Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1945)

CC TELEVISION ALLOCATIONS ^AKE EVERYBODY HAPPY Igh and Low Frequency Exponents Satisfied; SMPE Sights Gain s they explore more carefully the report ihe Federal Communications Commission on uency allocations for television and radio, factions seem to believe they have emerged jorious, in part or completely, from the long es of hearings designed to set the pattern |the airwaves of the future. [he Society of Motion Picture Engineers, ■lyzing information that resulted in early brts the motion picture industry had been ored on theatre television, indicated this t weekend that the allocations actually e the industry almost everything it had ght. ast week, Paul W. Kesten, executive vicepident of the Columbia Broadcasting Sys;, applauded the report with the assertion t it "actually proposes six times as much jce in the spectrum" for high-definition Ivision "as for the pre-war pictures." 1 R. Poppele, president of the Television >adcasters Association, of which Radio poration of America is an imprtant memwas satisfied. His organization, he said, pleased to learn that the Federal Comications Commission has rendered a ,sion favoring continuance of commercial Ivision in the portion of the spectrum ):ently used by television broadcasters." ci a joint statement, Larry E. Gubb and n Ballant3me, chairman and president, >ectively, of the Philco Corporation, exssed the opinion that the Commission done "a splendid over-all job ... in bnciling the claims of the many different ||bo services for portions of the available trum." be Society of Motion Picture Engineers applied for experimental television chanto pick up programs from film studios elsewhere, for transmitting programs to tres within a city, and to relay programs I city to city. Donald E. Hyndman, presi, said that he and Paul J. Larsen, SMPE neer, who presented the organization's pen to the FCC, felt that the report granted t they sought. He said this view was ed by the SMPE committee on television. 8 Film Industry Chance i^Find Own Frequencies sinting out that the report provides for ex• Hentation on pickup, inter-city and intrabroadcasting, Mr. Hyndman said that the tres and other industry components could est specific allocations when they have dieted their experimentation. He cited the uage of the report which promises "con■ation ... to applications for experimental orization on the frequencies between 480 ' 920 megacycles allocated to broadcasting he basis that the use of these frequencies be discontinued when needed for broad le position of SMPE holds that the indusis given free opportunity to discover the jencies it actually will need. "The motion ire industry now has the right to experion specific frequency bands allotted for "READS LIKE FICTION. BUT DEALS WITH COLD FACTS" The frequency allocations report of the Federal Connmunlcations Commission "reads like fiction but deals with cold facts", the New York Times observes editorially. "If we want a blueprint of one small corner of the post-war world, this is it", the newspaper says, and records some of the possibilities, as follows: "Small-scale radars will prevent automobile collisions; traffic signals within cars will glow as red and green lights on dashboards; electric eyes will automatically turn on headlights as darkness falls on main highways; cross-country tourists will turn the wheel over to a photocell, which will scan a white line on the road and follow it, and still other cells will read off coded car numbers as trains roll into a terminal. Jules Verne prophesied many an invention that is now in daily use, but he never saw a future like this." the purpose," Mr. Hyndman declared. "SMPE is almost unanimous in its feeling that it has scored a victory for the industry," he added. The SMPE television committee, headed by Dr. Peter C. Goldmark, CBS television engineer, includes Paul Raibourn, Paramount; Nathan Levinson, Warner Bros.; Lester B. Isaac, Loew's; Ralph B. Austrian, RKO Television Corp.; E. I. Sponable, 20th CenturyFox; Herbert Griffin, International Projector; Charles Horstman, RKO Theatres ; T. T. Goldsmith, DuMont Television, and Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith. In declining to assign definite frequencies for theatre television, the FCC explained that the development was still in the experimental stage. Columbia Broadcasting System, which has been conducting experiments in the high-frequency range, has championed the upper spectrum on the ground that it would take advantage of wartime progress in the medium and provide the public with better pictures. The company has promised high-definition pictures in full color if permitted adequate channels in the post-war world. The statement by Mr. Kesten indicated that CBS was satisfied it had won its point. Six Times as Much Space for High-Definition Images "As to television," Mr. Kesten said, "the facts in the FCC report on frequency allocations speak even more clearly than the comments which accompany them. These facts strip the advocates of low-frequency, low-definition television of all hope that television will remain at that level. Although the report permits narrow-band, coarse-screen commercial television to go right ahead, it takes away the wave lengths needed to establish even such a system on an adequate nationwide basis. The frequencies available for low-quality television are reduced from 18 to 12, while the FCC points out that nearer 30 frequencies are needed. "Most significant of all, perhaps, is the cold fact that of the 12 channels left for low-quality television, 11 are not even cleared exclusively for television, but must be made available for other services as well. And as to the one lowquality channel assigned exclusively to television, the report points out that this was done only to make it easier to take this single simonpure television frequency away from television entirely, turning it over to FM 'if television should in the future vacate this channel.' Emphasis on High-Quality Transmission Indicated "It seems to us that the whole factual content of the television sections of the allocations report clearly indicates the commission's desire and belief that American television should move promptly into the higher frequencies which alone permit high-quality pictures and true nationwide television service. If our interpretation of the report is correct, CBS will redouble its efforts to be the first to demonstrate in actual broadcasting in the New York area the higher quality television pictures in full and natural color which the upper reaches of the radio spectrum make possible." The Television Broadcasters Association has maintained that the 525-line image currently in use is adequate to launch the new industry, and has opposed holding back television until higher-frequency problems can be overcome. It has contended that denial of channels for lowdefinition broadcasting would have this effect, and has emphasized in print and in conference the difficulties facing high-frequency telecasting. Mr. Poppele, in applauding the report, declared that the Association, "in support of the Radio Technical Planning Board, appeared before the Commission during its allocations hearing and strongly urged the establishment of a television service to the public based on the recommendations of the nation's top engineers and scientists who comprise the RTPB." Predicting that the industry "will apply itself most arduously to the task of solving the problems which these ultra high frequencies present," Mr. Poppele said his Association was pleased with the availability of space in the 480-to-920 megacycles range. Immediate Commercialization At Existing Level "It is noted that in taking this position, the FCC has not assigned any specific channels in the ultra high frequency band for commercial television. Thus the commission has taken the progressive view and supports immediate commercialization of this new industry in that portion of the spectrum recommended by industry leaders. "While the FCC decision provides 12 channels on which television can expand as soon as manpower and manufacturing facilities are available, TBA believes that additional frequencies can be provided for commercial television when the needs of the government and the military may be less than in the present emergency. It is quite obvious that the commission has done all in its power, under the circumstances of war, to meet the recommendations of the majority of the industry. ION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 27, 1945 15