NAB reports (Jan-Dec 1939)

Neville Miller, President Edwin M. Spence, Secretary-Treasurer Edward M. Kirby, Director of Public Relations ; Joseph L. Miller, Director of Labor Relations; Paul F. Peter, Director of Research GOVERNMENT BROADCASTING AGAIN PROPOSED (Continued from page 3185) with NBC officials still on the stand. The Commission expected to complete testimony about NBC this week. Columbia is to follow. Mr. Celler’s promise to reintroduce his Government station bill was included in a long blast at the Nazis. At another point he said that the FCC “shall be encouraged by all means in its determination to support stations which refuse to allow their facilities to be used by those — en¬ thusiastically misguided — to stir up race animosities and religious strife.” “There is not involved any violation of the right of freedom of speech,” Mr. Celler added. “The late Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once considered a similar situation and stated that free speech never gives the right to any man to yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.” NAB IN NEW HOME The NAB Headquarters is now on the ninth floor of the new Normandy Building, 1626 K Street, N.W., Wash¬ ington, D. C. — just two blocks north of the White House. The staff spent the holiday weekend moving from the National Press Building, and are now ready for visitors in the new quarters. The phone number remains unchanged, NAtional 2080. MONOPOLY HEARING Children’s programs, liquor advertising and NBC profits were discussed at the FCC monopoly hearing January 4, resumed after a holiday recess. NBC officials are slated to conclude their testimony this week, with CBS scheduled to take the stand next week. JANUARY 4 The National BroadcastinR Company henceforth will not accept on its networks any advertising for beer or light wines, Leno.x R. Lohr, NBC President, stated. Mr. Lohr e.xplained that the new regulation is an extension of the company’s long standing ban against liquor advertising. The NBC president was preceded on the stand by Mark Woods, Vice President and Treasurer of NBC, who explained the com¬ pany’s finances since it was organized in 1926. Mr. Lohr had not completed his testimony when the hearing recessed until tomorrow morning at 10:00 o’clock. The company’s liquor policy in the past has meant the barring of considerable potential revenue, Mr. Lohr stated, but said that it was felt to be in the public interest to prohibit it. Discussing policies toward advertising continuity, Mr. Lohr ex¬ plained that general policies are laid down by the NBC Advisory Council, and supplemented in the company by details based on experience. Questioned by Chairman Frank R. McNinch of the Commission as to the extent to which NBC controls advertising copy, Mr. Lohr stated that NBC has complete and final authority as to what it broadcasts, and feels that responsibility is NBC’s alone. NBC’s policies along these lines are now being set down in detailed written form, he continued, and after discussion will be distributed to all advertisers and agencies. Concerning children’s programs, Mr. Lohr said that, speaking as the father of five children as well as a broadcaster, he felt that the general quality of NBC’s children’s programs is satis¬ factory, and that comparatively few complaints about them are received. Time is not sold for religious programs, he said, or to groups advocating particular theories or philosophies, because it is felt that the power of radio is so great that it would permit the richest of such groups to “sell” their particular beliefs to the public. NBC’s religious programs, he said, are conducted under the auspices of the three great faiths in this country and are designed to have a general rather than a denominational religious appeal. Under NBC’s policy, he said, time is given for discussion of controversial subjects of general interest, and if issue is taken with such talks, representatives of the opposing viewpoint are given opportunity to reply. Mr. Lohr stated that as far as the entertainment programs are concerned, he could see no reason why they all should not be sponsored, but that he felt that perhaps IS to 2S percent of the programs were of a nature that would not benefit from commercial sponsorship. In opening his testimony, Mr. Lohr explained that it is his duty to see that “policies of the company, in all of its operations, are so arranged as to best serve the company.” The better service the company gives the public, he went on, the better it serves its own future. Questioned by Philip J. Hennessey, Jr., NBC Counsel, concern¬ ing testimony by previous witnesses that the number of NBCaffiliated stations had grown from about 90 to 166 in the three years he has been president, Mr. Lohr stated this increase was a result of a study he had made. This study convinced him, he said, that such expansion would render greater service to listeners because it would enable NBC to make available to listeners in all parts of the country the programs on both its Blue and Red net¬ works, that it would render greater service to advertisers by enabling them to have stations broadcasting their programs more nearly in accordance with their marketing needs and that it would benefit NBC by giving it more to sell. Mr. Lohr explained that it is not his conception of public service to limit such programs as the Toscanini concerts to a few stations when the larger networks such as have been established by NBC can carry those concerts to all parts of the country thereby serving millions more listeners. The policy of signing five-year contracts to supply program service to affiliated stations, Mr. Lohr stated, was another he had introduced. Radio’s chief asset is service in the form of programs, he stated, and to operate successfully, it must set up a long-time plan of service, calling for some assurance of available facilities and revenue. Advertisers, he pointed out, would not be willing to use radio for advertising purposes if they could not be assured that the facilities they desired would be available. Questioned as to whether he believed the listening public bene¬ fits from the fact NBC maintains an Artists Service Bureau, Mr. Lohr stated that he felt that such artist management had definite public benefits. The presence in the company of management experts enables NBC to discover and develop many young artists, he declared, and the facilities and opportunities of radio enable these young artists to attain success much more rapidly than would be the case otherwise. Artists experienced in other fields also benefit from such management, he continued, because radio tech¬ nique is unique, and without proper guidance even established concert artists might not be a success on the air. Asked whether he felt it was advisable for NBC to have two networks, Mr. Lohr stated he did for the reason that the radio audience has a variety of tastes, and that when one NBC network is serving one section of the audience, the other network can serve an entirely different section. Similar service by other competitive networks, he declared, satisfied still other groups, thus assuring the public of the maximum possible service. 3186