Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1962)

THE CRISIS IN RETROSPECT 10 stations which carried Voice broadcasts to Cuba honored by President in White House ceremony Loomis handled the detailed arrangements, and was advised to ignore financial considerations in "getting the job done," that is, getting Voice broadcasts into Cuba by standard wave radio. Mr. Loomis said there was apparent agreement at the meeting that reimbursement should include costs in these three categories: 1. Additional expenses incurred in broadcasting for the Voice, such as overtime pay and the cost hiring of extra employes. 2. The actual costs of operating the stations while they were broadcasting for the Voice. 3. Advertising revenue lost through VOA pre-emptions of the stations' sponsored programs. Mr. Loomis said he would ask the stations to provide these figures after the IRS submits its ruling. "If these costs are not deductible," he said, "we'll have to find the money. But I don't know where." Problems Ahead ■ But even a favorable ruling from IRS won't constitute a complete solution. Two of the stations already enjoy a tax-exempt status through their licensees — WWL New Orleans, owned by Loyola U., and KGEI Belmont, an international shortwave station owned by Far East Broadcasting Co., a non-commercial firm financed through contributions. Mr. Loomis said tax deductions wouldn't help one or two other stations which report being "in the red." Meanwhile, five of the stations are still carrying some VOA programming —WWL; WMIE and WGBS, both Miami; WKWF Key West; and WRUL New York, an international short-wave radio station. But the costs for the four standardwave stations do not pose a problem. Mr. Loomis said that the VOA is programming on them during time segments normally purchased by antiCastro groups for broadcasts into Cuba, and that the groups are continuing to bear the costs. WGBS, WKWF and WWL had been part of the network operated by the Cuban Freedom Committee (Broadcasting, June 4) until the Voice pre-empted the group's time on Oct. 22. FTC cites Westinghouse The Federal Trade Commission formally complained last week that Westinghouse Electric Corp. advertising has misrepresented rebuilt television picture tubes as new, when in fact they contain used parts. Westinghouse immediately denied the charge and said it would "prove there is no deception." Westinghouse has 30 days to file a formal answer to the government complaint. The significance of radio and the patriotism of broadcasters were stressed last week when 10 broadcasters received the thanks of their country at the White House. President Kennedy presented each one of them with certificates attesting to their patriotric cooperation in broadcasting Voice of America programs to Cuba during the Cuban crisis (Broadcasting, Oct. 29 et seq.). The broadcasters were honored at a ceremony in the White House rose garden last Tuesday morning. In addition to President Kennedy, Edward R. Murrow, director of the United States Information Agency, also voiced his thanks. President Kennedy said: "I want to express our thanks to the radio stations who were so helpful and contributed such an important national service to us during the difficult days that have just passed . . . ." After telling how the stations were contacted and how all volunteered their services, the President added: "We are very grateful to them. I think they showed two things; first, how significant radio is in getting across a message beyond national boundaries; and secondly, they showed how patriotic were those men who ran these stations. We are glad to have them here today." Mr. Murrow expressed the thanks of USIA, and said he is "grateful to these gentlemen for using their transmitters in the interest of truth." Lines Laid ■ A bit of broadcast history was disclosed earlier the same day by Pierre Salinger, news secretary to the President, when he recounted how the government had ordered "unbeknownst to these stations" telephone line patches for a hookup between the Voice and the stations. He also told how he called each owner or manager at the 10 stations and how each "without hesitation" immediately volunteered the services of his station from "dusk to dawn." Mr. Salinger said the VOA broadcasts began with the President's speech the evening of Oct. 22 and continued for three or four weeks. As soon as each station agreed to carry the government broadcasts, Mr. Salinger related, he nodded to his secretary who was on an open line to Henry Loomis, director of the VOA. Mr. Loomis immediately ordered the telephone company to close the circuit linking the station with the VOA. There was no inference of the government ordering the stations to cooperate, Mr. Salinger emphasized. "In each case I called the manager or the owner and I said I was speaking in behalf of the President. I told them we were about to embark on what would be a very difficult period in our relations with Cuba, and we felt it was imperative to get the American message into Cuba; that their station had a very strong signal in Cuba and 1 asked them to cooperate. . . "There wasn't a single instance where they did not agree on the spot to cooperate," he said. Donald M. Wilson, deputy director of USIA, was given credit by Mr. Salinger as having been the "key developer" of the scheme of using regular medium wave broadcast stations to saturate Cuba. GO-AHEAD IN MOLINE Moline Tv gets FCC approval to begin ch. 8 construction Moline Tv Corp. got an FCC goahead last week to begin constructing a tv station in Moline, 111. on ch. 8. Moline received the ch. 8 grant last spring but construction was stayed until finalization of then-pending rulemaking involving that channel and ch. 2 St. Louis (Broadcasting, May 21). When it shifted ch. 2 from Springfield, 111., the FCC also moved ch. 8 from Peoria, 111., to Davenport-Rock Island-Moline. The ch. 2 move was remanded to the commission by the courts because of off-the-record representations but the action was affirmed by the FCC in July (Broadcasting, July 23), clearing the way for removal of the Moline stay. Moline received the ch. 8 grant on a 3-2 vote after a stormy period between FCC instructions to its staff and the final grant, during which the case was discussed in the U. S. House of Representatives. Principals of the winning applicant include Frank P. Schreiber ( president10%), Richard Stengel (9%), Francis J. Coyle {\2Vi%), Victor B. Day (10%), David Parson ( 10% ) and some 15 others. Mr. Schreiber is a former director of the Mutual Broadcasting System and spent 15 years with WGN-AM-TV Chicago. The losing applicants for ch. 8 include Community Telecasting Corp. (which had been favored in an initial decision and received the votes of Commissioners Frederick W. Ford and John S. Cross), Tele-Views News Co., Midland Broadcasting Co., and Illiway Television Inc. BROADCASTING, December 10, 1962 105