Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1954)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

3 HEARINGS ON TV CRIME, HORROR & VIOLENCE': Another Congressional investigation of TV this one in field of programming — erupts into full-scale hearings Oct. 19-20 after months of exhaustive study at staff level. Senate Judiciary subcommittee on juvenile delinquency under Sen. Hendrickson (R-N.J.) this week announced forthcoming public hearings "to determine what effect the scenes of crime, horror and violence have upon the minds of the youth of America." These will be the first TV hearings by the group except for about 2 hours of testimony taken last June in New York — and they're bound to make headlines. Representatives of the 4 networks have been invited to testify, and the subcommittee's announcement says witnesses will also include "psychologists, sociologists, TV producers, actors, sponsors and station managers." Spectre of censorship always lurks in this type of investigation. And the subcommittee says its four members are "adamant on one point — they are strongly opposed to censorship." Nevertheless, official release adds: "If after full hearings it is determined that remedial steps should be taken, the blueprint for action will be included in the subcommittee's report." "The content of TV programs will be examined" at hearings, which subcommittee says are result of "complaints from thousands of parents across the nation." Intensive pre-hearing study focused on "the portrayal of crime, horror and violence." Subcommittee's last project, probe of comic book industry, was big force in mobilizing public opinion, though group hasn't yet issued its report. As result of hearings, comic book industry has organized clean-up campaign under new industry "czar". One publisher, who refused to join new self-censoring trade group, voluntarily discontinued publication of all "crime and horror" titles. Subcommittee's membership, besides Hendrickson, is composed of Sens. Langer (R-N.D.), Kefauver (D-Tenn.), Hennings (D-Mo.). Chief counsel is Herbert W. Beaser. rCC GRANTS 3, REVERSES EXAMINERS TWICE: Commission is giving its examiners a rough time lately, reversing them more often than not — twice this week, when it gave final decisions to WANE, Ft. Wayne, Ind. (Ch. 69) and Petersburg TV Corp. (WLEE, Richmond), Petersburg, Va. (Ch. 8). A third CP was granted this week. Commission finalizing initial decision in favor of WINR, Binghamton, N.Y. (Ch. 40), after WENE declined to contest initial decision. There were 3 uhf CPs cancelled at request of grantees; WECT, Elmira, N.Y. (Ch. 18); WFRB, Utica, N.Y. (Ch. 19); WCOG-TV, Greensboro, N.C. (Ch. 57). In Ft. Wayne case. Commission said that examiner Annie Neal Huntting erred in not deploring business practices of Journal-Gazette , controlled by Anthony Wayne Broadcasting's principals James R. Fleming and Paul V. McNutt. FCC noted that newspaper has joint ad rate with other paper in town, NewsSentinel, refusing classified or national ads unless advertiser takes both papers. This practice, FCC said, overweighs the fact that "Anthony Wayne can be more fully relied upon to provide a service adequately meeting the programming needs of the Ft. Wayne area than can [WANE]." There were no dissents. In Petersburg case, the FCC concluded that examiner Claire Hardy should have given Petersburg TV the nod because it proposes to attend to program needs of its entire service area, whereas WSSV confined itself to more immediate area. Commission also felt that Petersburg TV proposed superior agricultural programs and provided for superior remote facilities. Though FCC gave WSSV "clear-cut" advantage on local ownership-management, it decided that Petersburg TV is more responsive to needs of whole area. WSSV is controlled by local resident-manager Louis Peterson, while major stockholder of competitor is Tom Tinsley, who lives in Baltimore where he owns WITH and holds CP for WITH-TV (Ch. 72). Comrs. Bartley and Hennock dissented. # * * * Educators continued getting favorable break from the FCC, which this week rejected petition of WVOK, Birmingham, Ala., to make Ch. 10 there available for commercial use. WVOK cirgued thcit Ch. 7 educational station, now under consti-uct ion atop Mt. Cheaha, 57 mi. away, would put Grade A signal into Birmingham; that overlap