Scope and Content Note

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) papers are divided into twelve parts:

1. General files
2. Broadcast Measurement Bureau records
3. National Opinion Research Center survey files
4. Television Allocation Study Organization records
5. NAB study and survey files
6. Register and Vote Campaign files
7. John Meagher files
8. Broadcast editorials
9. Board of Directors records
10. Bureau of Copyrights records
11. Justin Miller files
12. Publications and Ephemera

In scope the material is uneven, with the period from the mid-1940s through the early 1970s best documented.

The GENERAL FILES were originally assembled by the NAB librarian. A major portion of the files consists of speeches, 1938-1977, by NAB presidents, board members and staff executives to various meetings, conferences, and conventions, and statements before the United States Senate and House of Representatives. There are also some speeches by non-NAB officials before NAB conventions and groups such as the Association for Professional Broadcast Education, and NAB management, engineering, and editorial conferences. Of special note is Newton Minow's famous “vast wasteland” speech before the 1961 NAB convention, and a tape recording of the opening session of the 1968 convention and a videotape of a speech by President Lyndon Johnson at the same meeting. This section also has convention programs, 1953-1977; assorted documentation from NAB management, engineering and editorial conferences, 1948-1977; addresses from NAB Executive War Conferences, 1942-1944; copies of Federal Communications Commission hearings in which the NAB took part, 1948-1976; and reports, briefs, speeches, and proceedings concerning NAB's efforts to allow the broadcasting of trials, including an argument before the United States Supreme Court in the case of Billie Sol Estes, 1965. The balance of the material consists of a subject file, circa 1940s-mid 1960s that includes reports, memoranda, speeches, select correspondence and ephemera on a wide variety of topics, including a “Silver Shower Campaign” to purchase radios for schools in Germany and Austria, 1948; the establishment of a library network for gathering and disseminating literature on radio broadcasting, 1948; and a 1963 campaign, directed by the U.S. State Department, which attempted to utilize the educational potential of broadcasting to counter illiteracy in the Dominican Republic. The subject files offer particularly good documentation of broadcast and retail advertising, and the association's central activities during the 1940s and 1950s. Minutes of the NAB's various committee meetings are available for the period 1935 to 1962.

The BROADCAST MEASUREMENT BUREAU (BMB) RECORDS pertain to two studies of radio broadcasting, 1946 and 1949, which the NAB conducted in collaboration with the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers. The studies aimed at securing reliable data on audience size. Unlike the radio ratings of Archibald Crossley and C. E. Hooper, which checked only the major market stations, the BMB provided figures, secured through mail ballots, for stations in every county in the United States.

The BMB series contains correspondence, bylaws and regulations; bulletins and other publications; committee minutes and memos; financial and subscription data; speeches; publicity and promotional material; and an almost complete set of BMB Study No. 2. Although no copies of the first study are located here, reports conducted by Alfred Politz Research, Inc., updating reports, and a file of station and network promotional items incorporating figures taken from the study are present, as well as unrelated station program publicity.

A major source of information on both studies are the BMB minutes and memos and the files of Kenneth Baker, NAB Research Director and BMB Acting President. The BMB minutes and memos of the board of directors, executive committee, and several BMB committees, are fairly complete from the time of incorporation to the completion of the second study. The Baker files consist of correspondence and related material for 1946-1951. Correspondence is arranged chronologically for his Washington, D. C., and New York City offices, and also by subject. Located here, too, are confidential memos from Baker to Justin Miller, NAB President. The Baker files best document the 1949 study.

A substantial portion of the BMB records consist of Study No. 2. It is comprised of three parts: Radio Families U.S.A. - 1949, a booklet reporting on United States communities in general; State Area Reports, arranged alphabetically by state; and Station Reports, arranged by state, then by call letter. The booklet on radio families estimates radio ownership in the United States. The estimates are divided into several parts, with breakdowns by geographic area and by population density. The State Area Reports, one for day and the other for night listening, alphabetically list cities and counties and the stations within each. The reports supply details on total number of radio families in each area; weekly audience for each station, and its percentage of the area's total audience; and the frequency with which the station was listened to. The reports also identify BMB subscribers among the stations analyzed. As well as containing much the same information as the State Area Reports, the Station Reports provide contour maps showing the station's listening area, i.e. all counties in which ten percent or more of radio families listened at least once a week. They also indicate whether a station broadcast with a directionalized signal and, if so, whether it was the same for the day and the night.

The NATIONAL OPINION RESEARCH CENTER (NORC) SURVEY FILES concern two studies, 1946 and 1948, commissioned by the NAB to determine public attitudes toward radio. The studies were pioneer efforts in the sociology of radio's impact in the United States. Interviews of approximately thirty-five hundred individuals were conducted by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago and analyzed by Paul Lazarsfeld of the Bureau of Applied Research at Columbia University. The reports were published as The Public Looks at Radio and The Public Looks at Radio-Again. In both studies interviewees were asked to rate radio's performance against that of other communications media and community institutions, to express opinions relating to federal regulation of broadcasting, to choose between advertising and an annual license fee for radio programs, to rate the accuracy of news broadcasts, and to answer related questions.

