Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1959)

11 Stations Farewell to Double Rate? Pressure for a “singlerate” pricing structure in TV-radio is building, according i to Larry Webb, managing director of the Station Representatives Assn. “The pressure is coming from all sides,” says Webb. “Stations in many areas feel that having both a local and national rate causes them to miss important spot business, and causes price-cutting when advertisers seek the lower I'ate. Agencies and clients don’t like a double rate, because they’re never sure if a competitor has a lower price, and because local rates remove much national control of spot advertising.” The SRA reports that “one of our leading member firms” — which one of the 22 reps in the group Webb didn’t say — is planning soon to announce that 12 of the repped stations are shifting to single rate. Such switches have to be voluntary, since an SRA move to force single rates would raise questions under the Robinson-Patman Act. Difficulties of broadcasters who try to give politicians equal time under sec. 315 of Communications Act — and under FCC interpretations of it — are reviewed sympathetically in Jan. Harvard Law Revietv. In article titled “Political Broadcasting,” Jack H. Friedenthal of Stanford Law School and Washington attorney Richard J. Medalie say broadcasters often are “in an impossible situation” when they try to observe letter & spirit of law during election campaigns. One remedy suggested: FCC should promulgate regulations incorporating its informal opinions on equal-time questions. Copies of Review are available at I $1.50 from Gannett House, Cambridge, Mass. A station receptionist was killed and 2 other persons injured Jan. 21 when fierce winds toppled the 654-ft. tower of WLEX-TV, Lexington, Ky., into the station building, demolishing the only studio less than an hour after it had been cleared following a local show. Killed was Mrs. Susan Grazley. Another station employe and an unidentified man were taken to the hospital. V.p.-gen. mgr. Earl L. Boyles estimated damage at $300,000-$400,000. He said he did not know when the station would be back on the air. The tower collapsed when an old 375-ft. tower fell, cutting the guide wires which supported the higher structure. Add tall towers: WOC-TV, Davenport, la. (Ch. 6) this week filed application for 1340-ft. structure to replace its 625-ft. tower, as part of project to cost $443,000. Tower & antenna system costs $250,000, new transmitter driver $80,000, land $35,000, remodeling $50,000, installation & miscellaneous $25,000, frequency & modulation monitors $3000. New antenna will be located a mile northwest of Pleasant Valley, near present site. Antenna is 83-ft., 6-section RCA super-turnstile, atop 1252-ft. guyed tower. Unique feature of new bowling alley in Memphis is $60,000 worth of GE TV originating equipment — cameras, controls, etc. — to feed telecasts of matches to WMCT. GE asserts that it’s the first in U.S. so equipped. The multimillion dollar alley has 48 lanes, no roof-supporting columns, a nursery with baby-sitters, a community meeting room — and is open 24 hours daily. Translator starts: K76AO, Olivia, Minn, began Jan. 19 I repeating WCCO-TV, Minneapolis. K72AU, Verdi, Nev. began Dec. 21 with KOLO-TV, Reno. K71AN, Boonville, Cal., also serving Philo, began Jan. 12 with KPIX, San Francisco. NBC’s flagship WRCA-TV, N.Y., incr-eased sales 17% in 1958 over 1957, station reported this week. Year was described as “most successful” in the station’s history. Educational ETV Research Contest: Lively competition for Defense Education Act grants for educational TV research (Vol. 14:51) was developing this week among universities, colleges, city school boards & individuals as Feb. 1 deadline for initial applications approached. U.S. Office of Education, which administers the 4-year $18,000,000 Federal program for audiovisual experimentation in teaching methods, said more than 100 research projects — half in ETV fields, the rest involving use of radio, films and recording — already had been proposed, and unofficial estimates of govt, money needed for all of them ran to about $10,000,000 — more than 3 times the total budget of $3,000,000 asked by the administration for all of fiscal 1960 (see p. 7). Details of varied ETV projects outlined in applications were withheld by Office of Education pending March 5-6 sessions of 14-member advisory committee that will recommend which proposals should be approved by Comr, Lawrence G. Derthick. But one of the most ambitious plans was reported to be a city-wide ETV experiment blueprinted by the Los Angeles school board. Audio-visual research advisers will escape one problem — question of loyalty oaths — which is confronted by administrators of $6,000,000 student loan provisions of National Defense Education Act. Some colleges are refusing to participate in its student loan program because of oaths required of applicants by last-minute Senate amendment to law last year. Loyalty requirement doesn’t apply to TV-radio-movie project applicants. Statewide ETV network is planned in Ohio where Ohio Council for Educational TV, State Board of Education and Governor’s Committee on Education Beyond High School are drafting proposals to submit to state legislature. Although there now are only 2 ETV outlets in Ohio — Cincinnati’s WCET (Ch. 48) and Columbus’ WOSU-TV (Ch. 34) — state plan envisions network of 9 stations, including Miami U’s WMUB-TV (CP), Oxford (Ch. 14) and an Ohio U station at Athens on commercial Ch. 62, for which application is on file. The full 9-station microwave system would cost $700,000-$l,000,000, according to proposal submitted to OCET by Sarkes Tarzian Inc., Bloomington, Ind., whose pres. Sarkes Tarzian himself is a pioneer commercial telecaster. He founded WTTV, Bloomington-Indianapolis (Ch. 4) in 1949, and WPTA, Fort Wayne (Ch. 21) in 1957. New ETV directory, listing on-air& upcoming educational TV stations and their facilities & personnel, is included in the Jan. Educational Television FactshecI published by the Joint Council on Educational Tclevisio!!, 178.') Ma.ss. Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. Educational TV & Radio Center moves its headquarter.s from Ann Arbor, Mich., to New York’s Coliseum Bldg, at 10 Columbus Circle this spring. Move will involve pres. John F. White, program and p.r. units — total of 25 people.