Broadcasting (Apr - June 1960)

Ohio, against the Lorain Journal. WEOL is asking $984,000 treble damages under the Sherman antitrust laws. The station charged that the newspaper attempted to force it out of business by refusing to sell advertising space to merchants and other advertisers who used WEOL. The newspaper was found guilty of this practice in a government antitrust suit in 1949. The suit is being heard by U.S. District Judge James C. Connell. ■ Government briefs Christmas spirit ■ A Boston record distributor has denied FTC charges of giving illegal payola to increase the sales of his recordings, asserting that the payments were merely Christmas gifts. Mutual Distributors Inc., answering March 2 charges that payments to disc jockeys and other station personnel were not in excess of $100 to any one person and constituted a public relations gesture during the holiday. At no time, the concern said, were payments made to attempt to influence exposure of records distributed by Mutual. Portland petition ■ WCSH-TV Portland, Me. has petitioned the FCC for reconsideration of its conditional license renewal. The commission granted the renewal March 31 subject “to outcome of proceeding which looks toward reassigning ch. 6 from Bedford, Mass, to Providence, R.I., which might involve short separation with co-channel station WCSH-TV.” In its petition, the station said that ch. 6 has been assigned to Portland since 1952. It further claimed that the commission’s action is “arbitrary, capricious, a denial of the petitioner’s rights and therefore unlawful and invalid.” WCSH-TV further stated that, to the extent that its license condition seeks to “anticipate the outcome of a proceeding, it taints that proceeding with prejudice.” Seven grants ■ Construction permits for seven tv translator stations have been granted by the FCC. The Minnesota Valley Tv Improvement Corp. was granted permits for two stations to repeat programs of Minneapolis stations KSTP-TV (ch. 5) and WTCN-TV (ch. 1 1). Winter Garden Translator System Inc. of Carrizo Springs and Crystal City, both Texas, was granted permits to translate programs of KONO-TV (ch. 12) and KENS-TV (ch. 5), both San Antonio. Construction permits to replace expired permits for two translators were granted to the Shelby Tv Club Inc., Shelby, Mont., to repeat programs of KFBB-TV (ch. 5) Great Falls, Mont., and CJLH-TV (ch. 7) Lethbridge, Al berta, Canada. Frostburg (Md.) Community Tv Inc. was granted a construction permit to replace one expired to translate program of WMAL-TV (ch. 7) Washington, D.C. Coast to coast ■ The first link in a proposed transcontinental radio relay system was approved when the FCC granted Western Union Telegraph Co. authority to construct a common carrier microwave radio relay system to operate in the 5925-6425 me band between Vandenberg and Sunnyvale, both California. Western Union proposes to route the system from Los Angeles north to San Francisco, then east to Boston. When completed it will comprise about 3,700 route miles and will cost approximately $41,000,000. Western Union contemplates that public service will be available at 11 points between Los Angeles and Boston in late 1961 or early 1962. Needs hearing ■ KBFL (TV) (ch. 39) Bakersfield, Calif., has been advised by the FCC that it has 30 days in which to request a hearing on its application for an extension of time to complete construction. The commission said that failure to request a hearing during the allotted time will mean dismissal of the application, cancellation of the station’s construction permit and deletion of its call letters. Too many spots? ■ Two FCC commissioners raised their eyebrows during a routine hearing considering the assignment of license of KWIC Salt Lake City, Utah. The assignment involved a stock transaction with no financial consideration. Commissioners Robert E. Lee and John S. Cross opposed the grant on the grounds of over-commercialization stating that the station was proposing too many spots in its program schedule. Station won the grant in a 4-2 vote. No from Ohio ■ The Ohio Assn, of Broadcasters has gone on record against giving the FCC the right to suspend licenses. The Ohio broadcasters, in a resolution sent to the commission, said that the suspension of licenses “can only lead to censorship of programming, something which the citizens of this country do not want.” One left for ch. 9 ■ One of the two contestants for tv ch. 9, Alpena, Mich., has petitioned the FCC to dismiss its application. Gerity Broadcasting Co., whose application is in consolidated hearing with that of Lake Huron Broadcasting Corp., said that it desired to withdraw its application and that it had received no consideration from any parties in connection with the withdrawal. INDIANA Represented Nationally by Bolling.Co. *■ ECONOMICAL OPERATION — lower operating cost * A NEW SOUND — thru low distortion and wide response* EASY REMOTE CONTROL — no outboard devices on the front * COMPACT SIZE — nothing external * ACCEPTANCE — largest selling 5 KW manufactured today * READY FOR SHIPMENT — in stock for prompt delivery GATES RADIO COMPANY Subsidiary of Harris Intertype Corporation QUINCY. ILLINOIS While serving a single station market, WTHI-TV fulfills its public service responsibilities in a way that has gained for it the appreciation and support of its entire viewing area ... a circumstance that must be reflected in audience response to advertising carried. Five full y2 hours of local public service programming each week. WTHI-TV CHANNEL 10 CBS • ABC TERRE HAUTE ESDI BC-5P-2 The Recognized Leader in 5 KW AM Transmitters BROADCASTING, May 23, 1960 87