Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

TRADE ASSNS. NARTB WARNS ON SP, 'HORROR' • Tv group blinks red light on subliminal perception • ATFP, other tv code subscribers to get NARTB seal Warnings against the use of subliminal perception on tv and the scheduling of horror programs were issued by the NARTB Code Review Board Wednesday at the conclusion of a three-day meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, Calif. The board, in a resolution, recommended to code subscribers that any proposals to use "subliminal perception" on tv "be referred to the board immediately for review and consideration, and that experimentation or use of the process should not be permitted on the television broadcasting medium pending such review and consideration." The board, acting in regard to the "horror and shock" film packages which have been marketed for tv use this fall, reminded code subscribers that the code calls for the elimination of "the use of horror for its own sake" in tv programming. CBS was commended for its action to eliminate visual free credits involved in program "trade outs." The move, previously recommended by the code board, is designed to ban extended visual product or service promotion to all except those paying for network time. The board decided to extend to producers of tv films who have become affiliate subscribers of the tv code the privilege of using a code seal on their films. This followed several sessions with the Alliance of Television Film Producers, whose members became the first code affiliate subscribers earlier this year. Some 20 film companies are now affiliate subscribers, including CBS Television Film Sales and NBC Television Films, William B. Quarton, general manager of WMT-TV Cedar Rapids, Iowa, chairman of the code board, reported. The new code seal for film companies will be introduced with an educational campaign conducted by the public relations service of NARTB, coordinated with the public relations activities of the tv film producers. NARTB President Harold Fellows welcomed the film makers into closer association with the tv broadcasters in the area of code activity at a Tuesday evening session attended by many tv film producers. Hal Roach Jr., president of Hal Roach Studios, commented that the tv broadcasters and tv film producers seemed to be always in a negative position, defending themselves against charges made by pressure groups to the FCC and Congress. He proposed that the broadcasters and film producers engage in a joint campaign to see that the commendations of individuals and organizations for tv programs be brought to the attention of government officials as well as the criticisms. Edward H. Bronson, director of tv code affairs, replied that NARTB already is circulating such material to government officials and agencies and other interested organizations, but that cooperation of film producers in this work would be welcome. Rudy Abel, producer of the Lassie tv series, asked if use of the code seal might help get better acceptance for American tv films abroad. Mr. Fellows replied that the U. S. system of broadcasting, one of the few in the world free from government control, is not too popular in some places, but he thought the use of the code seal might help "if we can tell them what it means." One questioner asked what the code board has done about KCOP (TV) Los Angeles, charged with code violations. Mr. Fellows replied that the board had not acted against KCOP because it is being sold to a group which has pledged to abide by code provisions. Asked whether the board has acted on a proposal for a tv legion of decency, Mr. Bronson said the papal encyclical did not call for such an organization to police television. Mr. Bronson reported on monitoring activity and indicated that by the end of the year two-thirds of the more than 300 stations subscribing to the code will have been monitored. The board made provisions for extending the monitoring in 1958 to cover stations in small communities as well as in large markets. The full code board attended the threeday meeting. Besides Chairman Quarton, members are Mrs. Hugh McClung, KHSLTV Chico, Calif.; Richard A. Borel, WBNSTV Columbus, Ohio; Roger W. Clipp, Triangle Stations, Philadelphia, and Donald H. McGannon, president, Westinghouse Broadcasting Corp., New York. Members of the executive committee of the ATFP who met with the code board are Maurice Morton, Alliance president, McCadden Productions; Maurice Unger, Ziv Tv; John Findlater, Revue Productions; Archer Zamlock, Hal Roach Studios; Hal Roach Jr., Hal Roach Studios; Armand Shaefer, Flying A. Productions; John Zinn, Alliance executive secretary, and Richard St. Johns, Alliance legal counsel. At a closing meeting Wednesday, continuity acceptance editors of the television networks, Alliance producers and directors, code board members and NARTB staff representatives held a "shirt-sleeve" session, discussing problems connected with maintaining high standards of programming. Network executives participating in the meeting were; for ABC, Continuity Acceptance Director Grace Johnsen and West Coast Director Dorothy Brown; for CBS, Director of Editing Herbert A. Carlberg and West Coast Manager William Tanjersley; for NBC, Director of Continuity Acceptance Stockton Helftrich and Hollywood Manager Robert Wood. NARTB staff members taking part in code board sessions, in addition to Mr. Fellows and Mr. Bronson, were Thad Brown, television vice president; Douglas Anello, chief attorney; Donald N. Martin, assistant to the president for public relations; Charles S. Cady, assistant director of television code affairs, and Robert K. Richards, consultant. Tv Damned, Praised By ATAS Panelists "Creative" tv programming came in for both boosts and knocks Tuesday, as four agency executives looked at network programming and found it (a) wanting and (b) "as good as can be." Featured as speakers at the New York chapter of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences were Maxwell G. Ule, senior vice president, marketing, Kenyon & Eckhardt; Hal Davis, vice president, radio-tv, Grey Adv.; Walter Craig, vice president, radio-tv, Norman, Craig & Kummel, and — in absentia — Nicholas E. Keesely, vice president, radio-tv, Lennen & Newell. Mr. Keesely's comments were read by Terry Sullivan, a tv announcer-personality. Mr. Craig said the basic trouble with television today is that its overnight success made "people want to turn a quick dollar too fast," and that this desire to "share the wealth" led to imitative programming. Claiming that "good product" and not handwringing is the answer to pay-tv, Mr. Craig called for a revival of "romantic writing" where boy-gets-girl instead of "all this realism" which, he charged, borders on "disgust." Mr. Davis, using props, said the current season can be summed up by "the stool . . . the stool pigeon and the gun holster." (The stool, he said, referred to the "relaxed" type of musical programming). The "ideal show," said Mr. Davis mockingly, is "to get a cowboy sitting on a stool in an isolation booth." At the same time he said that rival media cannot afford to hit television too hard, stating that a current best-seller is Grace Metalious' Peyton Place and that Broadway's loudest guffaws came from Peter De Vries' "Tunnel of Love." Both, he charged, bordered on very bad taste. He predicted agencies will recapture their production power in tv. Mr. Ule said creativity is "an overworked term." He defined it as a reconstruction of past experience and formats to develop a good rating. It's not the ratings that count, he noted, but the "emotional plus" a program gives the audience. Mr. Keesely defended tv, saying that if people really did not like television, they would soon turn off their sets. They haven't, he said, and therefore, "things can't be so bad after all." Television, maintained Mr. Keesely, excels at promoting its programs, but it does little in promoting itself. Putting the blame on the tv critics for tv's chronic compulsion to defend itself, Mr. Keesely said the industry ought to spread the word on "what it is doing, not what it isn't." Tv criticism, he concluded, is "absurd, dangerous and meaningless" if based on the pre Page 68 • November 18, 1957 Broadcasting