Statement of-Continued Mandelbaum, Seymour, Ph. D., chairman, graduate group on regional and Page city planning, University of Pennsylvania 150 Mankiewicz, Frank, president, National Public Radio 224 Marks, Richard D., counsel, Alaska Public Television, Inc., et al 54, 149 268 158, 206 590 Minow, Newton, chairman, Public Broadcasting Service 525 397, 473 525, 554 O'Doherty, Brian, Director, Media Arts Program, National Endowment for Powell, Richard M., on behalf of Writers Guild of America, West Rassbach, Elsa, president, Public Forum Productions 515 275 2, 17 525, 584 525, 537 Ringer, Barbara, Register of Copyrights and Assistant Librarian of Con- Thomas, Thomas J., executive director, National Federation of Community 680 224 2,18 158, 160 Tighe, Mary Ann, deputy chairman for programs, National endowment for the Arts.. Wolfinger, Barbara, project director, Poetry Playhouse. Additional material submitted for the record by Agency for Instructional Television, attachment to Mr. Cohen's prepared statement (brochure).... 525 525, 550 448 Alaska Public Television, Inc., et al., attachment to Mr. Marks' prepared statement, appendix A-list of licensees of public radio and television stations 87 American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations, at- 762 Excerpt from Variety, Wednesday, June 13, 1979-KTCA's Kobin sees American Association of State Colleges and Universities, et al., attachments to Mr. Barton's prepared statement: Joint Council on Educational Telecommunications.. 431 Letter, dated February 15, 1979 from National Association of State 434 Letter, dated June 25, 1979 from Council for Advancement and Sup- Telecommunications and the National Association of State Universi- Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers, Inc., letter dated June Chinese for Affirmative Action, attachment to Mr. Der's prepared statement, letter, dated May 8, 1979 from The Association of Chinese Teachers to Mr. Grossman, PBS re TV series "Bean Sprouts". 437 406 536 580 Additional material submitted for the record by-Continued Attachment to Mr. Fleming's prepared statement, section-by-section Letter, dated July 5, 1979, from Mr. Fleming to Chairman Van Deerlin Salary structure Global Village, articles attached to Mr. Reilly's prepared Statement: Public TV: "Where do the funds go?" New York Times, Sunday, June An Op Ed page for television, Access 28, February 23, 1976. Letter dated July 6, 1979 from Ms. Ringer to Chairman Van Deerlin re National Task Force on Public Broadcasting, attachments to Mr. Hall's Page 116 146 137 545 547 548 707 751 Bylaws of the community advisory board of KQED, Inc 667 676 Pacifica Foundation, attachment to Mr. Franck's prepared statement, awards received by Pacifica Foundation and its stations... 200 Public Broadcasting Service, attachments to Mr. Minow's prepared statement: Attachment 1-Remarks of Commissioner Tyrone Brown 619 628 Comparative analysis of the Public Broadcasting funding mecha- 635 Proposed direct funding mechanism for and endowment for pro- 631 Ohio Educational Television Network Commission, Dave L. Fornshell, executive director 819 ORGANIZATIONS REPRESENTED AT HEARINGS Agency for Instructional Television, Edwin C. Cohen, executive director. American Association of Community and Junior Colleges' Task Force on the Uses of Mass Media for Learning, J. Terrence Kelly, chairperson. American Association of State Colleges and Universities, Jay Barton. American Council on Education, see American Association of State Colleges and Universities. American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations: Golodner, Jack, director, department for professional employees. American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees: Buffone, Samuel J., communications council. Carnevale, Anthony P., director of legislation. Appalachian Regional Commission, Harold E. Morse, director of education, Appalachian Education Satelliate Program. Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers: Arlyck, Ralph. Morrison, Jane. Carnegie Commission on the Future of Public Broadcasting: Heller, Walter W., Ph. D., former chairman, council of economic advisers. McGill, William J., Ph. D., chairman. Mahoney, Shelia, counsel. Chicago Public Television, William McCarter, president. Chinese or Affirmative Action, Henry Der, executive director. Commerce Department: Geller, Henry, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, National Communications and Information Administration. Lucas, William A., Associate Administrator for Telecommunications and Information Administration. Corporation for Public Broadcasting: Cardwell, James B., Vice President, Management and Administration, Trea surer. Fleming, Robben W., President. Herndon, Lillie, Chairman. Council for Advancement and Support of Education, see American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Global Village: Gustafson, Julie, associate director. Reilly, John, executive director. Hudson River Film Co., Julie Motz. Kentucky Educational Television (Lexington), O. Leonard Press, executive director. Library of Congress: Leibowitz, David E., Attorney-Adviser, Officer of the General Counsel, Copyright Office. Ringer, Barbara, Register of Copyrights and Assistant Librarian of Congress for Copyright Services, Copyright Office. National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, see American Association of State Colleges and Universities. National Black Media Coalition, Pluria Marshall, chairman. National Endowment for the Arts: O'Doherty, Brian, director, media arts program. Tighe, Mary Ann, deputy chairman for programs. National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Thomas J. Thomas, executive director. National Public Radio: Elson, Edward, chairman. Mankiewicz, Frank, president. Rosenman, Walda, vice president for national affairs. National Task Force on