NAB reports (Jan-Dec 1944)

WAGE ORDER AFFECTS BROADCASTERS ■ggM.UJ WASHINGTON 6, D. C. Phone NAtional 2080 1760 N St., N.W. J. H. Ryan, President C. E. Arney, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer Robert T. Bartley, Director of War Activities ; Lewis H. Avery, Director of B roadcast Advertising ; Willard D. Egolf, Director of Pub¬ lic Relations : Howard S. Frazier. Director of Engineering ; Paul F. Peter. Director of Research ; Arthur C. Stringer. Director of Promotion. PPOPOSED BY-LAW AMENDMENTS (Continued from page 231) The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor recently issued a wage order which affects all broad¬ casters. Effective July 17, the order provides: “Wages at a rate of not less than forty cents per hour shall be paid under Section 6 of the Act by every employer to each of his employees who is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce in the Communications, Utilities, and Miscellaneous Transportation Industries, * * The order further provides that the employer “shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous place in each department of his establishment where such employees are working such notices of this order as shall be prescribed from time to time * * The scope of definitions, accord¬ ing to the order, covers all occupations which are neces¬ sary to the operation, including clerical, maintenance, and selling occupations. As previously stated, the order be¬ comes effective July 17. same meeting. The proposed amendment would make it possible to hold a referendum vote if emergency conditions "DON'T CHANGE HORSES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE necessitated such procedure. STREAM" Proposal 3: Amend Article VII, Section 4 to read as follows : “Section 4. Nominations of Directors-at-Large and Network Directors. Nominations for each of the six Directors-at-Large, as defined in Section 2, above, may be made, in the alternative, as follows: Each duly ac¬ credited representative of an Active Member in attendance at the annual membership meeting shall be provided at the time of registration with a nominating ballot and with a certified list of all persons eligible to be nominated as Director-at-Large in each of the respective classifications; each such representative shall be entitled to write in the space designated on said ballot the names of two persons from among the names appearing on the certified list in each classification. The representative shall then sign his name to such nominating ballot and deposit the same in a receptacle to be conveniently provided therefor. At the opening of the general sessions on the second and third days of said Annual Membership meeting the SecretaryTreasurer shall post on a bulletin board located in the room where the sessions are held a complete list of all nominations deposited during the previous day; Provided, that the Elections Committee, hereinafter provided for shall certify to the Secretary-Treasurer the eligibility of the persons nominated for election in the class for which they are nominated. At the business session of said mem¬ bership meeting, which shall be held not earlier than the afternoon session of the second day thereof, additional nominations for Director-at-Large in any classification may be made from the floor. Nominations thus made shall be posted as nominated. During the morning ses¬ sion of the second day of the annual meeting, each of the said respective networks shall certify to the President its nominee or nominees for Network Director, as defined in Section 2, above, whereupon such nominees shall be deemed to have been placed in nomination, and shall be so reported to the members during that session.” Note: This amendment is likewise recommended by the Board Sub-Committee on By-Law Revision. Its purpose is to liberalize the method of nominating Directors-atLarge. Under the By-Laws as they now read nominations can be made only from the floor at the business session. The amendment would permit any member in good stand¬ ing to file nominations during the convention prior to the holding of the business session. It likewise retains the right of nomination from the floor. July 14, 1944-232 Chairman James Lawrence Fly of the FCC made public his reply to the protest by the copyright owners that their musical composition “Don’t Change Horses in the Middle of the Stream” had been barred by the major networks on the ground that it possesses political significance. Chairman Fly’s letter follows: “I have received your telegram of June 30, 1944, in which you allege that your musical composition ‘Don’t Change Horses in the Middle of the Stream’ has been barred by NBC, CBS, Mutual and the Blue Networks on the ground that it possesses political significance. “Under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, the Commission possesses no affirmative powers with re¬ spect to particular presentations over radio stations, except broadcasts by candidates for public office which fall within the scope of Section 315 of that Act. The matter of which you complain is not within the purview of Section 315. The Commission’s power with respect to the programs of existing station licensees is limited to determining in the light of the station’s entire operation whether the station has been operating in the public interest. “The statutory duty to operate in the public interest includes the obligation to afford a well-rounded, and not one-sided presentation of controversial public issues. From the single incident which you recite it could not be con¬ cluded that the organizations involved are pursuing a one-sided and biased policy. The utmost which you con¬ tend is that the networks have made an erroneous and unwarranted judgment as to the character of the song. “Your interest in calling this matter to our attention is appreciated.” PROGRAM MANAGERS START SERIES OF BULLETINS Beginning with this issue of NAB Reports and sched¬ uled at least monthly hereafter, the NAB Program Man¬ agers’ Executive Committee presents a series of articles on the job of programming and being a program manager. Members of the Committee and others selected because of their ability and experience will analyze the entire radio programming picture. These articles are to appear as “Special Program Man¬ ager’s Bulletins” and will be numbered so that they may be collected and preserved in a special folder in station program departments. They will constitute an excellent program manager’s handbook. The first articles, presented this week as “Special Pro¬ gram Manager’s Bulletin No. 1,” are the “Foreword,” by Harold Fair, Program Director of WHO, Committee Chair¬ man, and “The Program Manager’s Obligation to Man