Community Video Report (Autumn 1974)

— ay i 6: broadcasting Media magnate bill stalls in Hill panel by Chuck Berk On May 1, 1974, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the broadcast license renewal bill, H.R. 12993, by a 379-14 margin. A modified version of H.R. 12993 followed, with approval in the Senate by a 69-2 vote. Although both versions of the bill strongly favor the broadcasters’ interests, there are substantial differences between the two, which must be resolved in conference committee before final passage, which now looks doubtful in this session. The House bill would allow the FCC to monitor the ascertainment studies conducted by the broadcaster in determining whether the broadcast operations have been substantially responsive to the studies to merit license renewal. The Senate version is more specific in its requirement that programming be substantially responsive to ascertainment. Secondly, the House bill would allow no questions concerning ownership interests to be considered at any license renewal proceeding. The Senate bill, however, would permit ownership factors such as concentration of control over mass media to be examined in “individual” or “Unique” cases. No definition of individual or unique is given in the bill. Thirdly, the House bill would alter the jurisdiction for court review of FCC decisions by distributing jurisdiction among the several circuit courts of appeal. The Senate version would leave the jurisdiction unchanged with the D.C. Court of Appeals. Fourth, the House bill would place strict limitations on filing times by citizens or community groups in license renewal contests. The Senate version would not alter the more liberal existing procedure. Fifth, the House bill would call for the retroactive application of the ~ bill’s provisions to benefit the already powerful broadcasting interests, whereas the Senate version has no effective date clause. Finally, both bills would extend the license renewal term from its present three year period to five years. Citizen’s Information Project helped to spearhead the opposition to H.R. 12993 that succeeded in modifying the Senate version. The purpose behind the opposition was to prevent Congress from passing key legislation that would restrict the ability of emerging interest groups to gain access to the media and to insure a responsive attitude by the media to the public. Although both versions of H.R. 12993 curtail citizen group input into the licensing procedure, a formidable array of feminist, racial minority, and consumer groups did TVTV hits Washington with 1/2” video _ [TVTV, from p. 1] Technical Factors TVTV’s work is a proving ground for the latest in video and the possibilities of the technology. Two portable color cameras were tried out in this production. At the beginning they used the JVC camera (Model GC 4800U) and PV-4800U portapak. But that camera has a very slow tube, making shooting difficult in scenes with mixed lighting. It also required a very high light level for operation (400 foot candles). Although designed as a ‘portapak’ (walking) unit the JVC unit cannot be used when you are walking. Because of the threading pattern, when you move the tape records an incomplete signal, and therefore time-bases badly, making it unusable for transfer up to quad. The Panasonic 3082 portapak suffers the same malady. They then got the new Sony color camera DXC 1600 from Japan and used that either with a Sony 8400 or a Sony cassette (model VO-3800). With the Sony, there is no problem walking with the portapak. When the production began, the decision between using color or black and white was governed by light. Color was only for those perfect lighting situations. With the Sony camera much more color shooting was possi * THE SUBJECT of much of Top Value TV's work has been the media themselves. Michael Couzens and other staffers banter with a “‘fellow" newsman at a Capitol Hill hrioting SSO ASI8g To the Courts for Kid Vid Forces Children’s groups and public-interest advocates are gearing up for what may be another 4!4-year battle over children’s televi-: sion, inthe wake of the FCC’s official policy. passed in October. That policy, which was immediately attacked as inadequate by Peggy Charen of Action for Children’s Television, the Bostonbased group whose Feb. 1970 petition started the whole push for better TV service to American children, contains the following features for TV stations to follow: —make “some provision” for special needs of pre-school children; —telecast present programming through the week, not on weekends; reduce level of advertising in children’s programming in accordance with reforms adopted by National Association of Broadcasters and other industry groups, which had been coerced by jawboning from FCC Chairman Wiley. avoid host selling and other techniques that make it difficult for children to distinguish between programming and adverlising: —make clear separations between programming and advertising content. Essentially the FCC has passed no mandatory rules in the area, but has relied upon voluntary compliance by an industry which has been refusing to respond to public pressue for 414 years. ACT, for instance, had proposed eliminating all sponsorship of children’s programming, and requiring stations to rep sent specific amounts of programming at stated time periods and aimed at certain age groups. : ACT immediately filed a notice of appeal with the D.C.Circuit Court, but has not announced the grounds. Henry Geller, former FCC general counsel and now an independent researcher at RAND Corporation, has announced that he intends. to file a petition for reconsideration of the rules with the FCC. He has three criticisms: first, that when the Commission uses phrases like “reasonable effort” and “meaningful effort”, they are opening themselves up for wide variation of interpretation, and an inevitable this will lead to a great number of petitions to deny licenses of broadcasters by the public. These petitions would be impossible to resolve given the Commission’s vagueness. Secondly, Geller points out that the economics of children’s advertising form the heart of the conflict, and that no progress would be made as long as the networks are working competitively. He suggests that the Commission take some leadership by encouraging a relaxation of