Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1962)

w Radio 13 AVERAGES THE LOWEST TRAFFIC TIME Cost per Thousand in CLEVELAND* *Hours: 7 AM10 AM 3 PM-6 PM Rates: SRDS Ratings: Nielsen, August and September, 1962-Hooper, September, 1962 Call Representatives, Inc. Program juggling charged in tv hearing APPLICANTS FOR CH. 10 SWAP CHARGES ON MOTIVES Witnesses for the City of St. Petersburg, Fla., told an FCC hearing last week that public affairs and live discussion radio programs in which they were involved on WLCY Tampa-St. Petersburg were taken off the air by the station in 1960 to make way for a new "disc jockey and news" program format. Testimony came from a minister, the president of a council of neighborhood associations, a Veterans Administration public affairs contact officer and a woman radio and tv personality. The City attempted to prove that WLCY (which is mainly owned by the principals of WTSP-TV Inc.) carried the public affairs programs only to win a credit for WTSP-TV Inc.'s proposed programming. WTSP-TV Inc. was awarded ch. 10 at St. Petersburg over five other applicants, including the City of St. Petersburg, in January (Broadcasting, Jan. 22). WLCY General Manager Sam G. Rahall testified earlier this month that the station eliminated "block programming" and terminated its MBS network affiliation early in 1960 in favor of a more flexible format with music and informational programming (Broadcasting, Dec. 10). The grant was stayed last summer (Broadcasting, July 2) and the hearing record was reopened on the FCC's own motion to determine the character qualifications of WLCY's owners (chiefly Sam G., Farris E. and N. Joe Rahall), and whether the radio station's programming had been augmented for the reasons alleged by the losing applicants. Credibility Questioned ■ During redirect examination, WTSP-TV Inc. attacked the credibility of witnesses who Sam G. Rahall were in some degree responsible for local discussion and religious programs on WLCY before and during the original ch. 10 hearing, but dropped in the spring of 1960. WTSP-TV tried to show the witnesses were biased and favored a grant of ch. 10 to City. Losing applicants in addition to City (WSUN-AM-TV): Florida Gulfcoast Broadcasters Inc., Suncoast Cities Broadcasting Corp., Tampa Telecasters Inc., and Bay Area Telecasting Corp. The hearing continues today (Dec. 17) with more City witnesses and is expected to be continued Jan. 7 after a Christmas recess beginning Friday (Dec. 21). Senate unit's staff poses patent questions A Senate subcommittee issued a preliminary report last week on the patent practices of the FCC. The report, prepared by a staff member of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights, raises a number of questions without trying to answer them. As noted by Subcommittee Chairman John L. McClellan, these questions include: Should the FCC, in establishing technical operating standards for transmission equipment, require the regular filing of technical data and patent rights by the companies whose material will be used? Should the commission employ the technical staff to process and appraise the impact of such information and patent rights? In setting operating standards, how much responsibility should the commission assume for preventing restraints on competition in the communications field, and how much should it rely on the Justice Dept. to correct any restraints that might result? The preliminary report is the 14th issued by the subcommittee in a series on patent practices of various government agencies. C-c tv used by Army to train its recruits For the long haul, closed circuit television helps train army recruits better than conventional methods. This has been reported by Maj. Gen. Earle F. Cook, army chief signal officer, following an eight week test of two basic training companies at Fort Dix, N. J. Day-to-day results were about equal for the two groups, Gen. Cook told a Dec. 6 meeting of the Washington chapter of the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Assn. in Wash 64 (GOVERNMENT) BROADCASTING, December 17, 1962