Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1963)

Collins's summit meeting plan revived CONFERENCE ON COMMERCIAL REFORMS GETS BOOST FROM PASTORE LeRoy Collins, president of the National Association of Broadcasters, has acquired a powerful ally in his attempts to start a crusade for reforms in television commercial practices. Governor Collins, who was rebuffed by the heads of the television networks when he proposed a meeting on the subject three months ago, now has Senator John O. Pastore (D.-R I.), chairman of the Senate Communications Subcommittee, on his side. The alliance was made known last week in the release of an exchange of correspondence between the senator and the NAB president. Senator Pastore, on Oct. 21, wrote a letter to Governor Collins asking what broadcasters were doing to meet what he called "mounting criticism" of "overcommercialization, frequency and loudness of announcements and the clutter at station breaks." On Nov. 5 the NAB president wrote a reply stating that although the NAB radio and television code boards "have struggled long and hard to reach reasonable limitations in the area of advertising practices," more work is needed to be done. Governor Collins also told Senator Pastore that he planned a meeting in December with representatives of advertisers, advertising agencies and television licensees to discuss the problem of commercials. He added that the television networks would be invited to participate and that "I feel confident they will accept if they do not feel that through any such discussions antitrust infringements may be involved." First Attempt ■ Last August Governor Collins sent identical letters to Leonard Goldenson, president of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theaters, parent company of ABC, Frank Stanton, president of CBS Inc., and Robert Sarnoff, chairman of NBC, proposing a discussion of what he described as the "mounting difficulties" facing television advertising. He suggested an off-therecord, "no holds barred" meeting of himself, the network heads, advertisers, agency executives and the head of the Television Bureau of Advertising. All three network executives turned him down (Broadcasting, Aug. 19) on a number of grounds, although not all cited the same reasons. Antitrust problems would arise, it was argued, if the meeting led to "concerted action" by advertisers, agencies and broadcasters — as Governor Collins said in his letter he hoped it would. But other objections were also raised. The propriety of asking advertisers to help broadcasters shape their commercial policies was questioned. At least one network expressed the fear that Governor Collins had in mind the adoption in America of the British system of clustering commercials at "natural breaks" in programs. At the time the NAB president had recentlyreturned from a visit in England and had commented favorably upon the British custom. It was pointed out that in his proposal to the network heads Governor Senator John 0. Pastore Awakens to commercial criticism Collins had made no mention of the NAB code or its radio and television code boards. If the NAB president were to head a meeting on commercial practices without the presence of officials of the NAB code apparatus, it was said, the prestige of the code would suffer. Bell In The Picture ■ Last weke, after Senator Pastore had released the texts of his recent correspondence with the NAB president, Governor Collins said that Howard H. Bell, newly appointed director of the NAB code authority (Broadcasting, Nov. 11), would play a major role in the December conference that Governor Collins now contemplates. Beyond that, however, the NAB president was indefinite about his plans for the meeting. "We don't have anything firmed up yet," he said, "but there has been considerable interest shown." He added that final arrangements would be deferred until the end next week of the present series of NAB regional conferences with members. Meanwhile, however, Senator Pastore began setting up a meeting of his own. Through aides he issued invitations to the three television network heads, the chairmen of the NAB radio and television code boards, Governor Collins and Mr. Bell to an informal discussion on commercials in his office. This meeting, according to the senator's proposal, would follow the advertiser-agency-broadcaster meeting that Governor Collins hopes to arrange. The senator, it was explained, wants a briefing on the accomplishments of the NAB president's meeting. The Other Side ■ As chairman of the Senate Communications Subcommittee, Senator Pastore wrote his letter to Governor Collins two weeks before the counterpart subcommittee of the House held hearings on bills to prohibit the FCC from imposing limitations on the amount of advertising that stations may carry (Broadcasting, Nov. 11). Although he made no specific reference to the House hearings or go to the FCC rulemaking that precipitated it, Senator Pastore noted that the "heavy criticisms" of broadcast advertising practices had led to "urgings from many quarters that government intervention was necessary to protect the public interest." The senator asked the NAB president to tell him what was being done to meet the criticism. "I have always felt," Senator Pastore wrote, "that the broadcaster has reached the age of maturity and that there was sufficient competent leadership to understand the significance of the public interest as it related to this problem." A Main Issue ■ In his reply. Governor Collins said that broadcast advertising practices were a "problem with which I have been deeply concerned during my whole tenure of office at NAB." He said, however, it was a problem that was hard to answer because of conflicting interests. "Deeply involved along with the public interest," he wrote, "are the interests of the advertisers, whose financial support is essential for the operation of the media, of their advertising agencies, of the networks and of the individual broadcast licensees." The NAB president said that al 58 (BROADCAST ADVERTISING) BROADCASTING, November 18, 1963