Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

GOVERNMENT continued to Cleveland-Akron, Ohio (as well as to Johnstown-Altoona), deleting ch. 8 from Lancaster, Pa., and adding it to PhiladelphiaWilmington-Camden-Atlantic City. Van Volkenburg Heads Applicant For Ch. 10, St. Petersburg, Fla. Jack L. Van Volkenburg, president of CBS-TV from 1952 to the end of 1956, is the president-general manager and one of the principal stockholders in an application filed last week for ch. 10, St. Petersburg, Fla. The application is in the name of Bay Area Telecasting Corp. It is the fourth application for the vhf channel, assigned to the St. Petersburg-Tampa area by the FCC last summer. Besides Mr. Van Volkenburg, who holds a 9.85% interest, other major Bay Area stockholders are Louis Fried, 15.4%, and Curtiss & Gross Inc., 13.53%. Mr. Fried is sales manager, Benrus Watch Co. Curtiss & Gross Inc. is a building construction firm. Other stockholders include John S. Houseknecht, formerly with Screen Gems and William Esty Co.; Fred Waring, orchestra leader; Harry W. Bennett Jr., new executive vice president, Joseph Katz Agency and formerly with Bryan Houston Inc. in the same capacity; Hal James, Doherty, Clifford, Steers & Schenfield and formerly with Ellington & Co.; Charles T. Ayres, ABC sales representative; and Fred C. Hutchinson, manager, St. Louis Cardinals. Messrs. Bennett, Houseknecht, and James were members of the group which fought unsuccessfully for St. Petersburg-Tampa ch. 8 in 1954, finally granted to the Tampa Tribune ( WFLA-AM-TV) . They also have minor interests in WVET-AM-TV Rochester, N. Y. Bay Area proposes to spend $1.1 million in building the ch. 10 facility, with $1.3 million scheduled to be spent on operation the first year. FCC Grants KVIT (TV) Move By a 4-3 vote, the FCC last week granted KVIT (TV) Santa Fe, N. M., permission to move its transmitter from 2.8 miles northwest of Santa Fe to Sandia Crest, N. M., which is 43 miles southwest of Santa Fe and 14 miles northeast of Albuquerque. Also approved was an increase in power from 0.324 kw to 28.2 kw. Comrs. John C. Doerfer, Richard A. Mack and Rosel H. Hyde dissented to the Commission action but did not issue statements. Ch. 2 KVIT, owned by Video Independent Theatres Inc., is not yet on the air. New Deadline for Class IVs Case The FCC has extended the deadline date for reply comments in the local broadcast stations case (in which Class IV stations aspire to increase their power from the present 250 w maximum to 1 kw) from Dec. 12 to Jan. 13. This extension was requested by Community Broadcasters Assn., representing some 500 out of the 900 Class IV stations on the air. Comments were filed with the FCC in this proceeding last month [Government, Dec. 9]. Page 64 • December 23, 1957 WELL APPOINTED MANSION With addition of special film-recording studios in the Florida governor's mansion, reaching the people will be almost as simple for the chief executive as going downstairs. The governor's cabinet has appropriated $2,250 to install special wiring, lights and acoustical facilities in an unfinished basement. The new studios will be put to regular use by the mansion's present tenant, Gov. LeRoy Collins, who films and records reports for radio and television stations each month. Examiner Sets Ch. 1 1 Hearing For Remaining Fargo Applicant With the withdrawal of Marvin Kratter as an applicant for ch. 1 1 Fargo, N. D., FCC Hearing Examiner Elizabeth Smith has scheduled a Jan. 27 hearing on the remaining application by North Dakota Broadcasting Co. The hearing was ordered to determine possible signal overlap and concentration of control of North Dakota stations and the circumstances surrounding the withdrawal of Mr. Kratter, who announced his intention to drop out at a Dec. 12 prehearing conference. North Dakota Broadcasting (owned by John Boler, 57%, and over 500 others) owns KCJB-AM-TV Minot, KBMB-TV Bismarck, KXJB-TV Valley City and KSJB Jamestown, all North Dakota, and holds a permit for KDHS (TV) Aberdeen, S. D. FCC Asks Spectrum Comments In Readying for Geneva Meet The FCC has asked for comments by Jan. 23, 1958, on the whole radio spectrum from all interested persons in preparation for the forthcoming International Radio Conference scheduled for Julv 1, 1959, at Geneva, Switzerland. The Commission noted it has not yet taken any position on any of the proposals so far drawn up by the groups working with government-industry committees and the U. S. State Dept., and declared it did not wish to do so until it had heard from its licensees and other interested parties. The importance of the Geneva conference was emphasized by the FCC in its statement: ". . . We wish to emphasize the importance of the matters which will be considered at the forthcoming conference, and the significant effect which changes in the Radio Regulations may have upon Commission licensees and the entire communications industry." FTC Finalizes Universal Order Federal Trade Commission has issued an order to Universal Sewing Service, Cincinnati, to stop using bait advertising and false claims to sell sewing machines, vacuum cleaners and other merchandise. The action, involving broadcast commercials and newspaper advertisements, confirms an initial decision by an FTC hearing examiner last month. Use by Universal of the name "Westinghouse" on Japanese sewing machines or any other product is forbidden under the order. FCC Members Agree To Answer Moulder FCC commissioners last Monday informed Rep. Morgan Moulder (D-Mo.) that they would answer questions on gifts and benefits submitted by the House Legislative Oversight Subcommittee chairman [Government, Oct. 14]. And, from his Missouri home last Thursday, Rep. Moulder stated the investigative committee now has enough material and information to hold hearings on one or all six of the agencies it was established to investigate. At the same time, he hit the FCC for failing to furnish the committee's investigators with files on pending cases. Last Monday's meeting at 5 p.m. was held at the request of the commissioners, who felt that it was impossible to furnish meaningful and complete answers to the questions [Government, Oct. 21]. One of the principal points discussed was to what detail the commissioners would need to go in listing gifts, honorariums, etc., received from Jan. 1, 1949 to the present date. Similar questionnaires were sent to certain former commissioners, the networks, and other industry organizations and figures. Dr. Bernard Schwartz, chief counsel for the subcommittee, also attended the meeting and in addition spent a part of last week working at the FCC. Rep. Moulder said that it has not been decided what federal regulatory agency will be called first for hearings by the committee, which was established with a $250,000 appropriation last spring to determine whether the agencies are administering the laws as Congress intended. In addition to the FCC, these agencies include the Federal Trade Commission, Interstate Commerce Commission, Federal Power Commission. Civil Aeronautics Board and Securities & Exchange Commission. The chairman said he hopes to hold an executive meeting of the subcommittee the day after Congress returns to Washington, which would be Jan. 8. There is a possibility, he stated, that the first hearing will be of a general nature (involving all six agencies) early next month to take up the problem of gifts, plus pressures on FCC members. Expressing concern over these pressures — by both industry figures and members of Congress — Rep. Moulder said that it may be necessary to introduce legislation designed to protect the commissioners. (During the last session of Congress, Sen. Henry Jackson [D-Wash.] introduced S 2462, which would make it a crime to attempt to influence "adjudication" by independent regulatory agencies.) On the question of pending files, Rep. Moulder said the committee has no intention of trying to influence a Commission decision in any way, but at the same time it is entitled to see all records. This, he felt, brings up the old, unanswered question of whether an agency can withhold information from Congress. Broadcasting