anti-trust provisions so that all three networks could broadcast higher-quality children’s programming simultaneously, which of course, would receive a maximum audience and thus higher ad revenues. Finally, he is totally opposed to commercials in programming aimed at pre-schoolers, who, the Commission even admits, are not equipped to distinguish between programming and ads, no matter what safeguards are taken. He calls this practice “uncivilized.” ble because the DXC 1600 has a faster tube, and can operate at light levels fairly close to those required for a standard blow video camera. The major complaint about the cassette was weight; at 30 pounds, though mobile, it was not portable. The black-and-white cameras had Tivicon tubes, which are low light level. Much of the ‘style’ tape was shot using these cameras. Daily maintenance of the equipment was handled by Steve Conant, then two days a week by Wilson Chou would come down from Boston to check out the tape machines and match them, and do any major repairs. Throughout the production the rushes were checked for their time base error, on a dual triggered oscilloscope. In the transfer from 4” to 2” the TV/ Lab uses either a CVS 500 (black and white) or a CVS 504 (b/ w or color) time-base correctors. Postproduction : In mid-November, after two months of production, they pulled up stakes and left the city where “all the men wear business suits. and the women dress like bank tellers,” as Michael Shamberg remarked. Through December they will be editing the tapes at the TV/ Lab in New York. After doing a rough edit on 'A4”, they transfer those portions up to 2”. Using the rough edit as a sequence guide, they then edit on 2”. Their relationship with the TV/Lab of WNET-13, is one they value highly. Its director, David Loxton, has made this project possible, and the completion of ‘Lord of the Universe’ a reality. The Lab engineer: John Godfrey, has provided them with “a good working relationship with an engineer who is not biased against portapaks.” Future Air time for the four-part half-hour series ‘Gerald Ford’s America’ is tentatively scheduled for January by PBS. TVTV hopes to bring this series in for about $96,000. This was under the funding from NET’s TV. Lab for a year’s work, with a budget of $230,000. Of that, $183,000 goes to TVTV for productions and the rest is for the technical assistance that the Lab is providing. After completing ‘Gerald Ford’s America’, they want to work on a smaller scale for a while, and possibly even do some scripted pieces. On this scale will be a show on Cajun music, which they will begin work on in early °75, and possibly a piece of the future of TV in late Spring. And the future beyond? “Someday we'd like to have a regular time slot on the PBS network,” said Michael Shamberg. Perhaps someday TVTV will become the household word that Walter Cronkite is today! They have published a booklet, based on their production experiences. The Prime Survey by TVTV. Copies can be obtained from TVTV Box 630 San Francisco, Calif. 94101. 35. personal and community. $10. business and institutional. The New Yorker muster a stiff opposition to its provisional acceptance. The controversy surrounding H.R. 12993 has not come to an end. A House-Senate confefence must still be convened to reach a compromise between the two differing versions. Rep. Harley Staggers (D.-W. Va.), charged with appointment of the House conferees, has not yet acted, and has expressed his own dissatisfaction with the five year renewal provision. His inaction may cause discussion of the bill to be postponed until next year and the new Congress. In the meantime, as H.R. 12993 becomes more widely publicized, opposition to it continues to grow. Calif. groups submit record license filings Veterans in the broadcast reform movement in California—where activists have been at it for years—met the Nov. | license renewal deadline witha ream of filings before the FCC. There were four competing applications for the licenses of existing broadcast stations, and more than two dozen petitions to deny renewal of licenses. Broadcasting Magazine, in a major story, admitted that the petitions _ represented “new standards of creativity, «ete pink» Cttetaiatees ate eet tenets FO) » oA diversity. and thoroughness.” { Charles Firestone, one of several attornyes from Citizens Communications Center, who represents many citizens’ groups. told CVR that “California is one area that produces excellent work. We often don't even have changes before sending petitions to the Commission.” The actions—against TV, AM, and FM stations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose, and other cities —were often spearheaded by the Committee for Open Media, a loose coalition of media activists started by philosophy professor Phil Jacklin of San Jose State University. More details about petitions, their content and legal arguments is available from Phil, or Citizens Communications Center in Washington. CBS Counters Vanderbilt with Archives Video Deal CBS has just signed a two-year agreement with the National Archives to make videotape copies of its news and public affairs programs available for research work at the Archives headquarters in Washington, at 11 regional branches and at six presidential libraries. Study requests would also be honored from university and other libraries around the country. : The CBS deal comes fast on the heals of a suit by CBS against the only other archival recorder of network television news, the Vanderbilt University’s project in Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt began videotaping the evening news broadcasts of all three networks beginning Aug. 5, 1968, and sells dubs of full programs or any portions of newscasts on audio and video formats at cost. The University also issues monthly an abstract and index to abstracts of all network newscasts. CBS has charged Vanderbilt with violating its copyright by “trafficking” in tapes and making excerpts without permission. CBS seeks to have the school blocked from further taping and to surrender existing CBS tapes. For more information about the new deal, write National Archives, Washington D.C. 20408. Vanderbilt’s project: James P. Pilkington, Administrator, Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Joint University Libraries, Nashville, Tennessee 37203. >