Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1959)

4. AUGUST 17, 1959 Congress NO TV QUIZ ‘CIRCUS’? Nobody who played a part in TV’s late & lamented big-money quiz show era — sponsors, producers, contestants — is going to be hurt who doesn’t deserve to be hurt in the House Commerce legislative oversight subcommittee’s investigation of the program phenomena. That’s the reassuring word we get from chief subcommittee counsel Robert W. Lishman, who’s in charge of groundwork for the probe of last year’s quiz scandals which may — or may not — lead into public hearings & headlines (Vol. 15:31-32). “We certainly don’t intend to start any hearings before we know we are thoroughly prepared,” Lishman told us. “We won’t call people in indiscriminately. Innocent people will not be injured. And it’s impossible to say now when we’re going to have hearings.” Fears that the House inquiry under Chairman Harris (D-Ark.) may turn into “a great circus” had been voiced earlier by economist Louis M. Hacker, foreman of the N.Y. Grand Jury which put in 9 months investigating the quizzes. In a letter to the Washington Post & Times Herald last week he added a plea that “naive” contestants in particular be spared “the spectacle” of an expose of how they succumbed to “corruption” on allegedly rigged programs. But Lishman said there’s no cause for such concern now — the subcommittee’s staff hadn’t yet dug out enough material from the minutes of the Grand Jury proceedings even to form a basis for hearings. Subcommittee lawyer Charles F. Howzo & consultant Richard N. Goodwin were in N.Y. last week, looking over pieces of the transcript as they were delivered by court stenographers. Also in N.Y. on a similar assignment from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Magnuson (D-Wash.) was communications subcommittee counsel Nicholas Zapple. Judge Mitchell D. Schweitzer, who had given the House committee permission to examine the Grand Jury minutes, signed a formal court order (as expected) extending the same privileges to the Senate committee, which also would like to see the jury’s still-sealed presentment on its probe. Zapple told us that the Senate committee — like the House subcommittee — wasn’t ready yet to make any decision on whether it should start public hearings. Already in staff files of both investigative groups are reports on the quizzes and interviews with participants. They were obtained independently after the 1958 program scandals broke, but didn’t contain enough investigative leads to justify full-blown Congressional probes. Witnesses wanted: Owners of TV stations which carry week-end telecasts of major-league baseball games should line up to testify at upcoming House Judiciary anti-trust subcommittee hearings on bills permitting clubs to agree on blackouts & brownouts (Vol. 15:32), NAB’s TV v.p. Thad H. Brown said last week. Urging stations to put in applications for time on the stand. Brown said it is essential that the subcommittee know how local situations would be affected by the proposals. The measures include financial data for 1958 (see p. 2) . Movie industry is warned not to “misrepresent our nation or its people” abroad in a resolution (H.J. Res. 495) introduced by Rep. Smith (R-Cal.). It calls on Hollywood “to take appropriate action to make certain that no damage will be done” to U.S. foreign relations by export showings of American films. A companion measure (H.J. Res. 500) was submitted by Rep. Derwinski (D-Ill.), The FCC More about TV PROFITS & LOSSES: The average profit of 311 TV stations which earned money during the year-long operation of 1958 (vs. 282 in 1957) was $162,000 — before they paid federal income taxes — and 8 pre-freeze vhfs each chalked up profits of 3 million or more. On the other side of TV’s ledger, 164 stations lost money last year — to the median tune of $77,000. These are among the statistics packed into FCC’s final TV broadcast financial data for 1958 (see p. 2). The biggest individual money earners last year were in the pre-freeze vhf category. In addition to the 8 making $3 million-plus, 6 earned $2-3 million, 10 took in $1.5-$2 million, 19 were in the million-dollar class. The median profit i of 93 pre-freeze vhf outlets in 1958 was $930,000, up from i $906,000 in 1957 (see table -»). Profitable post-freeze vhfs (only 7 made $1 million or h more) had median earnings of $98,000 last year vs. $91,000 > in 1957. As for uhfs, only 7 made as much as $100-$200,000 * in 1958, 20 more reporting earnings under $100,000. The losers included 14 pre-freeze vhfs (6 dropped «■ $200-$400,000 apiece), 104 post-freeze vhfs (71 lost less t than $100,000) and 46 poor cousin uhfs, most of which s managed to hold down red-ink totals to less than $100,000. >j As reported in June by FCC in an overall 1958 TV ^ radio picture (Vol. 15:25), TV broadcast revenues went up di 9.2% to $1.03 billion from $943.2 million in 1957 (see ac i companying table) to make it the telecasters’ first billion m dollar year. ( For comparisons of TV revenues, expenses & .J earnings starting with 1946, see Television Factbook.) 1 Note: Copies of the complete 1958 TV report, including ^ 9 charts and tabulations of individual market data, are j| available from FCC. Orlando Ch. 9 battle lines for FCC’s “influence” case m rehearing (Vol. 15:31) were drawn last week. Notices of i intention to participate in the proceedings — ordered by the ^ Court of Appeals on allegations that WLOF-TV (Mid J Florida TV Corp.) won the grant after off-the-record .-<1 pitches were made to ex-FCC Comr. Richard A. Mack — q were filed by Mid-Florida, loser WORZ Inc. and FCC gen. 1 counsel John L. Fitzgerald. No date was set for the rehearing pending developments in the federal court retrial i of Mack and lawyer Thurman A. Whiteside on Miami Ch. 10 conspiracy charges in Nov. (Vol. 15:32). Meanwhile, i loser Du Mont Labs filed a reply to allegations by loser i Greater Boston TV Corp. in another “influence” case — ^the award of Boston Ch. 5 to WHDH-TV (Vol. 15:29-30), which now is being studied by special FCC examiner Hor ! ace Stern. Du Mont said Greater Boston had made a “wholly unjustified & scurrilous attack” on its lawyers. Liberalized microwave rules promulgated by the FCC j last month have little impact on telecasters, according to j Commission attorneys, because the rules had previously | been eased so that stations could get their own private f systems regardless of the availability of common carriers. ( Last month’s action gives similar privileges to users such ( as railroads, pipelines, etc. Two applications for new TV stations were filed with I FCC last week: For Alamosa, Colo. Ch. 3 and Santa Fe ' N.M. Ch. 11, both by Harrison M. Fuerst, part owner of KVOR Colorado Springs, KPAS Banning, Cal. & KTUF Turlock, Cal. TV applications pending: 108 (13 uhf).