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Perspectives on Community Service Responsibility of Broadcast Licensees

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Perspectives on Community Service Responsibility of Broadcast Licensees I I 72-15,168 ADAMS, Anthony Andrew, 1937- PERSPECTIVES ON COMMUNITY SERVICE RESPONSIBILITY OF BROADCAST LICENSEES. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1971 Speech University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan PERSPECTIVES ON COMMUNITY SERVICE RESPONSIBILITY OP BROADCAST LICENSEES DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Anthony Andrew Adams, B.A., M.A., S.T.M The Ohio State University 1971 Approved by -W AdviserAdviser Department of Speech PLEASE NOTE: Some pages have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My lovely wife, Roaaleen, whose understanding, patience, encouragement, and typing assistance helped see this study to completion. The National Association of Broadcasters, whose research grant made possible this study. Professor Walter B. Emery, whose friendship and knowledge provided invaluable incentive to the study. Finally, the radio and television broadcasters themselves who cooperated in the study. VITA April 13, 1937* • Born - Los Angeles, California 196 1 . A,B., Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington 196 2 . M.A., Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington 1969 . S.T.M., University of Santa Clara Santa Clara, California 1969-1971 .... Teaching Associate, Department of Speech, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1971. Assistant Professor, Department of Speech and Dramatic Art, Division of Television, Radio, Film, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa iii TABLE OP CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................. ii VITA..............................................................iii LIST OP TABLES............................................... vi CHAPTER I. THE COLUMBUS BROADCASTING COALITION, THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AND THE LOCAL BROADCASTER............................... 1 Introduction ...................................... 1 The Columbus Broadcasting Coalition............ 2 The Coalition Challenge of Columbus Broadcasting ...................................... 5 The WBNS Stations............................... 5 The Taft Broadcasting Stations .............. 8 Avco’s WLWC-TV ................................. 10 The Federal Communications Commission......... 10 Prime Time Access R u l e ........................ 10 Primer on Ascertainment of Community P r o b l e m s ........................................ 11 Summary............................................. 16 NOTES................................... 17 II. COLUMBUS, OHIO: THREE VIEWS OF COMMERCIAL BROADCAST RESPONSIBILITY .......................... 23 Introduction ...................................... 23 Columbus: A Community in Focus................. 2i\. ABC’s The American Adventure................. 2li The Mayor........................................ 2[j. Community Concerns .............. ...... 25 A Television Test Market ..................... 27 Three Broadcast Views of a City................ 29 The WBNS..View.................................. 29 The WLWC View.................................. 30 The Taft..View.................................. 31 The Stations: A Comparative Profile ......... 32 The WBNS Stations............................... 32 WLWC-TV.......................................... 38 The Taft Broadcasting Stations.............. i+0 iv Page Proposed Programming............................ IjJi Summary............................................. NOTES................................................. tl-8 III. BROADCAST RESPONSIBILITY AS PERCEIVED BY INDIVIDUAL MANAGEMENT AND STAFF MEMBERS OF THE WBNS AND TAFT STATIONS AND WLWC-TV, COLUMBUS, O H I O ................................. Sk Introduction...................................... 5>lj. M e t h o d ............................................. 55 The Interviews ........................ 55 The Open-end Interview Format................ 58 The Questionnaire............................... 59 Analysis of Variance .......................... 65 Q-sort Results ................................. 67 R-sort R e s u l t s ................................ 111 Summary................................................117 NOTES.................................................... 120 IV. SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, AND CONCLUSION..................122 Summary................................................122 Discussion........................................ 131 Conclusion.................. .....................133 APPENDIXES.......................................................136 A. THE SAMPLE OF COLUMBUS BROADCASTERS................ 137 B. QUESTIONNAIRE.......................................... 139 Instructions ...................................... 