Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1959)

NAB hires bar chief for FCC testimony Mr. Seymour Whitney North Seymour, New York lawyer and president-elect of the American Bar Assn., has been retained by NAB to represent the association before the FCC in the Commission's broadcast inquiry. An authority on constitutional law, Mr. Seymour is a member of the law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett. Designation of Mr. Seymour followed an intimation at the FCC's inquiry that the Commission would welcome an opinion from an outstanding constitutional lawyer on its right to regulate broadcast programming (Closed Circuit, Dec. 21). The FCC has not conceded it made a formal request to NAB or that it hoped the association would help clear up this controversial legal matter. The question of FCC's legal authority to dictate broadcast program formats, to specify minimum percentages of program types or to review station programming has caused arguments among lawyers since enactment of the Communications Act. Conflicting interpretations of the anti-censorship section (#326) and the "public interest, convenience and necessity" mandate written into ;he law have been raised repeatedly. The conflict reached a peak with issuance of the FCC's Blue Book in 1946, a Commission spanking procedure that gave birth to the "regu lation by the raised eyebrow" charge. Mr. Seymour is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a past-president of the Assn. of the Bar of New York City. He obtained his law degree at Columbia Law School and was admitted to the New York bar in 1924. He is chairman of the ABA BarMedia Committee, formed more than a year ago to investigate the conflict involving ABA's Canon 35 (barring radio-tv-photo coverage of trials) and the rights of news media. He appeared as a panelist Dec. 20 on the CBS-TV special program, The Years Goes By. Mr. Seymour obtained a bureaucratic insight into the operation of government in 1931-33 as Assistant Solicitor General of the U.S. Among other important posts, Mr. Seymour is chairman of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; chairman of National Conference of Judicial Councils; chairman of Committee on Individual Rights as Affected by National Security; chairman of New York State Bar Assn. Committee on Civil Rights; former chairman of Freedom House. He was a national figure two decades ago when he obtained a U.S. Supreme Court ruling invalidating the Georgia sedition statute in the case of Herndon v. Georgia. His son, Whitney North Seymour Jr., member of the same law firm, is counsel to a committee studying operation of the New York City government. Another son, Thaddeus, is dean of Dartmouth College. report showed that 3% of net income has been paid out in dividends, with the remainder retained in the business. Distributed Dec. 15th was a quarterly dividend of 17Vi cents a share on Class A common stock and 6V2 cents a share on Class B stock. Wometco owns WTVJ (TV) Miami, Fla.; WLOS-AM-FM-TV Asheville, N.C., and 46.5% of WFGATV Jacksonville, Fla. It owns theatres in southern Florida and food, cigarette, soft drink and confection vending machines in South Florida and Jacksonville. New slant on payola WICC Bridgeport, Conn., has been telling its listeners last week it hopes the newspapers will continue to play up the payola issue, because the publicity increases listening to "responsible radio." "Every knock is a boost," concluded a one-minute editorial which station officials have run on a saturation basis since Dec. 15. The editorial included a report by Frank Stisser, president of C.E. Hooper Inc., that the scandals apparently had had little harmful effect on radio listening and that in fact in many cities audiences had increased. In New York, he estimated, listening was up about 10%. Extortion attempted A self-styled free-lance writer is scheduled to appear for a hearing in New York Felony Court today (Dec. 28) charged with attempted grand larceny and attempted extortion on the complaint of WINS Program Manager Mel Leeds. Mr. Leeds accused Elio A. Bosco of New York of trying to blackmail him with threats to link him and WINS in a "certain payola situation." Mr. Leeds said the man called him on Dec. 1 8 and demanded $500 to "suppress the payola story." He agreed to meet Mr. Bosco at a prearranged place last Monday (Dec. 21); notified police, and kept his appointment. Detectives said they watched as Mr. Leeds handed Mr. Bosco $250 in marked bills. Mr. Bosco was arrested and arraigned on Tuesday. Payola discussed In a Dec. 16 broadcast on 15 Arizona stations, local broadcasters discussed payola and recent congressional investigations on the Western Business Roundup. Sherwood R. Gordon, owner of KBUZ Phoenix and KSDO San Diego, told the panelists that "payola is as dead as yesterday's newspaper." Mr. Gordon said that station owners and air personalities "had been sufficiently scared" by recent disclosures to "clean up their houses." He also suggested that the "majority of broadcasters are ethical," and that payola occurred without their knowledge. "Perhaps," he said, "they were not close enough to their staffs in the larger markets to know what was going on." Tom Chauncey, general manager of KOOL-AM-TV Phoenix, asserted that he had belonged to the Better Business Bureau for "eight or nine years," and that there had not been a single case of complaint against broadcasters. "And," Mr. Chauncey said, "we're in a highly competitive market with 14 radio and four television stations. . . ." KPHO-AM-TV plans KPHO-AM-TV Phoenix, Ariz., has announced plans for the construction and installation of a new tv transmitter and a new fm station. Richard B. Rawls, general manager, said that an investment of $475,000 will be made in the next four months on the new construction projects. The project also involves the erection of a new antenna, transmitter building and the up-dating transmitting facilities. Completion is expected by April 1, 1960. The station is owned by Meredith Publishing Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. Meredith also owns KCMO-AM-FMTV Kansas City, Mo.; WOW-AM-TV Omaha, Neb.; WHEN-AM-TV Syracuse, N.Y.; and KRMG Tulsa, Okla. Texas etv plans A proposed closed-circuit, microwave tv network linking 11 Texas colleges and universities neared actuality with the meeting two weeks ago of its advisory committee of radio and tv executives at the U. of Texas. The plan awaits FCC approval. The project is being developed by the U. of Texas under a contract with 44 (THE MEDIA) BROADCASTING, December 28, 1959