Variety (April 1953)

WedncBdayi April 2 % 1953 PMuiPri RADIO-TELEVISION 27 AM-TV WARNED TV Doesn’t Need Cashbox in Home Log Angeles, April 28. Whatever the shouting about the Inevitabiliy of a pix-TV wedding, video can and should solve its economic problem without a cashbox in the home. That's the conclusion of ECA board chairman David Samoff, who, in his keynote talk to the NARTB convention here, expressed admiration for what the Hollywood studios have accom- plished, but summed up: "Television can learn much from you,, but there is a good deal it must learn to forget." Samoff sees TV as one thing, films as another. "Audiences in the home and audiences in the theatre are quite different human entities. They will not long be satisfied With the same fare. They will expect, and rightly so, something in the theatre unlike what they can tap at home—and vice versa. This is all to the good. For it mteans that there is need for both types of offering. To satisfy this dual need calls for imagination, artistic enterprise and open-minded experimentation in the motion picture theatre and the television home alike. “I, for one, am not envious of the resources of Hollywood's motion picture studios or the boxoffice. I am convinced that TV, like radio, can solve its economic problems without a cashbox in - the home." ^ Loa Angeles, April 28. Application of the "Strange Things Are Happening” tagline was never more appropriate than in weighing . present-day National Assn, of Radio-Television Broad- casters conventions Cand particu- larly so this year 1) with those of the sound-only broadcasting days. This year's industry convention at the Biltmore Hotel, for example, is a case in.point. The big attrac- tion, with all the attendant fan- fare and circus hoopla, are the ex- hibits lined up solidly on the gal- lery and first floor of convention headquarters—representing equip- ment and assorted paraphernalia worth several million dollars. Any' broadcaster worth his engineering salt can walk in and in a jiffy go on the air with an ultra-modern television station, tak& your choice —UHF or VHF; color or black and white. There never was a convention like this one, with literally hun- dreds Of "barkers" to pull 'em in for a looksee at the latest fash- ions in electronics. In fact, the convention committee has been obliged to turn exhibitors away, de- spite the fancy prices they’re* will- ing to pay the association for floor space (not to mention their asso- ciate membership fee which has swelled the NARTp ranks to a new high). But all-the major compo- nents of a new and flourishing in- dustry are here—-all* the equipment manufacturers with gadgetry that (Continued on page 47) Indie Radio Group In a move to halt the grow- ing practice of selling radio- time at rates other than those regularly published, a group of indie broadcasters have . formed the American Radio Assn: New group will be head- ed by Todd Storz, manager of KOWH, Omaha, and will main- tain offices in N. Y, Group will furnish its seal to members. To join the as- sociation and get the seal, sta- tions will have to furnish the group with their rate schedule and furnish a copy of every contract for sale of time on the station. Web Color Pickups Tip Mitt in LA Los Angeles, April 28. There’s more than a modicum of interest in the scheduled address Thursday (30) before the nation’s broadcasters of the new FCC chair- man, Rose! H. Hyde. It will mark Hyde’s first official public appear- ance and address since his desig- nation by President Eisenhower to succeed retiring chairman Paul A. Walker. (Walker will also be on hand to introduce Hyde.) Major interest, of course, centers on whether Hyde, as the FCC’S first Republican chairman since* the Government agency came into be- ing, will tip his mitt on the antici- pated reorganization of the Corn-" mission. It’s no secret that, during tiie long Democratic tenure, the feeling has prevailed that the FCC, chiefly through pressure of its law department, has projected itself too prominently into the program-. ?t facets °f broadcasting. : Ifi tvt A < rfm« reveals the assembled jnartb delegates that one of his initial major -acts will be to reor- sanize the law division, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to many. Los Angeles, April 28. . With color television looming as a reality In the near future, up- permost in the minds of the major- ity of TV broadcasters attending the National Assn, of Radio-Tele- vision Broadcasters convention is the single question: "What will the advent of color cost our station?" And the magic number that has already swept the convention head- quarters is $10,000. Authority for the figure are the RCA "consultants," who were spe- cially dispatched to L. A. to en- lighten the broadcasters as to the economic ramifications of a com- patible system of color TV. Need- less to say, the RCA boys have been among the busiest individuals on the convention scene. Broadcasters envisioning figures in the stratosphere for the privi- lege of picking up the network color shows off their antennas prac- tically breathed a sigh of relief when assured that the tab would, at best, not exceed $12,000 and