Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1955)

i her product which isn't quite as good and large money for it. ■Well, that's the way it is in minor league useball. The fans in many cities get their iperior product, which is major league baseill, right in their living rooms by switching dial on their radio or changing the channel la their tv." jVWBZ REVOKED OR RACING NEWS FCC withdraws license of Vineland, N. J., station for horse racing broadcasts; orders WWBZ off air within 60 days. HE LICENSE of WWBZ Vineland, N. J., was .■voked by the FCC last week on grounds the ,ation broadcast horse racing information. The Ration was given 60 days in which to cease peration. Comr. Robert E. Lee dissented and Comr. Richard A. Mack abstained. The Commission found that the horse racing roadcasts were used by gamblers. WWBZ disontinued broadcasting race results last March Dllowing an initial decision by FCC Chief learing Examiner James D. Cunningham ecommending that the station's application for enewal of license he denied [B»T, March 14]. The proceedings date back to February 1952 Vhen the FCC set for hearing WWBZ's appliation for renewal of license. Subsequent hanges in WWBZ's programming policy with espect to horse racing broadcasts came too late nd paralleled "too closely the movement of [ 'he adjudicatory proceeding," the Commission aid. , Although the FCC has initiated actions I gainst other stations because of overemphasis ' n horse racing broadcasts, in only one of those ases has the Commission issued a revocation >rder (WTUX Wilmington, Del.). Renewal jvas granted, however, following a review of the 1 1 ase The FCC said the reputations of the WWBZ owners were excellent and that there was no evidence of a tie-in with the gambling interests, -ikewise, the Commission declared that sponors of the programs featuring race results y Jvere reputable businesses and in no way identifiable with the illegal activities. WWBZ, whose final recourse to the FCC delusion is an appeal to the courts, received some encouragement in the lone dissent to the revocaion order. Comr. Lee said he was convinced '.hat "this precedent-making decision will not rtand up in court. . . ." Comr. Lee said that while there was a certain "inbalance" in i*VWBZ's programming, he did not consider it 'inordinate." Exemption of Radio-Tv From Lobbying Act Pushed SEN. JOHN F. KENNEDY (D-Mass.), author jof a bill to exempt radio and tv stations from he provisions of the Federal Lobbying Regulation Act, last week reiterated his intention of holding hearings on the measure (S 2308) early in the next session of the 84th Congress. Newspapers and published periodicals already 'are exempt from the present act's provisions. Sen. Kennedy, who introduced his bill last summer [At Deadline, June 27], said he has a.ked more than 200 registered lobbyists to testify at hearings next year by the Senate Government Operations Reorganization Subcommittee, of which he is chairman. IT'S Col.-Comr. Robert T. Bartley (r) from now on. The Texas commissioner receives his "commission" as a Kentucky Colonel from Gilmore N. Nunn, president-elect of the Kentucky Broadcasters Assn. and president and 51% owner of WLAP-AMFM-TV Lexington, Ky. The presentation took place in Mr. Bartley's office in Washington last week. Council of Churches Opposes Cutting Educational Channels NOTICE was given to the FCC last week that any moves to delete educational tv reservations will meet with opposition from the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. The National Council, through its Broadcasting & Film Commission, filed with the FCC objections to petitions which called for the deletion of educational chs. 5 at Weston, W. Va., and 3 at College Station, Tex. The former was asked by WJPB-TV Inc., Fairmont, W. Va., the latter by John M. Lawrence II. The Council, which through its groups represents about 36 million people, called tv "the most effective medium of mass communication yet devised by man." As democracy depends on communication, the Council said, upon the ability to use tv successfully ". . . may depend our survival as a democratic community." Army Names Maj. Clagett Chief of Radio-Tv Branch MAJ. THOMAS B. CLAGETT was announced as the new chief of the Army public information division's radio-tv branch last week upon the reassignment of Lt. Col. Tom O. Mathews, in that position for the past IVi years, to Brooke Army Medical Center at Ft. Sam Houston, Tex. Lt. Col. Mathews, known in the agency and network fields as Army contact for national radio and tv network shows requiring Army assistance or cooperation, will leave soon for his new assignment, the Dept. of the Army announced. Lt. Col. Mathews acted as executive supervisor for The Big Picture, weekly Army tv film series distributed by the Signal Corps Pictorial Center and currently seen on more than 360 U. S. tv stations. Maj. Clagett. who has been acting as assistant to Lt. Col. Mathews at the Pentagon in Washington since 1953, has been assigned to Army radio and tv for a number of years. During the Korean conflict he headed the radiotv division of the Far East and United Nations Command. Commissioners Given Pilots' View of Towers Quick air trip to Dayton gives FCC first hand report of pilot's problem in avoiding tall towers when flying without visual contact with ground. FIVE FCC commissioners got a "pilot's eye view" of tall tv towers last week when the Air Force flew them and half-dozen staff personnel from Washington to Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, and back again in one day. The trip, by Convair, took place last Tuesday. The flight was in sunny weather at the start, but hit clouds and snow in its second half. Among the half-dozen towers viewed were the 1,000-ft. above ground radiator of WSAZ-TV Huntington, W. Va., and the WHIO-TV Dayton, Ohio, tower. The pilot made several approaches to these towers, causing one commissioner to state, "Now I can appreciate what a pilot feels when he's flying in soupy weather and cannot find a tall tower." He added, "Now I can understand the tall tower problem; much better than from the ground." Aboard the flight were FCC Comrs. Rosel H. Hyde, Edward M. Webster, Robert E. Lee, lohn C. Doerfer and Richard A. Mack. Among the staff members were John R. Evans, aviation division chief; Curtis B. Plummer, Safety & Special Service Bureau chief, and James E. Barr, Broadcast Bureau assistant chief. Comr. Robert T. Bartley remained on duty at the FCC; Chairman George C. McConnaughey was out of town. Pending before the FCC are two tall tower cases where the Dept. of Defense has objected to over1,000 ft. towers. They are KGEO-TV Enid, Okla., and WSLA-TV Selma, Ala. Earlier in the year, the FCC, over Defense Dept. objections, authorized KSWS-TV Roswell, N. M., to erect an over1,000-ft. tower. The military has been objecting to towers more than 1,000 ft. above ground. This led to the formation of a joint industry-government committee which drew up a set of recommendations seeking more stringent criteria for FCC approval of tv towers more than 1,000 ft. above ground. The FCC has not yet acted on these recommendations. Also in existence is another joint industrygovernment committee which is working on methods to make towers more visible to pilots. Various tests on marking and lighting are being carried out by this committee at the present time. Newburyport Favored For First Local Am GRANT of a first station to Newburyport, Mass., would be in the public interest even though the new service would cause interference to existing stations in the area, FCC Hearing Examiner Annie Neal Huntting found last week. In an initial decision recommending Theodore Feinstein for 1470 kc, 500 w day at Newburyport, Examiner Huntting declared that the need for a first service in that city outweighed the loss of service which will be experienced by WHAV Haverhill, Mass., and WLAM Lewiston, Me. Examiner Huntting noted that the interference which would be caused to WHAV (1490 kc, 250 w unlimited) by the proposed station would be insignificant. In the case of WLAM (1470 kc, 5 kw directional unlimited), Broadcasting Telecasting December 5, 1955 • Page 83