Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

SPECIAL REPORT ON ETV continued THE FORD FOUNDATION: BANKROLL BEHIND ETV If a book were published rounding up the history of noncommercial educational television, the dedication on the jacket might appropriately read, "To the Ford Foundation, without whose bounties this communication edifice might never have been erected in this decade." This fabulous font, whose total grants to American social institutions runs into hundreds of millions of dollars, has alloted $26.4 million to the ETV cause, according to a compilation prepared for this report. Much of the money has been doled out on conditions that the beneficiaries get matching or double the sums from other donors, a stimulus that has loosed local gifts ranging from pennies to thousands of dollars. A fast breakdown of Ford Founda broadcast 1,057 programs in 49 subject areas. The Alabama Educational Television Commission runs a state-directed hookup comprising WAIQ (TV) Andalusia (ch. 2), WTIQ (TV) Munford (ch. 7) and WBIQ (TV) Birmingham (ch. 10). Programs are microwaved around the loop by U. of Alabama, Alabama Polytechnic Institute and Greater Birmingham Area ETV Assn., with three-fourths of the state within range of the vhf signals. The Alabama network is an important element in one of the nation's more ambitious educational projects — a southern network linking 16 states. Last August educators from 16 southern states, pooled their network dreams at a meeting sponsored by Southern Regional Educational Board. This group has recommended a long-range microwave project that would link the colleges and universities of the South. Such problems as the $204 million needed to set up shortwave facilities serving possibly 600,000 students aren't too disturbing to the sponsors at this point because they are thinking in terms of a 10-year development lion's $26.4 million, of which about $2.5 million hasn't yet been spent, shows three avenues of allotment — the foundation itself and its two creatures, Fund for Adult Education and Fund for Advancement of Education. The grants have been siphoned off approximately this way: FORD FOUNDATION Million Tv-Radio Workshop {Omnibus) , 1952-57 $3.4 Appearances of professors on tv 1.5 Educational Television & Radio Center 6.5 General services (National Assn. of Educational Broadcasters, American Council on Education) 0.4 Total $11.8 program with states putting up the money. Alabama will be flanked by another state hookup within the year — a Georgia network starting with WETV (TV) Atlanta (on uhf ch. 30), all set for operation this month, and WGTV (TV) Athens, scheduled to make its debut next spring on vhf ch. 8. And to the south a third network project is tooling up, led by the active WTHS-TV Miami, ch. 2, and WJCT (TV) Jacksonville, ch. 5. Three other Florida stations have the money and are in an advanced paperwork stage — -WEDU (TV) Tampa-St. Petersburg, due early in 1958 on vhf ch. 3, a U. of Florida station on ch. 5 at Gainesville and another at Tallahassee. Last spring the Florida Legislature appropriated $600,000 to link colleges and universities and to extend tv instruction within the state as well as to coordinate facilities with other states. The 16-state southern hookup plans to seek foundation money for basic research. It would originate programs from 30 or more schools linked by a half-dozen microwave relay circuits on a round-robin basis with plenty of branch feeds off the main FUND FOR ADULT EDUCATION Million Construction, equipment ETV stations $3.0 Programming (mostly ETRC) 5.3 General tv education (Joint Council on Educ. Tv, NAEB, ACE, etc.) 2.0 Tv-Radio Workshop 0.3 Total $10.6 FUND FOR ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION Million Better utilization of teachers $1.8 College teaching utilization 0.08 Tv in public schools 1.0 Other 2.92 Total $5.8 loops. Maintenance of relay facilities would run about $6.9 million a year. A pilot project would tie Alabama, Georgia and Florida universities and ETV stations. Does this make educational sense? Gov. Leroy Collins of Florida said the cost would run $2.80 per student semester hour compared to $12-$ 18 by current teaching methods — a sort of bricks vs. megacycle comparison. And with a 70% rise in college enrollment expected by 1965, educators see practical economies in obtaining the necessary teachers and facilities. New York was disillusioned several years ago when its bad luck in drawing a set of uhf channels for ETV blocked energetic efforts to raise legislative money for an ambitious statewide ETV network. Even New York City lacks a station, though WCBS-TV and WPIX (TV), commercial vhf tv outlets, are delivering a package of video instruction from an ETV project station that has everything but a transmitter and antenna. The Northeast quadrant has been stymied by uhf assignments for ETV statewide hookups. New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Ohio, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia and Michigan are allocation victims. ETVs in the uhf band are operating in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. A move is afoot to set up an Ohio statewide network when Oxford (ch. 14), Cleveland and Toledo ETVs take the air. Only Oxford (Miami U.) is near the construction stage. Toledo is showing activity. Cleveland is uncertain, and there's a chance Dayton will have a station within two years. One of these decades there may be a series of major regional ETV networks, maybe even a nationwide relay system. Right now the nearest approach to this scholarly dream is the service provided by NBC-TV's educational program service, by Alabama's loop, and the stations using the film and kinescope clearing house (Educational Television Radio Center at Ann Arbor, Mich.). Cincinnati's Most Powerful Independent Radio Station 50,000 watts of SALES POWER CINCINNATI, OHIO STATION WC KY On the Air everywhere 24 hours a day— seven days a week Page 96 • November 11, 1957 Broadcasting