come closer to $10,000. Major items of expense, it was explained, would include sharpening up-'of transmit- er, amplifier cost, color monitor and sundry minor items. However, putting on a local live color show is.something else again, the TV broadcasters were told. For that’s when they get into the areas of color camera purchases, studio equipment, controls, etc., hot to mention cost of scenery, which even the networks haven’t been able to figure as yet. Bavaar, Leeds in Times' Singers Tony Bavaar and Laura Leeds take over "Inside Times Square," late-night five^a-week variety stanza bn WOR-TV, N. Y. They’ll replace Ray Heatherton, who launched the show couple of weeks ago. Times Sq. Stores continues to sponsor, g- j; lj i )*i 1 r 3 l- 1 Los Angeles, April 28. Expressing concern over the Government attitude toward broad- pasting, and the "errors in judg- ment and good taste” prevalent among, station operators, Harold E. Fellows, president of the Na- tional Assn, of Radio-Television Broadcasters, has sounded a warn- ing that failure to meet the de- mands placed upon such family media as radio and TV "will visit upon us the righteous wrath of the public, whose support is essential to the continuance of free broad- casting.” In a hard-hitting message to the NARTB’s 81st annual convention, Fellows cautions the nation's broadcasters to alert themselves to the fact that "next to Korea, the national debt, political patronage and (Senator)-McCarthy, the most popular subject in the Senate luncheon room in Washington is the broadcasting business.” "There is talk,” he says, "of legislation that would fix rates; there are diverse viewpoints on Section 315 of the Communica- tions Act, with all sorts of pro- posals for modifying or .strength- ening it; threat of a national policy board on programming .lingers in the corridors of Congress as well as elsewhere.” Fellows cites four major influ- ences bearing upon the future of the broadcasting industry-—Gov- ernment, advertising, public, and Individual conscience, with the major accent on the Governmental and "conscience” aspects. He calls on tpe broadcasters to stop delud- ing' themselves that a change of political administration necessarily portends a change in the . Govern- ment attitude toward broadcasting, and is concerned that "there still permeates the chambers of many a Congressman the conviction that broadcasters are working with picks and shovels In the fields of solid gold," B'Casters Lauded Fellows lauds the broadcasters for translating their "conscience" into the Helevision code and the standards of practice for AmerK can broadcasters, but adds that TV has been growing, so feverishly that the practical .problem of pro- gramming was accounted for many errors in judgment. And while stations have done much in sub- scribing to the code,- he says, ' more is yet to be done.” The NARTB prexy concedes the justification of squawks from na- tional advertisers over the mount- ing costs of television. But he ex- presses the belief that as time goes on, there will be a downward curb in the cost due to the development of low cost programming format, to the use of the medium by more and more" advertisers which will tend to lower its cost per sponsor, (Continued on page 30) Bluff Called on Radio Cassandras; It Sticks Los Angeles, April 28. The "General Video” acco- lade bestowed by Variety on David Sarnoff in its 20th an- nual Survey of Showmanage- ment two weeks ago apparent- ly is sticking, insofar as indus- try-made recognition is con- cerned. Ever since his arrival on the L. A. scene as the National Assn. of Radio-Television Broadcasters' convention key- noter, the RCA-NBC hoard chairman has invariably been greeted with flie "Gen. Video” tag. As one major broadcaster commented: "It couldn’t hap- pen to a more video-conscious man.” Los Angeles, April 28. This year’s National Assn, of Radio - Television Broadcasters convention was used as an occasion for NBC and its affiliates to term- inate the existence of the long- standing SPAC (Station Planning Advisory Committee). In its stead, the network's radio affiliates banded together here yesterday (Mon.) to form a new and broader organization that will be more representative of the stations as a whole in future relations with the network. In the many yeats that SPAC existed, the sought-for harmony never actually bore fruition, pir- marily because many stations felt that, as the limited SPAC membership wa^ constituted, the decisions seldom reflected the unanimous feeling of affiliates. As result there were always disgrun- tled elements. Last year Walter Damm, spark- plug of WTMJ, Milwaukee, banded the TV affiliates together into a new organization resulting in»the disbanding of the SPAC TV com- mittee. Result was that both sta- tions and network over the past year resolved some major issues in greater spirit of harmony. This, In turn, cued the decision of Paul Morency, WTIC, Hartford, who spearheaded the all-affiliates radio committee a couple seasons back, to bring the NBC affiliates together this week to initiate the new pattern in following the TV committee’s lead. ♦ Los Angeles, April 28. RCA-NBC board chairman David