Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1962)

2961 S WIIH NAB LIBRARY ’•■—Television Digest MARCH 5, 1962 © 1962 TELEVISION DIGEST, INC. NEW SERIES VOL. 2, No. 10 Albert Warren, Editor & Publisher, 911 13th St. N.W., Washington 5, D.C., Sterling 3-1755 David Lachenbruch, Managing Editor, 625 Madison Ave., New York 22, N.Y., Plaza 2-0195 Harold Rusten, Associate Editor, 111 Beverly Rd., Overbrook Hills, Philadelphia 51, Pa., Midway 2-6411 The authoritative service for executives in all branches of the television arts & industries SUMMARY-INDEX OF WEEK'S NEWS Broadcast PASTORE MAKES BROADCASTERS BEAM <S WINCE, calls Glenn coverage "finest hour," cites Fabian Bus Stop show as example of poor self-regulation (p. 1). EDITORIAL CONFERENCE MAKES HIT, broadcasters happy with how-to sessions, Mlnow's "the Commission stands behnid you," briefing by govt, leaders (p. 2). HOUSE LOOSENING ETV AID PURSESTRINGS as Rules Committee reports $25 million Roberts bill. Final action possible this week (p. 3). WESTINGHOUSE CLEAR, GE UP NEXT, as FCC Judges impact of anti-trust convictions on right to keep station licenses. Schine's WPTR Albany being questioned (p. 3). SPACE COMMUNICATIONS DISPUTE AIRED in Senate hearing. Administration, FCC and Congressional factions disagree on system ownership & operation (p. 4). Consumer Electronics MOTOROLA DOES IT AGAIN— 23-in. TV at $169.95, some $30 below most other major brands. Industry expected to meet price by designing special low-end chassis (p. 6). JAPANESE EXPORTS UP, but declining radio prices kept 1961 consumer electronics dollar volume of Japan-to-U.S. shipments about same as 1960. Transistor radios now average $10.60 (p. 7). ELECTRONICS IN EDUCATION gets big push from RCA, which establishes special department to develop educational market (P. 8). TV SET SALES to dealers totaled 457,000 in Jan., radio sales 567,000, both up substantially from 1961 (Topics & Trends, p. 9). JUNE COLOR LINE frozen by Motorola — with 21-in. RCA tubes — but 23-in. rectangular sets may be dropped in later in year (p. 10). 191 MILLION TRANSISTORS were sold in 1961, compared with 128 million in 1960, EIA reported, but dollar value fell to $299.5 million from $301.4 million (p. 10). RCA'S RECORD YEAR produced sales of more than $1V2 billion, profits of $35.5 million; "increased profits" forecast for 1962, with increasing color-TV eamings a major factor (p. 11). GE POSTS 21% PROFIT GAIN in 1961 as sales rise 6% to record $4,456 billion; earnings climb to $242 million (p. 11). PASTORE MAKES BROADCASTERS BEAM & WINCE: Welcome praise and a brisk drubbing were given to industry last week by Sen. Pastore (D-R.I.), chmn. of Commerce Communications Subcommittee, in one of his rare appearances before an industry group. The lift-<S-squash exercise was delivered to NAB's State Assn. Presidents conference in Washington. Naturally, it irked broadcasters, and they were heartened when NAB Pres. LeRoy Collins responded quickly in their behalf. Pastore started out by stating that coverage of Glenn orbit was "one of the industry's finest hours," went on to assert that U.S. TV-radio "has long been one of the most outstanding accomplishments of our society." He didn't remain in that vein long. Pastore was particularly incensed by the much-harped-on Fabian Bus Stop episode (Vol. 2:5 p3, et seq.) This, he said after seeing special screening day before, "was the 'Harvest of Shame' of the broadcasting industry." He proceeded to castigate ABC for not letting TV Code Board pre-view show. "Is this cooperative self -regulation?" he asked. Industry says it can regulate itself, needs no new laws, he said, but: "I wonder how the performance of Bus Stop squares with this assertion, or is this a patent deficiency in the network and code relationship? You will hear more from me on this subject of the TV Code and the industry at a later date. . . . More effective procedures must be worked out by the licensees and the networks so that each will share the responsibility [for programs]." Pastore said he thinks industry can regulate itself — "but if it does not, then some adjusting and regulating may have to be done by others. This is not a threat — this is a challenge." He again commended FCC