Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

NOW S the tir with headquarters at 901 Livernois, Ferndale 20, Mich. The network will use AT&T connections and offer origination, production, transmission and reception services to organizations for meetings and programs. Six Arizona Companies Join Antennavision Community Tv Six Arizona community antenna tv systems and engineering companies have been consolidated with Antennavision Inc. of Phoenix, according to an announcement by Bruce Merrill, Antennavision president. Antennavision, founded in 1952, serves over 8,000 families in Arizona and has 2.5 million feet of coaxial cable installed. The new components of Antennavision Inc. are Arizona Community Television System Inc., which serves the San Manuel and Ray-Sonora areas; Clifton-Morenci Community Television Inc.; Winslow-Holbrook Community Television Inc.; Antennavision Inc. of Globe-Miami-Safford; CTV Constructors Inc., and Antennavision Manufacturing and Engineering Co. Three of these firms had been linked to the Antennavision organization. The corporation's officers are Bruce Merrill, president; Paul Merrill, Safford, vice president; Willard Shoecraft, Globe, vice president; Earl Hickman, Phoenix, secretary, and Nelson Wirick, Phoenix, treasurer. Roy Goodman, Phoenix, is sales manager for the firm, and Edward Furman, Safford, and Bruce Kinkner, Globe, are district managers. L. A. Mayor Approves Ordinances For Pay Tv; Referendum Move Seen Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson on Dec. 20 signed ordinances adopted by the City Council two days earlier authorizing operation of two closed-circuit toll tv systems in that city. Southern California Theater Owners' Assn., which has opposed toll tv as "sounding the death knell for free tv as well as motion picture exhibition," is expected to start collecting signatures calling for public referendum. Julius F. Tuchler, SCTOA spokesman, bitterly assailed Los Angeles tv stations, networks and NARTB for "having taken a free ride" on a nine-month campaign fought by motion picture exhibitors. He urged stations to "stand side by side" with theatre operators to defeat toll tv in other cities and "save the tremendous expense of going on the ballot by referendum as we are forced to do in Los Angeles." Thesaurus Issues 'Booster' RCA Thesaurus has announced the release of another "sales booster" commercial lead-in radio campaign to subscriber stations, under the title of "Impersonations" and featuring impersonated voices of 52 personalities. In the transcriptions, the announcer follows the voice by saying: "That was an impersonation. Now, for something real, listen." The local commercial announcer then delivers the sponsor's commercial message. INTERNATIONAL News Firm for Commercial Tv In Britain 'Success/ Says Head The operation of Independent Tv News, established at the outset of commercial television by the British program packagers as a means of competing with BBC's top-flight news organization, was termed last week "a complete success" by Geoffrey Cox, editor and chief executive of ITN. Mr. Cox and an associate, John Carter, ITN film manager, were in New York for a 10-day business trip, conferring with CBS Newsfilm officials and studying the news operations of the various networks. Mr. Cox said that from the beginning of commercial tv in Britain, ITN has had an arrangement with CBS Newsfilm and he credited that organization with playing a significant role in the service ITN has been able to provide to the five commercial stations in Britain. The six program contractors in Britain, Mr. Cox explained, set up Independent Tv News to supply national and international news to the commercial tv stations. The stations, he added, provide their own local programming, but ITN, as a pooled effort, can make national and international coverage available on a more economical basis. ITN maintains its own studios, complete facilities and a staff of more than 150 people, according to Mr. Cox. Programs are carried to each station's transmitter by land lines, he said. Program contractors pay ITN a sum proportionate to the number of viewers in the station's coverage area. ITN currently supplies a 10-minute and a 15-minute news program each day plus a special half-hour program weekly on foreign affairs called Roving Report. Next month ITN will feed the stations a new 15-minute program weekly titled Tell the Public, which Mr. Cox described as "a combination Face the Nation and Mike Wallace Show." He stressed that ITN's arrangement with the program contractors gives the organization "complete editorial independence." He said at the start of ITN's operation there was a belief in Labor Party circles that the news organization would be "biased in favor of big money" and an apprehension on the part of Conservative Party elements that ITN would be "sensational, yellow journalism." He said he was pleased to report that each faction today is "kindly disposed to our objective, balanced coverage." The arrangement with CBS Newsfilm, he said, provides for that organization to airmail to ITN daily film footage, selected for its likely appeal to British audiences. In turn, CBS Newsfilm, according to Mr. Cox, has bought film coverage from the ITN. His organization, he said, relies on CBS Newsfilm for coverage in areas throughout the world where ITN is not strongly represented. Mr. Cox was impressed with rear-screen projection and other techniques used on U. S. tv programs and hopes to incorporate some of them on ITN news programs. Brophy Heads New Canadian Firm R. M. Brophy, at one time with NBC in New York, is president of a new Canadian company specializing in radio communications equipment, Canadian Motorola Electronics Ltd., Toronto, Ont. The new to SELLibrate the new "point of sale" in the GOLDEN VALLEY... (Central Ohio) WHTN-TV HUNTINGTON • CHARLESTON ★ NEW TOWER 1,000 feet above average terrain ★ FULL POWER 316,000 watts ★ GREATER COVERAGE 554,697 TV homes ★ SALES POTENTIAL $2,727,662,000 in all the major U.S. Census sales categories Get the dollars and cents story right now WHTN-TV CHANNEL 13 A C0WLES STATION ABC BASIC Huntington-Charleston, W. Va. Nationally represented by Edward Petry Co., Inc. JUSt THINK! CENTRAL ILLINOIS' great 2-in-l market DECATUR-SPRINGFIELD Is offering you ABC a BILLION DOLLARS and THINK AGAIN! WTVP is the only station offering you GRADE "A" unduplicated coverage of this vital market . . . PLUS lowest cost per thousand. Station "A" Springfield (1 city coverage) . .$25.00 WTVP Decatur & Springfield (2-in-l coverage) $35.00 Complete Unduplicated 2-in-l Coverage WTVP 213,000 W. CHANNEL 17 DECATUR, ILLINOIS REPRESENTED BY GILL-PERNA, INC. Broadcasting December 30, 1957 • Page 65