Though incomplete, the documentation of the NORC studies is noteworthy. The files are divided into two sections, by study. The first section contains the correspondence files of NAB directors of research, 1945-1947; minutes of the NAB Public relations and Research Committees, 1945; a first draft of The People Look at Radio; and a text for a slide show to promote the study. The second section is composed of the files of the NAB director of research, 1947-1951; correspondence; a memo to NAB president Justin Miller concerning public attitudes to station editorializing and government regulations; a copy of a memo from Paul Lazarsfeld to Hugh Belville (Director of Research, National Broadcasting Company) regarding the findings and methodology of the second study; a draft of the second study with comments presented by Frank Stanton and others; a report on the final tabulations, and a publicity folder for station executives.

The TELEVISION ALLOCATIONS STUDY ORGANIZATION (TASO) RECORDS document a study of the technical principles involved in television channel allocations. Formed in response to an appeal to the television and broadcast industries by the Federal Communications Commission in August 1956, TASO worked for two years, engaging 271 engineers from 139 companies on six panels and subsidiary committees. In addition to the NAB, there were four other TASO member organizations: the Association of Maximum Service Broadcasters; the Committee for Competitive Television; the Electronic Industries Association; and the Joint Council on Educational Television. Their final report was released to the FCC in March 1959.

The TASO records include the correspondence of Harold E. Fellows, NAB president and member of the TASO board of directors; a statement by the TASO executive director to the United States Senate Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee regarding the origins and operations of TASO; reports and questionnaires; financial information; presentations at conventions; press releases; lists, schedules, and agenda; a record book of TASO documents; and miscellany. The most complete portion of the TASO material consists of the minutes and reports of the board of directors, the panels and their committees, and a final report to the FCC. The report to the FCC is especially valuable in that it summarizes TASO activities and the severas, NAB president and member of the TASO board of directors; a statement by the TASO executive director to the United States Senate Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee regarding the origins and operations of TASO; reports and questionnaires; financial information; presentations at conventions; press releases; lists, schedules, and agenda; a record book of TASO documents; and miscellany. The most complete portion of the TASO material consists of the minutes and reports of the board of directors, the panels and their committees, and a final report to the FCC. The report to the FCC is especially valuable in that it summarizes TASO activities and the several panel reports, and supplies information on individuals involved in TASO operations.

The NAB STUDY AND SURVEY FILES contain correspondence, questionnaires, statistical data, and miscellany relating to several studies and surveys conducted by the NAB research department, 1947-1954. They deal with network control of broadcasting, use of film by television stations, and broadcast advertising among NAB member stations.

The study of network control of broadcasting was conducted in response to criticism leveled at the networks by United States Representative Howard Buffert (Republican, Nebraska) in January 1948. The folder regarding this study consists primarily of correspondence and memos and supporting statistical data.

The television film survey section consists entirely of questionnaires returned to the NAB by 110 participating stations. The survey covered the period June 6-12, 1954, and resulted in the publication of TV Station Manual (44 p.) detailing, with case histories of six stations, the dependence of stations on film programming. The eight page questionnaire required program information from each station for the one week period. The first page summarizes station hours, with breakdowns for network and local programs, costs, and sponsorship. This is followed by seven pages of charts of information regarding daily local film programming. The questionnaires are arranged in five groups for stations serving from 50,000 or less to one million or more radio families; they are followed by a folder of questionnaires received too late for tabulation.

Also present are a study and a survey of broadcast advertising. The study deals with regional and national spot television expenditures for a variety of products, July 1949. The expenditure figures are based principally upon data from the Rorabaugh Report on TV Advertising and Standard Rate and Data. The study material consists mostly of advertising data. One folder contains collated data; eight others have breakdowns by category of product, with data on frequency, length, type, and period of day for the program spots of each station. The balance of the material consists of network rate cards and miscellaneous supporting material. The broadcast advertising survey concerns only beer and wine advertisements and programming on radio and television in 1953-1954. The survey was conducted in response to a request by the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce of the United States House of Representatives, which was considering legislation to curtail advertising of alcoholic beverages. Except for some routine correspondence of the NAB manager of research, this section consists entirely of questionnaires returned to the NAB by individual stations. They cover one week of programming on operating time per day, number of programs, length of commercials sponsored by beer and wine advertisers, and number of spot announcements, broken down by advertisements for alcoholic and non-alcoholic products. The questionnaires are arranged by type of station. They are followed by several folders of questionnaires from stations which did not accept beer and wine advertisements; though not directly pertinent to the survey, these often contain comments as well as data concerning other programming and advertising on the stations.

The REGISTER AND VOTE CAMPAIGN FILES concern NAB's involvement in the 1952 and 1956 National Non-Partisan Register and Vote Campaign of the American Heritage Foundation. They consist of correspondence, newsletters, news releases, three campaign kits, and state files. The three kits were sent out to state broadcasting groups in August and September. They include facts about voting records and elections, newscast and announcement copy, ideas for programs, and suggestions of commercial tie-in and public relations techniques. The state files comprise the greater part of the series. Arranged alphabetically, they vary greatly in quality and content from state to state. They usually contain correspondence and tally sheets of announcements performed, often with extended commentary on how the campaign was conducted. Although the state files primarily concern the national election, there is also some mention of state and local elections. The files of Iowa, Louisiana and North Dakota have a considerable amount of station-related material, including press clippings, “plug,” and other announcements. Photographs of station activities at WTMJ-Milwaukee are also available.

