Broadcasting (Oct - Dec 1950)

Mr. Storer 1943 (Continued from page 135) ties on the networks. Several states were operating on standard time despite governmental decree specifying Fedral time, and high military officials criticized dissenting states. President Roosevelt settled an internal dispute over handling of psychological warfare activity by transferring propaganda functions to OWI, under Director Elmer Davis. OWI's Radio Bureau estimated in March that broadcasters had donated $87 million in time and talent to OWI war messages. The one-year total was estimated later in the year (November) by OWI at $103 million. Phillip H. Cohen was named in early April to be assistant chief of the OWI Radio Bureau, succeeding Douglas W. Meservey. Richard F. Conner was named head of the Station Relations Division. Capt. Joseph Redmond was again named by the Navy as director of Naval communications, succeeding Capt. Carl F. Holden, given a battleship command. A prominent industry executive, George B. Storer, president of the Fort Industry stations, entered the Navy in mid-April as a lieutenant commander. Hoyt Named to OWI In Domestic Branch OWI withdrew its quarter-hour series from sponsorship in midMay, effective July 30, after many stations had complained the program lacked name talent attractive to sponsors. Palmer Hoyt, editor and publisher of the Portland Oregonian (KGW-KEX), was named assistant director of OWI in charge of the Domestic Branch, succeeding Gardner Cowles Jr., who resigned to return to his business interests. At the end of May President Roosevelt named James F. Byrnes head of the new Office of War Mobilization. Judge Byrnes resigned as economic stabilization director to take the position. His assistant, Walter J. Brown, vice president of WSPA and WORD Spartanburg, S. C, remained with him. W. B. Lewis resigned in June as assistant director of the OWI Domestic Branch. Later he became executive vice president and general manager of American Network (FM). Maj. Gen. Harry C. Ingles was nominated Chief Signal Officer of the Army succeeding Maj. Gen. Dawson Olmstead, who retired June 30. Another industry figure, Samuel R. Rosenbaum, president of WFIL Philadelphia, entered the Army special reserve as a lieutenant colonel. Page 136 • October 16, 1950 At the Office of Censorship, Eugene Carr left the Broadcast Division to become assistant to the president of the G. A. Richards stations. Radio had its biggest wartime news assignment Sept. 8 when Italy surrendered. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower read the proclamation and his voice was carried by radio throughout the world. The flow of broadcasting leaders into wartime work continued. In early October William S. Paley, CBS president, accepted an OWI assignment at Gen. Eisenhower's headquarters, and was commissioned colonel. At OWI's Washington office Phil Cohen succeeded Don Stauffer as chief of the Domestic Radio Bureau. Mr. Stauffer returned to Ruthrauff & Ryan, New York. First major relaxation in wartime censorship rules occurred Oct. 18 when the Office of Censorship eased its rules covering broadcasting of weather reports. J. Harold Ryan, OC assistant director, praised cooperation of broadcasters in observing the weather ban. With its lifting, stations were quick to resume reports, a source of substantial revenues. Two months after the Italian surrender, the news leaked out that a broadcasting engineer, R. Morris Pierce, WGAR Cleveland, had been largely responsible for surrender of the Italian Navy. This credit came from Adm. Sir Andrew Cunningham, British commander in the Mediterranean. Comdr. Harry C. Butcher "accepted" the fleet in Gen. Eisenhower's name after Mr. Pierce had rigged a haywire transmitter tuned to 500 kc, the distress frequency, to inform the Italian fleet the government had surrendered. In another OWI change Edward Klauber, former chairman of the CBS executive committee, became associate director under Elmer Davis. He succeeded Milton S. Eisenhower, who resigned to become president of Kansas State College. OWI States Policy On News Release Decision Wider news coverage by radio and publications was made possible Dec. 10 when Office of Censorship announced it had final decision over release of news. This policy answered complaints that local military and civil personnel had exercised arbitrary censorship powers. A U. S. war agency. Office of Civilian Requirements, found in a nationwide study that approximately 32.5 million American families had one or more radios, or 89% of all families in the country. For the broadcast advertising industry 1942 had been a good year. Just how good the year had been was made known in early February when Broadcasting estimated gross Mr. Butcher time sales at $254.8 million and net time sales at $191 million, 6.1% over 1941. Again the industry attained new sales records whereas competing media had trouble holding their own during the difficult war year. Also brightening the early part of 1943 was the revelation by Cooperative Analysis of Broadcasting that listening had increased during the war months. Another survey showed 59,340,000 radio sets in operation in the United States. An important agency development at the turn of the year was dissolution of Lord & Thomas and creation of a new agency, Foote, Cone & Belding. Petrillo Appears Before Senate Probe Committee There were dark portents in the broadcasting realm ere 1943 had proceeded many days. AFM President James C. Petrillo, appearing before a Senate investigating committee headed by Sen. Worth Clark (D-Idaho), finally agreed he would draw up a program of "demands" that must be fulfilled before settlement of the six-month AFM ban on phonograph and transcription recording. A few days later Mr. Petrillo pulled AFM musicians off CBS and Blue network remote dance pickups because of a local dispute in Pittsburgh. In an era of continually mounting costs, the industry benefited by substantial AT&T rate reductions covering network lines. By March 1 the music impasse was becoming more acute as recording and transcription companies formally rejected a demand by Mr. Petrillo for "fixed fees" on each recording. They termed it a "starling new kind of social philosophy." Recorders and transcribers on March 19 asked Mr. Petrillo to confer on the recording ban March 24, but the AFM head put the meeting off to April 15. This session proved futile. AFM-industry negotiations were broken off May 13 when AFM demanded transcribers withhold their recordings from .stations cited as unfair by AFM. The impasse continued until late September when Decca Records and World Broadcasting System, its transcription subsidiary, broke off from the rest of the industry and agreed to permit royalty fees on recordings. A month later four large independent transcription producers signed with AFM and resumed recording after 14-month shutdowns. That broke the back of industry resistance to the musicians' union. Blue network intensified its musical programming in mid-March 1943 by naming Paul Whiteman director of music. Network scheduling suffered setbacks during the 1943 winter and spring months as several midwestern states refused to abide by Federal daylight saving time. Eventually these deviations brought pleas from high government and military officials in which the en(Continued on -page 138) WHILE CONFORMING TO G.0.116 Install Speech Input AmpliFiers of Improved Design Gates Type 102-CR Speech Input amplifier is the very last word in speech input equipment. It includes level indicator, three channel mixer with every detail of construction for wide uniform frequency response and unrepulsive operation. It has a gain of plus 80 db and an output capacity of 8 watts. 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