Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1963)

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NEW SERIES VOL. 3, No. 27 TELEVISION DIGEST-3 RATING AUDIT BY FALL; OTHER MOVES: Audit & accreditation of rating services ore expected to be operational by Fall. NAB's Rating Council has decided that use of outside group, such as independent accounting firm, is best way to handle audit — to eliminate possibility of conflict of interest if broadcasters conducted it. Harris Subcommittee expects to finish report on ratings hearings by end of Aug. It will be fairly brief, 30-40 pages, will contain recommendations, sampling of transcript highlights, background information leading up to investigation & hearings. Report will be critical of NAB & industry for not moving earlier for clean-up; Subcommittee staffer said he hopes NAB plan wUl be solid by time report is published. Rating Council questionnaires on raters* methods will serve as basis for accreditation, are being drawn up by: Dr. Lee Arons, TvB (covering ARB), Hugh Beville, NBC (national Nielsen & Sindlinger); Miles David, RAB (Pulse); Mary McKenna, Metromedia (local Nielsen); Melvin Goldberg, NAB (Hooper). AAAA Pres. John Crichton answered NAB's latest invitation for full participation in Council. In letter to Group W's Don McGannon, chmn. of NAB Research Committee, Crichton held to position of "observer" status. Only this time there would be 3 observers, drawn from different AAAA committees; Special Broadcast Policy, concerned with national ratings & network buying; Broadcast Media, local ratings & spot buying; Research, broadcast rating methods. Last-named observer would also have liaison with Advertising Research Foundation. Crichton said "our basic concern is with the improvement of rating services as an aid to our business in reaching buying decisions ... We ore as concerned with an improvement in the accuracy and validity ... as we ore with an audit of their existing performances." He said if the Rating Council doesn't bring about long-range up-grading "it will not have fulfilled any of the obligations it has undertaken," as AAAA sees it. Crichton also urged Rating Council to work with Advertising Research Foundation on methods improvement. Action by FTC & FCC to do away with deceptive use of ratings in promotion is receiving applause from some rating companies, whose problem over the years has been station disregard for contract conditions specifying limitations on use of numbers in promotion & selling. One major firm told us that interim objectives of FTC-FCC should be written into NAB's plan. Beleaguered Pulse has cases in Tucson, Boise & Orlando where stations have "illegally" used reports they didn't subscribe to. Tucson has turned up other problems for Pulse. Stations there are puzzling over differences between March & last October surveys, one station going from 48 to 13 in audience shore. Lawyer representing nearly all Tucson stations asked Pulse last week for diagram of area surveyed, number of interviews & data for March survey, names of supervisors & interviewers. Political p.irtic«’ TV-raHio expenditures for Presidential & Vice Presidential election campaigns would be paid by Treasury Dept, in measure (HR-7282) put forth by Rep. Monagan (D-Conn.). It would reimburse up to $1 million to parties whose top candidates received 10% or more of total popular vote, or up to $100,000 to parties whose candidates polled less than 10%, more than 1%. In other political broadcasting actions, Georgia Assn, of Bcstrs., holding National Editorial Conference July 25-27, has asked to testify at House editorializing hearings which start July 15 (Vol. 3:25 pi). FCC Chmn. Henry is scheduled July 16. Station rate-cutting, especially prevalent in radio, didn’t escape ratings investigators Robert Richardson & Rex Sparger when they were touring country for Harris Subcommittee. Without benefit of hearings, here’s solution advanced by Richardson: Require stations to file rate cards with FCC; he says this will give printed rates official status, doing away with wheeling & dealing at agency-advertiser levels. Station sale transactions should allow FCC a chance to consider buyers other than those proposed by seller, FCC outlined in draft of proposed bill to amend Sec. 310(b) of Communications Act. Commission said similar action had been recommended twice by House Legislative Oversight Subcommittee. Measure would allow FCC to examine public interest questions of sale by striking prohibitive language in present section. Comr. Bartley would go further, requiring proposed buyer to demonstrate his superiority over seller, except in pro forma & involuntary cases. ETV applications accepted by HEW Dept, for federal funds now total $1.36 million — of the $1.5 million voted for this year by Congress. Applicants: Chicago Education TV Assn., Ch. 20, $309,099; Pa. State U., State College, Ch. 69, $239,580; N.J. Educational TV Corp., Montclair, Ch. 77, $339,091; S.C. Educational TV Center, Charleston, Ch. 7, $59,965, and $285,261 for Ch. 29 Greenville; Hampton Roads Educational TV Assn., Norfolk, studio equipment for WHRO-TV (Ch. 15), $129,943.