Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1963)

SPECIAL REPORT: NAB CONVENTION COLLINS, THE REFORMER NAB president makes several proposals and urges broadcasters to be 'masters of our own house' LeRoy Collins last week presented a program of reforms to the annual convention of broadcasters, but his keynote speech was interrupted by applause only when he spoke in opposition to FCC policies. The reforms that the NAB president proposed: ■ A reappraisal of rating services. ■ The elimination of advertiser influence over programming and a clean up of commercial practices. ■ The strengthening of the radio and television codes. ■ The creation of a program department within the NAB. ■ The commitment of commercial broadcasting to a teaching program in countries where the illiteracy rate is high. The two FCC actions to which he specifically objected: Broadcasters now have an official 'dean' Harold V. Hough, once known as radio's "Hired Hand," was named "Dean of American Broadcasters" in a surprise ceremony at the NAB convention in Chicago last week. The honorary, life-time title and a plaque were presented to Mr. Hough, veteran of over 40 years in broadcasting with WBAP-AM-TV Fort Worth, Tex., by NAB President LeRoy Collins at the Tuesday luncheon. "His spirit defies age. He stands out in broadcasting as the grand man," Gov. Collins said in presenting the plaque to the 76-year-old broadcaster. Mr. Hough has served on the NAB Board of Directors five different times and began his broadcasting career in 1922 when a WBAP (the station was brand new) announcer failed to show up for a Sunday night program. At the time, he was circulation manager for the Fort Worth Star Telegram, licensee of WBAP then and now. In accepting the title of Dean of American Broadcasters, Mr. Hough used some of his native Southwest wit and humor for which he is famous. In a serious vein, he warned the FCC: "You can't regulate public desires through government rules." Mr. Hough, who is vice president in charge of the Fort Worth stations, received a standing ovation. 54 ■ The commission's hearing on local television programming in Omaha. ■ The commission's proposal to impose limitations on commercial time in radio and television schedules. On Ratings ■ Gov. Collins urged broadcasters to "be masters of our own house" and to "give up the philosophy that ratings are good if we are number one and bad if we are not, or that they are good as long as they will serve a profit purpose, notwithstanding a lack of reliability." He said the NAB and its research committee would review the ratings question and that he would submit proposals to the NAB boards at their meeting next June (for details see roundup on the ratings issue page 27). Gov. Collins's comments on ratings were milder than he had originally intended them to be. In a first version of his speech he proposed that broadcasters quit buying present rating services and unite in the creation of a system that would be reliable. Over last weekend, it was authoritatively learned, he was persuaded to adopt the less dramatic approach. On Ad Reforms ■ The NAB president called for the "further elimination of advertiser influence over programming." He said there were "other pressing needs for advertising reforms," including improvement in the form and content of commercials, more effective means for "assuring in advance the truth of advertising claims" and "realistic limitations on program interruptions." The last was a subject he recently treated in another public appearance, a television discussion program featuring him and FCC Chairman Newton Minow (Broadcasting, March 25). On the Minow-Collins program, which was taped for presentation on some of NBC-TV's owned and operated stations, Gov. Collins said the British system of clustering commercials during breaks between programs appealed to him, to avoid a "dog food commercial" in the middle of a dramatic show. On Codes ■ In his speech to the NAB convention, Gov. Collins said: "Let us project and enforce our codes, with the strong support of the whole industry, as the prime instruments of service to the people of our land." He said that although progress in code observance had been made, "we have not filled the vacuum of unmet need. In fact, the need may be widening faster than we are filling the gap." He referred to the FCC's proposal (Broadcasting, April 1) to regulate commercial time on radio and television (see below). On NAB Program Aid ■ Gov. Col BROADCASTING, April 8, 1963