Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1963)

Kennedy praises radio-tv President John F. Kennedy paid tribute to "the increasingly important service which radio and television are providing to the American people" in a message of greeting sent April 1 to the NAB convention in Chicago. He expressed "the appreciation of all citizens for your vital role in keeping us informed as well as entertained." The President's message was shown on a large screen as the convention opened. He added a personal message of congratulations to Bob Hope, winner of the NAB Distinguished Service Award, describing him as "a great American who has served his nation in time of peace and war . . . one of our finest ambassadors of goodwill around the world." am I looking for when I plan a media program," he said: "First, I am looking for an audience. For Brylcream it is men with hair; for Metrecal, overweight people; for Nabisco Shredded Wheat, people of all ages who eat breakfast; for Lincoln Continental, men with incomes over $10,000. I need to know the size of this audience and where it is located," he stated. "Second, I look for a medium which is capable of transmitting the message I wish to send — in the way I wish to send it. If sound alone will do the job, I look at radio," he stated. "Third, I look at the editorial environment which will surround my message. Of these three, you can tell me about two — your audience and your station's editorial environment. Cost per thousand prospects is my yardstick, not cost per thousand." Mr. Dietz wondered why a Radio Advertising Bureau study "Why Buy Radio Now That Tv Is So Big?" does not mention fm. He said he listens to fm at least an hour a day. While com mending the quality of the service, he was critical of some signal quality in reproduction of good music. NAFMB's new slate of officers: Mitchell Hastings, Concert Network, board chairman, and Mr. Schulke, president; Arthur K. Crawford, KCBH (FM) Beverly Hills, Calif., vice president; Will Collier Baird Jr., WFMB (FM) Nashville, secretary; Abe Voron, WQAL (FM) Philadelphia, treasurer (re-elected). Three new regional directors, elected in a mail ballot, were seated. They are Frank Knorr Jr., WKPM (FM) Tampa, Fla.; Martin R. Williams, WFMS (FM) Indianapolis; Harold Engel, Wisconsin State Broadcasting Service, educational director. Re-elected directors were David H. Polinger, WTFM (FM) New York; Stan Hamilton, WMAL-FM Washington; Hugh E. Trotter, WSEV-FM Sevierville, Tenn.; Ted Leitzell, WEFM (FM) Chicago; Lynn Christian, KODAHouston; Gary M. Gielow, KPEN (FM) San Francisco; Jack R. Kennedy, CFRB-FM Toronto. "practical communicators," however, was voiced by Dr. Leon Arons, vice president-research, Television Bureau of Advertising, who explained that there is too big a chasm between knowing what is available and knowing how to understand and use what is available. John S. Coulson, vice president-research, Leo Burnett Co., suggested that universities could help in the job by taking on small segments of the problem and then "trying to find a synthesis from this." Much has been learned about the dynamic elements of human behavior and motivation, Dr. Ira O. Glick, associate director of Social Research Inc., related, but much of early research deals only with numbers. "We now have a broader, more general concern," he said. Dr. Glick saw no possibility in the predictable future when anyone would discover "how to push a button and control our audience." Research Aid ■ Arthur Laird, Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s director of research, suggested that universities might assign researchers to work with commercial broadcasters, but he cautioned against placing them on the day-to-day firing line which could deter their research efforts. Research panel moderator was Dr. Bruce A. Linton, U. of Kansas. American U.'s Prof. Don Williams and John M. Couric, NAB's manager of public relations, described their jointly.sponsored public-service institute held in Washington earlier this year. Loyd Sigmon, executive vice president, KMPC Los Angeles, and Dr. Kenneth Harwood, U. of Southern California, described the public-affairs seminar held Evans stresses need for unfettered radio-tv CITES DANGERS OF FEDERAL INROADS AT CHICAGO MEET It is far more preferable to accept the risks inherent in freedom of expression than to give the "power of broadcasting" to government, Herbert E. Evans, president of Peoples Broadcasting Co., told the Assn. for Professional Broadcasting Education in Chicago March 31. NAB's delegate to the Inter-American Assn. of Broadcasters, Mr. Evans said broadcasting is the most important ingredient in molding public opinion, a fact modern dictators quickly grasp. "No dictator can stay in power without some control over radio and television," he said. IAAB currently is fighting a trend in Latin America to require the use of tv and radio sets capable of tuning but one station, Mr. Evans reported. Onestation sets make program control much easier, he indicated. President Nasser of the United Arab Republic, he noted, had sets built and sold cheaper than imported models in order to reach his people. Mr. Evans said that everywhere he travels he finds great interest in broadcasting and "even in the most dismal village there is a transistor radio." Peoples Broadcasting stations are WRFD-AM-FM Columbus-Worthington, Ohio; WTTM-AM-FM Trenton, N.J.; WMMN Fairmont, W. Va.; WGAR-AM-FM Cleveland; WNAX Yankton, S.D., and KVTV (TV) Sioux City, Iowa. New Officers ■ APBE elected W. Earl Dougherty, KXEO Mexico, Mo., as president, succeeding Dr. Harold F. Niven, U. of Washington, who joined the staff of NAB last Monday as assistant to the vice president for planning and development, (APBE new officers' picture, page 106). Melvin A. Goldberg, NAB vice president-research director, told an APBE Mr. Evans panel discussion there is too much "after the fact" research in broadcasting today. New methods must be found, he said, which will "let us predict how our programs and campaigns will do." The need for pure research to help 94 (SPECIAL REPORT: NAB CONVENTION) BROADCASTING, April 8, 1963