Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1962)

Will the IRS pick up the Voice's IOU? VOA DIRECTOR LOOMIS LOOKS FOR A WAY TO REIMBURSE STATIONS The Voice of America, caught in a promise-vs. -performance squeeze of its own is hoping the Internal Revenue Service will help it make good on the Voice's commitment to the 10 radio stations which served the government for three weeks during the recent Cuban crisis. VOA director Henry Loomis. who told the stations they would be paid if they wished to be, was obliged to inform station officials at a meeting in Washington last week that his budget doesn't include funds for such uses. But he agreed the Voice could ask the IRS for a ruling on whether the stations could take tax deductions to recover their VOA-connected expenses. This alternate solution was reportedly suggested by several of the participants at the closed meeting, and Mr. Loomis said later that "most" of the station officials welcomed it. The actual query to the IRS will be made by Edward R. Murrow, director of the U. S. Information Agency, of which the Voice is a part. Mr. Loomis explained that this high-level approach is appropriate in view of the "unprecedented" nature of the proposal. Stations Helpful ■ Regardless of the IRS ruling, the pressure on the Voice is eased by the attitude of the stations. WSB Atlanta and KAAY Little Rock have already said they won't seek reimbursement, and officials of other stations reportedly indicated at the meeting they may follow suit. In addition, Mr. Loomis said it was the sense of the meeting that, in the event of an adverse ruling from IRS. "very few of the stations" will ask the VOA to reimburse them for lost advertising revenue. Mr. Loomis said advertiser cooperation helped keep losses down. He said some stations were able to switch sponsored programs pre-empted by the Voice from am to an fm affiliate. Others reportedly were able to move sponsored programs from the VOA portion of the schedule to other open time slots. Mr. Loomis met with the station officials Tuesday after President Kennedy and Mr. Murrow in a White House ceremony thanked them personally for their service to the Voice (see story page 105). Mr. Loomis said nothing definite was decided at the meeting, that it was "an exploratory conference to determine ground rules" for reimbursement. He said no further meetings are planned, and that future negotiations will be carried on by correspondence. The 1 0 stations — eight standard wave and two short wave — contributed large segments of their broadcast day during Oct. 22 to Nov. 17. Mr. Loomis didn't give any cost estimates, but he said the standard wave stations broadcast a total of 2,000 hours and the short wave outlets, a like amount. Loomis Handled Details ■ Mr. President Kennedy personally thanked 10 broadcasters for turning over their stations for "dusk to dawn" broadcasts of Voice of America programs into Cuba during the tense days beginning Oct. 22 with the President's blockade speech. Each broadcaster received an individual certificate of commendation from the President at a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House. To the President's right is Edward R. Murrow, director of the USIA. The others are (I to r): Thomas R. Bishop, KAAY Little Rock; Ralf Brent, WRUL New York (shortwave); Frank Gaither, WSB Atlanta; Leonard Reinsch, Cox Stations and chairman, U. S. Advisory Committee on Information (behind Mr. Gaither); Newton N. Minow, FCC chairman; John M. Spottswood, WKWF Key West; Robert Bowman, KGEI Belmont, Calif, (shortwave) (behind Mr. Murrow); Rev. Aloysius B. Goodspeed, S.J., WWL New Orleans; Charles H. Topmiller, WCKY Cincinnati; James E. Nobles Jr., WMIE Miami (partially hidden by the President); George B. Storer Jr., WGBS Miami; Milton Komito, WCKR Miami, and Henry Loomis, director, VOA. 104 (GOVERNMENT) BROADCASTING, December 10, 1962