Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 134

ALL EDITIONS The Arizona Republic Sunday, March 2, 1969 (Section N) Page -5 Week's Best Jj 5ff 'yVr HwjQ sir Nixon 8 tour well covered 9:30 a.m. Face the Nation Vice Chancellor Willv Brandt of West Germany is interviewed. A DIVER from the ship, Calypso, searches for treasure on "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau," Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. on CJvannel 3. HOSS Cartwright (Dan Blocker) is trapped in a basement uith a girl, Tiffany Boiling, with only a murderer to free them on "Bonanza," 8 tonight on Channel 12.

KPAZ-TV takes its independence seriously Is there anl legal restriction at all to telecasting bullfights? Mr. Thompson: No, there's none whatsoever. As a matter of fact they are telecast in a number of other cities in the country. You can telecast the kill? Mr. Thompson: There is no restriction by the Federal Communications Commission on the content of programs in broadcasting.

The First Amendment holds true in broadcasting. However, the license of the broadcaster is renewed every three or four years and the Federal Communications Commission makes it its business to see that broadcasters do certain things in the public interest by reports they submit which means they are allowed only certain limits or commercial content and at least must report on the public service programming they do and their mix of programming. I'm not uphappy with the FCC. A lot of people in broadcasting say 'these bureaucrats are on our backs and we can't do this or but if it wasn't for the FCC and if it wasn't for Newton Minnow and John Kennedy working together, there would be no UHF television stations. We would be doomed to the number of channels any community can have with its 13 channels open in that community, since there are no co-channels.

Really, about five is the most any community could have, sometimes in some situations seven VHF channels. Is there any regulation on how many UHF channels a community can have? Mr. Thompson: It's been computerized and they have allocated so many to each community. But if those stations were already on the air someone who wanted another one could have it. The number of stations is really restricted economically by the number that can survive in a broadcasting community.

So far as UHF station operation goes do you subscribe to the same code as VHF stations? Mr. Thompson: Well, there is no code. The code in broadcasting is the code of the National Association of Broadcasters, which is a professional group much like the doctors have the American Medical Association, lawyers have the Bar Association; as they are to doctors and lawyers the National Association of Broadcasters is to broadcasters. However we are not a member of the National Association of Broadcasters because we feel that they are not oriented toward the problems of not UHF stations but small independent stations. The code that the NAB sets up, does it evolve from suggested policies of the FCC? Mr.

Thompson: No, the NAB comes out with the code. They have a committee that makes it up and they discuss it with the networks. The network stations and the network owners control the NAB to a great extent because they sup-Continued On Page NS (Channel 10) 10:30 a.m. President Nixon's Trip Frank Reynolds is the anchor man for this report on Nixon's European Tour. (Channel 3) 11:30 a.m.

Issues and Answers Sen. Barry M. Goldwater is expected to discuss the "thin" 'missile defense system controversy, and President Nixon's European trip. (Channel 3) 11:30 a.m. Children's Film Festival "Adven-'ture in the Hopfields," deals with a girl's experiences when she runs away from home.

(Channel Noon NBA Basketball The Philadelphia 76ers Pistons at Detroit. (Channel 3) 12: 30 p.m. NHL Hockey-Chicago Black Hawks meet the Maple Leafs in Toronto. (Channel 10) 1:30 p.m. Doral Open Golf The final round in the eighth annual Doral Open.

(Channel 5) 2:30 p.m. Experiment in Television "Four Days to Omaha," fictional documentary about an 'American youth who goes to England to talk with persons who knew his father, killed in the World War II invasion of France. (Channel 12) 4 p.m. President Nixon's Trip A half-hour review of Nixon's visit to Europe. (Also on Channel .12 at 5 p.m.) (Channel 10) 5:30 p.m.

Walt Disney "Nature's Better Built Homes," a combination of live action and animation showing how animals and birds build their homes. (Channel 12) 6 p.m. Ed Sullivan Alan King, Gwen Verdon, Flip Wilson, Nancy Ames and Paul Anka appear. (Channel 10) 6:30 p.m. Boston Symphony The orchestra performs the Overture from "II Signor Bruschino" by Rossini, and Beethoven's "Symphony No.

7." (Also Mon. at 10:30 p.m.) (Channel 8) 7 p.m. Smothers Brothers Tom and Dick welcome Judy Collins, David Steinberg, Jonathan Winters and Leigh French. (Channel 10) 8 p.m. Public Broadcast Laboratory A close-up of big city cops in action contrasts generally sympathetic attitudes with occasional acts of harshness.