139 Statements........................................ 1 J4.I C. PROPOSED PROGRAMMING--1970 LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATIONS...........................................114.9 D. MEMBERS OF THE COLUMBUS BROADCASTING COALITION............................................... 151 E. SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES .............................. 152 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................... 170 Books.............................................. 171 A r t i c l e s ............................................. 172 Documents................ ......................... 173 Unpublished Material ............................ 175 v LIST OF TABLES TABLE Page 1. Analysis of Variance of Two Critical Areas of Inquiry........................................... 66 2. Typical Responses: Simple Structure Factor Matrix............................................... 69 3. The Twenty-Three Broadcasters Who Responded to the Typical Section of the Questionnaire . 70 I4.. Typical Responses: Correlations Between T y p e s ............................................... 71 Typical Responses: Consensus Statements.......... 72 6. Typical Responses: Statements in Extreme Categories for Type I (Consensus Statements Eliminated)............................ 7^1- 7. Typical Responses: Statements Ranked Higher or Lower by Type I than by all Other Types. 75 8 . Typical Responses: Statements in Extreme Categories for Type II (Consensus Statements Eliminated)............................. 76 9. Typical Responses: Statements Ranked Higher or Lower by Type II than by all Other Types . 79 10. Typical Responses: Statements in Extreme Categories for Type III (Consensus Statements Eliminated)............................ 80 11. Typical Responses: Statements Ranked Higher or Lower by Type III than by all Other Types. 81 12. Typical Responses: Statements in Extreme Categories for Type IV (Consensus Statements Eliminated)........................... 8lj. 13» Typical Responses: Statements Ranked Higher or Lower by Type IV than by all Other Types . 8£ vi TABLE Page II4.. Typical Responses: Statements in Extreme Categories for Type V (Consensus Statements Eliminated). ..................... 87 15. Typical Responses: Statements Ranked Higher or Lower by Type V than by all Other Types. 88 16. Typical Responses: Statements in Extreme Categories for Type VI (Consensus Statements Eliminated)......................... 90 17* Typical Responses: Statements Ranked Higher or Lower by Type VI than by all Other Types . 91 18. Ideal Responses: Simple Structure Factor Matrix. ....................... 93 19. The Twenty-Seven Broadcasters Who Responded to the Ideal Section of the Questionnaire . 9lp 20. Ideal Responses: Correlations Between Types. 95 21. Ideal Responses: Consensus Statements......... 95 22. Ideal Responses: Statements in Extreme Categories for Type I (Consensus Statements Eliminated)......................... 97 23* Ideal Responses: Statements Ranked Higher or Lower by Type I than by all Other Types . 98 2ij.. Ideal Responses: Statements in Extreme Categories for Type II (Consensus Statements Eliminated)...........................100 25. Ideal Responses: Statements Ranked Higher or Lower by Type II than by all Other Types . 101 26. Ideal Responses: Statements In Extreme Categories for Type III (Consensus Statements Eliminated)............................... 1 03 2 7 . Ideal Responses: Statements Ranked Higher or Lower by Type III than by all Other Types. 10I4. 28. Ideal Responses: Statements in Extreme Categories for Type IV (Consensus Statements Eliminated)...........................106 vii TABLE Page 29. Ideal Responses: Statements Ranked Higher or Lower by Type IV than by all Other Types . 107 30. Ideal Responses: Statementsin Extreme Categories for Type V (Consensus Statements Eliminated).......................... 109 31. Ideal Responses: Statements Ranked Higher or Lower by Type V than by all OtherTypes. 110 32. Ideal Responses: Factor 1 ............................. 11^- 33* Ideal Responses: Factor II ............ ..... 115 3i|. Ideal Responses: Factor III...........................116 35* Ideal Responses: Factor I V ...........................118 A1 . Typical Responses: R-matrix......................153 A 2 . Ideal Responses: R-matrix............................. 157 A3< Mean Scores ........................................ 161 Al|. Typical Factor M a t r i x ............................ 162 A5* Typical Responses: Factor 1 ........................ 165 A 6 . Typical Responses: Factor II ...................... 166 A7. Typical Responses: Factor III. ................... 167 A 8 . Typical Responses: Factor IV ...................... 168 A 9 • Ideal Factor Matrix ................................. 169 • * • Vlll CHAPTER I THE COLUMBUS BROADCASTING COALITION, THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
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