Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1956)

GOVERNMENT KOB GIVEN 10 DAYS TO ADJUST FOR WABC FCC, complying with court directive, sets limit for Albuquerque to agree to protect New York station's 1 -A signal. THE FCC on Friday told KOB Albuquerque, N. M., that it would have 10 days to agree to revise its 770 kc facility to protect ABC-owned WABC New York, the Class 1 -A station on that frequency. Acting on an appeals court directive that it solve the 15-year-old skeleton — KOB has been operating on 770 kc on a temporary Thet^® of paid circulation The surest barometer of reader acceptance of any publication is its paid circulation. Special people read business and trade journals for hard news and for ideas — tools of their professions or trades. They get their entertainment elsewhere (mostly from radio and television). A paid subscription immediately establishes a contractual relationship between the subscriber and the publisher. The subscriber pays his money because he needs the publication to keep pace with developments in his own business. He is too busy to read those publications which do not meet his requirements, even if they come to him gratis. Thus, if reader interest is not sustained, paid circulation is promptly affected. Broadcasting • Telecasting for the past 12 months averaged a -paid weekly circulation of 17,030. This is the largest paid circulation in the vertical radio-tv field. B*T in fact distributes more paid circulation annually than the combined annual paid of all other vertical magazines in this field. B»T is a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations — the only paper in our field to enjoy this privilege. The symbol below is your guarantee of integrity in reporting circulation facts to buvers of space. There is no blue sky or unverified claims in B»T. That is why B#T is the basic promotional medium in the radio-tv field, with 25 years of loyal readership and paid circulation to back it up. basis since 1941 — the Commission sent a letter to KOB outlining its proposed solution. It asked KOB to respond within 10 days whether it was willing to accept the interim solution. If not, it was implied, the Commission could do nothing but order the New Mexico station off the air. The KOB situation goes back to 1940 when that station (then owned by the Albuquerque Journal) was granted clear channel 1180 kc. This was changed to 1030 kc in 1941 when Mexico was granted protection on 1180 kc in the North American Regional Broadcast Agreement. After a few months operation on 1030 kc, KOB was given temoorary authority to operate on 770 kc. It has been operating on 770 kc under that temporary permission since then. The NBC affiliate, using 50 kw daytime and 25 kw nighttime, is now owned 50% by Time Inc. and 50% by A. Wayne Coy, former FCC chairman. After several years of litigation the U. S. Court of Appeals in Washington in September ordered the FCC to either take KOB off 770 kc or to permit it to remain on that frequency with appropriate restrictions to protect WABC. It directed the FCC to report on what it planned to do by Nov. 1 1 , and to order the action by Nov. 26. Westinghouse Broadcasting Co.'s WBZ Boston is the Class 1-B station on 1030 kc, to which KOB is licensed. The Commission's letter last week said it had three choices in complying with the court's order; either to take KOB off the air or to permit it to continue operating on 770 kc or 1030 kc with appropriate protection to the dominant stations on those frequencies. It concluded, the Commission said, that the best solution in the public interest was to permit KOB to continue on 770 kc with proper protection to WABC. It also noted that this was an interim solution with no prejudice to existing proceedings which might change matters. This was understood to be a reference to the pending clear channel and daytime skywave cases, some action on which may be forthcoming later this month. There has been Commission discussion regarding the cancellation of the 10vear-old clear channel proceeding [B*T, Oct. 29]. In asking that KOB respond in 10 days to its suggested solution, the Commission asked that KOB also tell how long it thought it would take to directionalize its antenna in order to protect WABC at the .5 millivolt per meter, 50% skywave contour. Privately, it was strongly implied that the Commission feels that KOB should be able to revise its antenna structure in about 90 days. Shreveport Review Denied A REQUEST to review the February 1955, Shreveport, La., ch. 3 grant to KTBS that city was denied by the U. S. Supreme Court last week. The appeal had been made by KWKH Shreveport, the unsuccessful applicant, which claimed the FCC discriminated against its application because of its ownership by the Shreveport Times. An appeals court last May upheld the Commission's grant to KTBS. Slight Tower Revisions Offered by Air Group THE Air Transport Assn. of America las week expressed approval — with some mod ification — of the FCC's proposal to requir tall tower tv applicants to use joint tower or "antenna farms" or justify why they can do so. The FCC in March called for com ments on the proposal [B»T, April 2] an has granted several extensions of the dead line for comments, the last of which expire last Monday. ATA's statement, the only one to be re ceived by the FCC within the last tw months, expressed approval of the aims c the FCC proposal, but suggested that certai parts be re-phrased. Where the propose reads that an over-500 ft. tower reques will not be granted unless the applicant ca make a showing that "the proposed towe will not constitute an undue hazard to ai navigation," ATA wants to drop "undue. The association, which claims membei ship of 47 airlines, contends the words "men ace" and "hazard" themselves are ominou enough and would be sufficient to cover th problem. "Undue" would make interprets tion more difficult, the association said. ATA also requested that the proposal b re-worded to include all who filed applia tions to modify existing stations, to cove those cases where an increase in tower heigr is requested. The FCC proposal specifie only applicants for new stations and thos seeking to change station location. The FCC proposals drew general objec tions by most broadcasters who filed durin the summer [B»T, July 9]. Most wanted t see specific criteria before the rule was pi into effect. Others felt it was an unjust bu den to require an applicant to justify why h cannot locate in an antenna farm or nej an existing tall structure. There were son claims that this constituted an abdicatio by the FCC of its legal duty to judge a{ plications in the public service. The Commission's tall tower proposa followed a year-long joint aviation-broac cast-government study of tall towers an their apparent threat to airplanes. Among other suggestions made by th joint committee was legislation assignin responsibility for abandoned towers. Th is under study by FCC for recommendation to Congress in January. Loyola Zone Plea Denied THE FCC last week denied a petition b Loyola U. (WWL New Orleans) for re arrangement of the boundary lines of Zone I and III in order that ch. 1 1 could be a located to New Orleans. Loyola holds construction permit for New Orleans' ch. (WWL-TV) but has been prohibited froi starting construction pending resolution c New Orleans deintermixture proposal! Loyola envisioned the assignment of ch. 1 to New Orleans by changing the Zone I boundary line so that the transmitter o WTOK-TV Meridian, Miss., would lie i Zone II, where 190-mile co-channel spacin is required, instead of Zone III, where 220 mile spacing is necessary. Page 66 • November 12, 1956 Broadcasting Telecastin