Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1961)

N.Y. debate asks more questions than it answers A one-hour debate by the two major candidates for mayor of New York was carried on WPIX (TV) New York last Tuesday (Oct. 10) and touched off another debate: may radio stations in the area carry excerpts of such a program without the prior permission of the originating station and the participants? WPIX (TV) agreed to make the program, a debate between Mayor Robert F. Wagner, the incumbent, and his Republican opponent, New York State Attorney General Louis Lefkowitz, available to radio stations in the area, provided they carried it live in its entirety, and pledged not to use excerpts at a later time. WOR, WNYC and WNCN-FM carried the program live. Several stations had protested these "ground rules" for several days before the telecast and both WMCA and WNEW later revealed they had used recorded excerpts of the program during periods after the telecast (9:30-10:30 p.m.). Immediately following the telecast, radio newsmen argued the "fairness" of the rules with both mayoralty candidates and their advisors and won the following modifications: excerpts could be used if they were "complete sequences" that contained "a question, an answer and a rebuttal." The WNEW official acknowledged the station had not carried a "complete sequence" since this would entail two minutes or more of programming time. WMCA reported it had carried excerpts even before the modifications of the ground rules had been completed. A spokesman for WPIX said management and legal counsel to the stations were "reviewing the entire matter" to ascertain if WMCA's and WNEW's actions had broken any laws or FCC regulations. The telecast received a Nielsen Instantaneous rating of 8.1, equal to about 1.3 million homes, according to a WPIX spokesman. He said this was "double the rating for the programs usually in that time period." Mr. Lefkowitz told newsmen after the telecast that he was "agreeable" to another television debate, but Mayor Wagner said he could see "no useful purpose served by going on tv again with this type of program." In arranging the Wagner-Lefkowitz debate, WPIX pledged to make equal time available to other candidates (one-half hour to each). A station official said arrangements had not been completed for these telecasts, and added: "It is very doubtful that we will agree to have radio stations pick up these programs." drama and communications and fellowships to the heads of communications departments at major universities." In another area of business, the academy approved a new chapter — its eighth — in San Francisco under the presidency of William Hollenbeck, KPIX (TV) San Francisco. New chapters also are planned during the year for St. Louis, Boston, Dallas and Miami. The San Francisco charter was accepted for President Hollenbeck by Ken Langley, director of the Northern California Radio-Tv Council for Tuberculosis & Health Education, first vice president. Other officers of the San Francisco chapter: James Baker, KGO-TV San Francisco, second vice president; Martha Conger, J. Walter Thompson Co., secretary; Nancy Besst, hostess of Romper Room, treasurer. Mr. Langley was named vice president from San Francisco and trustee of the national academy. RAB says radio made it 13 in a row Radio Advertising Bureau reported in a special bulletin last week that for 13 consecutive weeks this past summer, radio audiences were larger than those for television. Using statistics developed by Sindlinger & Co. for its national media activity report, RAB stated that during the July-September period, the daily number of people exposed to radio exceeded the number of people exposed to tv by 6.9 million on the average. Radio's lead over tv began as early BROADCASTING, October 16, 1961 ATAS has activities besides Emmy awards The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' reason for being exists far beyond the Emmy awards for which it is principally noted, Robert Lewine, academy president, told a meeting of the academy's board of trustees in Washington. "To be known for this activity [the Emmys] only is regrettable but understandable," he said. "The backstage activities of donors are often overshadowed if not completely obscured by the glamour of their awards, but this does not necessarily mean the tail is wagging the dog," Mr. Lewine explained. Actually, the academy does many things which contribute to the welfare of the television industry, he commented, offering this explanation: "For the past several years we (the academy) have had in motion a public information, lecture and service bureau which provides lectures, advisors and technical and program services to colleges, universities, secondary schools, adult education programs and civic and service organizations. We also have presented scholarships to students of Robert F. Lewine, president of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, signs the charter establishing San Francisco as the eighth chapter of the organization. Watching are (I to r) the various chapter 70 (THE MEDIA) presidents: Robert M. Adams, Washington; Betty Furness, New York; Gail Patrick Jackson, Hollywood; Lee Schulman, Seattle; Don Tuckwood, Phoenix; Thomas Van A. Dukehart, Baltimore.