Variety (May 1941)

22 RADIO Wednesday, May 14, 1941 Senator White Calk for ICC Probe Of Network Anti-Monopoly Rules Washington, May 18. Senator 'Wallace B. White, Jr., of Maine, today (Tuesday) called , for an Interstate Corameree Committee InTCstlgatlon of th« following points snrroDUdlng the recent Federal Commnnlcatlons Commfsslen's antl - monopoly roles: - 1) Their probable effect npon the broadcast system and net- work organisations; Z) their probable effects on the quality of programs; 3) whether the roles give the F.C.C. sopervlsory control of programs, business management, or policies 6t either stations or networks; 4) whether they will adversely affect the broadcast strnbtare and service; 6) whether they are a threat to free speech; and 6) whether they eontrlbote to Government owfter- shlp and operation of radio, or tend to make radio stations com- mon carriers. Except for White, there was no sign of any immediate intervention on Capitol Hill. Other law-makers were deeply interested, but nobody on either side was inclined to come Into the open. The minority report last week at- tracted considerable attention from both sides. A number of legislators felt the Case-Craven viewpoint was soundest; many others thought the dissenters weie protecting monopoly, Curiously, neither side in the F.C.C, split was publicly praised or damned by anybody in Congress. On the whole, it looks as if the law-makers want to find out which is the most popular side of the tiff, and more importantly, where the White House stands. Sen. Wheeler's Stand Senator Burton K. Wheeler, chair man of the Senate Interstate Com merce Committee, conferred with Senator White Monday (12), but afterwards indicated he'is far more concerned about the war situation than about radio. Previous^ he has rapped the Commish for not taking action to break up the alleged monopoly and has seemed S3rmpa- thetic to the complaints- of Mutual Broadcasting System. Sometimes, though; he has looked askance at the regulators' claims that they have all- sweeping power. Wheeler . is un- doubtedly the most influential of the various solons interested in radio matters, but has fingers in so many other pies it is doubtful whether he can find time to give much thought to network regulation now. On the House side, silence also was the case. Only Representative Kichard B. Wigglesworth, Massa- chusetts Republican, had much to say. The Bay Stater, who fired rocks at the Comnvish only a few days be- fore the report came out, sarcasti- cally repeated he was interested in knowing what the regulators think about .levying a tax on 'the people who make tremendous profits' out of.using the ether under cost-free permits. 'Unitei Press Sends Big Group to N.A.B. Conclave Meeting o£ United Press executives was held in New 'York last week in advance of Zie National Assn. Broadcasters' annual, convention St Louis. Edwin Moss Williams, vice-president and general sales manager, and A. F. Harrison, radio sales manager, reviewed UP radio activities during the year and out' lined plans for the future. • UP representatives at the St. Louis gathering include' Hugh BailUe, pres. Ident; Williams and Harrison, Thomas R. Curran, central division . manager, Chicago; Jacques D'Ar- mand, southwestern division man ager, Kansas City; Stanley Whltaker, southern division manager, Atlanta Jack Bisco, assistant business man- ager; New York; and business repre- sentatives Mims Thomason, Chicago, and S. D. Hales, Kansas .City. Not So Liberal New television rules aren't as liberal as they first seemed. The Federal Communications Com- mission digest indicated the 15- hour-a-week minimum operat- ing schedule could be filled as the proprietor saw fit. Actual regulations specify, however, that every video'plant must be on the air two hours daily six days a week, between 2 p.m. and 11 p.m. And for five of the six days, the picture pro- ducer must function at least one hour (of the two) between 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. SPECULATION ON FCC AND A.T.