Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1959)

OUR RESPECTS TO Harold Otto Grams Network radio affiliates can hardly afford to ignore some of the new programming patterns that have evolved in independent radio broadcast operation, in the opinion of Harold O. Grams, general manager of KSD-AMTV St. Louis. Although many network am affiliates look upon some of the new programming methods with skepticism and outright disfavor, the feat of keeping a sizable audience and showing a clear profit in competition with some independents can be a tough row to hoe, he admits. A product of the programming ranks (and protege of the late George Burbach, former head of the NBC-affiliated stations), he frankly admits the PostDispatch radio outlet is in the transition stage. Mr. Grams succeeded Mr. Burbach upon the latter's retirement Jan. 1, 1958. "We feel a pride in our operation, and are particularly proud of providing a service to the community. Any dedicated broadcaster likes to feel he's doing a worthwhile job, and we're no different," Mr. Grams says. "We have tried to adapt ourselves to changes without resorting to hypo and razzle-dazzle techniques," he acknowledges. "The problem of a network affiliate is to find a service that will claim a large audience and yet permit a profitable operation." (Some of these affiliate problems, including changes in network programming operations, were canvassed Thursday [Oct. 15] in New York at a meeting of the NBC-Radio Network Affiliates Advisory Committee.) Diehard • Harold Otto Grams has been meeting (and solving) problems like these ever since he started as a summertime announcer for WOC Davenport, Iowa, in the mid-1 930s. One day he was sent to do a man-on-the-street interview and promptly got into hot water. Over the air an old gentleman told him blithely: "I know something about Abe Lincoln you don't know." Asked the young announcer: "What's that?" Said the old gentleman: "He was a b ." Young Grams quickly ended the interview and returned to the studio, figuring his career was ended. Instead his employers told him to screen interviewees more carefully in the future. Actually, Hod Grams' entry into broadcasting was completely by accident. A native of Rock Island, 111. (born BROADCASTING, October 19, 1959 Jan. 14, 1914), he wanted to pursue a legal career. An oustanding prep football star at Rock Island High School, he attended St. Ambrose College in Davenport on an athletic scholarship at the urging of a school friend from Georgetown U. in Washington. For 3Vi years he took pre-legal work and dug ditches during the summer, a job that during depression years placed a high premium on qualifications. He took on a part-time chore handling a General Motors display at a local automobile show and delivering lectures on the new wonders of "knee action" claimed for the new Chevrolet models. A representative of WOC caught his pitch and invited him to audition for a part-time announcer's job. He became a regular staffer in 1936 and next year moved to WHO Des Moines (like WOC, owned by the B. J. Palmer interests.) News and Sports • In 1938 he joined KSD, specializing in news and sportscasts (boxing, baseball and football, including U. of Illinois, Missouri and Notre Dame games). During World War II (in 1943) he was appointed program manager. When KSD-TV went on the air as St. Louis' first television station on Feb. 8, 1947, he also took over those programming reins. (Among his announcing chores: Winston Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech in Fulton, Mo.; the Joe Louis-Billy Conn heavyweight championship fight, and the U. of Illinois-UCLA Rose Bowl classic.) KSD-AM-TV's Grams He found honesty about Abe Now a 25-year veteran in broadcasting, Mr. Grams naturally found it difficult to fill the shoes of the late Mr. Burbach (like Walter Damm, retired vice president and general manager of the Milwaukee Journal stations, WTMJAM-TV, an almost legendry industry figure). But the operation of KSD and KSD-TV have remained fairly stabilized within the framework of the Post-Dispatch policies the past 22 months. Mr. Grams also is a member of the Pulitzer Publishing Co. board of directors. While radio's problems have been compounded by the upsurge of independent stations, local business is better now than it's been in many years, according to Mr. Grams. And there are plans in the works for improved radio service, complementing KSD's already solid position in news (with a 10-man news staff and a staple of 15-minute newscasts) and other programming areas. Says Mr. Grams: "There's been a continuing change radiowise because of the very nature of the market." Heavy on Radio • As a result, he's been spending more time on radio operations lately. The problems are less complex in television; KSD-TV has been holding its own as an NBC-TV affiliate against competitors in terms of audience share claims, on the basis of recent ratings reports. Mr. Grams is a member of the NAB Labor Committee and the NBC Television Affiliates Committee (he once served on the NBC radio affiliates group). He also belongs to the St. Louis Advertising Club, serves on the Media Club board of directors and is a member of the Washington U. Council public relations committee. Still a sports enthusiast, Hod Grams plays on the KSD-AM-TV softball team. His weight is well distributed over a 6-foot-2-inch frame that betokens his participation in athletics. For relaxation he plays gin rummy, fishes and hunts ducks with Dan Fitzpatrick (Post-Dispatch editorial cartoonist) in the Ozarks and parts of Minnesota. For many years he and Roy Stockton, now retired Post-Dispatch sports editor, conducted a sports interview-commentary on KSD. (Together, they did the first baseball telecast in St. Louis in 1947.) Mr. Grams married a hometown girl, Florence Lippens. With their four children (Peter, 19; Hal, 16; Jon, 14, and Susan, 5), they live in Glendale, a St. Louis suburb. 121