NAB reports (Jan-Dec 1947)

1 760 N STREET, N. W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. Vol. 15, No. 12, March 24, 1947 Three Department Heads Named By NAB, Bringing Staff Up To Full Strength The appointment of three new departmental direc¬ tors was announced by NAB on Friday (21 ) . Robert K. Richards, editorial director of Broadcast¬ ing Magazine, will assume the duties of Director of Public Relations; Harold Fair, pi'ogram director of WHO, Des Moines, will become the first Director of the newly-created Program Department; and Royal V. Howard, chief engineer, KSFO, San Francisco, will supervise NAB’s technical activities as Director of Engineering. (Continued on page 228) Broadcasters Mobilize In National Campaign To Combat Juvenile Delinquency More than a thousand radio stations of the United States will combine their strength to battle the rising tide of juvenile delinquency, according to plans which have been laid by the NAB. The campaign was launched Thursday (20) by NAB President Justin Miller when he addressed a personal letter to the managers of the Association’s member stations and networks urg¬ ing them to take the initia¬ tive in tackling the prob¬ lem at the community level. Program materials, back¬ ground information, and suggestions will be distrib¬ uted to stations on a con¬ tinuing basis. Judge Miller, a member of the Attorney General’s Conference on Juvenile De¬ linquency and the American Bar Association’s Juvenile Delinquency Committee, has been active in efforts which are being made at the national level. Pointing out that many stations already are work¬ ing effectively on the prob¬ lem, Judge Miller stressed the opportunity which the (Continued on page 229) NAB, Suggesting Labor Policy To Congress, Stresses Need For Sound Legislation The position of the NAB with respect to pending labor legislation was made known to Congress last week by President Justin Miller in letters to the chair¬ men of the Senate and House of Representatives labor committees. Emphasizing that the secondary boycott has been “the most critical, but by no means the only collective bargaining abuse perpetrated by certain unions on the radio industry,” Judge Miller continued: "The broadcasters of the nation want Congress to enact a sound national labor policy which: (1) affords all parties equal protection under the law; (2) makes labor contracts enforceable and the parties thereto mutually responsible; (3) protects industry from jurisdictional strikes; (4) safeguards the economic system from such coercive and monopolistic union practices as featherbedding, the extraction of roy¬ alty payments, and the use of the union label as an instrument of boycott." Secondary Boycott: To underscore his concern about the secondary boycott, the NAB President reiterated a public statement on the subject which he made last January at the NAB Board’s direction. He said: “The broadcasters of America support President Truman in his opposition to the secondary boycott. We only regret that he made any reservation in his rec¬ ommendation for correction of this 'unsound pi'actice. “The radio industry at this time reaffirms its un¬ varying opposition to the secondary boycott, in any form, and hopes that Con¬ gress will take immediate and decisive action to elim¬ inate this serious obstacle to mutually beneficial re¬ lations between employees and management.” Judge Miller also stressed in his letter to the two com¬ mittees: “If the broad¬ casting industry is to be given the same protection as other industries, labor legislation should be ex¬ panded to include ‘services’ as well as ‘goods and ma¬ terials’.” (Continued on next page) msms THIS ISSUE ASCAP and NAB officials, after discussing future contractual relations at a meeting in New York last week, expressed satisfaction with results of the initial meeting. “The problems are not insoluble,” a joint statement said. (p. 230) The FCC last week declined to approve the CBS petition for commercial color television. The Com¬ mission, however, commended CBS upon its experi¬ mental work and urged continuance, (p. 230) Commodore Webster was confirmed by the Sen¬ ate last week to fill the vacancy on the FCC. He is expected to take his oath of office about April 1. (p. 232) The FCC has announced the resignation of George Adair as chief engineer. Mr. Adair, enter¬ ing private practice, will be succeeded by George Sterling on April 30. (p. 232) To broaden the base of ownership of the national debt, the Treasury Department will inaugurate a “Buy A Bond A Month Campaign” to supplement the present payroll deduction plan. (p. 235) MARCH 24, 1947-227