Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1957)

NIXON DOES WRC HONORS IVICE PRESIDENT Richard M. Nixon laid the cornerstone ,cst week for a new $4 million facility for NBC's Washington stations, WRC-AM-FM-TV. "NBC-TV's Today televised the cornerstone ceremonies. After installing the cornerstone with a silver trowel, Mr. Nixon. Robert W. Sarnoff, president of NBC, vand FCC Chairman George C. McConnaughey looked on as master mason George Geddes completed "[placement of the stone (above). The building, which will contain three tv studios, Ithree radio studios and complete executive and sales joffices, is said to be the first studio "designed and jbuilt from the ground up" for color telecasting. It jwill begin operations this fall. Mr. Nixo-i was greeted on his arrival by Carleton D. Smith, NBC vice-president and general manager of the Washington station (right). A sampler of radio and television news enterprise j1 PLYMOUTH — No one was there to broadcast the beginning of the voyage of the first Mayflower from England to Massachusetts. ! But WPLM Plymouth, Mass., corrected this (oversight the second time around. When ■| Mayflower II left Plymouth, England, April 20 on its voyage to Plymouth, U. S., WPLM ■ covered the event by transatlantic telephone. The on-the-scene reports of the embarkation mark the beginning of extensive coverage planned by WPLM in connection with the event. SEATTLE — Another seagoing event proved ! that KOL Seattle will go to almost any lengths to provide listeners with news coverage "in depth." Last month station staffers went 60 ft. down to broadcast maneuvers of a U. S. Navy submarine in Seattle's Elliott Bay area. In a two-hour broadcast by disc jockey Bob Waldron and reporter Candy Johnson, KOL chronicled arrival of the USS Greenflsh from Pearl Harbor on the 57th anniversary of the Navy's submarine service. To broadcast the ocean show the station used Navy shortwave facilities on two frequencies assigned by the FCC. The program was picked up an a shortwave receiver at KOL's transmitter site and relayed through the studio's main console. TYLER— It took KTBB Tyler, Tex., only a few minutes to meet the April 26 tornado emergency and mobilize coverage, not only for its own area but for seven other Texas stations. The staff started emergency service and mobile coverage when the twister hit that morning and worked with no let-up until the small hours of the next day. Other state stations which got reports of the million-dollar disaster from KTBB were KDSX Dension, KEYS Corpus Christi, KFJZ Fort Worth, KITE San Antonio, KRRV Sherman, KTRH Houston and KVET Austin. After the storm, Tyler's civil defense, police, Red Cross and utility officials were loud in their praise of the KTBB job, the station reports. BALTIMORE — All three Baltimore tv stations close ranks tomorrow (Tuesday) to take turns telecasting the first of a three-day House Un-American Activities Committee inquiry into communism in Maryland. Rep. Francis E. Walter (D-Pa.) is chairman of the group to hold hearings at the Federal Court, Baltimore. WMAR will handle all pickups, with the cost to be shared by the three outlets. The stations will also make audio feeds available to radio stations and newsreel companies. KBET-TV Buys Heavy in Film IN unusual buy, KBET-TV Sacramento, Calif., Friday announced purchase of 800 RKO feature films and full MGM-TV library (more than 700 films). Station, primary affiliate of CBS-TV, also has films from 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Columbia Pictures and United Artists. WRCA Lists New Rates WRCA New York has issued a revised rate card, No. 16, listing new prices for special feature shows, saturation plans and time period divisions. On the new schedule an hour of Class I time (6:30-9:30 a.m. and 5-10:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, and 6-10:30 p.m. weekends) costs $1,200. Announcement rates are divided into four time classes with a minute in Class I (6-10 a.m., Monday-Friday) listed at $175. Discounts are unchanged from the old rate schedule. Goldenson Sets Dedication Talk LEONARD H. GOLDENSON, president of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres Inc., will participate in a round of activities in connection with dedication of WBKB (TV) Chicago's new facilities May 16. He will address monthly luncheon meeting of the Broadcast Adv. Club of Chicago and, after an afternoon tour of the station's new $1.5 million plant in the ABC State Lake Bldg., will play host at a press reception at 5:30 p.m. A party for WBKB employes and their families will wind up official dedication ceremonies that evening. KFSD to Build New Studios KFSD Inc. San Diego, licensee for KFSDAM-TV there, is preparing to break ground for its new studio facilities some time within the next three weeks. The site, occupying more than seven acres, is located in a larger subdivision to be known as Broadcast City. William E. Goetze, KFSD executive vice president and general manager, said the new building will cost $650,000, and that equipment such as color tv will bring the entire project to about $1 million. BIG MIKE X99, helicopter news unit, has been added by KNUZ Houston to its fleet of three other mobile units. Big Mike Nos. 1, 2 and 3. The aircraft will be used for traffic reports, manhunts and other special news jobs. Broadcasting Telecasting May 6, 1957 • Page 97