Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1963)

• DAIRY • BOTTLER • • BAKERY • DRUG CHAIN • • CANDY POTATO CHIPS PACKAGED MEATS SUPER MARKETS FROZEN FOODS GAS STATIONS They need the "SELL" in JUNIOR AUCTION COPYRIGHTED ' o . ■ • ■ A live 30 minute copyrighted television show that has thousands of youngsters selling sponsors products. JUNIOR AUCTION Now in 32 markets! Your market may be open ... contact MIKE FADELL CO., Inc. 603 SECOND AVE. SOUTH MINNEAPOLIS 2, MINN. • FE 3-3416 Kerr's death leaves chairmanships vacant The death of U. S. Sen. Robert S. Kerr (D-Okla.) in Washington last week (see page 76) left the chairmanships of two standing committees vacant as the 88th Congress prepared to convene this Wednesday (Jan. 9). Meanwhile, Oklahoma Gov. J. Howard Edmondson, the man who is empowered to name a successor to the senate seat formerly occupied by the multi-millionaire oilman and broadcaster, was in a position to place himself in that chair — with the help of Lt. Gov. George Nigh, a fellow Democrat. No announcement was expected until after Sen. Kerr's burial, scheduled last Friday (Jan. 4). Sen. Kerr was chairman of the Aeronautical and Space Committee and was in line to succeed the late Sen. Dennis Chavez (D-N. M.) as chairman of the Public Works Committee. Symington Likely ■ Sen. Stuart Symington (D-Mo.), former secretary of the Air Force under President Harry S. Truman, seemed a likely successor as space committee chairman should the post be waived by three senior Democrats, all of whom now head important standing committees. Sen. Warren G. Magnuson (DWash.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, which is parent of the Communications Subcommittee, indicated last week he intends to stay there. He waived the Space Committee chairmanship two years ago when Sen. Kerr succeeded then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson of Texas. The space post was passed up then, too, by Sen. Richard B. Russell (D-Ga.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (D-N. M.), chairman of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. Both senators are in line for the job now, but neither indicated interest in giving up the committees with which they have long been identified. Sen. Pat McNamara (D-Mich.), senior Democrat on the Public Works Committee, was in line to assume that chairmanship. The late Sen. Kerr was also ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, of which Sen. Harry F. Byrd (D-Va.) is chairman. Sen. Russell B. Long (D-La.) now is ranking Democrat. CBS appeals decision on compensation plan Charging that the FCC is not authorized to regulate business arrangements between a network and its affiliates, CBS last week asked a federal court to overrule the FCC's finding that its new compensation plan to tv station affiliates violates commission rules. In an appeal filed with the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, the network claimed ( 1 ) that the FCC is not authorized to regulate rates of compensation paid by networks to affiliates; (2) that Sec. 3.658 (a) of the commission's rules was never intended to give the FCC power to invalidate a compensation agreement between a network and an affiliate; (3) that the commission erred and abused its discretion in concluding that the regulation, even if applicable, had been violated; and (4) that in the guise of interpreting an existing rule, the FCC in substance promulgated a new rule without going through required rule-making procedures. At issue is the CBS compensation plan which provided a sliding scale of payments running from 10% of the station network rate up to a certain number of hours, and 60% of this rate for each hour over the cutoff level. The FCC last spring, in a 6-1 vote, found that this plan violated that regulation which forbids a station from accepting a network agreement that would preclude the station from accepting the programs of another network. The CBS plan, the FCC majority said, clearly hinders affiliate acceptance of programs from other networks (Broadcasting, June 4, 1962). Commissioner Frederick W. Ford dissented. The network adopted the new compensation plan after the FCC revised the option time rules to permit no more than 2Vi hours of each segment of the broadcasting day to be optioned to the network. Kaiser gets cp for Detroit uhf The plans of Kaiser Industries to operate seven television stations, the maximum allowed under FCC rules, came closer to realization last week when the commission granted Kaiser a construction permit for a new 225 kw uhf station on ch. 50 in Detroit. Last week's action was the third granted out of five applications Kaiser has filed for uhf tv stations (Broadcasting, Sept. 10, 1962). The other grants were for new stations on ch. 44 in Junior AtfcrioR COPYRIGHTED ' 62 (GOVERNMENT) BROADCASTING, January 7, 1963