Television digest with AM-FM reports (Jan-Dec 1951)

PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY RADIO NEWS BUREAU, 1519 CONNECTICUT AVE. N.W., WASHINGTON 6. D.C. TELEPHONE MICHIGAN 2020 • VOL. 7, NO. 40 October 6, 1951 Broadcasters Have New Cause Celebre, page 2. Mn this Imperative Need of Self-Policing Code, page 3. Msstte’ Fever Mounts in ‘Paper’ Freeze Hearing, page 3. More UHF Answers — By Sarkes Tarzian, page 4. t Few TV-Radio Construction Turndowns, page 5. Status of Hearing on Comr. Hennock, page 5. For 1952 — ^NPA Conservation Orders, page 8. Statistics Point Up Favorable Trends, page 8. Cutbacks Biting Now — Trouble Ahead, page 9. Another Turning Point in Color, page 12. URGENCY OF TV DEMAND-CASE HISTORIES: So tremendous is the pent-up demand for TV in non-TV areas that when a small leak occurs in FCC's 3-year-old "dam" — as it did in Denver this week — the impact and reaction are truly staggering. Same pressure of demand, eagerness to get local TV service, is germinating some ingenious techniques — via the "community antenna" method — as exemplified in unique application filed with FCC this week. Police estimated 50,000 Denverites saw World Series during first day alone, on 92 receivers fed closed-circuit signals tapped from transcontinental microwave by promotion-wise Eugene 0 'Fallon, operator of TV applicant KFEL (MBS). Project got FCC blessing in advance, approval also of network, sponsor and baseball folk. "TV Comes To Denver," shouted 8-column front-page headline in Denver Post, which ran 4-column pictures and column after column of description. Receivers were in Brown Palace and Cosmopolitan Hotels — lobbies, dining rooms, balconies, suites. Police blocked off Broadway, were hard put to control crowds which included about 6000 people at a time. Hallicraf ters sets dominated show, with 75 of them supplied by its distributor McCollum-Law Corp. , all 17 & 20-in. Four other makes were represented with a few — Emerson 5, DuMont 3 (two 30-in.), Stromberg-Carlson 5, Motorola 4, no others. Cost to KFEL was $1350 to NBC, |3000 for phone company contract charge plus §100-per-game hookup charge, and 180 a foot for about 7000 ft. of cable. In return, station got S500 from each hotel, plus $30 for each set, and 250 per foot of cable. Signals were received atop Brown Palace, piped to all locations. "We* re not making any money on this," said Mr. 0* Fallon. "We* re promoting the station and TV while getting some TV experience." Station has own camera chain which fed programs before and after games. No commercials were sold. So elated is Mr. 0*Fallon that he plans other closed-circuit features in future. Wolfberg theatre failed to get approval from baseball commissioner Frick, on grounds exception couldn*t be made to general ban on theatre TV for Series. * ♦ ♦ # Community antennas are another symptom of the long-frustrated TV demand (Vol. 7:2 et seq), and this week*s mail brought FCC the most ambitious such project yet proposed. J.E. Belknap & Associates, 317 S. Main St., Poplar Bluff, Mo., partnership of 5 businessmen, asked permission to install common carrier microwave network to feed signals of St. Louis and Memphis stations to 15-20 towns. Local companies would distribute signals to individual homes by wire. Proposal is first of its kind, definitely requires FCC approval, inasmuch as radio transmissions are involved. Other existing community antenna installations simply pick TV station signals out of air, send them to homes by wire. Company would set up receiving-transmitting stations 30-40 miles northeast of Memphis and 30-40 miles west of St. Louis. First would kick signals along to Copyright 1951 by Radio News Bureau