Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1957)

OUR RESPECTS Weston Carpenter Pull en Jr. THERE is nothing deceptive about Wes Pullen's appearance. Robust, stocky, nimble of foot as well as mind, he looks like a guard on a football team. And it hasn't been too long since he was one. The gridiron background is appropriate because, as befits a good running guard, Mr. Pullen has done the heavy downfield blocking for Time Inc. in all of its latterday broadcasting activities including, most recently, its $15,750,000 acquisition of the three Bitner radio-tv properties. It is reasonable to assume, however, that agility and strength of mind contributed more than muscular power and quickness afoot in his rise to the vice presidency responsible for Time Inc.'s radio and tv operations. Mr. Pullen might be said to have entered radio-tv by default. He had no particular training in broadcasting, but when Time Inc. decided in 1951 to look into the feasibility of broadcast station ownership, there was no one around who seemed better suited to make such a study than young Wes Pullen, who already had run up a good record for himself in various Time Inc. non-publishing projects. Since then, he's scarcely been out of broadcasting — though it's only a part of his job — and Time Inc.'s broadcast ownership has grown from zero to five radio and five tv stations. Weston Carpenter Pullen Jr. was born Dec. 20, 1916, in Norwich, Conn., the son of W. C. annd Irene Gregson Pullen. After going through the local schools he was graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1935, and from Princeton U. with an A.B. degree in 1939. He worked his way through college by waiting table, serving as a correspondent for the New York Herald-Tribune, and doing assorted odd jobs. At the same time he played guard on the Princeton varsity, threw the hammer on the track team, and played intramural hockey. Despite these demands on his time — he remembered what he was in college for, and graduated cum laude. He started at Time Inc. as an office boy and trainee. That was in September 1939, and during the next two and a half years he worked variously as a clerk, general handyman, and assistant to James Linen, then advertising manager of Life and now publisher of Time. With the Navy during World War II he pulled almost four years of sea duty, commanded a PT attack squadron in New Guinea and the Philippines, won the Navy's combat Legion of Merit, and rose to lieutenant-commander. Returning to Time Inc. in November 1945, he served for two years as assistant to President Roy Larsen, then transferred to the office of Charles L. Stillman, executive vice president and treasurer, to work on real estate and other non-publishing problems. Earlier this year, after negotiating the $15,750,000 Bitner purchase, he was named a vice president of Time Inc., and subsequently he added the executive vice presidency of TLF Broadcasters Inc., a subsidiary set up by Time Inc. These include KLZ-AM-TV Denver and 80% interest in KDYL-AM-FM and KTVT (TV) Salt Lake City, and — as soon as Time Inc. and Wayne Coy consummate their sale of KOB-AM-TV Albuquerque to KSTP Inc. — the three Bitner properties: WFBM-AM-TV Indianapolis, WTCN-AM-TV Minneapolis and WOOD-AM-TV Grand Rapids. TIME Inc., which had been in and out of broadcasting before acquiring the KOB stations in 1952, owned WQXR New York in the early 1940's, and in 1943-45 held 12.5% of ABC. Its relationship to brodcasting goes back to 1924, when it produced the Pop Question Game, an early radio quiz, and at various times has included such activities as production of the widely known March of Time series, Crusade in Europe and Crusade in The Pacific, and such sponsorships as the first telecast of political conventions ( 1 948 ) and the Kef auver crime hearings in 1951. In its station operation, Time Inc.'s policy is to install responsible broadcasters in key management positions and let the stations operate virtually autonomously. "We feel our responsibilities at the local level very strongly," says Mr. Pullen. Under this concept, then, his job is in overall supervision, coordination, and establishment of policy, not in direct operations. Big part, too, is in looking ahead: In line with Time Inc.'s policy of advance planning, he has already submitted to the board of directors the proposed am-tv budget for 1961 and this week will present the 1962 budget. Nor is his job entirely broadcasting, by any means. He also is handling all major negotiations between Time Inc. and Rockefeller Center Inc. relating to the companies' joint construction of a new 47-story, $70 million building in mid-Manhattan. Mr. Pullen on May 12, 1945 married the former Eunice Thorp of Winnetka, 111., and they live at Westport, Conn., with their three children: W. C. Ill, 10; Gregson, 7, and Crary, 3. He is a vice president and member of the board of trustees of the Princeton Quadrangle Club. For hobbies he enjoys almost anything in the sports line. 77% MORE audience than Station B ALL DAY!* 5000 LIVELY WATTS Feb. -Mar. '57 Hooper In Lansing Shows MONDAY THRU FRIDAY 7:00 a.m.1 2 noon I 2 noon-6:00 p.m. WILS 58.9 54.6 Station B 26.6 32.7 LANSING More listeners than all other stations heard in Lansing combined.* *Jan. thru Mar. average C. E. Hooper, Inc. WILS ne\vs s^xs Represented Nationally by Venard, Rintoul & McConnell, Inc. Broadcasting • Telecasting April 29, 1957 • Page 25