NAB reports (Jan-Dec 1939)

Four types of educational programs were described by Mr. Lohr; 1. programs designed for use in schools, such as the NBC Music ■Appreciation Hour conducted by Dr. Walter Damrosch; 2. the National Farm and Home Hour type, serving the needs of a great body of citizens; 3. more general educational programs, “sugar coated with entertainment” and of high interest value, such as spelling bees and controversial discussions; and 4. programs of indirect educational benefit, such as religious programs. Radio cannot do the work of schools, however, Mr. Lohr said, because formal education is not generally adaptable to broadcast¬ ing, inasmuch as radio programs must appeal to a wide audience. “.And it is too easy to ‘cut’ classes by turning the dial,” he added. JANUARY 10 The degree of control exercised by the managers of Columbia’s eight owned and one leased stations was the subject of consider¬ able discussion at the first session of the hearing dealing with CBS. Said Mefford Runyon, CBS A’ice-President and principal witness of the day: “We try, so far as possible, consistent with Columbia’s general policy and with good network operation, to give our station man¬ agers in the various cities in which they operate, the same degree of freedom of choice which is enjoyed by an affiliated station operating purely as an affiliate of Columbia in that same city.” Previously, Frank Stanton, in charge of the CBS Research Divi¬ sion, had described the system’s set-up, and had compared the size of CBS to the remainder of the broadcasting industry. If a CBS-owned station manager thought he should supplant a network commercial with a local sustaining program, Mr. Runyon said, he consulted CBS headquarters, but the ultimate decision was up to the local manager. Mr. Runyon testified that there were 1,724 full-time CBS employees at the end of 1937, and that 861 of these worked in New York City. The total payroll for these, he said, was $5,309,330. He also described at length the set-up of the CBS Artists Bureau, and offered extensive figures as to the amount of time sold at the various CBS stations. JANUARY 11 After Mr. Runyon concluded his testimony, Frank K. White, Treasurer, took the stand. He first described the financial set-up of the CBS and its subsidiary corporations, and outlined the financial history of the purchase of CBS stations. ASCAP, FLORIDA AND WASHINGTON APPEALS ARGUED BEFORE SUPREME COURT Appeals from the Florida and Washington decisions in¬ volving the anti-monopoly statutes of those states were argued before the United States Supreme Court January 10. Tyrus A. Norwood, Assistant Attorney General, and Lucien H. Boggs, of Jacksonville, Florida, argued the Florida appeal in behalf of the State. Alfred J. Schweppe, of Seattle, represented the State of Washington. ASCAP was represented by Thomas G. Haight of New York. The question involved in both appeals was the juris¬ diction of the Federal court. It was contended by both Florida and Washington attorneys that the Federal court was without jurisdiction, in that ASCAP had not shown the jurisdictional amount of three thousand dollars to be involved either with respect to the Society or with respect to the individual complainants. The Florida appeal also involved the question of monop¬ oly. Mr. Boggs contended that a court of equity ought not lend its aid in furtherance of the monopolistic practices disclosed by the record. Considerable interest on this fea¬ ture was indicated by several members of the Court. Mr. Justice Black repeatedly questioned ASCAP’s counsel with respect to price-fixing. ASCAP counsel defended such practices, arguing that they were necessary, and that the license fees were reasonable. IMr. Justice Butler, how¬ ever, took occasion to comment that there was no such thing as a benevolent monopoly. Both cases now are under consideration. Decisions by the Supreme Court normally are rendered within two months from the date of the argument. CANADIAN PERFORMING RIGHTS SOCIETY LOSES FEE INCREASE The Canadian Copyright Appeal Board has denied an increase of fees to be paid by broadcasting stations in Canada, for the right to perform copyrighted music of the Canadian Performing Rights Society, Ltd. (The ASCAP interest in Canada). Under the Canadian law the Performing Rights Society must file its tariff of fees on or before each November 1 with the Secretary of State at Ottawa, and objections to the tariff may be lodged by users with the Canadian Copyright Appeal Board. The formula for determining fees is on the basis of the number of radio sets, and this year the Performing Rights Society demanded fourteen cents per set, as against eight cents per set last year. The Performing Rights Society also demanded an additional sum of $36,370 from broad¬ casters under the provision of a recent amendment to the Canadian Copyright Act, which exempted owners of receiving sets operated in public places where no admis¬ sion is charged from the payment of a public perform¬ ance fee. The amendment provided that such fee, as far as practicable, should be collected from the broadcasting stations. The Appeal Board allowed only the sum of one thousand dollars to compensate for the loss of rev¬ enue from radio sets in public places, which sum is to be pro-rated amongst the more than eighty Canadian broad¬ casting stations. WCAU WINS INJUNCTION The Dauphin County (Pa.) Court has enjoined the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission from enforcing a state law which, among other things, banned horse race broadcasts. The injunction was granted to Station WCAU, Phila¬ delphia, and 21 other Pennsylvania stations, pending de¬ termination of the constitutionality of the lawq The law w'as aimed to stop bookmaking, but was so worded as to affect broadcasting. ENGINEERING CONFERENCE The NAB again reminds broadcast engineers of the second annual broadcast engineering conference to be held February 6-17 at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. The prospectus for the conference says, in part: “The primary objective is to establish a common ground for discussion among leaders in the industry and operating 3199