Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1963)

EQUIPMENT & ENGINEERING FCC FREEZES HIT EQUIPMENT MAKERS Hardest hit are those making only broadcast equipment Production and sale of broadcast equipment has been slowed down by the FCC's am and fm station freeze orders. A checkup of companies engaged exclusively or primarily in broadcast equipment indicates a marked slowdown in business in the last halfyear but firms with widely diversified electronic lines are not as seriously affected. The FCC's partial freeze on new am applications was imposed last May 10. Hopes that it will be lifted this year are hinged on whatever action the commission takes as a result of its two-day hearing last week on am radio overpopulation (story page 29). The fm freeze is of more recent origin. It was imposed last Dec. 21 but does not affect some of the northern plains and mountain states where there are few fm stations. This freeze was imposed when the commission drew up a proposed fm allocations table similar to the tv table. The FCC's proposed fm allocations table provides about 2,730 fm assignments in the continental U. S., including the present 1,200 stations on their present channels. Last week Continental Electronics Products Co., a subsidiary of LingTemco-Vought, Dallas, reorganized its original Electron Corp. line. Despite the freeze, LTV announced Continental and the top corporation are looking to expanded business. Gifford K. Johnson, president of LTV, said Continental's main sales items are the line of commercial broadcast transmitters formerly produced by Continental Mfg. Co. and purchased by almost 100 radio stations around the world. J. O. Weldon is president of Continental Elec ABC buys RCA color tv tape recorders Frank Marx, president ABC Engineers (1) and Charles H. Colledge, division vice president and general manager for RCA, examine the new RCA TR-22. Purchase of 12 of these colorized tv tape recorders by ABCTV, for use in Chicago for network feeds, was announced last week. Reported to be the "first completely transistorized broadcast tv tape machine in the television industry," the new equipment is approximately half the size of conventional recorders and effects a 50% reduction in power needed for operation. Picture stability of the recorders is said to be plus or minus one tenth of a millionth of a second. Instrumentation permits servicing from front of the recorder and a signaling system indicates faulty operation during recording or playback and shows where malfunction may have occurred. tronics Products as well as Continental Electronics Mfg. Co. and Continental Electronics Systems. Thomas B. Moseley, Continental Electronics sales director and vice president-general manager of Continental Electronics Products, said, "We expect this line of transmitters to account for the bulk of our business in 1963 and to enable us to grow rapidly in the years ahead." He predicted 1963 sales will exceed $1 million. The tv line is concentrated on closed-circuit equipment with emphasis on new low-cost cameras. The educational tv field is described as one of the principal markets. While official comments were not available, it's understood such major electronics corporations as RCA, Collins and General Electric Co. are placing emphasis on some of their nonbroadcast lines because of the freeze and the lack of a new-station market. On the other hand some firms producing studio and transmitter accessory items have reported fair to good business despite the freeze. The freeze on new am stations has caused economic injury to the manufacturers of radio equipment, Parker S. Gates, president of Gates Radio Co., told the FCC last week. In a letter read into the record at the FCC-NAB-industry radio conference last week, Mr. Gates said that "to believe that the problem is caused by overpopulation in am radio stations is, in my mind, very questionable." He said that Gates has had to release many employes since the freeze was imposed and that he was sure the same is true of other manufacturers. The opportunity to enter broadcasting, at a reasonable capital investment, should not be denied where frequencies are available, he said. "To a growing country, limiting broadcasting is to an extent like limiting the number of telephones," Mr. Gates said. "It is retarding a vital communications medium." Prices raised 3%-16% on GE tv equipment General Electric raises the prices of some of its closed circuit and broadcast television cameras, effective today (Jan. 14). The increases, ranging from 3% to 16%, reflect the rising costs of manufacturing transistorized video equipment, according to H. E. Smith, manager of marketing, technical products operation. The equipment affected by the increases are GE's TE-14 and 15 closed 56 BROADCASTING, January 14, 1963J