Broadcasting (Apr - June 1960)

'mmsm BROADCASTING THE BUSINESSWEEKLY OF TELEVISION AND RADIO May 23, 1960 Vol. 58 No. 21 NOW REVEALED: A U-2 PLAN AT FCC 25 agents will be assigned to keep watch on radio and television The Federal Communications Commission is forming a special intelligence branch to maintain widespread surveillance over broadcast operations. A new and separate Complaints & Compliance Div. of the Broadcast Bureau will come into being June 1 (Broadcasting, May 16). To finance the new operation, the FCC is asking Congress for $300,000 above the amount already appropriated by the House for fiscal 1961. In a statement prepared for delivery tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Senate Independent Offices Appropriations Subcommittee, FCC Chairman Frederick W. Ford said the intelligence-surveillance arm was established “. . . because of our conviction that vigorous, timely and systematic action in this area is essential to ensure that broadcasters fully discharge their obligation to operate in the public interest.” The two main facets of the program, as outlined by Chairman Ford: ■ Immediate, thorough and effective on-the-spot investigations of complaints received by the FCC. ■ Spot checks, through monitoring, of selected stations to make sure their programming matches representations made to the commission. When flagrant violations are uncovered, he warned, remedial action will be taken immediately. In his prepared testimony before the Senate subcommittee, Chairman Ford said that the FCC “unanimously took an action which I believe will have a very important bearing on the commission’s regulatory program in the broadcast field and on its budgetary needs for the coming year. . . . This is an ambitious program and it requires men and money for its effectuation.” How Money Will Be Used ■ The chairman said the new program will cost $300,000 as outlined for the first year. This divides into $210,000 for personnel, $42,000 for travel and $48,000 for monitoring and “other objects,” he said. The new office will be staffed by 25 professional persons — who may be in the field at least half the time — exclusive of secretarial and clerical assistants, Commissioner Ford said. No one has been named to head the new office, according to informed com mission sources. It also is not known whether a present staffer will be given the new assignment or if a new man will be brought in. “The program undoubtedly' will have a very significant impact on the industry,” Chairman Ford predicted. “It should stimulate licensees to establish and maintain policies and practices more closely related to the public interest and may well serve to raise the general level of broadcasting service.” More and Better Action ■ The Complaints & Compliance Div. will be used to . . step up very sharply our thoroughness and effectiveness in handling complaints,” the FCC chairman said. “Currently, we receive 120-150 complaints weekly on broadcast matters, in addition to matters recently brought to light, among others, by the FTC, by congressional committees and by the replies from stations and networks to our recent questionnaire on Sec. 317 practices” (see box, page 28). In the past, broadcast complaints of a non-technical nature have been handled by the Renewal Div. of the Broadcast Bureau. Mostly, they were handled by seeking formal, written statements of explanation from licensees involved without sending an investigator to the scene. However, “to arrive at a sound judgment as to the merits of some of the practices complained of . . .” the commission now feels that trained investigators must be sent into the field, Commissioner Ford said. While there is a place for a written explanation, “it is not an adequate substitute in many instances for direct, field investigation,” he maintained. “Where the complaints on their face are substantial, whether they involve an individual station or go to a general industry practice, we must have the wherewithal to look into all such substantial complaints by going to the source and drawing together all of the relevant facts. . . . This is a prime obligation we owe to the public.” The Second Prong ■ In explaining the second phase of the compliance program. Chairman Ford pointed out that 1,700 station licenses are renewed annually. “While we have some information on each of these stations when we make our renewal decisions, we do not have available an analysis in depth Ford says the unit’s mission is ‘to raise the general level of broadcasting service’ Here’s how the FCC chairman last week described the purpose of the new intelligence unit. “The program undoubtedly will have a very significant impact on the industry. It should stimulate licensees to establish and maintain policies and practices more closely related to the public interest and may well serve to raise the general level of broadcasting service.” BROADCASTING, May 23, 1960 27