NAB reports (Jan-Dec 1948)

He is the author of a book on public and labor rela¬ tions, You and Your Public. The Industry Music Committee, at its meeting also announced that Joseph H. Ream, executive vice presi¬ dent of CBS, will replace Frank K. White, new presi¬ dent of Columbia Recording Corporation, as the CBS representative on the Committee. Seven Industry Spokesmen Set to Appear At Wage-Hour Hearing on Overtime Pay Seven representatives of the radio industry will appear before the Wage and Hour Administrator January 7 to seek clarification of overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as applied to several kinds of radio station personnel. The industry representatives will be Richard P. Doherty, director of the National Association of Broad¬ casters’ Employee-Employer Relations Department; J. Allen Brown, assistant director of the NAB Broad¬ cast Advertising Department, Small Market Stations division; R. T. Mason, general manager, WMRN, Marion, 0.; Marshall H. Pengra, general manager, WBOM, Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Merrill Lindsay, general manager, WSOY, Decatur, Ill.; Prof. Fred S. Seibert, University of Illinois school of journalism director; and a network spokesman as yet unnamed. The NAB on Nov. 20 recommended to the Wage and Hour sub-committee of the House Education and Labor Committee that the Fair Labor Standards Act be revised to provide overtime payments based only on regular hourly rates of pay for standard work weeks as defined in union contracts or agreed to by employers and employees, and to clarify exemptions classifications of executive, administrative, and professional personnel. Research Department Gross Retail Advertising Income in 1947 Increases 17%, National Spot Climbs 9% Radio stations’ gross revenues from retail advertis¬ ing in 1947 increased by nearly $20 million over 1946, bringing income from this type sponsorship to $136 million for the year just ended, a survey completed last week by the NAB Research Department shows. Based on replies from a projectable sample of the broadcasting industry, the NAB sui'vey also showed that national spot business was up some 9% and net¬ work revenues declined very slightly. The figures do not refiect net profits, but supplement a recent NAB survey which showed average gross station revenues up about 8% in 1947, with operating expenses up 9%. The survey made by NAB also takes into account the new stations in the industry, the growth in whose num¬ bers would account for the smaller average station revenue increase. There were more than 1,400 sta¬ tions in 1947, compared with 953 in 1946. Pointing out that all estimates of 1946 revenue from local advertising were seriously under the actual fig¬ ures, especially those for local retail advertising, as revealed by the FCC recently, the NAB Research De¬ partment reported from its survey that income from local advertisers will exceed the 1946 figure by about 17%. The rise was taken by NAB’s Broadcast Advertising Department as further proof of radio’s growing im¬ portance as a “community” medium. Correcting for underestimation of 1946 revenue, and adding the expected increase for 1947, on the basis of the NAB survey, the following comparative table shows the increases and decreases : Gross Revenue 191,6 1917 National networks. . $126,739,000 $125,796,000 Regional networks . . 5,728,000 5,500,000 National spot . 82,917,000 90,000,000 Local retail . 116,380,000 136,000,000 Totals . $331,764,000 $357,296,000 Public Interest Prograiumiug Ad Council Network Campaigns Fight Tuberculosis— Get a Chest X-Ray The Advertising Council has selected this campaign as important to the public interest BECAUSE . . . Tubercu¬ losis causes more deaths among persons between 15 and 44 than any other disease. Approximately 50,000 people in the United States die of it each year. BECAUSE . . . This deadly disease can be eliminated by public action. Scientific knowledge of the causes of tuberculosis and its methods of prevention has now made it possible to wipe out this menace. BECAUSE . . . Furthering the rapidly growing practice of mass chest X-rays — the aim of this campaign — is the most effective single step toward defeat¬ ing tuberculosis. Since 1904, the year the National Tuberculosis Association was organized, the death rate from TB has been cut by 80%. From first cause of death in 1904, TB has been forced down to seventh place — more than 4,000,000 lives have been saved. Yet tuberculosis is still one of the country’s greatest health problems. Last year more than 50,000 Americans — 144 a day, 1 every 10 minutes — were killed by it. It is the leading death-dealing disease among persons between 15 and 44. In addition, tuberculosis costs America millions of dollars annually in lost hours of work and in caring for the sick in hospitals and at home. Science and technological progress have made the vast cost of TB in lives and property a sheer waste. For more than half a century, mankind has known the cause of the disease, its method of spreading and the right way to prevent it. TB can be wiped out — if individuals and communities take the necessary steps to detect, diagnose, treat and arrest the spread of the disease. Explain the importance to the individual, his family and his community of finding out if he or she has TB: (a) Of a half million people in the United States estimated to have TB only 50% are known to health departments — in its early stages TB frequently has no symptoms — anyone may have TB without being aware of it. (b) The sooner TB is detected the quicker and easier the cure — and family and friends made safe from contagion. Urge each listener to protect his own and his family’s health by having his chest X-rayed. In some places he can get an X-ray free or at nominal cost through his local tuberculosis association or health dedart ( Continued on next page) JANUARY 5, 1948-5