Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1960)

VOL. 16: No. 48 5 SUPER AGENCY ADVOCATED: Creation of a permanent, multiple-interest Administrative Conference to oversee operations of all federal regulatory agencies, including FCC, was recommended last week by a group named by President Eisenhower to prescribe cures for faults. Meeting in Washington with Court of Appeals Judge E. Barrett Prettyman, an old hand at studies of agency inefficiency, the organizing committee of the White House Conference on Administrative Procedure (Vol. 16:47 pl4) “strongly” urged such a super set-up. As envisaged by govt, officials & lawyers making up the 15-man committee headed by Prettyman, the Administrative Conference would be a “force from within” the agencies to streamline procedures. Patterned after the already-functioning Judicial Conference which keeps an eye on federal court administration, it would advise — but not dictate to — the agencies. Judge Prettyman said details of the plan w'eren’t worked out, but that he expected his committee to come up with a written draft in a couple of weeks. As outlined by the organizing committee, the administrative conference would be made up of as many as 65 delegates — representing agencies. Congress, cabinet, bar groups, law schools. In time — maybe 5 years — such a group of overseers could become the authoritative voice for agency reforms, proponents of the plan said. Prettyman stressed that it wouldn’t take over investigative functions of Congress, but would devise methods for cutting agency red tape. At the same time Prettyman said he and the other organizers of the White House Conference would have to be “guided by the advice of those who are directly concerned with the problems of transition” from Republican to Democratic administrations. Landis Plans Agency Study Specifically, that meant James M. Landis, veteran of New Deal agencies who was named by President-elect Kennedy to study the agencies and come up with a report for the new administration by Dec. 15. Landis had been expected to attend the Washington organizing meeting Nov. 22, but he got tied up in Miami Beach where he (1) lost out in a campaign for the presidency of the AFL-CIO Air Line Pilots Assn, and (2) came down with a virus infection. Over the years Landis has repeatedly said he favors objectives set by the Prettyman group, however. As Kennedy’s expert on agencies, he will operate from a Washington office (at 1707 N St., NW) with a staff of researchers. His Dec. 15 report is expected to be a general size-up of agency problems, followed at intervals by detailed agency-by-agency recommendations. Meanwhile, Chmn. Carroll (D-Colo.) of the Senate Judiciary Administrative Practice & Procedure Subcommittee, who has run on-&-off investigations of agency operations for the past 2 years (Vol. 16:24 p4), got back into his act again. Carroll scheduled new hearings for Nov. 29Dec. 2 to explore such questions as: (1) “The extent to which the Commissions should be independent of executive control.” (2) “The extent of conh'ol which should be exercised by Congress.” (3) “The manner in which Congress should exercise that control.” Among witnesses listed by Carroll: Prettyman & Landis. Also on the Capitol Hill schedule is a full-dres.s inquiry into agency structure & practices by the Senate Commerce Committee. Chmn. Magnuson (D-Wash.) expects to get it under way soon after the 87th Congress convenes in Jan. FCC & NAB CONFER ON SPOTS: Grass roots complaints from members, primarily radio, prompted NAB representatives to seek & obtain an audience with FCC on its spot-counting proclivities. The session ended with no minds changed, apparently. The one-hour Nov. 15 conference was informal, all commissioners being on hand except Lee & King. FCC staff members present: James Sheridan, Harold Cowgill, Joseph Nelson & Ashbrook Bryant. For NAB: Thomas C. Bostic, KIMA Yakima, Wash., Radio Board chmn.; Merrill Lindsay, WSOY Decatur, 111., Radio Board vice chmn. and policy committee member; plus staff members Vincent Wasilewski, John Meagher & Douglas Anello. The NAB delegation expressed concern about FCC’s practice of asking stations to justify too many “interruptions” to programming, i.e., too many spots. The Commission has been doing that when spot frequency rises to 15-to-16 an hour (Vol. 16:30 pi). The FCC reaction, in effect: (1) We believe we should do this. (2) It’s nothing new; we’ve been doing it for years. (3) We never question a station on spot frequency alone. There are always other things — such as discrepancies in station performance compared with promises. FCC has never revoked a license for overcommercialization, but it obviously intends to keep the pressure on. New application & renewal form under consideration (Vol. 16:46 p4) are understood to include a requirement that applicants tell how many spots they have carried in a typical week, broken down by length & by time of day — and how many they plan to carry. L. B. Wilson Inc. — awarded Miami Ch. 10 subject to court approval in the “influence” case against National Airlines’ WPST-TV (Vol. 16:46 p8) — must avoid interfering with Largo Ch. 10, FCC ordered in a modification of its temporary authorization. And L. B. Wilson must accept any interference to its WLBW-TV, the Commission said. The FCC acted on petitions for reconsideration filed by 5 Largo applicants: City of St. Petersburg, Suncoast Cities Bestg. Corp., Tampa Telecasters Inc., WTSP-TV Inc., Bay Area Telecasting Corp. TV frequency monitoring by stations, as ordered by FCC in a never-enforced 1955 rule, will be formally eliminated as a requirement. In a new rule-making proceeding (comments due Dec. 26), the Commission said it “believes that improved TV transmitting equipment no longer makes frequency monitors necessary and that stations can use simpler means to check their operating frequencies.” Revised AM map showing Canadian ground conductivities for use in trans-border calculations under the 1950 North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement is available from the telecommunications & electronics branch. Dept, of Transport, Ottawa, Ont. Checks for $5 per copy should be payable to the Receiver General of Canada. FCC last week jogged stations on its political broadcasting questionnaire, saying that many are being sent back for correction. Common defects, it said, are lack of proper signature, failure to answer all questions and obvious inconsistencies. Filings are due by Dec. 5. Uhf translator grants: Ch. 75 & 78, for Maupin, Ore., to Maupin TV Corj). Ch. 78 & 80, for Booker, Darrouzett, Fc'llett, Canadian & Higgins, Tex., to C. L. & 0. Translator System Inc. Ch. 77, for Wallowa Valley, Ore., to Wallowa Valley TV Assn. Inc.