Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

PROGRAM SERVICES OKLAHOMA CO-SPONSOR Page 66 EL CHICO FOODS, INC., co-sponsors of THE CISCO KID in Oklahoma City, report thru Purnell Advertising: "With THE CISCO KID behind our sales efforts, El Chico Foods placed their line in 8 out of 1 0 dealers approached in the 46county area where THE CISCO KID is received. Through THE CISCO KID, El Chico Foods has been able to place displays in many stores who previously refused them." Ask to see more success stories of THE WORLD'S 6REATESJ SALESMAN! 'THE CISCO KID" ZIV October 7, 1957 SKIATRON OPEN WIRE RULED OUT IN CALIF. • PT&T turns down Parax • Milwaukee permit granted Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. has rejected the application of Skiatron Tv Inc. for permission to install Parax open wire lines on PT&T poles to transmit closed-circuit tv programs to the homes of subscribers in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other California cities. [Although admittedly set back by the California development, Skiatron made a gain in another area last week. In Milwaukee the Common Council granted Skiatron a permit to operate a closed-circuit pay-tv system there. Although no arrangements have been concluded on installations, a Skiatron spokesman said the firm hoped to be programming in Milwaukee by next fall.] "We won't use open wire lines ourselves for any new installation," a PT&T spokesman told B*T, "and we won't allow anyone else to use them on our facilities. Open wire in our opinion, just doesn't measure up to cable." The telephone company formerly made much use of open wire lines, but in recent years it has restricted installations almost exclusively to cables, he said. Alan Lane, Skiatron vice president in charge of operations, who has been engaged in many of his company's negotiations with California municipalities for closed-circuit tv franchises as well as with PT&T for facilities, admitted that the refusal would deprive his organization of an economic advantage over competing toll tv companies who have based their costs on the use of cable connection. The Parax open wire line system was given a clean bill of health in an FCC check made in mid-September. Robert I. Stratton, assistant engineer of the FCC field office in Los Angeles reported that the experimental Parax line installed by Skiatron neither picked up interference from power lines and automobile traffic nor produced any excessive I radiation that might cause interference with other services. "Although Skiatron was using 200,000 microvolts, about twice as much as under normal operating conditions, the radiation was well within limits set by the FCC," Mr. Stratton said. Although the Parax line is installed "in the toughest parts of Los Angeles for automobile interference," Mr. Stratton reported that programs transmitted over the open wire lines came in clear and completely free from interference. WOL Offers C-C Tv Channel To Educational Institutions An offer to provide one of its closed circuit tv channels to District of Columbia educational institutions was made last week by WOL Washington, an applicant for a franchise to wire the capital city for pay tv [B«T, Sept. 16]. Henry Rau, president of WOL, has written to the superintendent of D. C. schools and to the presidents of Washington's five universities (George Washington, Georgetown, Catholic, American and Howard), offering to set aside one of the channels in the prospective closed circuit toll tv system for educational use. The channel would be free to the users. In his letter, Mr. Rau suggested that a cooperative arrangement be made among the various educational organizations in the Washington area to be responsible for the programming on this channel. He asked for comments and suggestions. L. A. City Council Opens Bids for Pay Tv Franchises The Los Angeles City Council last Monday opened sealed bids on three city franchises for closed circuit toll tv systems applied for by Skiatron Tv Inc., International Telemeter Corp jointly with Fox West Coast Theatres and Harriscope Inc. Each company had bid for its own franchise; each had bid the minimum amount called for in the city's franchise form (2% of gross revenue); each bid was accompanied by a cashier's check for $500 as evidence of good faith. A call for further bids evoked no response from the audience at the council meeting. At the motion of Councilman John C. Holland, who earlier in the month had given the only vote in opposition to advertising the non-exclusive franchises for bids to be opened Sept. 30 [B»T, Sept. 23], the council unanimously referred the bids to the city administrative officer for study as to the responsibilities and qualification of the bidders, with instructions for his findings to be reported to the council's Committee on Industry & Transportation. Presumably, if all bidders are found acceptable — and presumably, they all will be — the franchises then will be issued. In San Francisco, where no toll tv franchise can be issued before Nov. 26 because of a city statute requiring 90 days to elapse between the filing of an application and the granting of a franchise [Skiatron's, the first, was filed Aug. 26] the finance committee of the city's board of supervisors has begun asking questions about the financial resources of the applicants, prompted by complaints from motion picture theatre interests who fear this new competition. Neither Skiatron nor Telemeter complied immediately with the committee's request for full financial statements, but Alan Lane, Skiatron vice president, told the committee that his company has given Horace Stoneham, owner of the Giants baseball team which is moving from New York to San Francisco, "a cash advance of $500,000 and a guarantee of several millions more" in exchange for the right to take the Giants' games into Bay Area homes via Skiatron's system of closed circuit toll tv. Loesser Sues WCMB on Rights Composer Frank Loesser. member of ASCAP, has filed suit for copyright infringement against Rossmoyne Corp., owner of WCMB Harrisburg, Pa., the licensing society announced Thursday. Mr. Broadcasting • Telecasting