Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

TRADE ASSNS. NARTB WINDS UP REGIONAL MEETS • Dallas, Memphis sessions conclude association's fall series • Discussed: timebuying, regulation, legislation, music licensing NARTB wound up its autumn schedule of district meetings at Memphis Friday as delegates from seven southern states and Puerto Rico reviewed radio and tv problems. Broadcasters from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas met Tuesday-Wednesday at Dallas. Timebuying, regulatory, legislative and music-licensing developments headed programs at the two meetings. NARTB President Harold E. Fellows, who had been unable to participate in the Oct. 17-18 meeting in Denver because of a respiratory illness, took an active role at the Dallas and Memphis sessions. Alex Keese, WFAA Dallas, NARTB district director, was host director at Dallas. F. C. Sowell, WLAC Nashville, Tenn., also a district director, was host director at Memphis. Henry B. Clay, KTHV (TV) Little Rock, Ark., a tv board member, was ill and unable to attend the Memphis proceedings. Addressing the Kiwanis Club of Dallas and NARTB delegates at a joint luncheon Tuesday, Mr. Fellows said pay tv is one of the challenges to free broadcasting that can be met "with courage and confidence." He suggested that dropping a coin in a tv set to see a tv program "would be like going to the refrigerator and dropping in a coin so I could open the door and eat a sandwich I'd already bought." Mr. Fellows urged broadcasters to promote the broadcasting industry, an obligation they have failed to meet properly in the process of promoting their own programs and the wares and services of advertiser clients. Rep. Oren Harris (D-Ark.), chairman of the House Interstate & Foreign Commerce Committee, told the Friday luncheon at Memphis that the subcommittee now investigating the FCC will not change any decisions handed down by the Commission. He also discussed the possibility that Congress might limit to 10 years the powers it gives federal regulatory agencies (see page 66). Radio delegates at Dallas heard a firsthand version of what agencies want from stations. Four agency executives stated these wants at a Wednesday morning panel session. Gene W. Dennis, Potts-Woodbury, Kansas City, cited a set of six yardsticks he uses in buying time. They follow: 1 — Who is going to buy the product? This determines media selection. 2 — Which stations do the most effective job for the type of product to be advertised. 3 — Which stations offer the most collateral support such as merchandising and publicity. A — What is the station's circulation (Nielsen No. 2 study). 5 — Ratings have their weak points for radio; a low-rated program can outsell a high-rated show. But Mr. Dennis uses ratings in buying tv. 6 — What is the station's multiple-spotting policy? He criticized the "screaming commercial" as bad radio. Larry DuPont, Tracy-Locke, Dallas, said he asks, "What is your gimmick?" He asks this in addition to questions about circulation, management, programming and merchandising as well as supplementary pluses. Some gimmicks are good but many are bad, he said, creating a mental block in the listener's mind and voiding the commercial message. He said contests and gimmicks can get out of hand. lack Pitluk, Pitluk Adv. Agency, San Antonio, added these factors to those mentioned by Messrs. Dennis and DuPont — research available, availabilities, adjacencies and station aids. He said management should think of the client's viewpoint and try to sell ideas and time that fit the sales problem. Monte Mann, Lowe Runkle Agency, Oklahoma City, said he favors three main areas in reaching decisions — advertiser's product, distribution pattern of sponsor and amount of budget. In a discussion session after the panelists had spoken, Gus Brandborg, KVOO Tulsa, asked about agency appraisal of merchandising practices and their importance in reaching buying decisions. Mr. Dennis said Potts-Woodbury considers this an important factor. Clyde Rembert, KRLD-TV Dallas, asked about rating services. The four-man agency group indicated a general preference for American Research Bureau in the case of tv and Pulse in the case of radio. Dave Morris, KNUZ Houston, suggested agencies might reduce the number of question naires covering product analyses and other factors. Sen. Ralph W. Yarborough (D-Tex.), told the Dallas delegates he probably wouldn't have been elected had it not been for the rise of radio and tv, recalling the pre-radio monopoly in political reporting. He said broadcast reporting, being fair and objective, had given "a new vitality to political science in the Southwest. You have advanced the cause of integrity in government. You have played a vital role in this state in resuscitating the voice of the people as a dynamic force in government. You have moved this government of Texas forward at least a decade." A decade of "indifference to the evils in Austin that followed World War II," he said, is being replaced by "a growing public awareness that cleaning up and preventing widespread insurance swindles and land board frauds are of concern to every citizen." Sen. Yarborough, a member of the Interstate & Foreign Commerce Committee, said he aims to be fair and objective. He said he favors preserving the remaining educational tv channels in Texas for educational purposes. James A. Byron, news director of WBAPAM-TV Fort Worth, said the Colorado Supreme Court decision giving judges the right to permit tv coverage of court trials is only a partial broadcast victory. First, he had misgivings because live and film tv coverage "were lumped into one package." Then he wondered if the Colorado decision might provide "a convenient way of keeping us from doing our jobs while pretending to do the opposite." Recalling the talk by Charles Shaw, news editor of WCAU-AM-TV Philadelphia, at the opening NARTB regional meeting in Schenectady [Opinion, Sept. 23], Mr. Byron said the job of gaining access to public proceedings "must be approached from the level of the station news editor, through station management and station ownership, and through the efforts of the networks." He FOUR board members of NARTB are included in this delegate group at the NARTB regional meeting in Dallas. Seated (1 to r): Fred L. Vance, KWTV (TV) Oklahoma City; Robert L. Pratt, KGGF Coffeyville, Kan., and Alex Keese, WFAA-AM-TV Dallas, district directors; Dave Morris, KNUZ Houston, retiring president of Texas Assn. of Broadcasters. Standing, Willard E. Walbridge, KTRK-TV Houston, tv director; James C. Leake, KTUL-TV Tulsa; Al Johnson, KENS-AM-TV San Antonio; W. D. Rogers Jr., KDUB-AM-TV Lubbock, Tex., tv director; James M. Maroney Jr., WFAA-AM-TV. Page 54 October 28, 1957 Broadcasting