(Channel 8) 10:30 p.m. NET Playhouse "Talking to a Stranger," is the third of John Hopkins' quartet of drama. (Channel 8) 11:15 p.m. Firing Line William F. Buckley discusses the late Senator Robert Kennedy with David Halberstam and Ralph de Toledano, both authors and journalists.

(Channel 5) MONDAY 9 p.m. Carol Burnett Ethel Merman and Tim Conway, guests. (Channel 10) 9 p.m. Hubert Humphrey "New Man on Campus" shows the former vice president at Mac-alester College, St. Paul, Minn.

(Channel 8) TUESDAY 6:30 p.m. "Undersea World" Jacques Cous-teau and his crew hunt for sunken treasure, (Channel 3) ,8 p.m. "First Tuesday" NBC News' 2-hour magazine focuses on New York policeman, a French shooting party and a tour of Rhodesia. (Channel 12) 8 p.m. Cinema 21 Igmar Bergman's "Virgin Spring" (1960), a Swedish religious mystery play.

(Channel 21) 9 p.m. NET Festival "The Film Generation on War," contemporary study of war films. (Channel 8) 10 p.m. "Guten Tag!" First of a weekly series on learning German. Produced in Germany, the series teaches through actual situations.

(Repeated weekly Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m.) (Channel 8) WEDNESDAY 7:30 p.m. ABC Movie "The Young Lions," with Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. (Channel 3) 8 p.m. City Makers Julian Bond, Georgia state legislator, guest. (Channel 8) 8 p.m.

Movie 21 Special "The Lovers" (1959), produced by Louis Malle. (Channel 21) 9 p.m. News in Perspective New York Timesmen review President Nixon's tour. (Channel 8) THURSDAY 8 p.m. CBS Movie "Goodbye, Charlie," starring Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds.

(Channel 10) 8 p.m. Award Cinema 21 "A Taste of Honey (1962), Tony Richardson and Rita Tushingham in a story of a teenage girl's problems. (Channel 21) 9 p.m. Thursday at Nine The open-end telephone program features members of the Arizona Education Association discussing the school system. (Channel 8) FRIDAY 8 p.m.

CBS Movie "All Hands on Deck," with Pat Boone and Barbara Eden. (Channel 10) 8 p-nuc- "Charlie Chaplin" An hour-long study of the comic's silent classics. (Channel 8) SATURDAY 12 Noon NCAA Basketball First round eliminations of championship tournament. (Channel 12) 3 p.rii. "Wide World of Sports" Two man bobsled championships at Lake Placid, N.

Y. Channel 3) For the third of a series of interviews with Valley television executives, Don Thompson, general manager of KPAZ-TV (Channel 21, UHF) discusses the concerns of an independent UHF station, civic affairs, sponsorship and motion pictures. KPAZ-TV studios are located at Tower Plaza. By THOMAS GOLDTHWAITE Republic Television Critic Mr. Thompson, what are the goals of an independent television station such as KPAZ? Mr.

Thompson: We want to be the station that's most responsive to what's going on in the community. Besides our daily programming of motion pictures we want to do things that are different, original, unique. That's why we program the type of films we do; we bring in musical groups or folk singers who are being seen in Phoenix, talent that would not otherwise be able to appear on television. How many hours are you on a week? Mr. Thompson: About 75.

We're on from 3:30 p.m. until midnight weekdays and from 9 a.m. until midnight on weekends. And the basic programming from 3:30 or 4 every day until midnight is motion pictures. The weekend programming earlier in the day is Spanish.

What part does Spanish play in your programming. Mr. Thompson: Approximately a sixth of the people who live in Central Arizona are Latins and they have grown up with a Latin heritage. They speak Spanish at home; they go to churches where Spanish is the language of the mass, for instance. And they reinforce this language and their cultural heritage by constant trips to Mexico.

They prefer entertainment that has a Mexican flavor. It's not just a Spanish flavor. We bring in motion pictures and programs from Mexico shown on Mexican television and we show them here and they attract a substantial audience within the Latin community. It's been very successful for us commercially and for our advertisers. We have more commercial time sold on our Spanish segment on the weekends and during the day than we do relatively for our motion pictures at night, even though the motion pictures are more expensive and are oriented toward the community as a whole and sell for approximately the same rates.

