Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1962)

AND IT'S A GOOD ONE NOW THERE IS ONLY ONE STATION IN ALL OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA WHICH CARRIES THE COMPLETE LINEUP OF ABC NETWORK PROCRAMS. Only on Channel 27 can the people in Harrisburg, York and Lebanon see BEN CASEY, MCHALE'S NAVY, STONEY BURKE, COMBAT, LAWRENCE WELK, and all the other top audience producers. And they can see them better from our new, taller tower (500' high) and more powerful antenna. Just watch us — everybody does! HARRISBURC, YORK & LEBANON Am sessions opened to interested parties The FCC bowed to mounting pressure last week and announced that its conference on ways to control the growing number of radio stations, scheduled Jan. 7-8, will be open to all interested parties. The commission invited all interested parties to write the Broadcast Bureau, which is scheduling the oral presentations at the conference. After the opening presentation by NAB, other participants may "address themselves to what they conceive to be the problems generated by the commission's policies in [the am freeze] area insofar as they affect the public interest," the FCC said. Although oral statements will be limited, written presentations of any length may be submitted. The participants of the public conference were originally thought by many to be restricted to the FCC and the NAB, but the commission Dec. 7 agreed to the request of Fleet Enterprises, applicant for an am in Greenville, S. C, and allowed Fleet to participate in the population talks (see At Deadline, Dec. 10). Fleet's application had been returned when the FCC refused to reconsider its freeze on new ams, and Fleet then asked the U. S. Court of Appeals in Washington to cancel the conference or open it to Fleet. But the FCC acted before the court could. The "shirtsleeve working conference," as it was termed by Chairman Newton N. Minow, was originally scheduled for Dec. 5-6, but was postponed when NAB requested more time to prepare research materials. Sen. Case endorses FCC 'loudness' probe An FCC staff investigation of how "excessively loud" radio and television commercials can be toned down to the audio level of adjacent programs was endorsed last week by Sen. Clifford Case (R-N.J.). He said he hopes for a solution that "will relieve the public and improve the standards of the broadcasting industry." Sen. Case released a letter from FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow expressing "total agreement" with the senator's complaint about loud commercials and informing him of the staff study. Sen. Case, a former member of the Senate Communications Subcommittee, said he has been urging the commission for more than a year "to take action on the numerous complaints from viewers about excessively loud commercials on radio and television." Mr. Minow, who credited the sen ator with enhancing his interest in the problem, first discussed the FCC study publicly last month, at a joint meeting of the Yale, Harvard and Princeton clubs (Broadcasting, Nov. 26). In his letter to the senator, he said he "would very much like" to have an FCC rule limiting "the volume of commercials to the volume of adjacent program materials." Mr. Minow wrote that FCC engineers say "there are a lot of technical problems involved in order to achieve what I consider such a simple rule." But he expressed the belief the "detailed study" will result in "a specific proposal by the commission." Sen. Case indicated he wasn't impressed by a 1959 FCC study which held that there were "few indications of commercials being consistently stronger than the regular program material." He said a recent study by H. H. FCC honors Sally Lindo Sally Lindo, who has been dispensing official information from the FCC for nearly 25 years, made news herself last week. She received official recognition for "sustained superior performance of duties in your position as public information specialist." Along with the kind words, Mrs. Lindo received a cash award of $250. The presentation was made by George Gillingham, chief of the FCC's Office of Reports & Information and the dean in point of service of all government news chiefs. Mrs. Lindo has been assistant chief of the office since 1939, and predates her boss by a few months. FCC Chairman Newton Minow sent his personal congratulations to Mrs. Lindo "for having performed your duties with the commission in such an exemplary manner." 70 (GOVERNMENT) BROADCASTING, December 17, 1962