COMMITTEE ON BROADCASTING AND TELEVISION (COBAT) 33RD MEETING HELD 2:00 P.M. FEBRUARY 6 ROOM 2039 HEW BUILDING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-01634R000300030033-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 14, 2000
• Sequence Number: 33
• Publication Date: February 7, 1958
• Content Type: MIN

Approved For Relea000/08/27: CIA-RDP78-016341Q003a0&j~r&
V
OPERATIONS COORDINATING BOARD
Washington 25, D.C.
February 7, 1958
MEMORANDUM OF MEETING: Committee on Broadcasting and Television (COBAT)
33rd Meeting held 2:0O P.M. February 6
Room 2039 HEW Building
Working Group Members Present:
USIA ., Robert E. Button, Chairman
Robert A. Bauer, alternate
State - William A. McFadden
Florence T, bowling, alternate
Richard T. Black (representing TPIB)
ICA - Gerald Winfield
Defense - John C. Broger
CIA - Representative present
OCB Staff - Ralph R. Busick
Marjorie M. Denny
l. The minutes of the December 3 meeting were adopted. With reference
to Item 2, the oral briefing given to COBAT on the work of the Committee on
Radio Broadcasting Policy, the Chairman told of a meeting with the Executive
Officer where it was. agreed that COBAT would continue under its present
terms of reference to concentrate on the problems related to overseas tele-
vision, with occaei,onal briefings on the work of the Policy Committee; and
it was further agreed that there was no duplication involved in the work of
the two committees.
2, The Chairman brought to the attention of CQ, JDespatch No. 148 from
-? `' Bonn. date January , which describes the compet tion that television
in West Berlin is encountering from East Berlin. Possible avenues of assistance
to West Berlin television in its programming were discussed. It was agreed
that before the next meeting each member would prepare recommendations on the
Berlin situation and transmit them to the Staff Representative, who would
combine them into the first draft of a COBAT paper dealing with this problem.
With reference. to the overall policy problem, it was agreed that the separate
agency policy statements prepared by the individual members would be pulled
together into one package as preliminary snap in the preparation of an overall
policy paper on television. 4.S F e~,Q y V1
3. Reference Despatch No. 51j. from New Delhi dated 31/26/57, a request for
aid to an educational television station in India,soon to be brought into services
was discussed. The members of.COBAT agreed with the ICA.representative that
this request, which came through USIS, should be referred back to the field,
and should more properly have come through USOM channels,
CONFIDENTIAL
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1. The Chairman informed COBAT of USIAEs plans to have a regional tele-
vision adviser stationed in Beira , to work under the PAO and lend assistance
to the developing situation in Yr rut, and also Teheran. and Baghdad, as
requested, ~ , .L/ . J
.WAWNWNMWI 5. The TV situation in Iran, with particular reference to the relation-
ship among USIS, the Armed Forces program, and the local commercial station in
Teheran, was discussed. The Defense member informed that the Armed Forces
would be building a television station in Teheran, as their program for Iran
was shelved at the present time.
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Reference was made to tvo meetings on television to be held in the Soviet Unions
the OIR (International Broadcasting Organization of Iron Curtain countries) at
Moscow in April, 1958; and Study Group 11 of the CCIR (International Consulta-
tive Committee study group on television) in Junef 1958. In the meantime, the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is to meet in Brussels in March, and a repres-
entative of USIA (the alternate USIA member on COBAT) will attend. The EBU
members were invited to attend the OIR meeting but have declined. Discussion
developed the opinion that the OIR will press for across-the-curtain program
exchanges with EBU countries, and will play up the US/USSR exchange agreement;
otherwise the curtain countries will probably push over-the-border transmissions
via the Tallinn, Bratislava, Murmansk, etc. stations.. The question will doubt-
less be explored informally at Brussels. It was agreed that the USIA representa-
tive should have guidance from the State Department on the US point of view
before his departure for the EBU meeting.
7. The next meeting will be at the call of the Chairman.
Ralph R. Busick
Staff Representative
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