Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1963)

UHF OPERATOR CHARGES MONOPOLY Wants VHF competitor to be divested of all but one station The VHF-UHF competition reached a new high last week when a UHF operator asked the FCC to order its VHF competitor to divest itself of all but one TV station. The petition was filed by Plains Television Inc., owner of three UHF outlets in central Illinois, against Midwest Television Inc., which owns one VHF and a UHF in the same area. The Plains complaint is based on the allegation that Midwest exercises a monopoly in the region through the use of combination rates, combination programing and a combination staff. Plains also asked the FCC to deny Midwest's pending purchase of kfmbtv San Diego. Midwest is principally owned by August C. Meyer and his wife. It owns wcia(tv) Champaign, on channel 3; wmbd-tv Peoria, on channel 31, and a UHF translator in LaSalle. Midwest is an applicant for channel 26 in Springfield, 111., and for a VHF translator in Effingham. Peoria is operated as a semi-satellite of wcia, Plains says, and the Springfield operation will be operated similarly if granted. Mr. Meyer is out of the country and could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for Midwest said it would answer the allegations in its reply to be filed with FCC. Plains is jointly owned by H. & E. Balaban Co. (Harry and Elmer Balaban, midwest theater owners) and Transcontinental Properties Inc. (Herbert Scheftel and estate of Alfred E. Burger). It owns wics(tv) (ch. 20) Springfield; wchu(tv) (ch. 33) Champaign, and wicd(tv) (ch. 24) Danville. Plains also is an applicant for a VHF translator in Champaign. Its Champaign and Danville stations are operated as semi-satellites of wics. The key of the Plains' complaint is that the Midwest group, all based on VHF outlet wcia, gives Midwest an "overwhelming dominance" in central Illinois. For example, Plains says, the wcia's CBS network base hourly rate is $1,250, while the combined wicswchu-wicd NBC network rate is only $500. Single Market Concept ■ Midwest, Plains claims, has achieved dominance of the central Illinois market, through planned approach to the area as a single entity. It serves and would serve, Plains says, an area of 19,445 square miles "carved out of the heart of Illinois and extending into Indiana." It promotes this "empire," Plains says, by calling it and selling it as the "Greater Illinois Market (GIM)." Plains acknowledges that Midwest has a separate rate for wcia and for wmbd-tv, but, it adds, "for significant periods" it has combination rates for both stations "which is substantially lower than the sum of the two individual rates." As as example, Plains says that in the syndicated program Adventures in Paradise, wcia charges $60 for a spot, and wmbd-tv $15, but a combination buy costs only $65. This gives Midwest a significant competitive advantage for national and regional spot business, Plains charges. If Midwest gets a station in Springfield, Plains claims, this could be "disastrous" for its Springfield station, since buyers will be tempted to buy the package headed by wcia which already has the advantage of being VHF. Common programing by Midwest not only is injurious to Plains, the UHF group says, but runs afoul of the FCC's policy calling on stations to produce local programing. This competitive advantage to Midwest, and disadvantage to Plains, is also true in common staff and operation by Midwest. Plains sums up its complaint: ". . . The present competitive situation in central Illinois originates in the imbalance inherent in the intermixture of one dominant VHF station in a group of struggling UHF stations. It is enhanced by Midwest's calculated expansion of its service area by acquiring more and more stations in contiguous areas, and it is capped by Midwest's abusive commercial practices (including joint rates, common programing and common operation) clearly designed to make it more dominant. . . ." Diversification Standards ■ Because of this, Plains says, Midwest is contravening the FCC's "traditional" diversification standards. Midwest, Plains states, does not need this umbrella coverage because it starts with "a very substantial competitive advantage" — -its base station wcia is the only VHF outlet in central Illinois. Plains also claims that Midwest has thwarted FCC policy on extension of service areas through the use of regular stations in other markets as satellites. Plains claims that Midwest, as the owner of the only VHF in the area, should lean over backward "not to take unfair advantage of its less fortunate UHF competitors." In asking the commission to deny SIOUX CITY'S KTIV SELLS FOR YOU IN Iowa, Nebraska, South" Dakota and Minnesota! KTIV (Channel 4) covers much more than just Metro Sioux City, Iowa. SRDS July '63 study shows chat KTIV's market includes over 207,000 TV homes (TV Factbook '63 — 251,100 homes) in a 4-state area! And the 1962 spendable income in this market has grown to 1^4 billion dollars. Ten consecutive ARB reports prove that KTIV's wide range appeal reaches into more of the Siouxland homes, 85% of which are outside the Sioux City metro area. No other station penetrates the combined metropolitan and outlying Siouxland market as well as KTIV. NBC • ABC lnnel4 Sioux City, Iowa National Representative: Ceorge P. Hollingbery Regional Representatives: Harry S. Hyett Co., Minneapolis Soderlund Co., Omaha Eugene F. Cray Co., Kansas City, Mo. 70 (THE MEDIA) BROADCASTING, November 4, 1963