Broadcasting (Apr - June 1960)

FCC still opposed to catv licenses The FCC still hasn’t changed its stand of April 1959 against the licensing of community antenna television systems, the agency told the House Commerce Committee last week. The FCC comments were made Monday on a House bill (HR 11041) identical to that debated in the Senate last week and sent back to the Senate Commerce Committee (story page 84). The FCC comments were entered into the Congressional Record by Sen. A.S. Mike Monroney (D-Okla.), an opponent of the Senate version, during the Senate debate. The FCC said, however, it still favors legislation requiring a catv system to get permission from the originating station to carry the signals of the local station in the area being served by a catv system and to keep the technical quality of the signal picked up from the local station comparable to those of its other transmissions. The agency also reported that studies it made in August 1959 have led it to believe catv should be prohibited by law from carrying in advance in an area any program the local station plans to carry on a delayed basis. To carry such programs in advance of the local tv broadcast station places it at a competitive disadvantage it is unable to overcome, the commission said. In arguing against catv licensing, the FCC said mandatory licensing may “well have the effect of requiring that a substantial, if not a complete preference be given to a local tv station against any new catv system or any enlargement of an existing one, without adequate regard to the multiple program services which would thereby be provided.” The FCC added that licensing of catv would require more agency personnel and that any such legislation should be accompanied by supplemental appropriations to hire more people for the increased tasks the commission would face. Commerce Committee: Aiken; Bridges; Bush; Byrd, (Va.); Byrd, (W.Va.); Carlson; Clark; Cooper; Cotton; Dirksen; Dworshak; Eastland; Ellender; Fong; Gore; Hickenlooper; Hill; Holland; Javits; Johnston, (S.C.); Keating; Kerr: Long, (La.); Lusk; McClellan; Martin; Monroney; Morton; Mundt; Muskie; Prouty; Robertson; Russell; Saltonstall; Scott; Smith; Sparkman; Stennis, and Wiley. Against recommitting: Allott; Bartlett; Beall; Bible; Butler; Cannon; Carroll; Case, (N.J.); Case, (S.Dak.); Chavez; Church; Curtis; Dodd; Douglas; Engle; Goldwater; Gruening; Hart; Hartke; Hayden; Hruska; Humphrey; Jackson; Kuchel; Lausche; Long, (Hawaii); Magnuson; Mansfield; McGee; Moss; Murray; Pastore; Proxmire; Schoeppel; Thurmond; Williams, (Del.); Young, (N.D.), and Young, (Ohio). FTC has hand out for increased budget In a brief hearing before the Senate Independent Offices Appropriation subcommittee last week, the Federal Trade Commission asked for more money for the next fiscal year to handle its greatly increased work load. Among its requests was a S400,000 supplement to its original budget request for “the additional work in the radio and television field as well as other deceptive practice work.” The FTC's original request was for $7.6 million. The House granted all but $185,000 of this figure, which amounted to a $575,000 increase over 1959. Robert Secrest, speaking for the FTC, explained that applications for complaint received during the first 10 months of fiscal 1960 were 35.9% over those received during the comparable period of 1959 and 70.5% over the comparable period of 1958. He also said the FTC has only 50 more employes than in 1941, “yet in that time the gross national product has doubled, advertising expenditures exceed $11 billion, and Congress has passed five new laws that have added greatly to the duties of the commission.” Under questioning from committee chairman Sen. Warren Magnuson (DWash.), Mr. Secrest explained that the extra $400,000 requested for investigating and policing false and deceptive advertising would not all be allocated to radio-tv advertising, but that “the primary emphasis” would be on those media. He said the FTC has stepped up its antimonopoly and antitrust activities at request of Congress, taking care that there is no duplication of effort in this field with the Justice Dept. He further stated that conditions have changed and the work load “is vastly increased” since the commission testified before the House appropriations group in January. He added he believed if the House had been aware of these circumstances it would have granted the FTC more funds. FCC grants five microwave protests Five tv stations had their protests granted by the FCC last week, which designated for evidentiary hearing, the applications for microwave relay construction permits in their areas. ■ WCTV(TV) (ch. 6) Thomasville, Ga., was granted its protest against Mesa Microwave Inc., to pick up programs of WMBR-TV, WFGA-TV, and WJHP-TV all Jacksonville, Fla., for delivery to a proposed catv system at Tallahassee, Fla. ■ KGNS-TV (ch. 8) Laredo, Tex., was also granted the protest also against Mesa Microwave to pick up programs of WOAI-TV, KENS-TV, and KONOTV San Antonio, Tex. for delivery to a proposed catv system at Laredo. ■ KLTV-(TV) (ch. 7) Tyler, Tex., was granted its protest against East Texas Transmission Co, to pick up programs of WBAP-TV and KFJZ-TV both Ft. Worth, and KRLD-TV and KFAA-TV both Dallas, for delivery to catv systems in Tyler and Jacksonville, Tex. ■ KWRB-TV (ch. 10) Riverton, Wyo., granted protest against Carter Mountain Transmission Corp., to pick up programs of KTWO-TV Casper for delivery to catv systems at Riverton, Lander, and Thermopolis, all Wyoming. « KXLJ-TV (ch. 12) Helena, Mont., granted protest against Montana Microwave, to pick up programs of KXLYTV, KHQ-TV, and KREM-TV, all Spokane, Wash., for delivery to a catv system in Helena. Kintner praises tv for improving ads A nationwide tv audience last Friday heard the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission assert that, despite all the furor over television lapses, print media probably out-ranks tv as a carrier of deceptive advertising. Chairman Earl Kintner, appearing on CBS-TV’s Person to Person, told moderator Charles Collingwood in reply to questioning on deceptive advertising practices: ... “I think it’s probably more. prevalent in the printed area, because there is a greater volume of printed advertising. The television industry has responded magnificently to BROADCASTING, May 23, 1960 85