&T. Speculation persists in broadcast- ing industry circles as to the status of the American Telephone & Tele- graph Co. relevant to the FCC. Neither the premilinary report on the 'monopoly' investigation, nor the proposed rules, nor the final set of regulations said anything about the A. T. & T. , And yet, when the Commission originally set out to draft a monop- oly report, it was almost openly stated that,the A. T. & T. was going to be one of the viUains.in the piece. Subsequently, however, NBC Scherwin on Commercials St. Louis, May 18. Horace Scherwin, of the Spector agency, was • sp>ecial guest speaker before the sales managers' group of the NJ\..B., which held closed session Monday (12) morning. Scherwin, a loader in qualltatlva radio research, discussed radio' commerciab. Vic Ratner Leaves CBS For Lord & Thomas, N.Y^ Clmms Hand Him Watch ■Victor M. Ratner, director of Sales Promotion at the Columbia Broad- casting System, suddenly r«slgned last Wednesday (7) and wUl go to the Ijord St Thomas agency In New York. «His secretary at CBS. Ruth Brown, 'will probably follow him to L&X In'a month or so. Paul Kesten, boss and longtime colleague of Rat- ner, Issued a statement of rogret Ratner has been with CBS over 10 years. Temporarily, Dr. Frank Stanton will supervise the sales projoaotlon directorship as well as the research directorship. Sudden decision of Ratner forced Stanton to cancel his Intended participation in tha NA3. convention at St Louis this week. At an Intimate company farewell to Ratner, hastily arranged for last Friday, Stanton on behalf of Rat- ner's fellow-workers presented him with a gold watch. MiMred Fenton to Bates Mildred Fenton, script editor and writer contact for the New York office of Blackett-Sample-Htimmert, joins the Ted Bates agency next week as head of daytime radio and and I director of scripts and casting. CBS were assigned to the role, and the A. T. Si T. got by with nary a mention.' In 1939, last year for, which figures are avaUable, the three major websl . i « v ~ forked dver more than $5,000,000 to Affiliates Eaithfnl — BoBenbanm She will also act as general assist- ant to Jack Runyon, the agency's radio head. the phone cdmpany for wire lines (exclusive of ribbons to the trans- St Louis, iHvj 13, Sam Rosenbaum, of WFIL, Phlla- mltters). Speculators now want to delphia, on behalf of NBC affiliated 'know what the FCC will do if and | stations, said he believed they would when the current chains are whittled all string along with the network down, and some new webs start com- i once> the latter decided upon any -ing In. I reasonable course of action. Convention Cross-Talk " ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«♦♦««♦♦«♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦<*♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ St Louis, May 13. All members of the NAB wearing badges prominently marked BMI in red. Veteran staff members of the trade association took 185 registrations by Sunday (11) night as indicative'of the total probable registration of 800 at the convention. Bob Rosenwald, of Plough Chemlr cal, and Clark Brown, of Lake Spiro Sherman agency, both of Memphis, in attendance. Charles Gaines, secretary and pro- gram manager of World Broadcast- ing, attending his. first .J^AB • con- vention after 10 years in business. Al Sambrook and Pat Campbell, of same company, also here. Standard, Langworth, NBC and Columbia also operating demonstrations for broad- casters. Owen Uridge, P. M. Thomas, M, R. Mitchell and William Alfa represent- ing WJR, ' etroit while Gene Carr, Jqhn Patt and R. Pierce here for sister station WGAR, Cleveland. Leo Fitzpatrick arriving later. ' Walter Bloeser, who has spent last three years in preliminary work on new style of advertising insertion in newspaper station listings, is at convention. Halsey Barrett to WHBI Halsey. Barrett has. been named assistant manager and sales man- ager of WHBI, Newark. He was previously sales promotion manager, and later salesman, for 'WNEW, New York. Newark airer -is currently opening an office in Manhattan, and plug- ging itself as a test station. ■ L. B. Wilsun complaining he wired a gag to a Columbia exec and it ap- peared in print not only attributed to someone else but the gag was mu tlilated. Says nothing in his CBS affiliate contract forces him to ac cept such conditions. Sales promotion display for sta- tions proved disappointment to broadcasters and other Interested groups. Crowded into cramped quarters, with too many displays top D. of J. Silently MuDs