Television digest with AM-FM reports (Jan-Dec 1951)

2 MBS, and Tom O'Neil runs Yankee-Don Lee, is MBS chairman. Time-Life has long eyed TV, once held block of CBS stock. Meredith had big TV plans pre-freeze, did start TV station WHEN in Syracuse, is still applicant for Albany and Rochester. Foregoinp; are some of more obvious prospects in deal which May 4 AP dispatch also confirmed, but stated was in "an exploratory, still nebulous stage at best." !f: ❖ In view of silence of CBS and ABC officials, no specific details are availatile — but speculation was rife. Reasonable facts and deductions added up to this: (1) Deal is far from fait accompli, though it's understood CBS chairman Paley and president Stanton, ABC president Kintner and v.p. Hinckley have made some soundings in Washington. It's predicated on ability to sell what remains after CBS should absorb into own network ABC's WENR-TV, Chicago ; WXYZ-TV, Detroit ; KGO-TV, San Francisco. That would leave WJZ-TV in New York and KECA-TV in Los Angeles, plus AM network with its 5 owned-and-managed stations to be sold; also would mean CBS would have to divest itself of its 45% of WTOP-TV, Washington, for it cannot own more than 5 TV outlets and already has WCBS-TV in New York and KTSL in Los Angeles. (2) Without its profitable TV stations, and facing bitter competitive struggle now under way among AM networks, ABC radio network faces uphill fight for commercial survival. It runs poor third among networks in AM billings, also TV network billings (Vol. 7:17), has poor recent record of earnings (Vol. 7:17), must meet AM rate cuts already announced by CBS and NBC. This deal again makes clear ABC is on block, despite frequent disavowals (Vol. 7:13-14). (3) Relations between AM networks and affiliates, especially CBS's & ABC's, are becoming more and more strained — may be aggravated by this move. CBS affiliates are still smarting under rate cuts suddenly sprung on them (Vol. 7:15-17) ; and ABC members, unhappy about poor billings, now wonder just where they stand. Already, recriminations abound, as TV impact on radio structure takes on curious, confusing and high-finance twists. (4) Congressional and FCC reaction isn't hard to guess if net effect is to reduce competition — even though many hard-headed observers of the commercial scene find it hard to figure how more than 3 AM networks can survive current changes — maybe not more than 3 TV networks too. At FCC, everybody professed to be astonished at news. Competition has become a shibboleth there; only 8 years ago, in 1943, the then FCC chairman James Lawrence Fly led move to force NBC to get rid of Blue Netv;ork for sake of more competition, and it was purchased for $8,000,000 by Ed Noble and associates, becoming ABC. Hint of political obstacles is contained in statement by Sen. Ed Johnson, who heads committee with all-powerful sway over FCC, radio and TV. He said: "In principle. I'd be opposed to such a merger. I'm against any move towards monopoly in the broadcasting network business. I'm dubious about such a merger, unless there are factors involved that I know nothing about. I should think our committee would want to move in and learn all the facts involved. I'm for competition and lots of it. There's already too much monopoly in the radio business." ^ Eager quest for TV stations, of which there are now only 107 though channels could have been had for the asking only a few years ago, is evidenced not only by CBS-ABC deal and intense interest in freeze-thaw (see p. 4), but also by station sales deals of last year (see p. 12, Vol. 7:17) and others known to be cooking. At least 2 Midwest TV stations are currently subject of sale negotiations in 7-figure sums. Networks aren't involved; details should be revealable soon. TV SPONSORS STICK, NBC AN RATES CUT: TV networks say they're holding onto most of their evening sponsors through summer — most with same shows, some with substitute shows. If reaction of public is good, they think pattern for year-round sponsorships will have been established, contrary to hiatus precedent of radio. Slammer schedules are now being aligned, so it's too early to secure exact data. But CBS-TV's Jack Van Volkenburg says virtually all sponsors are staying on, definite orders on hand already from 80%. NBC-TV's Frank Reed reports 5 full-hour