Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-10-09
QUIZ
!. Advertising Agency Man Rops
( ST. 500 Hush Money Payment
Continued From First Page

81.
Continued From First Pag.
One, are co-owners Of Barry
Enright, which produces q
number OF network TV shows
Relating the full story Of the
degree to which Tic Tao Dough
was rugged, Mr.. Felsher said
today:
II was trying to put to-
Rether an entertaining and ex-
citing show. That is why I
did this for the most part. I
never felt that 1t was terribly,
terribly wrong"
Speaking calmly. he said he
told the contestants in advance
of his first appearance before
the grand jury that he would
DEW giving them any questions
and answers. He suggested that
# they were called to testify
they deny receiving such as
sistance, he said.
II was panicked-I was ter
rorized," the youthful producer
explained.
He said assistance was rarely
provided to contestants on day.
time Tic Tao Dough because
1t was not considered neces-
sary. The daytime version at
tracted a wide audience with
out providing answers, he ex-
planned.
Night Prizes Higher
The prizes were much higher
on the nighttime show. In
spite of this, Mr.. Felsher
pointed out, the all-time high
winnings by a Tic Tao Dough
champion - about $4,000 -
were on the daytime show. The
big prize was won by a con-
testant who received no assist
ance, Mr.. FelSher said.
He told the committee that
no one at NBC asked him
whether Tic Tao Dough had
aided contestants before his
grand jury appearance.
The committee has appar-
emily been seeking to show that
the network was negligent in
not investigating its quiz pro-
grams more thoroughly after
the Twenty-One exposures.
Mr.. Felsher said he coached
contestants in various places,
sometimes in the studio and
occasionally in his automobile.
On occasion, he said, he told
them it was necessary to rig
the show to cut the excessive
earnings of champions who had
reigned for long periods.
Kinesc0pe Shown
Tic Tao Dough is based on
the pencil pastime called Tic
Tao Toe. Contestants earn ks
or O's in squares by answering
questions correctly.
The committee saw a half
hour kineScope this morning of
one of the most dramatic of
the Tic Tao Dough programs,
when Army Capt. Michael
O'Rourke was dethroned after
a long reign as champion. He
went home with $l08,500 after
losing $31,800 of his earnings
to the new champion. Martin
Dowd.
The committee heard Dowd
previously in closed session.
There was no immediate indi-
cation whether this particular
show was rugged.
Putting the question of the
extent of the rigging to Mr..
Felsher, the committee counsel
asked If more than IS per
cent" of the contestants were
supplied with answers.
Il would say it was in that
vicinity" the producer replied.
Tried to Shield Others
/: Questioned as to why he first
lied to the grand jury. he said
his primary reason was to pro-
tect the identity of the con-
testants involved.
They were fine people,
really, and they would have
been destroyed in their own
home towns" Mr.. Felsher
added.
The fired producer testified
that prior to his second appear
ance before the grand jury he
was urged by Mr.. Enright to
tell the truth. Under question:
ing, he acknowledged that this
followed by several months the
indictment of Albert Freedman,
employed by the Barrey g. En-
right Co., on perjury charges
growing out of the grand jury
investigation.
The committee heard teSti-
mony earlier this week that
Twenty-One and Dotto, the
latter a quiz show that was
formerly on both NBC and the
Columbia Broadcasting System
network, both were rugged.
At the outset today, the COM
mittee heard Richard A. r.
Pinkham of New York. vice
president of the Ted Bates Ad-
vertising Agency, testify that
he considered a $500 pay
ment to a standby contestant
on the Dotto program as hush
money" The agency arranged