Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct - Dec 1952)

UNIVERSITIES Advised to Enter Commercial TV mm I PINPOINT 1 YOUR i PERSISTENT SALESMAN i i UNDUPLICATED | COVERAGE IN j 225,000 HOMES i WITH PERSISTENT | SELLING TO MORE l THAN 675,000 | PEOPLE . . . I IN PROSPEROUS 1 SOUTHERN ! NEW ENGLAND Represented Nationally by Weed Television In New England — Bertha Bannan UNIVERSITIES should operate commercial instead of noncommercial TV stations but should be ready to show they can better serve the public interest than noneducational interests competing for the same channel, according to a university curator who also holds radio interests. Lester E. Cox, member of the * U. of Missouri board of curators and holder of interests in KCMO Kansas City and KWTO Springfield, Mo., made the statement at a panel on "Educational Television" Oct. 2 at the 30th annual meeting of the Assn. of Governing Boards of State Universities and Allied Institutions in Portland, Ore. Delegates from institutions in 38 states attended sessions in the Multnomah Hotel. In addition to Mr. Cox, other speakers were Howard H. Frazier, radio-TV management consultant, Washington, D. C; Michael R. Hanna, manager, WHCU Ithaca, N. Y., and Dr. Charles E. Friley, president, Iowa State College, Ames. Mr. Cox, who also is a member of the board of trustees of Southern Methodist U., advised the group to consider the large audiences with "tremendous purchasing power" which have been created by commercial radio, while noncommercial educational radio stations "seemed to wither on the vine." Cites 'Failure' Reason He said he believed the "failure" of educational radio stations was due to their being " 100% educational." Citing the expense of building a "first-class" TV station, which he said is estimated at $250,000 to $300,000 minimum and $1 million or more maximum, he said such an investment calls for full capacity use of the station. He questioned whether the institution could provide program material for 16 to 18 hours every day. Mr. Cox advocated formation of .an educational network by institutions to (1) increase the potential audience, (2) spread the burden of program preparation among many institutions, (3) increase quality of programs. He also advocated use of film instead of relay and telephone line systems, both to save money and to avoid presentation of live programs which might be failures. Besides programming some purely commercial programs, Mr. Cox said, an institution's TV station might also secure sponsorship for educational programs. He said profits from commercial programs could be used to produce better programs and to hire better instructors, and that both AM and TV programs on discs and film could be distributed to regular commercial stations. Mr. Frazier, who has been in radio 27 years beginning as an engineer with WCAU Philadelphia, said he was impressed with the ease commercial broadcasters have secured financing through sale of cooperate stocks or by loans from bankers. Educators planning a commercial television station, according to Mr. Frazier, should (1) consider the availability of an unassigned TV channel and confer with a Washington radio attorney and a consulting radio engineer; (2) examine availability of ingredients such as program material and talent, physical plant and studio facilities and equipment; (3) consider the overall purpose for which the station is intended both as a cultural and educational influence and as a training ground for students; (4) determine the balance of investment between studio and transmitting plant facilities. Mr. Frazier said the all-important consideration in selecting the transmitter site, antenna height and transmitter power is matching investment and operating cost with the ability of the area served to provide economic support. Mr. Hanna, who manages the commercial station operated by Cornell U., stressed the high costs of television. He cautioned the educators that each institution must know and understand more than the mere fact FCC has made 242 channels available to them. "It would be wasteful and financially dangerous to go into television unless we can see far ahead with assurance and confidence," he warned. Mr. Hanna has just been appointed to the Dewey Commission on educational TV in New York (see story, this issue). Friley Cites WOI-TV Dr. Friley, told the story of WOI-TV Ames, the only collegeowned video station in the nation operating throughout the TV freeze. The Iowa president emphasized there is little time for educators to decide what they are going to do. He pointed out that up to Oct. 1, only a few institutions had filed applications. Tax-supported institutions must get their money from legislatures. The meeting went on record to ask the FCC to extend the time limit on educational channel reservations. CBS-TV Signs WJTV SIGNING of WJTV (TV) Jackson, Miss., as a primary affiliate of the CBS-TV, effective Dec. 25, was announced last Tuesday by Herbert V. Akerberg, CBS-TV vice president in charge of station relations. WJTV, billed as the first TV outlet in Mississippi, will operate on uhf Channel 25. It is owned by Mississippi Publishers Corp., publisher of the Daily News and the Clarion-Ledger there, and will be under general management of T. M. Hederman Jr. Hearing Issues (Continued from page 75) the principal community to the surrounding rural areas. It is for these reasons that the Commission should not blind itself to practical considerations and consequences of decisions based upon an efficiency factor which will have extensive repercussions throughout the entire medium for years to come. When the Commission sets up an "attractive nuisance" which encourages applicants at this time to make foolhardy investments for maximum facilities, it cannot later evade responsibility by claiming that it did nothing affirmative to bring about the unfortunate results of its action. Rather, consonant with its jurisdiction and responsibilities in this field, the i Commission should keep open a rational and prudent road to television development that will promote its orderly growth in response to competitive economic factors and as the state of the art permits. In this way, the* mechanism will be provided whereby both the public and private interests may be satisfied and thereafter • enlarged. Furthermore, once such an "engineering issue" is included in these comparative hearings, it is highly probable, in my opinion, that it will play an improperly important role therein. Our experience in AM would appear to confirm such an apprehension. For these alleged differences in coverage and service do offer an apparently tangible distinction between the applicants which is temptingly simpler to rely upon than other less finite considerations, such as the character of the applicants, its proposed programming and whether it meets the needs of the local community. Particularly will this be true when such "substantial differences" (themselves the product of inherent error in unreliable data) are found to exist between the applicants by the Examiners or the Commission. In view of the basic engineering principles of the Sixth Report and Order and considering the serious difficulty of adducing reliable evidence of television service and coverage, the Commission should here accept the opportunity to follow a new and more desirable approach in television. Given the minimum service to a specific community required of every applicant by those provisions of the Rules calling for a minimum signal intensityover the community and the use of minimum power and antenna heights, there is thus no reason or need to go into the shadowy areas of service above this minimum. (In this way, the Commission requires only a minimum showing of financial qualifications, or of the performance of required equipment, without going into the unnecessary question of the "more" or "most qualified"). The Sixth Report and Order makes it clear that its maximum heights and powers, together with the station separations provided therein, are merely the means for protecting the Allocations Table from undue interference. (Par. 103). These minima and the maxima therefore provide a spread within which the licensee, once chosen as the most qualified applicant, may operate in accordance with his and his community's local needs and desires and as stimulated by considerations of competition and the public interest'. The complete elimination of this technical issue as a comparative factor in television would thus be in furtherance of the philosophy and engineering principles of the Sixth Report and Order. It would sweep away differences in service above the required minimum, which have been shown to be incapable of reasonably accurate measurement and proof, so that we may concentrate instead on the more substantial and fundamental comparative factors between applicants in guid" ing the development of this new and most powerful medium of mass communications. Bercut-Richards Plans BERCUT-RICHARDS Packing Co., Sacramento, Calif., is beginning promotion campaign in New York metropolitan area for its Sacramento tomato juice. TV spots will be used, but campaign details will not be released for two or three months. Agency is Lawrence C, Gumbinner Adv., N. Y. Page 88 • October 13,' 1952 BROADCASTING • Telecasting