NAB reports (Mar-Dec 1933)

The National Association of Broadcasters NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING * * * * * WASHINGTON, D. C. PHILIP G. LOUCKS, Managing Director NAB REPORTS * * * * * Copyright, 1933, The National Association of Broadcasters Vol. 1 No. 7 APRIL 22, 1933 REORGANIZATION PLANS INDEFINITE Although many reports are current with respect to the plan to reorganize government bureaus and commissions, no official an¬ nouncement from the White House has been forthcoming. It is generally known, however, that the proposal developed under the direction of Secretary of Commerce Roper is now at the White House, but it is doubtful if the President has had an opportunity to give detailed study to the proposal. In the meantime, however, the Director of the Budget has recom¬ mended to the House Appropriations Committee that appropria¬ tions for the Commission during the fiscal year commencing June 30, 1933, be reduced from $780,427 to $640,000, or $140,427 less than the amount provided in the bill passed by the Congress last session and which was given a pocket veto by President Hoover. Judge Sykes appeared before the House Committee this week and testified in executive session with respect to the 1934 appropriations for the Commission. William H. Castner, advertiser, were held to be jointly liable. The statements in issue were contained in a broadcast prepared by Castner, newspaper publisher, relating to prohibition repeal. The statements, it is reported, attacked the sheriff for alleged resale of confiscated stills, while as a matter of fact he destroyed them, the decision said. The decision of the Washington court follows in principle the decision of the Nebraska Supreme Court which is now on its way to the Supreme Court of the United States. NEWS BROADCASTS BEFORE A. P. GROUP The annual meeting of the Associated Press, which will be held in New York on April 24, will have before it the question of pro¬ hibiting broadcasts of its news. Announcement was made last week of the results of a poll of A. P. members conducted last month which revealed a feeling that broadcasting of A. P. bulletins should not be permitted. SYKES TO HEAD U. S. DELEGATION Judge Eugene O. Sykes, chairman of the Federal Radio Commis¬ sion, will be chairman of the delegation which will represent the United States at the North American Radio Conference now tenta¬ tively scheduled to be held at Mexico City, Mexico. No definite date for the conference has been fixed. Judge Sykes and Senator Wallace H. White of Maine were named by the State Department to represent this country at the confer¬ ence last February but it was not known until Friday (21) that Judge Sykes would head the delegation. Judge Sykes, one of the original members of the Commission, was chairman of the United States delegation which attended the International Radio Conference at Madrid last fall. With Senator White he has been active in the formulation of plans preliminary to the Mexico City conference. Meetings of the Committee preparing for the meeting are continuing, with subcommittees giving con¬ sideration to details of the work. WGN APPEALS WBBM-KFAB DECISION Station WGN this week filed an appeal in the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia from the decision of the Commission authorizing Stations WBBM, Chicago, and KFAB, Lincoln, Nebr., to synchronize their operation. The appeal alleges that interference will be caused on a nearby frequency and points out that the appli¬ cation w-as granted in the face of an over-quota condition in the Fourth Zone. On motion of the Commission, the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal of Station WERE, Erie, Pa. (Docket No. 5881), which was taken from a decision of the Commission refusing renewal of license to the Erie station. An application for stay of mandate was filed in the Court of Appeals by Station WNYC. New York, in the Station WMCA, New York, case. The reason assigned for' the stay is that Station WNYC is contemplating appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. Recently the Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the Commis¬ sion denying the New York city station all of the time which it had requested. KHQ HELD LIABLE FOR LIBELOUS MATTER The Supreme Court of Washington has held Station KHQ, Spo¬ kane, Wash., jointly liable with the speaker for alleged defamatory statements uttered over the station. The Supreme Court upheld a decision of the Spokane County Court awarding Sheriff G. G. Miles of Spokane County $1,000 in damages for defamatory words spoken over Station KHQ. Louis Wasner, owner of the station, Charles G. Lantry, announcer, and WBAX DENIED ADDITIONAL FACILITIES The Radio Commission has sustained Examiner E. W. Pratt in his Report No. 466 by denying the application of Station WBAX, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to change its frequency from 1210 to 930 kilo¬ cycles, and to increase its power from 100 to 250 watts and to change its hours of operation from specified hours to unlimited time. The Commission found that the present service of the station would not warrant the granting of the increased facilities asked for by the station and that although the proposed change in fre¬ quency and increase in power would enable the station to render a more extensive service, “there would result objectionable inter¬ ference between WBAX and other stations operating on the same and adjacent frequencies both in the United States and Canada.’’ FLORIDA WOULD LEASE STATION WRUF A bill introduced in the Florida Legislature, House No. 353, by Brown, provides that the State Board of Education be empowered to lease the radio station at the University of Florida, on such terms and conditions as may seem to be in the best interest of the State, reserving certain hours to be used for broadcasting purposes of the State, the money received from the lease to be paid monthly into the State treasury. OKLAHOMA RADIOCASTING TAX The Oklahoma General Sales Tax, which was passed by both houses and approved by the Governor, levies a sweeping two per cent tax excepting only a few items specifically set out. The tax is specifically levied upon “all sales of electricity ... to domestic or industrial consumers thereof,’’ and “upon all sales of service in radiocasting, whether in the transmission of messages or otherwise, or in the leasing, hiring, or renting of radiocasting equipment or facilities’’; . . . “provided that when . . . electricity is sold for industrial purposes, the tax shall be one per centum . . .” The law is effective upon approval, and was approved on April 18, 1933. REFUSING ADVERTISING The Iowa Supreme Court this month in the case of Shuck vs. Carroll Daily Herald explicitly affirmed the doctrine that newspaper publishers have a right to publish w’hatever advertisements they desire and to refuse to publish whatever advertisements they do not desire to publish. The plaintiff asked the equity court to compel the newspaper to accept and publish his advertisement after it had been refused without reason even though he had tendered the usual charge for like advertising. His petition was dismissed. • Page 27 •