The JOHN MEAGHER FILES are those of the NAB Vice President for Radio, 1952-1955. The files are divided into two parts: correspondence (general and by subject) and a subject file on varied topics. Both sections contain fairly routine material about NAB relations with radio station members.

The BROADCAST EDITORIALS group is made up almost exclusively of editorials, 1961-1982, sent to the NAB as examples of broadcasting practice by radio and television stations around the country. One folder, however, contains NAB publications issued as guidelines for broadcast editorials. The editorials are arranged alphabetically by state, then by city and call letters. Although not complete for any one station, they present radio and television station opinions on issues of both local and national importance.

The BOARD RECORDS are arranged into three parts: the NAB Board of Directors, NAB Radio Board of Directors and the NAB Television Board of Directors. A small amount of correspondence is available for the NAB Board of Directors for the years 1946 to 1959, in addition to a complete set of minutes for the period 1964 to 1978. Minutes of the Radio Board span the years 1964-1978; in addition to fragmentary minutes of the Television Board, 1962-1978.

The BUREAU OF COPYRIGHTS RECORDS provide a limited amount of documentation on the NAB's fundamental concern during its formative years, that of protecting the broadcast industry from ASCAP and that organization's attempt at securing royalties for copyrighted works broadcast over radio. Included is the bureau's charter, by-laws and abridged minutes, 1937-1945; and a fact-finding report and audit conducted in 1932 for the NAB Board of Directors. But the largest portion of this series is a multi-volume inventory and index of music properties transferred from the parent organization to the bureau, including closing papers, artist releases, arranger releases and clearances upon the bureau's incorporation in 1937.

The JUSTIN MILLER FILES are those of the President of the NAB, 1945-1951, and Chairman of the Board and General Counsel, 1951-1955. The files are divided into four parts: daily correspondence, 1948-1954; inter-office memoranda, 1947-1953 (both of which are arranged chronologically); an extensive alphabetical subject file on varied topics; and two of the Miller family's guestbooks and a scrapbook of Judge Miller's drawings. The vast majority of the Miller files date from his years with the NAB, but a small amount is from the 1930s and late 1950s, including a folder for the case of Helvering vs. Northern Coal Co., 1933, which Miller argued before the U.S. Supreme Court; and the Miller family's guest book, 1942-1969. Justin Miller served as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1937 to 1945, a position in which he heard all appeals relative to the FCC concerning broadcasting licensing, a major issue during his years with NAB. Unfortunately, there is very limited documentation from Miller's tenure on the federal court. The subject file includes correspondence, memoranda, and reports from nearly all NAB departments and executive staff members that served during Miller's tenure.

The Miller Files also include files for professional organizations associated with the broadcasting and entertainment industry, including the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Broadcast Music Inc., Inter-American Association of Intellectual and Industrial Property, and the Inter-American Association of Broadcasting. The NAB's involvement in issues such as national security, free speech, international copyright, and the regulation and licensing of radio and television is particularly well documented in the papers. Substantial amounts of material are available on the issue of broadcasting court proceedings, Canon 35 of Judicial Ethics; editorializing by broadcasters, FCC and the Mayflower Case; and the NAB's battle with the FCC over its 1946 report, Public Service Responsibility of Broadcast Licensees, or “Blue Book,” concerning the issue of program control. Miller served on several U.S. government committees and boards during his tenure with the NAB. In 1945 President Truman appointed Miller to the Famine Emergency Committee. Also in 1945, at the request of the War Department, Miller headed a delegation of radio executives which toured the European Theater of Operations to study government regulation of broadcasting there. At the request of the Secretary of State, Miller served as chairman of the Broadcast Advisory Council, 1950-1951, created to regulate the broadcasting industry during the Korean War. Lastly, there is an extensive amount of material from Miller's work on the U.S. Advisory Commission on Information, especially from two 1951 trips to Latin America where he investigated the development and regulation of broadcasting. Photographs in Miller files include one of the NAB executive committee, 1946; Judge Miller as a recipient of an honorary doctorate of law, Miller at his appointment to the Salary Stabilization Board, reunions of the broadcasting executives who toured the European theater of operations during World War II, and scenes from Miller's 1951 trips to Latin America.

The PUBLICATIONS AND EPHEMERA include small pamphlets, bulletins, newsletters, lobbying kits, technical reports, and various “how to” guides made available to NAB members. Materials are arranged by the department or office responsible for production, thereunder alphabetical by title; headings have been standardized for some departments that were frequently renamed. Ephemera and some near-print items have also been arranged by department.

The FILMS series consists mostly of NAB Commercials for alcohol, tobacco, medicines, and toys. Also included are two films concerning the “Seal of Good Practice,” a set of ethical guidelines established in the early years of television in the United States; and a film of President L. Johnson at the NAB Convention in 1968.