Broadcasting Telecasting (Jul-Sep 1955)

fiwuef ling (fou doobffotow atotri TV at WaAlkgfoit,D.C, Without changing its current rates, WMAL-TV will boost its power to 252,000 watts this Fall and spark the new ABC-TV programs with the greatest promotion campaign ever conducted by a Washington TV station! Ask Katz about prime adjacencies for the Fall . . . at current rates on SUPERPOWER WMAL TV Washington, D. C. Represented by The Katz Agency The Evening Star TV Station Affiliated with ABC-Television Hey, you Don't forget Sept. 9 is deadline for B*T's Radio Issue out Sept. 19. $53,752,000 IS A LOT OF HAMMERING! THE MARKET Pennsylvania Anthracite Region Retail Sales— $885,484,000 Building Supplies— $53,752,009 THE BUILDERS— WHWL and WISL Complete Coverage of 9 Counties Cost — 60 Cents per 1000 Families NAIL DOWN THIS RICH MARKET! 1954 Consumer Markets — SRDS See FORJOE & CO. WISL WHWL 1 KW— Shamokin. Pa. 1 KW— Nanticoke, Pa. GOVERNMENT Storer Denies Protest Of WJBK Interference STORER Broadcasting Co. last week defended the operation of WJBK Detroit on 1500 kc, telling the FCC the station's antenna array is stable and that its signal is not causing interference to any station. These remarks were in reply to charges made earlier by WTOP Washington and KSTP St. Paul, both operating on 1500 kc, that WJBK was not living up to engineering requirements in its 1500 kc permit [B«T, Aug. 8]. WTOP and KSTP said the Detroit station was not providing the proper protection to their signals and asked the FCC to cancel the WJBK authority issued last July 1 to conduct program tests on that frequency. WJBK, licensed to 1490 kc, 250 w, has been seeking operation on 1500 kc since April 1952 when it was granted a change in permit to move to that frequency with 10 kw day and 5 kw night. The nighttime power later was changed to specify 1 kw. Last week Storer said the arguments advanced by WTOP and KSTP "do not accurately and faithfully represent the technical objections reviewed in their attached engineering affidavits." These arguments "exaggerate" and "misportray" the conclusions of their engineering counsel, the firm said. "Extreme care is being taken," Storer stated, in the building and operation of the antenna array to assure stability and required protection to other stations. WJBK also received support last week from WABJ Adrian, Mich., which was granted program test authority to operate on 1490 kc fulltime at the same time WJBK was switching from 1490 to 1500 kc. WABJ has been licensed for 1500 kc daytime and is seeking fulltime operation on 1490 kc. WABJ said that if the FCC cancels WJBK's authority for 1500 kc, the Adrian community will still be without its first nighttime outlet. Evansville Dismissal Request Granted to Consolidated CONSOLIDATED Television & Radio Broadcasters Inc. was granted dismissal of its tv application for ch. 7 at Evansville, Ind., by the FCC last week. Consolidated had requested dismissal because after its sale in May of WEOA Evansville to Ohio Valley Tv Co. it no longer wished to pursue its tv application in Evansville. The firm has not participated in oral arguments in the Evansville proceeding. Consolidated, formerly WFBM Inc., is owned by H. M. Bitner. Mr. Bitner owns WFBM-AMTV Indianapolis, Ind., WTCN-AM-TV Minneapolis, WOOD-AM-TV Grand Rapids, Mich., and WFDF Flint, Mich. Applications of Evansville Television Inc. and On The Air Inc. are still pending for ch. 7 in Evansville. Sen. Morse Criticizes Booster Station Limitations THE FCC was urged last week by Sen. Wayne Morse (D-Ore.) to speed new regulations that will allow small communities to receive television programs by short-range booster stations. He called present FCC rules "a stumbling-block to the type of inexpensive, short-distance booster stations needed in many small communities," such as, he said, Oakridge, Prineville and Sheridan, Ore. Sen. Morse said it was the FCC's responsi bility to make tv service available to everyone and that citizens of small communities should not be "penalized because of the slowness of the Commission in formulating a set of regulations." He praised Chairman Warren G. Magnuson (D-Wash.) of the Senate Interstate & Foreign Commerce Committee for the latter's efforts to foster reflector and re-radiation stations in the state of Washington. WSAY Fights FCC Stay Plea In Rochester Ch. 10 Case WSAY Rochester, N. Y., last week opposed the FCC's motion to have U. S. Court of Appeals in Washington stay the effective date of the court's decision in the Rochester ch. 10 tv case. The FCC had asked the court to stay the decision until Sept. 11 so that the Commission can consider possible appeal to the Supreme Court [B«T, Aug. 22]. The appeals court last month ruled that the protest of Gordon P. Brown, owner of WSAY, against the 1953 grant to what are now ch. 10 sharetimers WHEC-TV and WVET-TV should have been allowed. Under the present law, when a protest against a grant made without a hearing is accepted, the grant in question must be stayed. The Commission has told the court that under the mandate, the ch. 10 stations, operating since November 1953, would have to close down for an indefinite period with a resultant loss of service to the public. WSAY said the FCC counsel's request to have the decision stayed lacks weight because the Commission was fully apprised of the court's opinion. Colorado Facilities Granted AT&T Long Lines Dept. has been given FCC permission to construct additional facilities permitting KCSJ-TV Pueblo, Colo., to be interconnected for regular network operation. An additional frequency and transmitter has been assigned to Black Forest, Colo. As part of the interconnection setup, for which the tentative completion date is April 15, 1956, the FCC also is permitting expansion of AT&T's microwave radio relay station at Pinon, Colo. Cost of the project has been set at $62,000. Black Forest is a point on the Denver-Colorado Springs video route. Reno Antenna Move Sought KZTV (TV) Reno, Nev., has filed application to move its antenna site from in Reno to Slide Mt., 14 miles south of that city and increase visual power from 2.7 kw to 10.8 kw and antenna height from minus 520 ft. to 2,924 ft. above average terrain. Cost of the move would be $125,370, the application stated. HOWARD E-fT^ NEW YORK 22. N *• Page 76 • August 29, 1955 Broadcasting • Telecasting