Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr - June 1951)

editorial 4 Two -j Two zz Four THE UNITED STATES Census Bureau told us last week that it has counted radio sets in almost 96% of all U. S. homes. Now, of course, the Census Bureau may be wrong, because a lot of awfully bright advertising executives have proved that radio doesn't amount to much any more. You can't be sure about the Census Bureau; it's a sort of moss-back outfit that clings to the archaic belief that going out and counting things will tell you how many of what are where. Some researching experts, on the other hand, have the unique advantages of intuition and an occult ability to feel the public pulse by holding hands with themselves. Probably the Census Bureau should not be taken very seriously. Its figures are probably wrong, and maybe it's true that there isn't any radio any more. Ninety-six percent! Nothing's that good. Era of Good Will THE ORDER changeth. New generations are taking over in the fields of regulation and of the regulated. This has occurred at the FCC, at the NARTB and at the RTMA in the course of a few weeks. At the FCC, the new Broadcast Bureau is functioning. Capable men, with no preconceived notions have taken over. The policy direction remains in the FCC itself. At the NARTB, Justin Miller, after nearly six years as a warrior for the cause of a free radio, steps into the chairmanship of the expanded organization. His duties will be myriad, but he will have more time in which to perform them. The presidential gavel has been handed to Harold E. Fellows, the unanimous choice of a fully-representative selection committee. Hal Fellows enters the Washington scene with no chip on his shoulder and with the avowed intent of cooperation down the line. Thad H. Brown Jr., son of a distinguished former member of the FCC, has assumed management of NARTB's television operations. As a lawyer specialized in the practice, he has seen television emerge from the experimental laboratories to a giant among media. RTMA, representing the manufacturers, is under the new and aggressive leadership of another young man — Glen McDaniel. There are all the ingredients of a new era of good will and of achievement by team-work in these almost simultaneous changes. There is recognition in Congress by such men as Majority Leader McFarland and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Johnson of the tremendous forces for good that repose in radio and television. All this was demonstrated at the ceremonies last Tuesday night in Washington, when Messrs. Miller and Fellows were installed. Legislators and regulators and justices broke bread with broadcasters and telecasters. It was a heart-warming event. Memorialized too was Johnny Gillin, whose life expired at 45 last year. Johnny's stalwart widow was there to hear him extolled as "one of the first citizens of radio." If Johnny ever had any enemies, no one ever knew them. He exuded cooperation. This could be a new era that Johnny would admire. FM's Aches, TV's Balm? FM, STEP-CHILD among the broadcast media, finds itself embroiled in new troubles. They could well spell the collapse of a great many of the remaining FM stations. First came the FCC foray against "beep" services, such as storecasting and functional music, on the ground that they do not comply with regulations requiring sponsor identification. Then, in a momentous opinion last week, the U. S. Court of Appeals dealt what could be the death knell of transit radio — just when that specialized operation was beginning to pull out of red ink. The court held that transit radio deprives passengers of "liberty without due process of law" by forced listening to commercials and announcements. The transit radio case goes to the Supreme Court. Two decisions below sustained the validity of Transit. The other specialized FM services in jeopardy are seeking, by force of logic and reason, to dissuade the FCC from snuffing out what appear to be the only opportunities left to realize some semblance of return, and at the same tune provide additional service. Despite the moderate success of some Stations, FM has had a tortured existence from the start. There's little to be gained in rehashing the whole sordid story. It's enough to recall that the FCC practically forced AM licensees into FM and that it evolved the ill-begotten "planned economy" of regulated competition. Now, when more prudent operators turned to specialized services to pull themselves out, both the courts and the FCC propose to pull the rugs from under them. We happen to think the whole transit issue has been artificially stimulated. The catch phrase "captive audience" has been played to a fare-thee-well. Yet, every poll we've ever seen shows a preponderance of the public likes the service. But there's no eluding the facts. Those FM stations that can't make a go of it aren't going to be sustained forever. An FM band that can accommodate several thousand stations actually has fewer than 700. The Supreme Court might reverse the court below. The transit radio entrepreneurs, with many hundreds of thousands invested, are not going to give up without the try. Even with the facts at hand, however, it seems to us the FCC might well determine now what to do with the vast expanse of spectrum, adjacent to the present VHF TV band, . earmarked for, but not being fully used by FM. There are 20 megacycles (88 to 108 mc.) providing for 100 channels for FM. The lower end of the VHF TV band, or Channels 2 through 6 are assigned to 54 through 88 megacycles, which immediately abut the FM band. Substantial engineering opinion supports the view that the fewer than 700 FM stations might well be accommodated in two megacycles or 10 channels. The remaining 18 megacycles would provide three additional VHF TV channels, or increase the number from 12 to 15. This is no panacea for all TV allocations problems, but it would provide sorely needed additional service. We hope means are found to retain the specialized FM services. Their value in a national emergency is known. Although the courts are not bound by such considerations, they nevertheless exist. These problems should not be insoluble. Would the courts hold transit unconstitutional, for example, if only a portion of the conveyances had the service, giving the passenger a choice of riding with or without radio? Is there any reason the FCC cannot revise its regulations to accommodate beep services? As for use of surplus FM channels for TV, the answer seems too obvious to argue. ♦ our respects to: THADDEUS HAROLD BROWN Jr. THIRTEEN years ago, in the balmy days of a 500-station broadcast spectrum, the editors of the 1938 Nassau Herald asked members of the senior class at Princeton what they thought they would be doing in later decades. Thaddeus Harold Brown Jr., having just completed a thesis on "The American Problem in International Radio Propaganda," took a stab at prophecy and the college yearbook bore this prediction: "Plans to study law and probably engage in radio administration or public relations." That three-ply peer into a decade then to come proved accurate to an uncanny degree. Thad Brown: (1) studied law; (2) engaged in radio administration; (3) engaged in public relations. He studied law at Harvard Law School. He is currently a radio administrator at the NARTB. And anyone who occupies a key post in a trade association is automatically practicing some of the defter phases of public relations. Apparently the last two generations of Browns were drawn inevitably into radio. Perhaps it was vice versa. In any case, the elder Brown — Thad Brown, late commissioner of the FCC and predecessor FRC — took a key role in guiding radio's destinies in the exciting '30s. Thad Brown Jr. has been in radio since the war; last April was named acting manager of NARTB's autonomous TV organization, and just last week was elected by the NARTB TV Board to the association's top video post — manager of TV operations. Obviously Thaddeus Harold Brown III, aged 9, might as well spend his allowance on electrons, read dad's law journals and prepare to carry on the Browns' distinguished radio traditions. Those familiar with the earlier era of American broadcasting can recall clearly the public life of the late Thad Brown, Ohio Republican, who died in 1941. A former Congressman, he retained the license tag Ohio 6 on his car after entering the administrative side of government. To this day Thad Jr. retains the coveted number. Thad Brown Jr. was born in Columbus Sept. 7, 1916. His secondary education was received at Columbus Academy and Mercersburg Academy, nestled in the Southern Pennsylvania hills. Like many of his Mercersburg classmates he went to Princeton, receiving his BA degree in 1938. That senior thesis, prepared for the Princeton Dept. of Polities, was a study of Fascist, (Continued on page 61) Page 52 • June 11, 1951 BROADCASTING • Telecasting