Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1959)

McLendon files suit, hits contract jumping Gordon B. McLendon, multiple station owner, lashed out this week against other broadcasters who, he charged, are luring his air personalities away with "fabulous offers" that lead to breaches of contract. Mr. McLendon also announced that he is filing suit for breach of contract against a disc jockey who left his organization to go to Oregon. "We regret having to resort to the courts to enforce our personnel contracts," Mr. McLendon said, "but we are tired of being used as a training camp by overly anxious announcers and desperate operators who feel that they might save the day by simply hiring one of our disc jockeys." This procedure, Mr. McLendon asserted, works to the detriment of both his organization and the disc jockeys who jump their contracts; when they fail to produce high ratings, he said, they are fired. Mr. McLendon maintained station owners cannot "possibly hope to sustain" the financial lure promised. Asks For Damages • The Oregon suit undertaken by the McLendon Corp. has been filed against Art Wanderlich, a disc jockey who is alleged to have jumped his contract to go with KXL Portland and against station owner, Lester M. Smith, and asks for damages in excess of $10,000. Mr. McLendon said that "we have made the decision that we will go to court from now on to enforce all of our contracts in every instance of contract jumping. We are going to take out not only against the disc jockey but against the station for inducing a breach of contract, and we are going to sue for exemplary damages." Mr. McLendon disclosed that another suit, against a d.j. who left his organization to join a competitive Texas station, will probably be filed. He has not yet named the parties involved. The McLendon Corp. owns KLIF Dallas, KILT-AM-FM Houston, KTSA San Antonio, all Texas; KABL Oakland, Calif., WAKY Louisville, Ky., and KEEL Shreveport, La. 'Let's avoid formulas,' Mo. broadcasters told Radio broadcasters ought to concentrate more on selling their own product and not "cannibalize" each other with selling tactics involving one or another type of formula radio, the Missouri Broadcasters Assn. was told at its fall meeting Oct. 30-31. Robert H. Teter, vice president BROADCASTING, November 9, 1959 radio, Peters, Griffin, Woodward, claimed that broadcasters have tended too often to "label" their radio formats and square off against each other, instead of selling the values of their individual stations. He urged them to keep total audiences in mind in selling agency buyers. The automobile radio audience, he added, is practically a market in itself. Other speakers during the two-day meeting at the Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City included Bruce Barrington, general manager of WEW St. Louis; William T. McKibben, assistant to the vice president, WIL St. Louis, and Gov. James T. Blair of Missouri. Missouri Broadcasters Assn. adopted a resolution calling for cooperation with the Big Eight Conference on matters involving fees for sports rights to college football broadcasts and suggesting reciprocal agreements among schools and broadcasters. As in Minnesota— and at the local high school level in Missouri — it's felt that fees have been "out of line" for such "promotional events." MBA members also agreed to revise by-laws calling for a permanent dues structure that would, among other things, permit the employment of a full-time legislative representative in Jefferson City, Mo. Also approved were plans for a news seminar in cooperation with the U. of Missouri's School of Journalism (see Datebook) and succeeding seminars in sales and management fields. MBA hopes to evolve a "continuing educational program" for students in electronic media. Gov. Blair lauded the group for its assistance in helping the state push its promotional (including tourist) activities. For election of new MBA officers, see Fates & Fortunes, page 95. AMST board to meet Board of Direcors of the Assn. of Maximum Service Telecasters will meet tomorrow, Nov. 10, in Washington to take up among other things recommendations of the AMST technical committee for an extensive program of technical studies to add data on the tv allocations situations. AMST's technical committee met in Washington last week on this subject. Those present: Henry Rhea, WFIL-TV Philadelphia, chairman; Joseph Epperson, WEWS (TV) Cincinnati; Phillip B. Laeser, WTMJTV Milwaukee; Orrin W. Towner, WHAS-TV Louisville; Carl G. Nopper, WMAR-TV Baltimore; Howard Head and Stephen Kerschner, A. D. Ring & Co., AMST engineering consultants; Ernest W. Jennes, Covington & Burling AMST legal counsel. Lester W. Lindow, AMST executive director, and Arch Madsen, AMST staff, also attended. you can't buy a "bunch 81