Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1962)

WLOS-TV editorials spur grand jury probe A series of five television editorials on possible irregularities in the prosecution of drunk-driving charges in Asheville, N. C, has led to a grand jury investigation of court procedures there and a jury appeal for assistance from the governor. Arthur Whiteside, public affairs director of WLOS-TV Asheville, combed records of the Asheville City Police Court and the Superior Court of Buncombe County for a year to develop background material for the editorial series broadcast Oct. 22-26. The editorials urged a grand jury investigation. Mr. Whiteside, his records and court documents were subpoened for a grand jury which was convened after the editorial series ended. When the jury finished its work, it requested a full investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. ABC Radio owned stations, among others. Contributions may be sent to the Veterans Hospital Radio & Television Guild, 353 W. 57th St., New York 19. Bernard sues Weed on contract dispute Charles Bernard, president of Charles Bernard Co. and Country Music Network, has filed suit in New York Supreme Court against various Weed station representation companies, seeking $750,000 in damages in breach of contract action. Spokesman for Weed said Mr. Bernard's business association with the representation firm was terminated because, he claimed, Mr. Bernard "did not work at his job, did not make sales.'' Webster cites 'plague' of improper research Creativity in radio research is producing valuable facts, but the industry is "plagued" by two kinds of bad research, Maurie Webster, CBS vice president and general manager of CBS Radio Spot Sales, told the Pittsburgh Radio-Television Club Dec. 12. He noted first "the unscientific study, carelessly done with poor research tech niques." He deplored, secondly, the "heavy reliance on raw rating figures," which he called research involving a rating service that will show a station is "number one," and then "trumpeting the fact." He thought, however, that both kinds are on the decline. Mr. Webster cited as examples of new creative approaches to research CBS Radio Spot Sales' study of "the best times to reach men," showing often overlooked attractiveness of weekend radio to advertisers and research on the "bargain" of using seven-day radio schedules to reach a big segment of the market. WBOC-TV boosts power in $250,000 project At a cost of nearly $250,000, WBOCTV (ch. 16) Salisbury, Md., has completed an expansion program including an increase of power to 225 kw (14 times its previous power). WBOC-TV also has doubled the capacity of its transmitter building, built an addition to its studio office building and remodeled all other offices. A. S. Abell Co., Baltimore, publisher of the Sunpapers, owns WBOC-AM-TV and WMAR-TV Baltimore. EQUIPMENT & ENGINEERING RCA-built Relay orbited by NASA INTERNATIONAL CHRISTMAS SHOW, YEAR'S SPACE LINK PLANNED, IF . . . America's second communications satellite went into orbit last Thursday night and the first contact was scheduled to be made Friday morning. ff all goes well, space relay communication between the old world and the new again will be established after a lapse of almost a month when Telstar, the first sky switchboard, faltered and ceased operating after four months of almost faultless operation. The Relay satellite, made for the National Aeronautics & Space Administration by RCA, is circling the earth from 800 to 4,500 miles high. It is capable of transmitting 10 w which is said to make it simpler for ground stations to pick up and receive its signals. The new communications satellite is designed to operate for one year. Already planned is a gala Christmas tv exchange scheduled for Dec. 19 when 1 1 countries in North America and Europe will be joined. The program, starting at approximately 8:45 p.m., EST, will be carried live by all three U. S. tv networks and it will be telecast in Europe to the member coun 52 tries of the European Broadcasting Union. The American program will show the White House Christmas tree in Washington, with Mahalia Jackson and the Augustana Lutheran Church Choir; RCA's Wilmotte ice skating in Rockefeller Center and choirs singing at St. Patrick's Cathedral and Riverside Church, all in New York, and skiers on Mount Royal, near Montreal, Canada. Americans will see Christmas tree felling in Austria, yule logs being transported into Amsterdam, Holland, glass blowers making Christmas tree ornaments in West Germany, and the seasonal shoppers' rush in London. The U. S. segment will be produced by a three-network committee (At Deadline, Dec. 3). Add One ■ Besides America and Europe, Relay's telephone and telegraph signals are expected to be picked up in South America, where Radio Internacional do Brasil has constructed a station near Rio de Janeiro. In Europe the Telepazio facility near Fucino, Italy, will join the Goonhilly Downs station in England and that at Plemeur-Bodeu in France. The 172 pound Relay was blasted into space aboard a three-stage Delta rocket at 6:30 p.m., EST, from Cape Canaveral. It rose smoothly and at the BROADCASTING, December 17, 1962