Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1952)

12 Biggest complaints about TV Code — at least the most vocal — are coming from advertisers and agencies, many of which find suggested time limits on commercials intolerable and discriminatory. Don Nathanson, advertising director of Toni Co., addressing Chicago TV Council, complained that national advertisers with expensive programs in Class A time are limited to 3 minutes of commercials per half hour, while local announcement and shoppers’ programs may have as many as 6. Benjamin J. Green, TV-radio director of Arthur Meyerhoff & Co., Chicago, is quoted in Advertising Age as saying code is unworkable for many advertisers and that many TV stations are “refusing to cut their own throats,” and are not adhering to what he called “ridiculous standards.” He said that if local retailers are forced to conform to the suggested time limits, “they would have to give up TV entirely.” Meanwhile, NARTB signed up 89th code subscriber. U of Pennsylvania’s battle against NCAA’s TV control plan flared up again this week when athletic director Fran Murray said Penn won’t participate if his legal advisers term it illegal. At January’s NCAA convention (Vol. 8:2), Murray’s position was that any agreement imposing restrictions on individual colleges is illegal. Penn led lengthy fight against TV controls last year (Vol. 7 :5, 21, 23-24) , and its possible defection might upset NCAA’s elaborate plans for 1952 TV program, still in formative stage. Murray contends: (1) Televising all games would demonstrate to public good side of intercollegiate sports, offsetting recent criticism. (2) Controlled TV hasn’t achieved its stated aim of protecting small colleges. Said Murray: “They’ve got to come to it — in a year or 2 or 3. It’s the greatest medium we have for telling our story to the public. Why don’t they understand that now?” Defeat of Johnson-Case Bill to ban TV-radio liquor commercials (Vol. 8:3-6) came March 26 when Senate Interstate & Foreign Commerce Committee voted it down by same bare margin (7-6) that licked similar Langer Bill in 1950. Commenting on this week’s action, NARTB president Harold Fellows, who spearheaded industry opposition to bill, reiterated that measure was unnecessary because of TV Code, that it discriminated against TV-radio, that it would have encouraged legislation against other products. Still pending in House is Rankin Bill (H.R. 5889), to prohibit commercials on all alcoholic beverages, including beer and wine. House Interstate & Foreign Commerce Committee hasn’t set date for hearing on it. “Hard core of big stations” will form backbone of AM “when the too numerous ‘weak sisters’ are finally weeded out,” as more and more money is shifted to TV. So predicted Crosley Broadcasting’s chairman James Shouse, commenting in March 14 Tide Magazine on occasion of 30th anniversary of WLW, Cincinnati. He pointed to WLW’s loss of urban audience and “rather alarming decline,” for 2 years, from $4,500,000 sales in 1945. This trend was reversed by intensified rural programming and promotion, so that gross this year, Shouse estimated, will run over $5,000,000. Those resolutions to investigate “offensive and undesirable books and radio and TV programs” (Vol. 8:8-9, 12) bore fruit this week when House Rules Committee favorably reported H. Res. 520, introduced by Rep. Gathings (D-Ark.). It’s expected House will pass resolution shortly, set up 15-man committee comprising 3 members from House at large, plus 4 each from Interstate & Foreign Commerce, Judiciary and Post Office & Civil Service committees. It’s presumed Gathings will be chairman. FCC Chairman Walker, a Presbyterian elder, is subject of highly laudatory biographical sketch to appear in forthcoming edition of Presbyterian Life. Count of TV Sets-in-Use by Cities As of March 1, 1952 Estimates are sets within .1 Mv/m contours (60 ml.), excluding overlaps, as established by NBC Research. SETS-IN-USE jumped to 16,535,100 as of March 1, or 405,800 more than Feb. 1 (Vol. 8:9), according to NBC Research’s monthly report released this week. If rate of increase continues, it’s probable that end of year will see 20,000,000-mark reached. March 1 report’s largest increases include New York City, up 50,000 since Feb. 1, Los Angeles 25,000, Pittsburgh 23,000, Chicago 17,000, Philadelphia 16,000, Detroit 14,000, New Haven 14,000, Boston 12,000, Cleveland 12,000, St. Louis 10,000, IndianapolisBloomington 10,000. Following is March 1 count (consult individual stations for their estimates of number of families within respective service ranges): No. No. Area Stations Sets Interconnected Cities Ames (Des Moines) Atlanta 1 3 Baltimore 3 Binghamton 1 Birmingham Bloomington 2 (see Indianapolis) 1(a) Boston 2 Buffalo 1(b) Charlotte ... 1 Chicago _ 4 Cincinnati 3 Cleveland .... . 3 Columbus Davenport 3 Rock Island 2 Dayton 2 Detroit 3(c) 1 Erie Grand Rapids & Kalamazoo 1(d) Greensboro 1 Huntington 1 Indianapolis & Bloomington Ka) Jacksonville... . 1 Johnstown 1 Kalamazoo 1(d) (see Grand Rapids Kansas City 1 Lancaster 1 Lansing 1 Los Angeles 7 Louisville 2 Memphis . 1 Milwaukee Minneapolis 1 St. Paul 2 Nashville 1 New Haven 1 80,000 161,000 373,000 56,000 95,300 874.000 259.000 132.000 1,110,000 315.000 595.000 202.000 96.000 181,000 634.000 62.500 160.000 78.000 72,300 231.000 53.500 144.000 196.000 140.000 85.000 1,125,000 130.000 123.000 321.000 312.000 60.000 250.000 No. No. Area Stations Sets Interconnected Cities — (Cont’d) New York 7 Norfolk 1 Omaha 2 Philadelphia 3 Pittsburgh 1 Providence 1 Richmond . l Rochester l Salt Lake City 2 San Diego _ l San Francisco . 3 Schenectady 1 St. Louis l Syracuse 2 Toledo l Dtica l Washington 4 Wilmington l Total Inter connected 95 2.890.000 107.000 121.000 1.022.000 385.000 205.000 114.000 138.000 71,500 114.000 349.000 203.000 382.000 160.000 166,000 68,000 344,000 96,100 15,642,200 Albuquerque Brownsville (Matamoros, Mexico) {Dallas I Fort Worth Houston Miami New Orleans Oklahoma Clty_ Phoenix Cities 13,500 1(e) 2 1 San Antonio Seattle . Tulsa Total Non-Inter connected 14 10.500 158.000 128.000 84,000 85.400 92,300 39,200 69.500 135,000 77.500 892,900 Total Interconnected and Non-Inter connected 109 16,535,100 (a) Bloomington separately 148,000. Indianapolis separately 211,000. (b) Does not include estimated 47,000 sets in Canadian area reached by Buffalo station. (c) Does not include estimated 32,000 sets in Canadian area reached by Detroit stations. (d) Grand Rapids separately 129,000. Kalamazoo separately 136,000. (e) Estimate for Texas area. Estimated 2500 additional sets in Mexican area of Matamoros station. Note: TV sets sold in Canada totaled 83,297 up to Jan. 31, 1952, according to Canadian RTMA (Vol. 8:10). Since Canada has no stations of its own and nearly all of these sets are in border areas, they add appreciably to audiences of stations in nearby U.S. cities. The CRTMA area count as of last Jan. 31: Windsor 31,854, TorontoHamllton 31,590, Niagara Peninsula 15,013, other areas 4732. ■ New-station applications for Chattanooga, Tenn. and Boise, Idaho this week brought total pending to 519, of which 36 are for uhf. Mountain City Television Inc., largely same principals as WAPO, Chattanooga, asks for Channel No. 3, and Boise’s KIDO seeks No. 7. It’s third application for Chattanooga, second for Boise. [For further details, see TV Addenda 14-J herewith; for tabulation of all pending applications, see TV Factbook No. H and Addenda to date.] Note: Actor Ronald Colman was disclosed this week as chairman of new corporation, of which KDB manager Colin Selph is president, applying shortly for TV in Santa Barbara, Cal. Already applicants are KIST (Harry C. Butcher) and M. R. Schacker, of Los Angeles, both for Channel 4.