Sarnoff threw back in the face of the forecasters of a "Doomed Ra- dio” their gloomy '49 predictions that "within three years sound broadcasting over national net- works would be wiped out by TV." Four years have now passed, says Sarnoff, and the ’53 realities of radio have tossed the' prophets of doom for a loop. While Sarnoff refrained from mentioning names, it was recalled by National Assn, of Radio-Televi- sion Broadcasters convention dele- gates that, timed with the *49 (then NXB) convention, the late "Deac” Aylesworth, NEC’s first prexy, proclaimed aloud the three- years-hence doom of AM. However, It’s Sarnoff’s conviction that, while radio is bound to sur- vive because it plays too vital a role in the life of the nation to be cancelled out by another medium, it’s unfair that the networks are obliged to take the major rap in the readjustment of radio to the TV era. True, says Sarnoff, "we have a solid basis for continuance of a vigorous national radio serv- ice that can co-exist with television. However, to build on that base solidly, stations and networks must work out a balance of interest that will enable each to maintain eco- nomic health in the period ahead." While stations have been able to adjust their own sales patterns, with many prospering in the proc- ess, says Sarnoff, unless the net- works can work out arrangements with the affiliates permitting simi- lar flexibility in network sales, they- will be hamstrung in taking ad- vantage of sales opportunities. Sarnoff points out that since 1948 time sales on networks have de-. dined 22%, whereas national spot sales by stations have increased 19% and local sales by 35%. Nevertheless* he says, the overall increase, coupled with 45,000,000 radio families, along with 25,000,- 000 auto sets, testifies to radio's continuing economic opportunities. Radio-TV Aide for Ike? Los Angeles, April 28. Feeling that the time has come for a fuller understanding and more intelligent use of the television medium by the White House, the National Assn, of Radio-Television Broadcasters in convention here is endorsing a move for the* appointment of a radio-TV aide to President Eisenhower who will work side by side with the President's press chief, James C. Hagerty. The move for a greater D. G. recognition of TV's growing in- fluence and importance in molding public opinion is being sparked by NARTB prexy Harold E. Fellows in his opening address to- morrow (Wed.) to the convention, with the issue projected as one of. the highlights of his talk to the broadcasters. Not since the days when J. Leonard Reinsch (of the* Cox Broad- casting chain) served as an unofficial adviser to ex-President Harry Truman, has such a liaison existed between the White House and radio-TV. It's pointed out that, with TV now playing such a dom- inant role on the political scene, an auxiliary aide to Hagerty, who is basically a press man lacking the awareness of TV tech- niques, is more vital today than ever. There’s been some resentment (although Fellows won’t touch on the matter in his address) over the fact that, while President Eisenhower agreed to. make one of his major public addresses before the American Society of News Publishers last week, the White House rejected a bid from the NARTB to transcribe for sound and film a brief message to the broadcasters in connection with the convention. Plan was to have every radio and TV station in the country play the message simultaneously with* its delivery 1 at the.' L. A. meeting.* The NART9 feels it rated a better ahake,., >■--*- < 1 *:t.hot*t > 1 K-i- , * ihi iTf.ul Now in Works * Los Angeles, April 28. . For the past several years, dur* ing which TV has’dominated broad- caster thinking and strategy, the invariable refrain at National Assn, of Radio-Television Broadcasters conventions has been: "What eirer happened to the radio code?” Al- though adopted some seven years ago, it has more or less paled into oblivion, and general industry .sen- timent has been that any adherence to the standards promulgated by the industry has been purely aca- demic. However, it's been revealed at this year’s L. A. meet of the na- tion’s broadcasters that a new radio code committee has been re- activated, under the chairmanship of John Maegher, of Mankato, Minin., with two meetings already under the belt and a blueprint de- vised, designed to eradicate the lassitude and invite a new industry respect for a radio code. With radio in general subjected to the new TV orientation, bringing in its wake new sales patterns and an overall tendency to let down the . bars in sponsorship acceptances, it’s felt that the time has come to reappraise commercial standards in AM for fear of a "runaway era” in Which anything goes, so long as it brings in the loot. Just what ef- fect a 1953 version-of a radio coda would have on the industry is re- garded as problematical. The "policing” in AM has been of a cursory nature Since the TV code took the play away in the public prints. What success if. any the video broadcasters have had in stemming public criticism of the medium will form the basis of one of the major sessions later this week. • ' 1 i i -i l / r l ) t lit =<• q vi j; v ai