive government interference disspelled by a message from the President and talks by high government ofiicials expressing faith in and praise for the way radio as a private enterprise operation was serving the public. J . Truman Ward, manager of WLAC Nashville, was elected NAB president for the coming year, with Philip G. Loucks continuing as managing director. Most important resolution adopted was one authorizing a committee to determine what is pertinent information about stations for advertisers and agencies and to work with the ANA and AAAA toward creating a bureau to set up a standard coverage operation for radio comparable to that of the Audit Bureau of Circulations in the newspaper and magazine fields. Only major development in the ASCAP situation during the year came Aug. 30, when the Department of Justice filed suit in the Federal District Court in New York for the dissolution of the Society under the Sherman anti-trust act, this action preceding by two days the Sept. 1 increase of the station payments to ASCAP to 5% for commercial licenses plus a flat sustaining fee. FCC Gives Opinion On Liquor Ads The hesitancy of most broadcasters about accepting advertising for hard liquor was increased by a Commission statement urging them to "bear in mind" that "millions of listeners through the United States do not use intoxicating liquors and many children of both users and non-users are part of the listening audience." Adding to the industry's uncertainty, Ira E. Robinson, former chairman of the Commission, expressed the opinion that stations in wet states could not refuse to accept advertising of alcoholic beverages if they took advertising of other products. The Canadian Radio Commission, having previously limited advertising on the air to three minutes out of each commercial hour, restricted the use of recorded ma terial to the hours before 5:30 p.m. and denied the right to accept commercial programs from the United States to all Canadian stations except the six previously under contract to do so. CRC won a fight with the musicians union after an abortive strike, the musicians agreeing to let CRC set its own scale of payment and to use nonunion as well as union musicians. Dr. Herman Hettinger, on leave from the U. of Pennsylvania to serve as fulltime NAB research director, reported at the end of the year that businesswise 1934 had been the best year in the history of commercial radio, with total gross time sales of $72,887,169. The national networks had grossed $42,647,081, the regional networks $717,117, spot business $13,541,770 and local $15,981,201, according to the Hettinger estimates. Foods Head Time Purchases Analyzing time purchases by class of product advertised. Dr. Hettinger found foods first with 19.0%; then toiletries, 14.4%; drugs, 12.3%; gas, oil and auto accessories, 8.6%; beverages, 6.4%; autos, 5.7%; tobacco, 4.6%; soaps, 3.8%; clothes, 3.2%; household equipment and furnishings, 3.2%; confections, 2.0%; retail, 1.9%; insurance and financial, 1.8% ; radios, 1.0% ; amusements, 0.8%, and miscellaneous, 11.3%. E. P. H. James, advertising and sales promotion manager of NBC, reported that the average expenditure of NBC's 237 clients durj ing 1934 was $157,252, compared with the 1933 average of $135,777, adding that 44 %f of all advertisers on the network spent less than $50,000 during the year. CBS estimated that at the end of 1934 more than two thirds of the country's homes were equipped with radios, a total of 21,455,799 units, and Daniel Starch & Staff', after a nationwide survey, reported 97% of the sets were in working order. A study of multiple station ownership, made early in 1934 under the auspices of the House Interstate Commerce Committee, found that NBC owned, controlled or managed 16 stations and CBS, seven, with 17 individuals and 11 corporations or holding companies controlling two or more stations. Also in 1934: World Broadcasting System, largest producer of transcriptions for use exclusively in broadcasting, with 108 stations using its daily service, asked the FCC to alter its identification ruling to require only a single announcement for a program of recordings instead of one before each disc. WTMJ Milwaukee began experiments in facsimile bi-oadcast(Continued on page 90) Mr. James VOL. 20, NO. 1 of Broadcasting WMBD-1950 EDGAR L BILL. CHARLES C CALEY. 'ice PRESIDE PEORiR BROflDcajTinc compRny uncH4 OFFICE AND STUDfOS 12 SOUTH JEFFERSON AVENU PEORIO 2, ILLinOIJ • .. ..oVocIVt.no 5,^Tt„ September 26, 1950 Mr. Sol Taishoff Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 870 National Press Building Washington 4, D. C. Dear Sol: Congratulations on the beginning of vour 20th year! It's hard to believe that it's 2 0 years since our first advertisement appeared m your Volume 1, Number 1 issue — and gratifying that after all these years WMBD continues to be first in the Heart of Illinois. We h a V e found that Peoriarea people "^^^'^^g in radio and especially WMBD. Our broadcasting is dedicated to that belief. And so long as we keep faith with our listeners, the future is but another step forward. We are humbly grateful to our listeners. Their progress, happiness and prosperity IS our business. . .and Sol, all of us here ^ at WMBD are firmly resolved that such business comes first. That is our pledge for the future. Cordially yours. FREE ft PETERS. INC., Charles C. Caley Vice President and General Manager NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES PEORIA BROADCASTING Telecasting CBS Affiliate • 500Q Watti Free & Peters, Inc., Nat'l. Rcpt.. October 16, 1950