monopoly Data; No Inmie£ate Action Seen Cheerful Note St Louis, May 13. A considerable number of Ca- nadian broadcasters .turned out for this NAB session. Notably present were E. A. Weir and 3. A. Dupont of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.; Harry Sedg- wick of CFRB, Toronto, and Glenn Bannerman, head of the Canadian Association of Broad- oasters. Canadian contingent was able to give its U. S. colleagues some first-hand dope on the effects of tighter Government control of broadcasting. Not a few NAB members saw a ray of simshine In £he £ict that Canadian radio biz, for all its restrictions, has been prospering as never before during the past year. NBC BLUE MAY BECOME A CO-OP much.alike and not seen to best ad- vantage. Most notable display is large panel outside room for Broad- cast Music. This includes miniature motion pictures photographed in BMI offices showing the various steps in selecting, smoothing, editing, publishing and exploiting BMI num- bers. Gags around new Jefferson hotel lobby are flaying up the FCC rules and expected changes. One Colum- bia official kiddingly introduced him- self as from ,the 'Colvimbia Advertis- ing Agency.' Joe Miller, of the NAB, supervis- ing the press room for the conven- tion. This is new policy of the as- sociation, as Is ^e free admission to all events open for the press. Some 25 trade and other journalists were expected to cover the doings. Sun- day (II) meetings on Mutual-ASCAP negotiations were extensively re- ported by wire services, Julio Barata, of Brazil, and Glenn Bannerman, of Canada, are guests of the NAB. Barata heads Brazil's de- partment of Information and' Ban- nerman' is the Canadian equivalent of Neville Miller. St Louis, May U. Ultlmat* fato of the NBC Blue Network Is the subject of endless oonjectura at the N.A.B. conven- tion here. One movement that may gain momentum Is for present af- filiates of the Blue to combine co- operatively In the ittanner of Mutual to take over the system. It is fig- ured that Washington would look sympathetlcaUb^ upon such a devel- opment rather than have an Invest- ment syndicate float stock to finance a buy of the network. Edgar Kobak, vice-president in charge of sales, has assumed stations they have less cause for worry ac- tually than either the I^ed or Colum- iila, which have more to lose. Since the FCC orders, the Blue has closed with General Electric to sponsor a new program based on 'Business Week' material using 20 Blue sta- tions, starting this Thursday (15). Move for self-protection in an- ticipation of enforcement by the FCC of its new network rules has already been made by severd sta- tions. NBC has been advised by these that they were addressing let- ters to networks, giving notice that their contracts would expire as of Aug. 1, knd they would appreciate starting negotiations for a new agreement. Such cfflliates have their licenses coming up for renewal within that interim and they want to be in the position of showing the FCC that they have undertaken to 'tonfprm with- new rules. KSO, Des Moines, which has been iti the middle of negotiations for a new>. contract with NBC for the Blue, notified Mutual it would be entitled to half that station's time in 90 days and that the' station's policy would be flrst-network-come, first-served. On his arrival at jSt Louis Monday for his speech before NJV.B. con- vention, FCC Chairman ■ Fly in a press Interview stated thet he did not anticipate that NBC or Colum- bia would Challenge, the FCC rules on "network affiliate relations in court although hp thought it with- in the 'realm of probability.' Fly added that all the Commission sought was to put the broadcasting Industry in a state of healthy com- petition, which he did not think it was In at present Said he was pre- pared to help NBC market the Blue network, which he described as a good going concern. Another innovation at this con- vention wri: the preparation ofx^he advance registration list of broad' casters. KSD, St Louis, invited all NBC affiliates and executives to cocktails today (Tuesday) at the home of Joseph Pulitzer. Abe Schechter, of NBC, and Paul White, of CBS, both here for stunt news demonstrations for the conven tion. L. B. Wilson and Glenn Snyder, perennial convention tomboys, (Continued on page 