Sponsor (July-Dec 1949)

WJJM Iiiiiii' lines ••■■■■■■w I •■■■*! lieu**. FJI-A.M regional noiuorks. minus land lines, are serving state-wide needs H. Bonebrake, general manager of KOCY and KOCY-FM, who was familiar with the experiments with FM relay by Dr. Edwin H. Armstrong. One of the first AM-station people to set up the simple equipment required for the reception of the KOCY-FM signal was general manager Milton B. Garber of KCRC, Enid, Okla., 70 miles distant. Although Bonebrake started his experiments around 1947, the service didn't emerge as a full-fledged operation until early in 1949, following the erection of a new 938-foot tower radiating 70,000 watts power. The network was born when one of Bonebrake's KOCY sponsors wanted to broadcast his KOCY program in Tulsa on KAKC 1 1.000 watts) and in Seminole on KSMI (500 watts). Before any station could affiliate with the Oklahoma Group Broadcasters, its market area had to receive the KOCY-FM signal with sufficient power to guarantee good reception under any condition. Engineering checks completed, suitable antennas and receivers were installed, market by market. This was the only expense necessary for affiliates. A national or regional advertiser can buy any number of stations in the group. There is no minimum. He pays one check to the network, and OGB in turn pays each station in accordance with its rate. Rates were agreed upon between network and affiliates so that the final rate to the advertiser would be competitive with other media serving similar areas. The rates were also set to enable combined groups of stations to compete in price as well as coverage with high-powered stations coming into the area. KOCY sustaining programs are made available to affiliates at nominal cost. Each station is free to sell such a sustainer locally. Plaza Court Broadcasting Co., which owns KOCY and KOCY-FM, obtained the network broadcast rights to last seasons basketball games of Oklahoma A&M College 4 JULY 1949 and Oklahoma University. These games had previously been sponsored in Oklahoma City only over KOCY and KOCY-FM. OGB affiliates got the right to carry and sell the games locally for a fee of $25 a game. Most did sell them. A group of KOCY sustaining programs is available to affiliates, and most of the independents take full advantage of these shows. Major network members of OGB take fewer OGB sustainers. A variety of programs is available to appeal to both rural and metropolitan listeners. Programing first proved a problem because OGB included ABC and MBS affiliates as well as independent stations. The network has experimented until it feels it now offers programs appealing to all important segments of Oklahoma listeners. Many OGB stations claim a local daytime audience much greater than outside "power" stations, and some of them claim night audiences with little "outside" competition because of directional antennas and nighttime interference. Associated Broadcasting Service feels this is also the case with many of its affiliates. Both feel this gives them a strong competitive position, particularly since they can, without extra charge, localize commercials in any individual station market the advertiser desires. Bonebrake believes his experiments were the earliest that led to the actual formation of a commercial AM network fed by an FM station. However, Associated Broadcasting Service started regular network operation in November, 1948, a few months ahead of the official debut of OGB. The ABS operation, while offering similar coverage opportunities to national and regional advertisers, differs in several important respects. Affiliates contract to take the full 17 hours daily of programing offered by the network (6:00 a.m. to 11 :00 p.m. ) . More than half of this is live. WBRC-FM and the Alabama Associated Broadcasting Service Network Like OGB, ABS specializes in sports events. The network has acquired full broadcast rights to many collegiate and professional events, including football, baseball, and basketball games. A variety of news, music, farm, and novelty programs round out a schedule designed to appeal to the widest listening preferences of ABS audiences. When the time was at hand for Birmingham Broadcasting Co. to decide whether to carry on a limitedpower interim operation. Eloise Smith Hanna, who heads the company, consulted local bankers and the heads of Birmingham business organizations. What was the outlook? The unanimous reply was, in effect, "Don't throw your money away." One man thought differently. That was technical Director G. P. (Jerry) Hamann. He was convinced that Alabama's more than 48,000 FM sets sold in the last two years would increase steadly. He discerned the lean days ahead for small AM stations, particularly new independent outlets. He [Please turn to page 44) 31