Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1959)

® S5 S> KOTV Tulsa (Petry) KHOU-TV Houston ( cns-TvSpot Sales) KXTV ^ Sacramento (H-R) WANE-TV Fort Wayne (Petry) WISH-TV Indianapolis ( Boiling) WANE-AM Fort Wayne ( Petry) WISH-AM Indianapolis ( Petry) Coty's Cortney Proposes network control nate their "ill gotten gains" to charities so as to clear their conscience. The events both leading up to and encompassing the bizzare Tuesday (Oct. 27) at New York's Roosevelt Hotel had tinges of a second-rate mystery script. Open Forum • For last Tuesday's luncheon the Sales Executives Club had scheduled a panel on the tv quiz question. According to Philip J. Kelly, a vice president of Lynn Baker Inc. (advertising agency), who is the club's president, the club maintains an "open forum for ideas and new developments of interest to sales-minded executives." Mr. Cortney was invited to speak when it was suggested the Coty head would launch — "a campaign for honesty in advertising and selling." The club planned the following panelists to appear with Mr. Cortney: The Rev. Charles (Stony) Jackson, a Tennessee minister who first charged the Question with having been rigged. Mrs. Louis J. Robbins, National Council of Women of the U.S., and the Rev. Lawrence W. McMaster Jr., executive director of the department of radio and television, the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Of the four Mr. Cortney and Rev. McMaster appeared on the platform. Mrs. Robbins withdrew saying she could speak only unofficially and Rev. Jackson failed to appear because of a minor ailment. Charges of 'Pressures' • On the day before the luncheon meeting, it became known that both Mr. Kelly and spokesmen for Mr. Cortney were charging a Coty competitor with applying pressures to "stop" the planned news conference and the luncheon. Mr. Kelly said Mr. Cortney's statements regarding "alleged irregularities in connection with tv programs, and quiz shows in particular . . . brought about some positive reactions in the form of pressures from parties who felt that Mr. Cortney's remarks might be a reflection on them." He cited the pressures to cancel the program as follows: on the program chairman through some of his key clients resulting in his resignation, refusal of an ad agency to carry Mr. Cortney's newspaper advertisement, a "reported attempt to influence" the Coty public relations representative (Christopher Cross, former vice president in charge of public relations and promotion at Grey Adv. and now president of Pan-American Public Relations Ltd.) to "change certain of Mr. Cortney's statements," and "a key participant in the program withdrawing and another begging off due to a stomach ache." The Rev. McMaster's talk was based on an "open letter" he had written to "associates in the radio and television industry" asking for examination of tv programming and a vigilant, constant re-evaluation. He attacked popularity as the prime criterion in programming. He said he had received a "heartening" response from network, agency and programming executives. Mr. Cortney's talk centered on a theme of the deleterious effects of the quiz scandal on the tv industry, on businessmen and on the U.S. as a democratic, moral force in the world. Justice quiz probe to touch all bases The Dept. of Justice moved into action last week, following within a week President Eisenhower's request that it look into the rigging of television quiz shows (Broadcasting, Oct. 26). On Wednesday, Attorney General William P. Rogers conferred in Washing with CBS President Frank Stanton and NBC President Robert Kintner. Mr. Stanton was accompanied by CBS-TV General Attorney Thomas K. Fisher; Mr. Kintner by David C. Adams, senior executive vice president; and Thomas E. Ervin, vice president. A Justice Dept. spokesman said that this meeting was the first in a series of conferences to be held with network officials, the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission. Two Month Deadline • This investigation, he said, will be completed before Congress reconvenes in January. Sitting in with Mr. Rogers were the following Justice Dept. executives: Lawrence E. Walsh, deputy attorney general; Malcolm R. Wilkey, chief of the criminal division; Robert A. Bicks, acting chief of the antitrust division, and Robert Kramer, chief of the office of legal counsel. (SPECIAL REPORT: QUIZ CASE) 59