Public Broadcasting, Laurence S. Hall. Pacifica Foundation: Engelman, Ralph, vice president. Franck, Peter, vice president and chairperson, communications policy committee. Poetry Playhouse, Barbara Wolfinger, project director. Public Broadcasting Service, Newton Minow, chairman. Public Forum Productions, Elsa Rassbach, president. South Carolina Educational Television and Radio Network, Patrica A. Conner, deputy director of development and planning. Writers Guild of America, West, Richard M. Powell. THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1979 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 1979 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE and Foreign COMMERCE, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in room 2322 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Lionel Van Deerlin, chairman, presiding. Mr. VAN DEERLIN. Good morning. Today we begin the last lap of the hearings on the rewrite of the Communications Act, beginning 4 days on public broadcasting. The markup of this legislation will begin the first week after the Fourth of July recess, to wit, on Wednesday, July 11. I think the only adjustment in the markup schedule will be to eliminate the Monday session so we can be certain of the fullest attendance of members. I know that a great many people involved in public broadcasting are concerned as to whether public broadcasting should be included in omnibus legislation or whether we should ride awhile with the Public Telecommunications Financing Act of 1978, which we passed at the end of the last Congress. It seems to me that the real interest of public broadcasting may better be served by keeping it as part of the main package instead of taking chances on what might occur later. In order this morning to get into some of these subjects, we are going to lead off with a panel of public television station managers, who will comment on the legislation as it relates to their oper ations. The panelists are William McCarter, president/general manager, WTTW in Chicago; John Jay Iselin, president of WNET, New York City; William Hart, president and general manager, WYES in New Orleans; Leonard Press, executive director of the Kentucky Educational TV; and Paul Steen, general manager, KPBS in San Diego. We have asked the panelists to be prepared to discuss a number of questions. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed changes in the Federal contribution to public broadcasting, that is, the creation of the endowment, the method of setting the authorization levels, basic program grants, et cetera? Could existing limitations on the ability of the public television stations to generate non-Federal revenue be reduced without undermining the distinctive nature of the service? If so, in what way? What specific changes, if any, might they suggest in the approach taken by H.R. 3333? We have asked each of the witnesses to make a brief opening statement. Then there will be an opportunity for any discussion they might undertake among themselves, and then finally questioning by members and counsel. Will the panelists take their places? Mr. McCarter, if you will lead off, we welcome you all to the subcommittee. STATEMENTS OF WILLIAM MCCARTER, PRESIDENT, CHICAGO PUBLIC TELEVISION; JOHN JAY ISELIN, PRESIDENT, WNET13, NEWARK/NEW YORK; WILLIAM HART, PRESIDENT/GENERAL MANAGER, WYES-TV, NEW ORLEANS; O. LEONARD PRESS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KENTUCKY EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION (LEXINGTON); AND PAUL STEEN, GENERAL MANAGER, KPBS-TV, SAN DIEGO Mr. MCCARTER. Mr. Chairman, I am William McCarter, president of Chicago Public Television. I am delighted to appear before the committee and speak to what I think are the imaginative and fresh air proposals contained in the public broadcasting section of the Communications Act of 1979. Public broadcasting across the country is a solid success. As a cost-effective enterprise, it is a long-running hit, as Congressman Russo knows, in our district. And in Chicago the audience has grown in public broadcasting by over 1 million homes in 5 years. It is a vital part of the community across the board. One week ago the station was recognized by the Television Academy for winning more Emmy awards for local programing than any other station in the city outside of nightly news competition. However, the income devices available to us force us to operate at one-third the budget of a major commercial network station in our city. Now, despite the occasional pep rally rhetoric, the system's feeble income base has been stretched to its limit. Most sources have plateaued. System income growth in American public television has stopped cold. Some income devices are slipping badly, and although subscription income is considered a strong device, six healthy stations have lost over 20,000 subscribers in the last year. The net effect of this situation is the American public broadcasting income machine has ground down to a halt at the $500 million level in 1979. As an aside, Federal support hovers at the $160 million level. Pretax profits of one commercial TV network were $187 million last year. H.R. 3333, the rewrite, takes a bold, imaginative, and thoughtful cut at the core of the public broadcasting problem in the United States. The rewrite seems to say this: We are not getting anywhere. The rewrite seems to say we are not closing at all on the generally accepted Carnegie minimum base of $1.2 billion. The rewrite seems to say a new infusion of ideas is needed, and not having heard any from the broadcasting sector, we will try. The rewrite seems to say: First things first; concentrate on program development at all levels. The rewrite seems to say the local public broadcasting stations are the bedrock of the system and it makes a bold attempt at making them more self-sufficient. |