Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

GOVERNMENT continued basic assumptions on which a grant of regulatory power to an agency is based must be re-examined in the light of new developments. . . ." He recommended that the expiration dates be staggered so that the committee could make at least one major oversight study during every session of Congress. "In the field of communications, I believe that the developments in the next 10 years are going to be infinitely faster yet than developments that we have witnessed during the preceding 10-year period. Congress, therefore, and the Committee on Interstate & Foreign Commerce in particular, cannot exDsct that its job will become any easier with respect to communications legislation," Rep. Harris said. 'Trafficking' At Issue In Rounsaville Case The FCC blew the whistle on the great game of wheeling and dealing in station sales last week. What will be the result depends on the defense of the multiple broadcaster whose latest sale and purchase has been singled out as the test case. Four commissioners last Wednesday voted to send to multiple owner Robert W. Rounsaville a McFarland letter indicating that two applications to which he is a party cannot be granted without the possibility of a hearing. The applications, the Commission said, raise the question of "trafficking." The applications involved the sale by Mr. Rounsaville of his WOBS lacksonville, Fla., to three local businessmen for $500,000, and Mr. Rounsaville's purchase of WMRY New Orleans, La., from Lester Kamin and associates for $250,000. Both applications have been pending FCC approval since last August. The FCC in its letter to Mr. Rounsaville wrote that his previous transactions "raise serious questions as to whether these purchases and sales constitute 'trafficking' in licenses rather than a desire to render a broadcast service to the respective communities." The Commission noted that since 1944, Mr. Rounsaville has sold his interests in eight radio stations and acquired interests in others. The action last week was taken by four commissioners; Comr. John C. Doerfer voted to grant the applications; Comr. Frederick W. Ford did not participate, and Comr. T. A. M. Craven was out of town. Mr. Rounsaville acquired the Jacksonville outlet in 1956 when he paid Southern Radio & Equipment Co. $50,000 plus WWOK Charlotte, N. C. Southern-owned WOBS, and Mr. Rounsaville had put WWOK on the air in 1955. The issue raised by the FCC last week was the first out-and-out question of trafficking in licenses raised by the FCC against a multiple owner in the postwar years. It was noted that no question was raised involving concentration of control or the multiple ownership regulations. Other properties owned by Mr. Rounsaville are WQXI Atlanta, Ga.: WLOU Louisville, Ky.; WCIN Cincinnati, Ohio; CONGRATULATIONS were in order for Sylvester L. (Pat) Weaver following his appointment to the Broadcast Advisory Committee of the U. S. Information Agency. The committee assists the Voice of America by formulating recommendations for overseas radio and tv programs. Members meet quarterly. Pictured after Mr. Weaver's appointment were (1 to r) Howard S. Meighan, vice president, CBS-TV, Western Div.; Thad Holt Jr., radio-tv consultant to VOA; Mr. Weaver; Dr. Mark A. May, chairman of the committee and director of the Institute of Human Relations of Yale University; Nancy B. Chappelear, executive secretary of the committee; Jack W. Harris, vice president and general manager, KPRC-AM-TV Houston, Tex.; Donley F. Feddersen, Educational Television and Radio Center, New York; Henry P. Johnston, president and managing director, WAPI, WAFM (FM) and WABT (TV) Birmingham. Ala., and Robert E. Button, director, VOA. Committee members absent from the picture are Roger W. Clipp, vice president, Radio-Tv Div., Triangle Publications Inc.; Joseph A. McDonald, assistant general attorney, NBC; Robert T. Colwell, vice president, J. Walter Thompson Co.; Raymond F. Guy, manager, Radio & Allocations Engineering Div., NBC; Ralph N. Harmon, vice president for engineering, Westinghouse Broadcasting Corp.; Frank L. Marx, vice president, ABC, and J. R. Poppele, radio-tv consultant. WMBM Miami Beach, Fla.; WIOK Tampa, Fla., and WSOK Nashville, Tenn. All but WQXI are Negro-programmed. Mr. Rounsaville also holds permits for tv in Atlanta, Louisville and Cincinnati. Mr. Rounsaville entered broadcasting in 1941 when he acquired a 16% interest in WGAA Cedartown, Ga. In following years he acquired interests in stations in Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina. Writers' Group Ineligible For Tax Exemption, Says IRS A non-profit organization is not exempt from income taxes, if it is organized to make money, the U. S. Internal Revenue Service has ruled. Mystery Writers of America, (which supply material for The Web on CBS-TV) has been told by IRS it is ineligible for tax exemption as a non-profit business league. The published decision acknowledges that the organization's receipts from sale of radio-tv rights and publication of its anthologies are used for expenses. Nevertheless, the ruling holds that the organization is "engaged in a business through the publication of anthologies for profit and contractual arrangements for radio and television programs," and therefore can't qualify for exemption. High Court Rejects Daly Move The U. S. Supreme Court has refused to consider Lar Daly's petition to review his long-standing request for free network time in the 1956 presidential election campaign. The splinter candidate on an "America Page 70 October 28, 1957 First" platform was never able to get court reversal of the FCC's previous rulings that he was not a legally qualified candidate under Sec. 315 of the Communications Act. Audience Can Always Choose, Lee Tells Laymen's Group If a program on radio or tv is unpopular, audiences can always turn to another station, noted Comr. Robert E. Lee in a speech before Chicago Council No. 182 of the Knights of Columbus last week. "If there is something really objectionable, write to the sponsor, to the network, the station or all three," he advised. "Broadcasters should be reminded that they are not to avoid intelligent programming of social problems and controversial matters," he told the fraternal order. ". . . On the contrary, [broadcasters] should seek out such programs to educate and inform the listening and viewing public." Comr. Lee cited the values of educational television and the need for training students in languages and the sciences. He brought out "how real and close television has made the political campaigns to the people these past ten years." Comr. Lee explained to his audience the criteria by which the Commission selects between station applicants. As for himself, Comr. Lee pointed out that his belief is "that an undue emphasis on entertainment at the expense of service wastes the potential of the medium, that a broadcaster owes it to his audience to run his station as an editor runs his newspaper." Broadcasting