Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1961)

VOL 17: No. 2 3 treated on a full page, and map shadings will indicate its coverage in specific counties. ARB data, indicated on the maps, will also be listed in adjacent columns. 1961 Television Factbook will be the first reference publication to incorporate ARB-study results with basic data on individual stations — their coverage, facilities, personnel and history. Data will include a complete breakdown of total households & TV homes in 3 classifications of counties: those with over 50% net weekly circulation, 25-to-50%, under 25%. ARB Pres. James Seiler describes the coverage study as the first ever to be made with viewer records of TV-viewing activities. Updated reference material of interest & value to all services of the TV industry will also be furnished by 1961 Television Factbook. Included in the basic information: complete data on CATV systems, FCC directory, foreign-TV directory, market-research firms, program sources, ownership of stations, manufacturers of TV sets and telecasting equipment. A 12-page brochure containing full particulars of the 1961 Television Factbook will be mailed next week to all Television Digest subscribers. Congress More about BARRAGE OF BILLS: More than 50 bills affecting the TV-radio business at one point or another — from manufacturing to advertising — showered down on Capitol Hill last week in the opening days of the 87th Congress. And no end to the deluge was in sight. In the session’s first 2 days alone, when the Senate hadn’t yet put its bill-filing machinery in motion, the House hopper was crammed with a total of nearly 2,000 proposals for new laws or changes in old ones. Legislative clerks & printers were far behind in their work of labeling & numbering the bills. Many of the broadcasting-related bills wouldn’t be heard from again. But few industry subjects were left untouched by House members seeking to get their proposals on record, at least — and similar measures were drafted for a pile-up on the Senate side. In addition to a series of bills submitted by House Commerce Committee Chmn. Harris (D-Ark.) to carry out recommendations of his Legislative Oversight Subcommittee (see opposite page), these were among the early House & Senate measures: On FCC: HR-1126, by Rep. Younger (R-Cal.), raising FCC & ICC jurisdictions to cabinet status by setting up a Dept, of Transportation & Communications. HR-1234, by Rep. Stratton (D-N.Y.), giving FCC authority to turn down applicants who have criminal records. HR-1118, by Rep. Younger (R-Cal.), authorizing FCC (& other agencies) to help pay their own way by collecting fees from parties in cases. On agency practices & ethics: HR-896, 1138 & 351 by Reps. Baldwin (R-Cal.), Bennett (D-Fla.) and Fascell (DFla.), setting up standards of conduct for govt, employes. H. J. Res. 27, by Bennett, to set up a Commission on Ethics in the Federal Govt, for the same purpose. HR-302, by Bennett, to limit employment of ex-govt, workers by companies which have had cases before agencies. HR-349, by Fascell, for “reorganization of administrative procedures & practices.” HR-177, by Rep. Walter (D-Pa.), qualifying all members of the bar of federal courts and highest state courts to practice before govt, agencies. S-153, by Sens. McClellan (D-Ark.), Humphrey (D-Minn.) and Ervin (D-N.C.), to permit any agency reorganization plan submitted by the White House (Vol. 17:1 pi) before June 1, 1963, to become law unless rejected by a majority of either House or Senate. On broadcast programming: HR-1748, by Rep. Celler (D-N.Y.), to “strengthen the effectiveness” of FCC in determining whether applicants for station-license renewals have lived up to their original programming promises. HR-1207, by Rep. Mutter (D-N.Y.), making it a crime for a station to “make unauthorized deletions” from sponsored material which has been accepted for broadcasting. On pay TV: HR-1728, by Rep. Bailey (D-W. Va.), “to prohibit charging fee to view telecasts in private homes.” On TV-radio news coverage: H. Res. 27, by Rep. Griffiths (D-Mich.), “to provide equal access for all news media before proceedings of the House.” S-56, by Sen. Goldwater (R-Ariz.), forbidding broadcasts of Presidential election returns prior to midnight EST on Election night (see p. 4). On equal time: A Communications Act amendment by Sen. Magnuson regularizing suspension of Sec. 315 for candidates for President & Vice President (see p. 4). On educational TV: HR-132, by Rep. Roberts (D-Ala.), to authorize federal matching grants of up to $1 million for each state, D.C. and Puerto Rico, for equipping ETV stations (reviving a nearly-successful plan he advocated last session). HR-645 & 966, by Reps. Boggs (D-La.) & Harris, along the same lines. In the Senate, Sen. Magnuson (DWash.) also reintroduced his ETV-aid bill (last session’s Senate-approved S-12), co-sponsored by Sen. Schoeppel (R-Kan.). On TV sports blackouts: HR-178, 323 and 1147 by Reps. Walter, Byrnes (R-Wis.) and Collier ( R-Ill.) , exempting pro baseball & other sports from anti-trust laws so that club owners may agree on limits for broadcasts of games. S-168, by Sen. Kefauver, repeating similar antitrust exemptions which he proposed last session. On the spectrum: HR-1162, by Harris, reviving neveractivated 1959 proposals (HR-7057) to establish a National Telecommunications Board in White House jurisdiction to set allocations policies, standards and procedures. On FTC: HR-1817, 1233, 1181 and 145, by Reps. Patman (D-Tex.), Steed (D-Okla.), Lesinski (D-Mich.) and Rogers (D-Colo.), authorizing FTC to issue temporary cease-&-desist orders against TV advertisers & others accused of deceptive practices. HR-127, 1833, 1180, 143, 1210, 597 and 116, by Reps. Patman, Steed, Lesinski, Rogers, Multer, Zablocki (D-Wis.) and Madden (D-Ind.), providing further tightening of the FTC Act against fraudulent advertising & product misrepresentations. On excise taxes: HR-241, by Rep. Lesinski, repealing