27) Washington, May 13. Conclusions of the Federal Com- munications Commission on the question of alleged radio monopoly, along with the transcript of oral testimony and miscellaneous docu- mentary evidence, are getting 'active consideration' at the Justice Depart- ment but there is no likelihood the industry will know for several weeks more whether the trust- busters and the regulators -see eye to eye. The report supplemented by all the tables, answers to questionnaires, statistical and other data, has been turned over to 'Victor Waters, who handled most of the pick-and-shovel work leading to the consent -decrees in the music row. Assistant Attor- ney - General Thurman Arnold showed lively Interest but would not make any comment on the find- ings until all. the material , has been microscoped. Within the next 30 days or so, it is likely Waters will make a pre- liminary report on which Arnold and Attorney General Robert H. Jack- son can base a decision about going further. Until he has decided whether there is prima fade proof of anti-trust law violations, Arnold and Jackson are sure to keep mum... D. of J. Actions Donbttal In some respects, it is highly doubtful if the Justice Department wUl move against the networks, no matter what the F. C. C. majority had to say, because there is no possibility of denying that the com- mish is largely responsible for the conditions now existing. A promi- nent D. of J. official noted there has been' 'acquiescence* by the reg- ulatory authority, • and it would be hard to make charges stick, even if an Indictment were returned, in view of the fact that the F. C. C. has tolerated the growth of what five of the regulators now condemn. The facts which were sufficient, in the minds of the F. C. C. ma- jority, to justify the drastic reform order may be absolutely insufficient to get ah indictment let alone win a case. Jiutice Department officers remarked on the difference between the kind of evidence needed in a criminal proceeding (a civil action is unlikely, inasmuch as the Com- mish regulations. If upheld by the courts, will force wholesale, changes in business methods) and the facts required to support a regulatory policy. .While some of the evidence gathered by the commish can be ac- cepted, at face value, much of it will have to be double-checked. Since the industry has ^challenged the ac- curacy of the conclusions reached by F. C. C. accountants, the statis- tical material in particular is likely to get another going over from thd trust-busters. EVANS MISSES NJLB. AFTER GOLF MISHAP Green Bay, Wis., May 13. Haydn Evans, general manager of WTAQ, Is unable to attend the NAB convention, While playing golf Sun- day (11) morning, he was struck by a ball, necessitating eight stitches. Evans was unable to contact Bill Hlnes, his commercial manager, in St Louis, as the latter Is keeping whereabouts secret because he's get- ting married while attending the convention. A. N.A. Meet MuUs Monopoly Itegulations Possible effects of the new F. C. C. monopoly rules on advertisers was one of the principal topics discussed at the Association, of National Ad- vertisers' convention early this week at the Westchester-Biltmore Country Club, Rye, N. 'Y. At the suggestion of Paul West ANA executive,. a statement on the National Associa- tion of Broadcasters' attitude toward the riiles was wired to the ANA by Robert J. Landry, of ■Varibtt, at- tending the NAB convention in St Louis. Frank Stanton, of CBS, and Jack Greene, of NBC, gave 'model pre- sentations' ' to the sponsor group Monday (12) afternoon. Paul Smeltz- er, research head of Procter & Gamble, attended the ANA conven- tion. He had intended to bring his wife, now restored to health after a year's Illness, but she was kept at home by a sprained ankle. Al. Lehmann, manager of Cooperative Analysis of Broadcasting, planed to St Louis Immediately after the con- fabs, to be a special advertiser guest of Neville Miller, NAB president. Bea Warn Exit After a run of approximately two years, Bea Wain drops off tha Lucky Strike Hit Parade program follow- ing this Saturday's (17) broadcast. She'll be replaced by Louise King who's been with Percy Faith on the Carnation show out of Chicago. Barry Wood remains. Miss Wain will start a theatre tour in a couple of weeks.