Broadcasting Telecasting (Jul-Sep 1954)

•GOVERNMENT Bill Proposes Study Of Transatlantic Tv THE POSSIBILITIES of a transatlantic television system, among other things, would be looked into by a nine-man commission proposed under a Senate-approved resolution passed by the House and sent to the President last week. The joint resolution (SJ 96) calls for a Commission on International Telecommunications which would study global communications potentialities and report to Congress by Dec. 31. Under a $250,000 appropriation, the group would include two Senators named by Vice President Nixon, two House members named by Speaker Joseph W. Martin (R-Mass.) and five other persons named by President Eisenhower, including at least one each from the telecommunications industry and the educational field. Purpose of the group's study would be to encourage development and use of radio-tv in fostering cooperation and mutual understanding among free nations of the world, according to a House report accompanying the measure. The House report said it is now believed engineeringly feasible to link the U. S. with the rest of the world by television as it has been by shortwave and cable, referring to NARCOM (North Atlantic Relay Communications System) presently being considered by technicians. The report added that more than 50 nations now are developing tv networks, and that tv's impact overseas could become greater than that of the radio-only Voice of America. The resolution had been passed last year by the Senate after a Foreign Relations subcommittee headed by Sen. Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R-Iowa) at a hearing in New York heard the projected NARCOM relay system from North America to Europe described by William Halstead, president of Unitel Inc., New York, a telecommunications and planning firm [B«T, May 18, 11, 1953]. It was passed by the Senate last year [B«T, July 27, 1953] and reported to the House by that body's Foreign Affairs Committee, but not before Sen. Edwin C. Johnson (D-Colo.) had stripped away implied powers which would have authorized the Telecommunications Commission to investigate tv not only overseas but also domestically [Closed Circuit, Aug. 3, 1953]. The Johnson move was in the form of an amendment which was accepted by the Senate just before the resolution was approved. House Acts to Investigate Radio-Tv Campaign Funds THE House last week adopted a resolution providing for a special committee to investigate, among other things, the amounts contributed by individuals and organizations to purchase radio and television time on behalf of candidates for the House during this year's election campaigns. The resolution (H Res 439), introduced by Rep. C. W. (Runt) Bishop (R-Ill.), calls for a five-man House group to look into House candidates' campaign expenditures. Rep. Bishop, who introduced the proposal last Feb. 9, presumably will head the special group. A second resolution (H Res 631) introduced July 14 by Rep. Bishop would provide $25,000 for the group's work. Amounts pledged to similar special committees before elections in the four past congresses have ranged from $25,000 to $40,000. Page 50 • July 26, 1954 STATE HEADS attending the Governors Conference at Sagamore Hotel, Bolton Landing, N. Y., a fortnight ago helped to film one sequence for Tee Off with the Capital District Pros, weekly golf show on WTRI (TV) Albany, N. Y. Before the camera (I to r): Gov. Frank Lausche, Ohio; Gov. Dan Thornton, Colorado, who won WTRI's weekly awards as "Golfer of the Week"; Gov. Lawrence Weathersby, Kentucky; WTRI Sports Director Steve Davis, and Gov. Arthur Langley, Washington. INDUSTRY TO PRESENT ITS CASE IN RADIO-TV COVERAGE CONTROVERSY Senate rules group studying congressional hearing procedures will hear from radio-tv representatives next week. BROADCASTERS will have their chance at bat next week before the Senate Rules subcommittee now holding hearings on committee procedures. The subcommittee has scheduled Aug. 4 for radio-tv industry testimony on whether radio and television should be admitted to open congressional hearings. The Rules group, headed by Sen. William E. Jenner (R-Ind.). has been seeking ways and means to overhaul congressional committee procedures, particularly those of investigating groups. Some congressional testimony already has been heard, pro and con, on the radio-tv question [B«T, July 19, 12, 5]. Meanwhile, the House Government Operations Committee, counterpart of GOP Sen. Joseph McCarthy's Senate Government Operations Committee, last Thursday modified its rules on radio-tv coverage. The changes allow witnesses to veto in advance their appearances before microphones or tv and motion picture cameras, but not after the hearing starts. The modified rules also allow a majority of a subcommittee to decide whether hearings should be broadcast or telecast instead of the unanimous vote formerly required. The rule requiring a majority vote on radio-tv coverage of full committee hearings remains unchanged. Among hearings expected to be affected by the new rules are those planned by Rep. George H. Bender (R-Ohio), whose special subcommittee is investigating alleged labor racketeering. Previously, one vote killed televising of the hearings. Rep. Bender, running for the Senate seat left vacant by Sen. Thomas A. Burke (D-Ohio), plans to hold hearings in several Ohio cities, but has set no dates. Radio and television representatives scheduled to testify before the Jenner group Aug. 4 include Raphy Hardy, NARTB vice president for government relations; Robert P. Hinckley, ABC vice president; Davidson Taylor (tentative), NBC director of public affairs; Richard Salant, CBS Inc. vice president, and a representative from the Radio-Tv Correspondents Assn. Rep. George Meader (R-Mich.), added his voice last Tuesday to those in favor of broadcast and televised hearings. He appeared before the subcommittee and also spoke on the subject on the House floor. Proposing changes in S Res 253, Rep. Meader said he not only felt television is a "great boon" in the governmental system, but believed [h|f witnesses should have no say-so about whether they are to be televised. The committee itself should exercise this decision at its own discretion, he said. S Res 253, offered by Sen. Prescott Bush (R-Conn.), would give witnesses the privilege of refusing radio-tv coverage at Senate committee hearings. All Should Be Admitted Referring to television coverage, the Michigan Congressman said, "If hearings are public, then recognized media should have reasonable opportunity to observe and report what is a matter of public interest." "Television is here to stay and will not long be held back, even by a Senate rule," he declared. He said he "cannot accept the view that tv is a form of punishment," and that if a witness is embarrassed by telecasting equipment, he should be equally or more embarrassed by the presence of committee members. "Television and broadcasting are far less susceptible to distortion than second hand accounts," he said in an apparent reference tc newspaper reporters. Rep. Meader said he had recommended to Rep. R. Walter Riehlman (R-N. Y.), chairman of a House Military Operations Subcommittee, that the rules of the parent Government Broadcasting Telecasting