Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1958)

INTERNATIONAL CBC Okays Tv Power Boost Over Objections by CATV Nine Canadian radio stations and one television station were recommended for power increases at the June 13 meeting of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. board of governors at Ottawa. A number of stations were authorized to make share transfers. CKVR-TV Barrie, Ont., applied for a power increase on ch. 3 from 26.7 kw video power to 100 kw, with antenna 820 feet above average terrain. In making the recommendation the CBC board pointed out that the power boost should extend service to the north where Canadian tv service is not now available. Arguments by community television antenna companies that CKVR-TV would interfere in northern communities with reception of ch. 2 and 4 stations from Buffalo, N. Y., about 140 miles distant, were heard by the board. But it made its recommendation on the ground that such interference "should not have the effect of limiting the coverage of Canadian television stations and their service to the public in order possibly to protect some fringe reception not recognized in the international agreement on allocation of channels." Radio stations recommended for 10 kw power were CKXL Calgary, Alta., from 1 kw on 1140 kc; CFRN Edmonton, Alta., from 5 kw on 1260 kc; CJCA Edmonton, Alta., from 5 kw on 930 kc; CJOB Winnipeg, Man., from 5 kw day, continuing with 2.5 kw nighttime on 680 kc; VOCM St. John's, Nfld., from 1 kw on 590 kc; CJCH Halifax, N. S., from 5 kw day with 5 kw for nighttime on 920 kc, and CJNB North Battleford, Sask., from 1 kw on 1460 kc. Other radio power boosts: CKTR Three Rivers, Que., from 1 kw day to 5 kw day, with 1 kw nighttime, moving from 1350 kc to 1150 kc and CFCW Camrose, Alta., from 250 w to 1 kw on 1230 kc. CJMT Chicoutimi, Que., was granted permission to have a standby transmitter ■of 250 kw. Approved for change of control: CKDH Amherst, N. S.; CHEF Granby, Que.; CHAB Moose Jaw, Sask., and share transfers were recommended for 1 1 radio and two television stations. 20 Languages Heard in Canada Independent Canadian radio stations broadcast programs in 20 foreign languages, a recent survey by the Canadian Assn. of Broadcasters has established. In all, 54 Canadian independent stations, out of about 150, broadcast some 140 hours of foreignlanguage programs weekly with Italian, German, Ukrainian, Polish, Hungarian and Dutch being the principal languages. Most of the foreign-language broadcasts come from stations in heavily populated Ontario and Quebec provinces where a large percentage of Canada's postwar immigrants have settled. About half the 54 stations doing foreign-language broadcasts are located in southern Ontario. Other languages heard each week include Finnish, Greek, Estonian, Czech, Latvian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Macedonian and Croatian. Some Indian and Eskimo language broadcasts are also featured on northern and western stations. OIL BY ANY OTHER NAME A 13-minute color cartoon film, "Energetically Yours," which was produced for the Standard Oil Co. (New Jersey) and presented on the company's 75th anniversary program on NBC-TV last October, now is available for distribution throughout the world in seven foreign languages. The film, being distributed by Transfilm Inc., New York, will be released by the oil company and its affiliates in Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Swedish, Norwegian and Italian for television and theatrical showings. A Transfilm spokesman said that numerous requests for the film from European and South America tv and theatrical groups prompted Standard Oil to offer the cartoon abroad. It continues to be available in English for tv showings in the U. S. and prints may be obtained by writing the Standard Oil Co. (New Jersey), Room 1610, 30 Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y. Private Tv for West Germany Still Several Years in Future In spite of results of a survey in which West Germans were strongly in favor of introducing privately operated television stations, and statements by West German Postal Minister T. Stuecklen that he is for additional outlets, private broadcasting is not expected to come to the country for several years. Mr. Stuecklen told a group of brandname advertisers that, providing an augmented tv system would maintain current taste and entertainment values, German viewers ought to have a choice between two or three programs. (The country's present tv system is comparable with the BBC in pre-ITA days in Britain.) Indications are that the Bonn government is willing to allocate a second channel to non-commercial operators in present tv cities. The remaining channels, probably uhf, would be awarded to private and commercial enterprises. (The latter stations would be supervised by a regulating body comparable with ITA.) An independent West German research institute has published results of a survey that shows 76% of the German population as being in favor of allowing independent companies to operate stations. Neill Elected CAB President D. Malcolm Neill, president of CFNB Fredericton, N. B., has been elected president of the Canadian Assn. of Broadcasters, succeeding Vernon Dallin, CFQC-AM-TV Saskatoon, Sask., who resigned recently after being re-elected to a second term at the May CAB convention at Montreal. Mr. Neill served earlier as CAB president during 1951 and 1952 and has represented the CAB for a number of years in the International American Assn. of Broadcasters. Schwerin Commends Canadians For 'Better' Tv Program Balance Better balance among programs, resulting in less emphasis on "tense shows like mysteries, westerns or melodramas" that "tend to surround and even inundate the commercials," gives Canadian advertisers certain advantages over American advertisers, Horace S. Schwerin, president of Schwerin Research Corp., told the annual meeting of the Proprietary Assn. of Canada. Listing points that "should afford encouragement," to his audience, he said: "Our research shows, over and over again, that the kind of show is more important to the advertiser than the size of the audience; it shows further that many of the American programs of the types that are most frequently broadcast these days are among the least desirable from the viewpoint of sponsor effectiveness; it shows further that there is a smaller incidence of such types among Canadian-produced programs, which more commonly tend to be of the sort that can add substantial values to the advertising that is placed on them." In compatible surroundings, a commercial can "double or even triple its effectiveness over what it can achieve in a less hospitable show," Mr. Schwerin stated. Adding that he was not suggesting that "tense shows are inevitably bad guys," the researcher said that in most instances no attention was paid to adapting commercials to the environment. Filmed commercials are scheduled "without regard to the nature of the program," he noted. Sweden Plans 4 More Tv Outlets When the television station in Malmoe, Sweden, goes on the air in a few days the country will have four full-time stations operating. The stations (two are in Norrkoeping, one in Stockholm) all plan to be interconnected by a relay network. This network will be linked in with Eurovision — the continental tv hookup. The new transmitting facilities now being completed are expected to rapidly increase the number of sets in use within the next few months. Current figures estimate that nearly 200,000 sets are operating in Sweden. Plans for fiscal 1958-59 call for the construction of four more tv stations. This will give Swedish Tv Service a coverage of 4,000,000 viewers. Sweden's population is 7.4 million. CBC Got $43 Million Last Year Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in the fiscal year ending March 31 received $43 million from the Canadian federal government as compared with $39 million the previous year, the annual revue of Canadian government expenditures indicated when presented in Parliament at Ottawa on June 16. The report on revenues showed that the 15% excise tax on radio and television receivers, radio tubes and phonographs brought the government $16 million in the last fiscal year as compared with $19 million the previous year. This is earmarked for the CBC and is turned over to the CBC as part of its allotment from the government. Broadcasting June 30, 1958 • Page 103