Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

IT TAKES 5 MAJOR RAILROADS TO COVER BIG, BUSTLING / JOE FLOYD DOES IT IN 20 SECONDS What's KEL-O-LAND? It's people . . . over a million of them; it's counties . . . 110 of them in four states; it's retail sales . . . $1,220,150,000 annually. And Joe Floyd's 101 -man crew hands you all of KEL-O-LAND in one beautiful package and one wonderful single-market buy. Put All KEL-O-LAND In Your TV Picture. KDLO Aberdeen CHANNEL ';— Watertown ■ KELO SiOUX Falls CHANNEL KPLO / x CHANNEL Pierre — Winner — Chamberlain Sioux Falls, S.D. JOE FLOYD, President Evans Nord, Gen. Mgr. Larry Bentson, V.P. Represented by H-R Minneapolis, Bulmer & Johnson, Inc. CBSABC NBC PERSONNEL RELATIONS Network, Toll Tv Pacts Take Attention of WGAW Writers Guild of America, West, figures it will be in a strong position to bargain for higher scales in 1958, when 11 contracts covering live tv and radio will expire. With this in mind, WGAW has not discussed minimum scales in current negotiations with the three tv networks, preferring to combine these contracts with others expiring next year, according to Jerry Gottler, of the guild negotiating committee. Revisions agreed on this year between the guild and network negotiators and approved by the WGAW membership are: an agreement by the networks that certain material written for news documentaries is covered by the 1955 agreement and by the union that certain other material (hard news) is not; that the 1955 contract will cover questions and answers and ideas for quiz programs and audience participation shows, if they come from a writer who also supplies other "material" for the program, but if they can't be classed as "material" they will not be covered. Payment for a single use of written material will be made as follows: 20% within 14 days of receipt of a signed contract; 50% within 1 1 days of delivery of the complete script (first draft); the remaining 30% within 1 1 days of delivery of the final script. A number of provisions regarding credits were agreed to by networks and union, including one that writer credits on dramatic or situation comedy shows shall be placed "immediately before or after the most prominent credit to the producer or director." Units of time and option periods for exclusivity have been reduced from 16 years to 9 years for one-time shows and unit series; from 16 years to 8 years for episodic series. Before submission to WGAW membership, the changes had been agreed to by the networks and both east and west guild councils. WGAW members also approved an assessment of 3% of payments received from the sale of post1948 motion pictures to television, an additional 2% over the regular 1 % assessment, to take care of the individual negotiations necessary on each group of pictures and to provide for the policing of payments. Screen membership of the WGAW dealt earlier with the question of payments for toll tv motion pictures. Setting Sept. 2 (start of the Bartlesville, Okla., experiment) as the beginning of pay tv, the screen membership gave orders to its negotiating committee to ask fees of 10% of gross receipts from pay tv for theatrical pictures made before that date which are released for use on this new medium of distribution. For theatrical pictures produced after that date for both theatrical and pay tv, the screen writers set a sliding scale based on two factors: the negative cost and the pay tv gross, with the negative cost divided by five to obtain one unit of gross. When a picture earns one such unit of its gross from pay tv, the writer's share would be 1.5% under this formula, rising by 0.5% for each such unit to a maximum of 7.5%. In a third category, pictures made primarily for use on toll tv, the writers voted to make no specific demands at this time but to request the right to re-open their contract with the motion picture producers v/hen there is something specific to talk about. The writers' contract with the major studios runs to May 1959 but may be reopened this fall in three areas: toll tv, credits and minimums. Regarding credits, WGAW will ask for certain changes to secure parity for writers with directors and producers. "In recognition of the movie market depression," WGAW is not asking for a raise in minimums at this time, but plans to make demands affecting the work week and apprentice status. WGAE Members to Condition Pacts With East Coast Agents Writers Guild of America East Inc. announced that members have voted not to enter into individual agreements with agents without including a provision for the automatic termination of the agreements upon the ending of WGAE's agreement with the Artists Managers Guild on the West Coast. Guild writers have a blanket agreement with AMG setting forth basic relations between writer and agent, but not with east coast agents, who are organized under the name of the Society of Authors Representatives. WGAE and Writers Guild of America West plan to open negotiations shortly with agents on both coasts to formulate a new blanket agreement. WGAE also reported that members of the television writers branch of the union have accepted new provisions to be incorporated into freelance live iv agreements with networks and producers under a reopening of the present contract. New provisions include coverage by the union of certain material written for news documentaries; outlines minimum rates for questions, answers and ideas for stunts used on quiz and audience participations shows, and sets up forms to be used in giving credits. WGA to Discuss Network Contracts The national council of the Writers Guild of America will hold a meeting in New York Saturday and Sunday to explore topics such . as contract demands to be served on the networks early next year. National Chairman Erik Barnouw will preside. The meeting will be attended by representatives of both eastern and western guilds. Fourteen contracts — twelve staff and two freelance — will expire March 31. The council also will discuss the present copyright laws in the light of the "rapid growth of television and other mass communications" and several special projects now under consideration. NBC-TV May Use Union Sketches A plan will be considered by the board of the screen writers branch of Writers Guild of America West this week to use sketches from the screen writers' annual shows over the past nine years in a 90minute tv variety show to be broadcast early next year by NBC-TV, which will pay Page 92 • October 14, 1957 Broadcasting