Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1958)

TRADE ASSNS. continued OFFICERS elected at the Mississippi Broadcasters Assn. spring meeting in Biloxi are (seated, 1 to r) Bob Evans, WELO Tupelo, executive committee; Joe Carson, WOKK Meridian, vice president; John Bell, WCMA Corinth, president; Hal McCarley, WBLE Batesville, secretary-treasurer, and William Guest, WPMP Pascagoula, immediate past president, now on the executive committee. Other executive committeemen (standing, 1 to r): Tom Reardon, WROX Clarksdale; Howard Cole, WHOC Philadelphia; Ray Butterfield, WLOX Biloxi; Fred Beard, WJDX Jackson, and Granville Walters, WNSL Laurel. Executive committee member Monroe Looney, WNAG Grenada, is absent from the picture. RAB-RNRC '58 Figures Show Radios in Use Up 81% from '48 The total of U. S. radios in working condition stood at 139.5 million as of Jan. 1, 1958, according to the semi-annual estimate of radio set population by the joint Radio Advertising Bureau-Radio Network Research Committee released last week. The figures show that there are 81% more radios in the U. S. today than in 1948, which, RAB pointed out, is the "year tv began its real growth." A breakdown of the sets in use today shows 93.0 million in homes; 36.5 million in autos, and 10.0 million in public places. The committee estimates there are 46.6 million U. S. households with at least one radio in working order, plus an additional 1.9 million homes with radios temporarily inoperative. A total of 37.9 million secondary sets are in use in radio homes, RAB said, adding this excludes portables and auto sets. An increase of 3 million auto sets in the past year was shown in the report. The auto set total of 36.5 million is more than three times the number there were 10 years ago. "As a matter of fact," it was reported, "there are more auto radios today than there were total radio homes in 1947." Portable radio count is now 8.5 million. N. Y. Press Group Installs Slate Julian Anthony, ABC, was installed last week for a second term as president of the Radio-Newsreel-Television Working Press Assn., N. Y. Also elected were Herb Schwartz, CBS, first vice president; Gabe Pressman, NBC, second vice president; Richard Milbauer, Newsfilm USA, treasurer; Charles Campbell, free lance, secretary; Cy Avnet, NBC, assistant secretary; George Jordan, NBC, sergeant at arms. The board of governors includes Nick Archer, News of the Day-Telenews, chairman; Robert Donahue Jr., News of the Day-Telenews; Jack Fern, CBS; David Klein, NBC; Arnold Lerner, IBM; Phil Scheffler, CBS, and Ed Silverman, ABC. SMPTE to Hold Tv Film Session As Feature of L. A. Convention A session on tv film distribution will highlight the 83rd semi-annual convention of the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers April 21-25 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The tv film session will be held at the ABC Television Center, Los Angeles. Other subjects on the convention agenda include closed-circuit tv and plastics for the motion picture and tv industries. An exhibit of new equipment also will be featured during convention week. Speakers announced for the tv film session: Frank G. Ralston Jr., ABC, Los Angeles, on results of a study of network film programming; Charles E. Buzzard, NBC, Hollywood, on conditions and procedures affecting a network film exchange; Henry J. Miller, ABC, Hollywood, on the difference in responsibilities of the tv film editor and the motion picture film editor; John P. Ballinger, Screen Gems Inc., Los Angeles, on the possibilities of standardization in tv film; Eric C. Johnson, Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N. Y., on film handling, and William W. Edwards, ABC, Hollywood, on planning film installations. Flint Radio Stations Organize Six radio stations in Flint, Mich., have formed the Flint Radio Broadcasters Assn. Managers of WAMM, WBBC, WFDF, WKMF, WTAC and WMRP met March 26 to organize the top-level management group and elected Richard S. Carter of WAMM president. Joseph R. Fife, WBBC, is secretary and Marvin Levey, WFDF, treasurer. Page 62 April 7, 1958 TvB Fires Back With Statistics Following Usual ANPA Claims "The attraction and allure of television are about over," Charles T. Lipscomb Jr., president of Bureau of Advertising, American Newspaper Publishers Assn. told the Assn. of Advertising Men & Women in New York last week. Therefore, he said, "within the next few years, more and more big advertisers are going to switch to newspapers as their primary medium." The Television Bureau of Advertising promptly disagreed. "Tv costs are rising and ratings declining," Mr. Lipscomb said. With more and more tv stations coming into being, the audiences become split, divided and diminished, to the point where advertisers are getting very nervous." According to Mr. Lipscomb the average home "(even if watching for a total of five hours a day) can get, at most, only 7 or 8% of the advertising on television." A TvB spokesman said Wednesday that this was "wishful thinking" on the part of Mr. Lipscomb. TvB cited its recently released figures which show a rise in network tv audience for the first two months of 1958. January and February 1958 set "two new alltime highs," TvB said "with the average daytime television advertiser reaching 19% more homes in 1958 than 1957, while the average evening tv advertiser reached 9% more homes." The TvB report showed that the average weekday daytime program reached 692,000 more homes per broadcast in 1958 than in 1957. Figures were compiled by A. C. Nielsen Co. WOR-TV New York's Problem: No Ratings History on Phillies Though WOR-TV New York has obtained three advertisers to sponsor its upcoming schedule of telecasts of Philadelphia Phillies baseball games, some advertiser resistance can be traceable to the "novelty factor" of the programming, Gordon Gray, executive vice president of WOR-TV New York, told a meeting of the Sports Broadcasters Assn. of New York last week. Mr. Gray explained that timebuyers and other agency officials at agencies prefer to have a rating on a program before they recommend its purchase. The station obviously has no rating history on Phillies games and there has been some advertiser reluctance. Mr. Gray expressed the view that if the station does not obtain complete sponsorship by the opening of the season, he believes that advertisers will buy in "within a few weeks" after the first telecast. Mr. Gray later declined to name the three advertisers signed but said the station hoped to announce the complete roster of advertisers at a later date. WOR-TV will start telecasting 78 Phillies games on April 15. AWRT to Meet April 24-27 The American Women in Radio and Television has announced that it will hold its Seventh Annual Convention at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco April 24-27. The theme of the convention will be "Resources and Resourcefulness." Broadcasting