What percentage of your weekly programming is devoted to community affairs? Mr. Thompson: Well, traditionally television felt they were programming in the public interest when they would show canned commercials provided by the United Fund or the Heart Fund, local charities, this sort of thing. We don't look at it this way, and even though we run a large number of these commercials, we try to program in the public interest whenever we can. In our Spanish segment we do live programming for an hour each week that shows local entertainment, local entertainers and discusses areas of public interest. We have run a number of special programs on issues that concern the Mexican-American community in Phoenix.

For instance the recent strike at the laundry and the boycott of some businesses. We offered both sides the opportunity to come on and state their views which they did and it was well received in the Latin community. Generally at election time we always make a great deal of free time available to candidates. During the last election I would say we made easily twice as much or more time available than any other station in town. We go out and actively solicit programs in the public interest.

We feel that they are worth while because we are a smaller station without the higher costs that are involved in some of the others, we are a little more flexible in our ability to do this. Do you feel any obligation to the FCC (Federal Communication Commission) to present week by week or monthly civic affairs that have nothing to do with politics? Mr. Thompson: Yes. The Federal Communications Commission states that the airwaves are public property; and the granting of a broadcast license is granting something of the public domain to an individual businessman or cor-poration, as in our case, and that this business has a responsibility to the public to program in its interest. I agree but I don't think the philosophy should just pertain to broadcasters.

I think anyone in the media has an obligation to perform public service and should look at the areas in the community that require change and to try to do something about making the change. Our station has certainly a lot less means than many of the other stations and I think a lot of the other stations do very good jobs. I would mention KOOL's series of documentaries that I think have been excellent. I think Channel 8 has done very good public service programming. They have had public forums that have been of some interest.

Would sponsorship of public service programming be of substantial help? Mr. Thompson: That would be very nice. If we had more sponsorship of them I imagine we would have more because it would help to defray the cost of them. We would be able to get into more complicated programs, perhaps go out and do film programs and sir Don Thompson, KPAZ President However, the lack of a sponsor should not be the reason a station doesn't do this sort of thing. I think basically it's up to the station to involve itself in the community as much as it possibly can, and do as much programming in the public interest by bringing out issues and exploring them that are not easily discernible by most people.

I don't think they should do this by editorializing. I don't believe in stations editorializing. I think an editorial is presenting a single side of a question. It's much more responsible for a station to get into a controversial issue and bring out both sides of that issue, and they can do that almost as easily as editorializing. Instead of having the camera on the station manager sitting there spouting his views about a subject, they should perhaps have the station manager moderating two people who are going to get into deep controversy about things that are going on in the community.

I think that if this were done there would be much more spirit in broadcasting. Unfortunately many stations feel they have an obligation to editorialize and do it by the calendar. 'We must have three editorials this week because that's our There may not be three issues this week so it's necessary to go into something about whether the lease laws are being properly implemented or not. This is ont a major issue in the city of Phoenix. We have many things that are unfortunate in Phoenix.

We have children who drop out of school because they can't afford textbooks; we have one of the worst ghettos in the United States that's located in our city; we have very severe problems with water. These are issues that should be explored in detail by people offering both sides or sometimes three or four sides of attitudes toward a significant question. This is one of the things we are going to do on our show with Jim Spero. While we were going over the ideas for the program Saturdays at midnight) we decided that on every program we would like to have something that has to do with the community. We're hoping to achieve controversy on the program.

It's a big project and it's not something we're going into and change the future of television journalism in Phoenix overnight; but we look to it as a goal. Have you bad any difficulty with local sponsors in regards to a 'hands off policy with the contents of your programming? Mr. Thompson: No. Generally it's hard to find out what sponsors don't like about a program or a station. They're not really apt to bring it to your attention until it's top late.

If they don't like something, they'll leave. We had a significant problem with bullfights. And even though our mail call was over 10 to 1 in favor of keeping the program on. After we took it off we received, I'd say, over 1,000 letters asking us to put it back on, the sponsors of the station were negative towards the program because there was a drive mounted to abolish it. A number of people felt that the program indicated cruelty to animals snd that we were perpetrating a bad image of individual treatment of animals with our programming.

They made this view evident to all the sponsors that were on the station and some of them succumbed to the pressures and went off the station. But no one during this time contacted us. Once a sponsor said 'take the bullfights off and I'll stay with They just felt they didn't want to be on a station that had bullfights. When we took the bullfights off most of them wound up coming back on after several months. I would say that every sponsor I know that we lost because of the bullfights is either on now or has been back once since we dropped the program.

J. 1 L- 3rr i W.4 "Hello, friends, and welcome to 'Let's Make A Deal'!" "Look on the bright side. There might hove been four of them." mm "You hav tht wrong number, however.