Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1958)

EDUCATION N.Y. ETV HINDERED— NO MONEY ETV S.O.S. ANSWERED Public-service conscious WMCA New York was quick to heed META's S.O.S. last week and by Friday had gone on the air with an intensive volunteer spot radio drive to solicit public contributions for META. WMCA President Nathan Strauss explained: "Education is a basic community responsibility. Etv is not licensed, as a commercial operation and cannot exist without public support. When the fact is made clear that META is a nonprofit educational enterprise, we think the public will act accordingly. There is no competition between commercial radio and educational television. WMCA is happy to donate its facilities in order to make the public aware of META's great need." The situation was nip-and-tuck late last week in New York educational tv circles following an announcement Wednesday by the Metropolitan Educational Television Assn. that it would be forced "with profound regrets" — to suspend active production operations as of June 1. META president Dr. Alan Willard Brown said his action was irrevocable "unless emergency funds could be raised within the next 10 days." The suspension was deemed temporary." Though prospects for a sudden windfall to meet outstanding bills and salaries seemed "highly remote" — prompting META to pinkslip its entire working staff of 45 effective May 30 — the financial S.O.S. was answered 24 hours later. META confirmed reports that a number of aroused viewers had responded with gifts; one New Yorker sent in a check for $2,000, another a personal pledge for $5,000, and several high school students in Englewood, N. J., pooled their allowances and sent in $18. With $6,000 already in the coffers as a result of an intensive 6-week fund raising drive, META detected "a glimmer of hope on the horizon" but confessed that these funds represented "only a drop in the bucket." Dr. Brown, head of New York's embryonic non-profit etv production center, blamed lack of financial and civic support for META's suspension. He also scored New York state legislators for their "general disinterest" in educational tv. Dr. Brown admitted that the current recession also had "something to do with our situation," explaining that people on whom META had depended for financial aid now were taking a "long, hard look at the tax-deductible dollar." He put META's needs for the next six months at $200,000. Its annual budget has been $400,000 (supplied wholly by grants). Supporting foundations have been the Avalon Foundation, Rockefeller Bros. Fund, Old Dominion Foundation, Fund for Adult Education, New York Foundation and Carnegie Foundation for the Endowment of Peace, which together had initially supplied META with $650,000. Three of these groups jointly have pledged $100,000 but the pledge will remain unfilled until calendar year 1959. META began operations last Sept. 25 after building from scratch a $100,000 telecenter (with feed lines to various New York stations) and spending $250,000 on equipment. The telecenter will black out June 1. META thus is left with only $300,000 to meet expenses running $400,000. A few months ago, the Board of Regents of the State of New York (under whose charter META exists) was granted $600,000 by the state legislature, these monies to be used for etv in greater New York. The regents earlier had sought to purchase ch. 13 (WATV [TV] Newark), now WNTATV, but terminated negotiations shortly before the take over by National Telefilm Assoc., present owners. The regents then approached WOR-TV (ch. 9) as a possible etv outlet, requesting that the station turn over the daytime hours which are generally low on commercial sponsorship. WOR-TV in exchange was to have received the $600,000 for time and programming this fall, but META was reported to have slated $365,000 of this allocation to pay for production and programming. The balance was to be WORTV's. Station Vice President-General Manager Gordon Gray acquiesced, agreed to turn over the Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. hours after rejecting the initial regents request for 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. But with the fate of META in doubt, Mr. Gray said Thursday, it "would seem, I suppose, that now nothing will come of this" unless META were suddenly to get a transfusion. The programs now seen on WPIX (TV) and those planned for WCBS-TV will black out June 1. The filmed and/ or kinescoped etv shows aired on WABC-TV and WNTATV will end with the current cycle. NAEB, Government Convening First Media Meeting in 8 Years The future course of television and other media in relation to education will be explored starting today (Monday) at a conference co-sponsored by the National Assn. of Educational Broadcasters and the U. S. Office of Education in Washington, D. C. Nearly 100 specialists from education and educational radio-tv are expected to attend the three-day sessions at the Dept. of Health, Education & Welfare. They will exchange views on etv's current status and trends. Speakers will represent the NAEB, Joint Council on Educational Television, Educational Television & Radio Center, and tv committees of the American Council on Education. The conference will be the first such meeting in nearly eight years. The Sound of Quality In a quality market of 14 counties where 598,800 people spent $1,016,738,000 — a per capita average of $1,885.00. ($204 above the national average. ) Salesmanagement's "Survey of Buying XI Power — 1957" A quality rural market of 28,520 farm homes with a gross income of $377,957,000 — a per farm average gross income of $14,307.00. Census U.S. Department of Agriculture NIGHT .0 * fa (D For over 35 years the Quint-Cities' senior station (Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa — Rock Island, Moline and East Moline, Illinois) Col. B. J. Palmer, President Ernest C. Sanders, Manager Mark Wodlinger, Sales Mgr. WOC RADIO H Tri-City Broadcasting Co., Davenport, Iowa Peters, Griffin, Woodward, Inc. Exclusive National Representatives Page 90 • May 26, 1958 Broadcasting