Broadcasting Telecasting (Jul-Sep 1962)

Comments ask relaxations of uhf standards FILINGS ASSUME DEINTERMIXTURE IS NOW MOOT POINT CBS to Stratton: no CBS has rejected the demand for equal time made by Rep. Samuel Stratton (D-N.Y.) in connection with the television network's "The Fifty Faces of '62," which was telecast May 30. Rep. Stratton, a candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, based his demand on the appearance in the documentary of New York's Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller, a candidate for re-election (Broadcasting, June 25). In a letter to Rep. Stratton, Richard S. Salant, president of CBS News, said the documentary was "a bona fide news documentary" and, as such, was exempt from the equal-opportunities requirement of the Communications Act. asked a second etv reservation in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area. The Mohawk-Hudson Council on Educational Tv presently operates ch. 17 WMHT (TV) Schenectady. Relaxation of some of the technical requirements for uhf stations was favored in a majority of the reply comments to the FCC's proposals to foster development of uhf (At Deadline, June 25). The comments treated deintermixture as a moot issue in light of the FCC's promise to Congress of a moratorium. The Assn. of Maximum Service Telecasters urged the FCC: ■ To allow uhf operation without a lower sideband filter when there is no interference. ■ To allow use of uhf directional antennas with a ratio of maximum to minimum radiation greater than 10 db to improve coverage but not to reduce separation requirements. ■ To permit remote control of uhf transmitters. ■ To allow uhf aural power as low as 10% of visual power. ■ To relax operator requirements for uhf transmitters with 1 kw or less output power. ■ To take steps to provide more uhf channels for etv. Three vhf stations which were threatened by deintermixture filed replies. WISC-TV Madison, Wis., said the FCC should reconsider and recast its proposals on the basic changes (allchannel sets and the moratorium) that have occurred in the past year. WISCTV and WREX-TV Rockford, 111., agreed essentially with AMST. Triangle stations (which owns WNBF-TV Binghamton, originally selected for deintermixture) asked for rulemaking to foster uhf through increased bandwidth, revised picture aspect ratio and improved color standards. WHAS-TV Louisville, Ky., opposed relaxation of uhf directional antenna requirements and urged that reduction of aural-to-visual power ratio be permitted for vhf as well as uhf. WNEP-TV Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the only uhf station to comment, said it has experimented with reduced aural power under FCC permission and saved about $900 monthly. : THE MEDIA Radio Board wants caution in am study NAB GROUP STRESSES SAFEGUARDS FOR SUMMER OVERPOPULATION TALKS Radio's overpopulation problem is due for intensive study this summer by the NAB and the FCC, separately and jointly, but the association's Radio Board wants to be sure the industry's rights are safeguarded. Meeting Thursday in Washington, the radio directors discussed at length the engineering and economic aspects of the crowded am band. In an all-day session they favored a change in the way radio directors are selected in the at-large category and voted a new procedure for annual election of a chairman and vice chairman. A note of caution was apparent in the directors' consideration of birthcontrol methods intended to solve the overpopulation problem. A special group, the Radio Development Committee, is planning NAB's participation in a joint NAB-FCC project now under way. NAB is operating under a mandate from the annual industry convention. Both President LeRoy Collins and FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow agree the subject deserves serious review. Staff studies of the problem are being conducted at NAB under a directive from the development committee, head ed by George C. Hatch, KALL Salt Lake City, who recently retired as NAB Radio Board chairman. A report of the overpopulation situation was given the board by John F. Meagher, NAB radio vice president. Cautious ■ After reviewing the problem and the development group's first actions, the board adopted a resolution expressing confidence that the committee will explore all avenues of analysis and exercise caution to avoid suggesting any solution that might lead to overregulation or loss of free enterprise in broadcasting. Radio directors agreed with the development committee that emphasis should be placed on engineering aspects of radio overpopulation. After hearing a report by the special board composition committee headed by Richard W. Chapin, KFOR Lincoln, Neb., the board approved a change in the method of selecting directors-atlarge. At present two directors are elected, one each year, to represent large, medium and small station categories. Under the plan voted Thursday, the large, medium and small designations will be based on size of market rather than station power. No change is planned in the two fm at-large directors. The revised formula will require a membership by-laws referendum. Another change, to become effective at the 1963 NAB convention, specifies that election of a Radio Board chairman and vice chairman shall take place at the close of the industry's convention. This is the same procedure used by the Tv Board, whose directorial elections are held at the convention. Radio directors, however, are elected by mail ballot during the winter on an alternateyear system of two-year terms. Plans for the annual NAB Fall Conference series were approved by the board. Starting with the opening meeting Oct. 15-16 at Atlanta, Ga., the eight conferences will wind up Nov. 19-20 in Portland, Ore. (see schedule, page xx). Collins address ■ The conferences will return to a 11/2 -day agenda after an experimental one-day formula in 1961. The first day will open with a joint radio-tv meeting. The luncheon will feature an address by NAB President LeRoy Collins. Separate radio and tv meetijjgs are planned that afternoon, followed by an evening reception (with 42 BROADCASTING, July 2, 1962