NAB reports (Jan-Dec 1941)

Record Details:

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Columbus, May 4-7, with “radio in the current crisis” the theme of the meeting. A record number of broadcasters attended last year’s institute, and were enthusiastic about it. The NAB hopes that an even larger number can attend this year. George V. Denny, Jr., moderator of Town Hall of the Air; Dorothy Lewis, vice chairman of the Radio Council on Children's Programs; Paul White, director of news broadcasts for CBS; Leonard Power of the FREC; Walter G. Preston, Jr., manager of NBC’s Public Service Pro¬ gram Division; Ed Kirby, War Department, and Neville Miller are a few of the many prominent radio authorities scheduled to speak or conduct meetings. A complete program may be had on request at the NAB. CONSUMER MEETING The Third National Conference on Consumer Educa¬ tion held at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, April 7-9. Since the conference was purely educational, most of the dis¬ cussions were confined to ways and means of disseminating Con¬ sumer material and the use of “National Defense,” as the means to an end. Advertising methods were discussed very little, but when they were brought up, they were attacked not from the “over” Advertised angle, but the “under” Advertised angle; E. I. a breakfast food advertises protein content, but a human would have to eat one-tenth of his weight of this breakfast food to get enough proteins for a normal day. It was the concensus in the radio discussions that a Consumers’ program must be sustaining, that any attempt to commercialize a Consumer’s program would completely destroy it’s value. Exclusive of the above, the conference attempted to set up machinery to spread Consumer information. “Since radio stations devote approximately 50% of their time to programs of a public service nature, the Institute for Consumer Education should use a great percentage of that.” Daily and weekly market reports should be broadcast both on networks and local stations inform¬ ing the public of the unwarranted rise in prices, reports on the National Defense Program, and the broadcasts of unethical busi¬ ness practices and principles in the line of National Defense. New techniques should be found to reach the listeners in the lower income bracket, possibly thru the “Soap Opera” medium. Ma¬ terial from the Institute of Consumer Education should be organizerl nationally and sent to local groups interested in such ma¬ terial. These local groups, Federated Women’s Clubs, Better Busi¬ ness Bureaus, etc., would, in turn, request time on local stations for broadcasts in the Institute interest. Charles Berry’s National Defense talk on the National Farm and Home Hour was commended, and it was suggested in the Keith Tyler discussion that the National Broadcasting Company should be approached and requested to use more Consumer Material, and incorporate market reports on commercial products during the National F'arm and Home Hour. In the consumer group, radio is recognized as the best medium for Consumer Education, and on the strength of the programs now on the air of the General Federated Women’s Clubs, the further use of independent radio stations for consumer education programs is urged. 352 — April 18, 1941 ALUMINUM DISCS In the NAB Reports (p. 265), reference was made to the possible effect of defense priorities upon available aluminum for the making of radio transcriptions. Some stations express apprehension lest this problem may be¬ come acute if proper steps are not taken. One forward looking operator writes: “Would it not be appropriate to appeal to advertising agencies to go through their piles of transcriptions that stations have sent them as samples of different programs, air checks, and so on, and ask their return to the respective stations as determined by the labels thereon. The stations can get an equal number of new recording blanks for the old ones they send in to the disc manu¬ facturers. In this way the supply to the stations is assured, with¬ out interfering with defense needs for aluminum. This, of course, would only apply to the acetate type of blank which has an aluminum base. If stations can get their used blanks back we can probably keep going indefinitely, but with a constant outgo and no new stock available, we are all going to suffer from this shortage.” This is a good suggestion and we commend it to the attention of all station managers. Labor JOB CHANGES The NAB Labor Committee believes that stations em¬ ploying members of other stations’ staffs should require them to give due notice to their old employers before leaving. The committee emphasizes that it believes broadcasting employees should have absolute and unrestricted oppor¬ tunity for self-advancement. Nevertheless, it appears to be only fair that due notice be given by employees before leaving their jobs — and that this notice be required by the new employers. The Labor Committee expresses this opinion in the light of information that some stations have been hard hit when their employees left for better jobs without adequate notice, to fill jobs made vacant in other stations by the departure of men for selective service or reserve officer duty. Sales SALES MANAGERS’ MEETINGS In all districts where they have not already been held, meetings of the Sales Managers’ Division have been scheduled for some date before the NAB convention. Station managers are urged to be represented, either in person if they direct sales, or by their sales manager.