Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

less-coveted uhf channels. New York City has an unused ch. 25 grant. Even with $600,000 in funds, the city must rely on commercial stations for broadcast transmission of classroom work from elaborate new studios opened this fall. At one time the more earnest ETV zealots dreamed of a New York State educational network, but this elaborate project hasn't come out of the dream stage. Here, again, uhf assignmepts have been a major element in the delay. All ETV debates — and they're frequent as well as heated — cover a set of pros and cons that range from spectrum to financial developments. Answering the charge that hardly a tenth of the 256 available ETV channels are in use, Mr. Steetle, of JCET, said only a third, 85, of the channels are vhf, with 21 of these in use. Five more vhf ETVs will be operating by 1958 and another 20 communities have filed for stations. The rest of the vhf channels are scattered around small places in the West and Southwest. Educators have the same uhf coverage problems that mark the commercial uhf industry. Mr. Steetle put it this way, "Of the 1,800 commercial tv channels, 1,300 are uhf and only 90 of these uhf channels are in commercial use." He added, "All of the vhf ETV channels in the first 20 markets are in use or under construction." Since the 1952 FCC tv allocation, 60 commercial uhf stations have gone off the air and over 100 construction permits have been dropped, he said, whereas only one ETV uhf station (Los Angeles) has gone off the air. While ETV stations are serving a population of over 50 million, there are many major markets lacking stations because of uhf trouble. These include New York, Providence, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Norfolk, Buffalo, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Louisville, Kansas City, San Diego, Fort Wayne and, of course, Los Angeles. "Remember," Mr. White added, "for every classroom viewer taking a credit course there will be 1,000 at-home viewers." His cost-of-delivery comparison includes power and maintenance in the case of the vhf and proposed uhf transmission. Those favoring closed-circuit instruction emphasize that costly tv transmitters, towers and transmitter buildings aren't needed. At Hagerstown — where manufacturers donated equipment — about $100,000 was GIVE IT SELL! KOSI and KOBY turnover products — not audience! BOTH RADIO STATIONS NO. 1 in HOOPER and PULSE 6 a.ni.-6 n m. nvrnqe «hare KOSI • KOBY Denver San Francisco Mid-America Broadcasting Company spent the first year, with 6,000 pupils in two senior high schools and six elementary schools receiving classroom instruction in English, reading, music and other subjects. This year 23 schools are connected, with 12,000 pupils being taught. Next year all Hagerstown and Washington County schools will be in the system. The test shows that a school system can plan and effectively carry out an extensive program of tv instruction, with the support of industry and foundation backing. With microwave facilities, programs could be exchanged with state teachers colleges at Towson and Frostburg, Md. "This could be one of the most significant educational developments of the 20th Century," said John Weiss, assistant vice president-treasurer of the Fund for Advancement of Education (Ford). The Hagerstown project will cost about $1 million for the five-year project. Four years of video teaching have convinced many broadcasters and educators that the medium is a highly effective educational tool. Dr. W. R. G. Baker, General Electric Co. vice president (WGY-WRGB [TV] Schenectady, N. Y.), and president of Electronic Industries Assn. (formerly RETMA), put it this way, "The use of television in education is controversial mainly to those who have never seen it in operation." On the other hand, Robert Gordon Sproul, president of the U. of California, suggested a cautious approach to use of tv "to stretch America's lagging supply of professors," plus the facilities shortage. He felt tv's main use is to get "one good lecture before a large number of students." If the effectiveness of teaching is conceded, there's an ardent segment of the commercial broadcasting industry that will never agree that scarce tv channels, especially in the vhf band, should be used. They argue that these facilities are feeding only dribbles of knowledge to scattered groups of viewers. Do it by closed circuit, they insist, pointing to 100 such systems now in operation including the precedent-building television pedagogy at Hagerstown, Md., where electronic manufacturers and the Ford Foundation are supplying equipment and skill as well as money to develop teaching techniques in cooperation with public schools. John F. White, general manager of WQED Pittsburgh, did a cost study last spring to see how much it would take to tie WQED's J 43 classrooms over a five-county area where reading, arithmetic and physics were being taught by the station. He said the telephone company wanted $35,000 per month per line for a two-circuit line, or $840,000 per 12-month year. "We can deliver this service for $15,000 a year from WQED," he said, adding that the $15,000 would include the cost of operating a new uhf transmitter the station has requested as well as the present vhf equipment. After the 1952 FCC allocation, regional network projects were spawned almost daily but only one fulltime hookup is in operation — the three-station Alabama Educational Television Network. Blessed with three vhf stations, this southern network last year UA€s CHANNEL 4-SI6HT . . ..when you're seeking a solid buy on the fabulous Golden Spread. Now over 100,000 TV sets and nearly 200 million dollars in retail sales. Power: Visual 100 KW Aural 50 KW Antenna height 833 feet above ground Use Channel 4-Sight — Amarillo's Specialized Television Station. KGNC-TV CHANNEL 4 AMARILLO, ^ TEXAS CONTACT ANY KATZ MAN Broadcasting November 11, 1957 • Page 95